‘Exhausted and underpaid’: teachers across the US are leaving their jobs in numbers

You will have to specifically identify those States, because the contracts used by the American Federation of Teachers contradicts your claim.

Teaching must be part of your skill-set in order to teach. You are either born with a particular skill-set, or you are not and if you are not, then you will never be able to perform that particular skill-set no matter how long you go to college or how many seminars and webinars you attend or self-help books you read or anything else.

All surgeons are doctors, but not all doctors are surgeons, nor could they ever be surgeons and you could spend $Millions training them for the rest of their lives and the best case scenario is the doctors who don't have the surgery skill-set will only kill 10,000 people on the operating table and cause serious medical complications in 100s of 1,000s of others.

Assuming you can wrap your brain around that, let's take it to the next level.

Not all surgeons have the teaching skill-set.

Get it?

Only a small percentage of any given population has the doctor skill-set. And then, out of that small percentage that have the doctor skill-set, only a small fraction have the surgery skill-set, too.

Then, out of that small fraction of a small percentage of your population that happens to have both the doctor skill-set and the surgery skill-set, an even smaller number have the teaching skill-set.

And, out of those, not all of them want to teach, and they're under no moral, ethical or legal obligation to teach.

So, putting it all together, why don't we do what Liberals wanna do and expand the number of medical teaching colleges so we can create shortages of teaching positions among those surgeons who have the teaching skill-set and wanna teach so we can drive medical costs even higher?

See how that works?

 

Because kids are monsters.

 

Hate to point this out, but this was occurring in this very thread. Post after post.
You are making statements that were formed from a preconceived agenda. There is no leftist agenda being forced on the teachers in my state, unless you count treating everyone fairly and equally is a leftist agenda.
I think you see one part of a large picture that supports your view and so you paint the entire picture with that. Works for you, apparently, but don't be surprised if it doesn't work for others.

 

You speak as if you are superior to others in intelligence, but the red part is one of the most idiotic statements I've ever heard.
You don't know anything about teaching. I know only a little bit, and I'm a teacher.
It's one thing to act like you know everything, but very different when you are putting others down for something you don't know about.
Humility is a very important trait to develop.

 

The only picture being painted is that of the parents confronting school boards. Are we just going to pretend they have no concern or claim now because you don't like what they are against?
Seems to me they have every reason to be pissed.

Are you telling me I need to ignore the teachers who have come to these meetings and quit stating they refuse to teach what is being forced down their throats? I think I'll give a little more weight to the people actually dealing with the problem that I will a poster on PF.

 

And then there's this.


Behind the teacher shortage, an unexpected culprit - NBC News
https://www.nbcnews.com › news › education › behind...
Oct 1, 2021 — Teacher shortage puts pressure on schools nationwide

But federal employment data shows that, in fact, there’s no evidence of a nationwide exodus of educators.

Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers for all of education, which includes both higher education and K-12 schools, show that, as of July, the number of people who’d left a job in education — including people who quit, retired or were fired — had hit a 20-year low, said Chad Aldeman, an education labor market analyst at the Edunomics lab.

The total number of people working in public education — including teachers, administrators, bus drivers and other school staff — is similar to what it was when the pandemic began in March 2020, he said. What’s different now is the number of job openings — they’re at a 20-year high.

Districts “have large infusions of federal money,” and ambitious plans to lower class sizes and hire teachers, counselors and nurses, Aldeman said. “But if every district has the same plan, then they’re competing for the same labor pool.”

Behind the teacher shortage, an unexpected culprit: Covid relief money

The $122 billion relief package signed by President Joe Biden in the spring, along with two prior rounds of Covid funding, have enabled nearly every public school in the country to invest in equipment, facilities and programs designed to repair the deep social, emotional and instructional toll the pandemic has had on children.

But the decision by some districts to spend the money on hiring or bonuses has created problems for other districts — particularly those like Eastpointe, where McLeod says a long history of financial challenges has made it difficult to hold on to staff.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this,” said Marguerite Roza, whose Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University has been tracking school Covid relief spending. She has been hearing from districts in competitive labor markets about a “hiring bonanza” she described as “predatory.”

“There’s a lot of money flowing,” she said, and “higher and higher signing bonuses.”

 

All Working folks have that hamster wheel
feeling - exhausted & underpaid

Feel it at the grocery store!


Moi

​

 

What are they complaining about forced down their throats?
By the way, I am a teacher, in a high school and community college.
So I do know what's going on in my area. I'm not saying every teacher is ecstatic about the situation we are in, but I haven't heard one complain about anything being forced on them to teach. You're making an overall judgement based on an isolated incident at best.

 

How many hours do you work a week?

 

Teachers can retire at 55 years old with a pension that is adjusted to inflation every year. There is nothing to complain.

 

Depends. On light schedule weeks, 40? On busy weeks, 40-60. It varies quite a bit depending on classes and how often they want to have meetings.
Hours range from 8am- 9pm, not always continuous. Not much official business in weekends, very occasional Saturday class.
12 months a year, but mostly office work in the summer. Pretty good time off around holidays, but can't take time off very easily as there is no one to fill in.

 

First of all, thank you for the dedication of teaching our children. I hope you keep up the good work. We need good teachers with balanced thought.
A quick Google search of teachers quitting over crt or teachers quitting over political agendas will answer your question. I heard two teachers facing school boards who quit over a multitude of items but the camel back breaking straw was political curriculum in their classroom.

I realize this is compartmentalized to a few states and where I live in NC, we have some of the greatest teachers I have ever known. All 3 of my kids went to school all 12 years here and I have attended MANY board meetings as well as conferences. I have never met a teacher here I didn't like. I have disagreed with a few items like my son fighting 3 other boys who were picking on him and he got the same punishment. These no tolerant policies are idiotic in my opinion but I wouldn't trade the education value or the integrity of our teachers for anything.

I don't like the obvious politics getting into our schools in other parts of the country. Its not like you can ignore it.

 

What a coincedence, I'm in NC. I'm glad you have had an overall good experience with the educational system.
I'm not saying that ii isn't happening, that teachers aren't quitting because of said reasons, or that some areas are more liberal than others. What I object to is the blanket statements pertaining to indoctrination, being forced to push political agendas at school, etc. There are many examples here in this thread.
And, thanks. Not in it for the glory, just the huge paycheck!
That was a joke, by the way.

 

There is an adage that comes to mind. It goes like this, Ignorance can be fixed by learning, but stupid is forever. I don't know if you are ignorant or stupid, but most assuredly, you are one or the other if you are unaware of the additional work teachers do outside the classroom. Oh, and don't think for a minute that school summer vacation works for teachers, because it definitely does not!

 

No you don't have to work until the work gets done. Period.

Honestly, what's better for your employer, doing what you can within your limits, or doing more until you burn out and then quit when they need you most? How about we act like adults and be realistic with our limits and stand up to poor management?

 

I think every profession has bad days.

The job I worked at for 40 years required working till the job was finished and it wasn't in a school or an office.

 

Nothing is required. They can not make you do anything.

 

You can do it or quit, it's what the job requires.

 

Neither. If you are just being lazy, they can fire you but in context of the discussion they can't. They are overworking because the cannot or don't want to hire other people. It doesn't do your employer any good to burn yourself out and then quit.

You can stay until a job is complete but they don't have to continually schedule more than you can complete in a normal day. They can hire more people if they need more jobs completed.

 

I taught high school students and adults for three decades. I support school vouchers provided they're big enough to let parents choose a decent private school without having to add more money. Why vouchers? Because public schools should do a better job.

Schools today are actually better than they were fifty years ago. That's not good enough, however.

Flat wrong about schools being better back then. Women have other options in 2021. My daughter is a bank vice president.

This isn't a "progressive liberal forum." What aren't you allowed to say?

 

The average teacher pay in the U.S, was $63,645 in 2019-20--$57,091 in Texas and $48,800 in Florida where governors are undermining efforts to mitigate the spread of covid.

Teachers make less than the average wage in Minnesota, North Dakota, Florida, Arizona, Colorado and Virginia.

https://www.business.org/hr/workforce-management/best-us-states-for-teachers/

Of course, teachers are walking away, especially older teachers who are more vulnerable to the virus and can take early retirement.

Teacher bashing is another reason good teachers are leaving.

More teacher bashing.

Teacher to @sec: "See ya!"

 

Things to consider, particularly with respect to trending.

1. Ratio of administrators to teachers.
2. Demands, e.g., reporting requirements placed on teachers by administrators.
3. Ability or inability of teachers to address negative behavior of students, e.g., mental health issues, self control issues, and so forth.
4. Impact and ratio of students who cannot speak English.
5. Demands of the Federal Government.
6. Political correctness with respect to curriculum, grading, and hiring of administrators.
7. Requirement of teachers to teach both online and in classrooms due to Covid.
8. Impact of teachers unions such as the NEA on the educational system.
9. Teacher salary and compensation.

 

The average teacher makes less than $50,000 a year in Florida.

How many STEM grads are going to be interested, especially with DeSantis blocking efforts to mitigate the spread of covid?

 

Utterly absurd.

 

Canada does a better job, Europe not so much.