American public schools chew up teachers and spit them out

American Thinker ^ | November 7, 2014 | Bruce Deitrick Price

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

[a/k/a: "The War on Teachers"]

The stats leave no doubt. There is huge dissatisfaction among teachers. The turnover rate is very high. We need to answer the obvious question, why don’t principals and administrators take better care of their teachers?

The most recent MetLife Survey revealed: “Teacher Dissatisfaction At An All-Time High.” The NEA Today website continues: “Teacher job satisfaction has plummeted to its lowest level in 25 years, from 62 percent in 2008 to 39 percent in 2012 –- a total of 23 points…More than one-half of teachers report feeling under great stress several days per week, as opposed to one-third in 1985.”

Forbes.com reported: “High Teacher Turnover Rates are a Big Problem for America’s Public Schools….46% of all new teachers in the United States leave the profession within five years…Teachers cite lack of planning time, workload, and lack of influence over school policy among other reasons for their decision to leave…”

Edutopia sums up the situation this way: “Every year, U.S. schools hire more than 200,000 new teachers for that first day of class. By the time summer rolls around, at least 22,000 have quit.”

Interestingly, less than 20% of teachers cite salary as their primary complaint. About 70% say the big problem is workplace conditions.

This Edutopia story, written by a failed teacher, concludes: “Many of these reasons are just euphemisms for one of the profession's hardest realities: Teaching can exact a considerable emotional toll. I don't know of any other professionals who have to break up fistfights, as I did…. New teachers, however naive and idealistic, often know before they enter the profession that the salaries are paltry, the class sizes large, and the supplies scant. What they don't know is how little support from parents, school administrators, and colleagues they can expect...

[SkyDancer]

Along with some fifth grade kids who chew their pop tarts into guns ...

[taxcontrol]

My Infantry training company started with around 180 men. We barely graduated 120. I’m told that 20 to 30 percent “wash out” rate is not that uncommon.

And this author wants me to cry a river for what 10%? Please.

[Maceman]

In 2010, Barack Obama called for fixing the public education system by giving us the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and “Race to the Top,”

which he said would fix the education system already fixed by the 2001 GW Bush and Ted Kennedy legislation called “No Child Left Behind,”

which was supposed to fix a system supposedly already fixed by a 1994 piece of federal legislation called “Goals 2000,”

which was supposed to fix a system already fixed by “America 2000,”

which was a 1991 response during the Bush administration to a 1983 federal report on education called “A Nation at Risk,

which was published a full four years after Jimmy Carter first fixed the nation’s public school system by establishing a cabinet-level Department of Education in 1979.

[zaxtres]

i aksed my ejumucator about this an she sed to be quite and sit dun. /s

[Mase]

BTTT

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Obviously we have to triple their salaries, right?

[naturalman1975]

I did over twenty years in the Navy - including war service. Then I retired and became a teacher.

I almost quit half a dozen times in my first year in the classroom. Only stubborn refusal to be beaten by a bunch of kids stopped me.

Now I love teaching - but I’m also in a school environment where the majority of the kids want to learn and we’ve got the resources and methods in place to deal with things when they get difficult.

One of the things that I think trips up new teachers is that they are expected to be responsible for the bad behaviour of their students without being given the methods or support needed to achieve good results. Experienced teachers manage to get themselves into situations like mine - where teaching is relatively easy. New teachers get the toughest kids.

When you’re a 21 or 22 year old straight out of college (and the fact that you went to college and graduated is an indication of a certain degree of diligence and being willing to work in school), and you find yourself teaching 16, 17, or 18 year olds - people who are only a few years younger than yourself who don’t want to be there, and who know they can get away with doing almost anything to you short of physically attacking you (and often they can get away with that as well) and if you dare to even raise your voice, you could wind up being fired... it’s a ridiculous situation that’s become accepted in our schools.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Congratulations on maintaining some fortitude in the face of adversity. You probably have some lessons to teach that aren’t in the books. I hope soon to be discussing local potential to form a classical education charter school in my area over the coming years as an alternative to the mediocre results often experienced when “experts” foist non-essential elements into the curriculum. A public school teacher today certainly has much work to do with little in the way of moral support. I’d be curious to know the grade and subject(s) you are teaching.

[FreedomPoster]

bfl, that’s excellent.

[naturalman1975]

I teach history to 14-17 year olds (Grades 9 to 12).

I’m not in the public sector - I did start out teaching there but managed to land a role at a more traditional private school after only a couple of years. It’s not quite a classical education but it still contains a lot of the best elements of that type of approach.

[samtheman]

Are you implying that more federal programs and more federal money won’t fix the problems?

That’s 3 days detention for you!

[struggle]

As a public teacher, some complains I’ve seen:

1. Common Core
2. The Yearly Push for each district’s stupid new educational theory.
3. $100,000 curriculum heads that sit in their offices vs. $40,000 classroom teachers.
4. No support on suspensions, expulsions, and general punishment.
5. Overall micromanagement.
6. No school community, a “keep off the radar” mentality
7. Too many teachers EXPECTED to do extra-curricular activities
8. Little support on student failures
9. Non-administration “observations”
10. Kids that generally are allowed to run rampant
11. Sports take precedence over academics.

I don’t see these at my school because we have a good district and a good school, but these are out there.

[blackdog]

It is a fact that the body of educators as a whole, (teachers) come from the bottom 20% of their college graduating classes.

Now who's chewing up who and spitting out what?

[gogeo]

So it’s not just me!

[caww]

Five years sounds about right to handle the kids and their parents of this generation...they’re lucky if they last that long IMO....no way would I teach in todays schools with your hands tied behind your back and kids showing no respect for authority.

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

The whole educational system needs to be scrapped and redone, but that will never ever happen thanks to liberals. Imagine this: Teachers and students can work from home and communicate by this thing called the internet, and that teacher can visit those kid at home, tutor personally if they are having a hard time or do it via skype. WHY do all these kids have to be brought together in a classroom? We are using ancient teaching methods for modern society. There is a website called Khanacademy.org that has every single subject you can imagine from elementary school to High school and beyond.

[Fester Chugabrew]

I teach history to 14-17 year olds (Grades 9 to 12).

That is along the lines of what I hope one day to teach, both in the way of age and subject. Have you had the latitude to select your own textbooks? Do you teach a general course covering world history, or something more specific?

[goldi]

It’s called homeschooling and public school teachers aren’t needed to implement it.

[gop4lyf]

“As a public teacher, some complains I’ve seen:

1. Common Core
2. The Yearly Push for each district’s stupid new educational theory.
3. $100,000 curriculum heads that sit in their offices vs. $40,000 classroom teachers.
4. No support on suspensions, expulsions, and general punishment.
5. Overall micromanagement.
6. No school community, a “keep off the radar” mentality
7. Too many teachers EXPECTED to do extra-curricular activities
8. Little support on student failures
9. Non-administration “observations”
10. Kids that generally are allowed to run rampant
11. Sports take precedence over academics.

I don’t see these at my school because we have a good district and a good school, but these are out there.”

I’ve seen most of these at my school. Add to that expectations of continuing education, planning, parent conferences, before and after school tutoring,and Saturday school, ALL on our own “FREE” time (What, you have to go pick your kids up from the sitter? Too bad! These kids are more important!) Add individualized IEP’s for dang near every kid and a community of “parents” who are all trying to get you to help them to scam SSI money, why aren’t we all teachers? There is that one other thing. I actually enjoy the teaching part. But then I get to come here and read about how sorry we all are and how we are all just drones for the NEA (I’m not). Sigh......