Radio Rant

This morning on the way to work I listened to an exchange by two local morning hosts who got on the topic of teachers in some roundabout way... one started by citing how much he loved all his teachers and another said something about how influential the teachers in his life had been... then a statistic was tossed out... Something like 46% of new teachers will leave the profession within the first five years of teaching. I tried to look up the stat and ran across this response to an interview question on the ASCD site...

Ted Hershberg says, "We face really dramatic challenges. We've been beneficiaries of two major commission reports on teaching as a profession: the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future and the Teaching Commission. What's absolutely striking in those studies is that of the 3.4 million teachers currently in this country, 2 million are estimated to leave the profession in the next 10 years and—this is what's so fascinating—three times as many through attrition as through retirement. So, the numbers are one in every three teachers leaves in the first three years, 46 percent leave in the first five years and the profile of the "leavers" is [a] somehow better, by what measures they use I am not clear, stronger profile than the ones that stay. It's 50 percent higher, this attrition, in the urban districts, so you're into the mid 60s, mid to high 60 percent turnover. So, one thing you have to do … one huge set of challenges is, How do you stop this attrition? And, to me, that's all about changing the nature of the teaching profession."

These young men on the radio meant well, they talked about median salaries for teachers in the US... the national average is something like $46,000 and in places like rural ND it's much less.... then they pointed out that if only teachers were valued beyond the kudos we verbally pay them... and instead they made the million dollar salaries celebrities make.... if only.

The thing that gets me is how often I hear this sort of thing. An awful lot of people seem to think this way and yet no one seems to be able to figure out how to make it happen. Is it because in the past women were, by and large, the primary gender for the teaching profession and in our country women aren't valued monetarily... or they aren't expected to need to earn a profitable wage... after all, "her husband is a farmer ... what is she going to do? Quit? And everyone knows she doesn't need to work?" I think that perhaps school boards know exactly what they are doing. This issue isn't all that simple... and I've heard some thoughts from the other side too... but when it comes down to it, the part that bugs me the most is people who are so adamant that teachers deserve so much more but aren't really doing much to make that happen. It's not as if we are totally powerless... of course if teachers don't advocate for themselves, why should we expect anyone else to, regardless of the tremendous influence or gift (no kidding) they have bestowed on so many. In fact, wouldn't most kids think of that as their right... like the entitlement we feel toward so many things in this world?

If you want to make a difference. Start by voting and vote smart. Get involved with your school board. Attend meetings... read the minutes... pay attention to who is elected and why they are there. Stop talking about it and start doing something.