As a seasoned educator and school counselor who has left the filed, teacher pay is low, especially in the RED states, disrespect, lack of support from admin and parents, and the idea that a teacher can control factors beyond her/his classroom that affects the students and of course the violence, verbal and emotional abuse. Most teachers make under 60k in Florida where I live. A 1bedroom apt costs between 1400 to 1800 in most areas. This is a dead end! I am trying to get into the medical field or human resources. SAD. I think politicians want to dismantle public education. Poor people and minorities will suffer the most.
I live in Alabama. I have taught for over 25 years. My kids are good, the administration is fine and my pay is adequate. I do the best I can. I never thought I could teach every kid. Some want to learn and others do not.
I don’t know what a teacher’s situation is. I never graduated high school. What I do know is that these teachers are, just like doctors and nurses and literally every other vital job for America, overworked, underpaid and given no incentives to actually do their jobs. America needs to learn a very valuable lesson in Humility before it can get its @ss back on track. Right now, these shortages are only going to go from bad to extremely terrible and there’s nothing, nothing at all, that the rich people can do but pay and treat their workers better OR lose their workers completely.
I'm a teacher in my third year. I have not had a year where I work less than 75 hour weeks. Every single year I have taught I have had to create our curriculum for at least one class from scratch. This is dumb and I have regularly thought of leaving.
Welcome to education, where PhD stands for piled higher and deeper! Policymakers just keep pulling at straws in their attempts to close the achievement gap and justify their outrageous salaries. They contract with education consultants for the latest and greatest programs that never do what they claim (i.e. PBIS - positive behavior intervention strategies).
I heard teaching overseas is better. In Japan, students usually love their English teachers and sometimes even make cards for them at the end of the year 🎉
Duh... what do you think will happen when Teacher's receive low pay, overworked, personal money for students supplies, and NOW THREATENING AND TARGETING TEACHER'S!!! 😥 😔 We love teaching and helping children learn, develop, and grow... however 🤔... LEAVE US TEACHER'S ALONE TO DO WHAT WE PROFESSIONALLY NEED TO DO... "LEAVE US TEACHER'S ALONE!!!"
My teaching career was in smaller, rural towns. They didn't pay anywhere near what the bigger, wealthier communities paid, and without aides and special services available, my workload was high. What kept me teaching was RESPECT. My students respected me, they were cooperative, and I never had discipline problems. The parents respected me and always did whatever they could to support what I was doing in the classroom. The administration and governing bodies respected me by allowing me to teach without interference. When I finally retired, they banded together and gave me a memorable party that made me feel that I was appreciated and had accomplished something with my life. From many reports of present-day education, these things aren't happening as much as they should. The teaching profession is not respected.
I agree. Salaries are low but districts can change this but they won’t. On top of low pay they micromanage you, tell you what to teach buy scripted curriculum, and tell you how to teach. Dictate every single minute of your day do not respect your time or as a professional. If I veered away from the curriculum we are reprimanded even if we can move kids and progress them academically teaching our way. No support and crazy administrators and parents. I would love to teach in a better environment. Keeping teachers is the issue.
I taught kindergarten so I’m not teaching any hot topic things only reading, math, and writing. They fight us tooth and nail and wonder why scores are so low. We teach above the curriculum and supplement everything. I question why I chose this profession.
Tessa, I think these curriculum companies are making so much money it keeps getting more scripted No autonomy or freedom on how to teach. I think it’s a nationwide problem.
Content knowledge is not valued anymore by principals. Teachers are now required to be more of an entertainer than they are a purveyor of knowledge. I know because I was one of those teachers that left the profession. Glad to see teachers leaving. My solution to parents: Homeschool!
@@jeh0089 That's my point. That's why schools need quality teachers that are supported. Instead, teachers are leaving entirely or are not going into the profession. There are no rights in the Constitution that state that people are required to be teachers. Therefore, if teachers are not supported and compensated, then this is the problem that you have.
Unless you’re a teacher, you can’t fully grasp why the field is so stressful. It is at times unbearable. I’m giving it one more year. If it doesn’t get better I’m done.
Special Education Teachers have more students on their case and workloads now. I had 24 on my caseload and over 40 on my workload. Principals play psychological games and gaslight to make us do the extra work. One state makes Special Education Teachers do the work of Diagnosticians and Psychometrists in addition to teaching, facilitating IEP meetings and other duties. Social Workers place mental health work on the SpEd Teachers too. A total mess!
Yep, and in some schools, SPED teachers are also required to differentiate each of their students' work from the gen ed teachers. That's even when there are simple strategies that the gen ed teacher teams could consider and use.
@@Yukon79 I liked the early days when a teacher would tell me that a kid was having a tough time in, say, reading, and I'd have him come to my resource room, test his skills, and then either make suggestions or start seeing him on a regular basis for a while. All quick and easy for everyone. In my last years of teaching it would be a Grand Production that took months before I could give the kid any help.
Not necessarily true about the salary. Teachers in large, urban districts typically make more than surrounding districts, particularly if there's a strong teacher union. It's unfortunate that teachers were only cared about during lockdown because families had lost their babysitters. Once things opened back, it was all forgotten and there were less supports.
Public school teachers earn a daily rate set by the state where they teach and individual school districts within the state (LEAs) have the opportunity to supplement the state rate. This is why you typically see teachers in the same state earning more in cities & their suburbs than educators teaching in rural areas. Lastly, charter schools are often exempt from many of the regulations public schools must follow, including teacher salaries and benefits.
I cannot emphasize that enough. The issue is one of work environment. If it's a good school, with reasonably behaved students, a supportive administration, and decent pay, it will have no problem finding teachers. That's my observation as a substitute in the Central Valley of California for the past five years, having worked in 15+ school districts, at about 25 schools.
Yes, you might try paying us more. You try playing whack-a-mole, feeding baby birds, herding cats, dancing, and juggling plates all at the same time while trying to help every being in your room focus and learn. We teachers are also often feeding kids snacks and buying school supplies out of our own pocket books and then working weekends and late nights with no overtime pay as well as being both a counselor and often acting as a parent to many of them. Then we also have to deal with administration at the admin building and people on the state level not having even the tiniest clue as to what teachers really do or how to do it well, so they decide to have us do useless paperwork that justifies their admin jobs at the district level or one size fits all useless inservice time that wastes precious planning and individual training time. Hmmm, why in the world are teachers burned out? I am thankful that I have good administrators at the building level where I am now, because there are many horrible administrators out there who were horrible teachers and decided to become admin. Sheesh!
Don't forget about the parents and staff that complain about the materials that you buy with your own money, leaving to no one getting anything at all because of 1 person that ruined it for the rest.
I felt taking advantage of bilingual staff members without extra compensation. To be constantly pulled for translation purposes is a jarring task already on top of the job you were hired to do.
Agree on most counts, and pay is not the only factor teachers leave (pay is very low). Students here in America have a poor work ethic and are lazy, most do not want to put in the longer hours to do the work to really progress. Discipline has hit a low point, some kids are violent, some curse their teachers, but most have little respect for authority. This comes from home. Parents do not support teachers in discipline or academics. Admin does not support the teachers in discipline or motivation of lazy kids and parents since the admin is afraid of the parents. Further, admin often has spent the least time in a class before they moved up to admin. All admin must be made to sub for 2 weeks a year in a Title 1/ disadvantaged school each year. No person should be an admin without working in a class for 15-20 years and five of these years must be in a disadvantaged school. Race and pay have nothing to do with anything. I got paid just the same as the black or Hispanic teachers. Student behavior and ability also has nothing do with race. It is a home product. Discipline your kids. This is the opposite of what I saw in Asia. Things are merit based there. After elementary school you compete to enter the best middle, high school, and university in the city and later nation. Behavior is not a question. Those that do not behave or work hard are tracked to a good vocational program and made into productive members of society. Public teacher 26 years, MA East Asian Studies Chinese, Taught in Taiwan, Fulbright Scholar Japan 2003, Fulbright Scholar China 2005.
You didn’t mention how teachers are made to be the enemy with all of the cries about CRT, gay and trans. I’m tired of being treated like sh** by some parents and students. The administration adds more and more to our plate. I just retired as I could not bear another year in the classroom.
You know you live in a rich country when so many people can just confidently quit their job with the confidence that they will find another better job.
Recruit foreign teachers to fill in the shortage,I am willing to teach in America if there's available employer to assist me to be part of their educational institution.
I do not think you know what you would be getting yourself into. Parents and children in the United States are on a completely different level. You will get eaten alive. If the people born and raised in this country are having a hard time dealing with the parents ands kids - why do you think you could do it? United States citizens can barely respect their own people -they will not respect someone from another country!
You're going to have to pay a LOT more until these wild out of control kids learn how to behave. Until then I'll keep delivering pizzas and making more money than I did teaching
Police and military protection (or, for that matter, the existence of police, us armed forces, firefighters, etc) are also not constitutional 'rights'. They are however (like educators and public schools) necessary for a healthy country and competitive economy.
well, maybe it's time to change that, or at least put some behavior requirements in place. it's not fair to the rest of the kids who want to learn. other countries don't put up with this.@@Bobrogers99
As a seasoned educator and school counselor who has left the filed, teacher pay is low, especially in the RED states, disrespect, lack of support from admin and parents, and the idea that a teacher can control factors beyond her/his classroom that affects the students and of course the violence, verbal and emotional abuse. Most teachers make under 60k in Florida where I live. A 1bedroom apt costs between 1400 to 1800 in most areas. This is a dead end! I am trying to get into the medical field or human resources. SAD. I think politicians want to dismantle public education. Poor people and minorities will suffer the most.
FIELD
Move to a blue state and enter a respiratory therapy or RN program.
You all need Chad and Wojak
I live in Alabama. I have taught for over 25 years. My kids are good, the administration is fine and my pay is adequate. I do the best I can. I never thought I could teach every kid. Some want to learn and others do not.
the worst of teaching is the gas lighting administrators
I don’t know what a teacher’s situation is. I never graduated high school. What I do know is that these teachers are, just like doctors and nurses and literally every other vital job for America, overworked, underpaid and given no incentives to actually do their jobs.
America needs to learn a very valuable lesson in Humility before it can get its @ss back on track. Right now, these shortages are only going to go from bad to extremely terrible and there’s nothing, nothing at all, that the rich people can do but pay and treat their workers better OR lose their workers completely.
Quit telling teachers to self-care and start caring for the teachers.
Can’t go to the doctor because the health insurance sucks
And pay them more money.
Bad kids, weak parents, dumb administration, little to no support, and way less pay. Thats why I left
I'm a teacher in my third year. I have not had a year where I work less than 75 hour weeks. Every single year I have taught I have had to create our curriculum for at least one class from scratch. This is dumb and I have regularly thought of leaving.
Welcome to education, where PhD stands for piled higher and deeper! Policymakers just keep pulling at straws in their attempts to close the achievement gap and justify their outrageous salaries. They contract with education consultants for the latest and greatest programs that never do what they claim (i.e. PBIS - positive behavior intervention strategies).
I heard teaching overseas is better. In Japan, students usually love their English teachers and sometimes even make cards for them at the end of the year 🎉
This field has me binge watching Chad and Wojak on UA-cam while self medicating.
Duh... what do you think will happen when Teacher's receive low pay, overworked, personal money for students supplies, and NOW THREATENING AND TARGETING TEACHER'S!!! 😥 😔
We love teaching and helping children learn, develop, and grow... however 🤔...
LEAVE US TEACHER'S ALONE TO DO WHAT WE PROFESSIONALLY NEED TO DO...
"LEAVE US TEACHER'S ALONE!!!"
My teaching career was in smaller, rural towns. They didn't pay anywhere near what the bigger, wealthier communities paid, and without aides and special services available, my workload was high. What kept me teaching was RESPECT. My students respected me, they were cooperative, and I never had discipline problems. The parents respected me and always did whatever they could to support what I was doing in the classroom. The administration and governing bodies respected me by allowing me to teach without interference. When I finally retired, they banded together and gave me a memorable party that made me feel that I was appreciated and had accomplished something with my life. From many reports of present-day education, these things aren't happening as much as they should. The teaching profession is not respected.
I agree. Salaries are low but districts can change this but they won’t. On top of low pay they micromanage you, tell you what to teach buy scripted curriculum, and tell you how to teach. Dictate every single minute of your day do not respect your time or as a professional. If I veered away from the curriculum we are reprimanded even if we can move kids and progress them academically teaching our way. No support and crazy administrators and parents. I would love to teach in a better environment. Keeping teachers is the issue.
I taught kindergarten so I’m not teaching any hot topic things only reading, math, and writing. They fight us tooth and nail and wonder why scores are so low. We teach above the curriculum and supplement everything. I question why I chose this profession.
@@shebutter3195is this true across the board in public districts or does it depend on the school?
Tessa, I think these curriculum companies are making so much money it keeps getting more scripted No autonomy or freedom on how to teach. I think it’s a nationwide problem.
Content knowledge is not valued anymore by principals. Teachers are now required to be more of an entertainer than they are a purveyor of knowledge. I know because I was one of those teachers that left the profession.
Glad to see teachers leaving. My solution to parents: Homeschool!
Not everyone can homeschool.
@@jeh0089 That's my point. That's why schools need quality teachers that are supported. Instead, teachers are leaving entirely or are not going into the profession. There are no rights in the Constitution that state that people are required to be teachers. Therefore, if teachers are not supported and compensated, then this is the problem that you have.
The “average” teacher salary TEN YEARS AGO is way above the salary for CURRENT teacher salary in Florida 😣
Unless you’re a teacher, you can’t fully grasp why the field is so stressful. It is at times unbearable. I’m giving it one more year. If it doesn’t get better I’m done.
Special Education Teachers have more students on their case and workloads now. I had 24 on my caseload and over 40 on my workload. Principals play psychological games and gaslight to make us do the extra work. One state makes Special Education Teachers do the work of Diagnosticians and Psychometrists in addition to teaching, facilitating IEP meetings and other duties. Social Workers place mental health work on the SpEd Teachers too. A total mess!
Yep, and in some schools, SPED teachers are also required to differentiate each of their students' work from the gen ed teachers. That's even when there are simple strategies that the gen ed teacher teams could consider and use.
I was a SPED teacher and so I completely understand, agree, and empathize with you. I left the profession because of the very reasons that you stated.
As a SPED teacher, I retired early in part because I was spending more time doing paperwork and evaluating than I was actually teaching.
@@Bobrogers99 I finally decided to leave Special Education. I will miss the students but all the paperwork and red tape.
@@Yukon79 I liked the early days when a teacher would tell me that a kid was having a tough time in, say, reading, and I'd have him come to my resource room, test his skills, and then either make suggestions or start seeing him on a regular basis for a while. All quick and easy for everyone. In my last years of teaching it would be a Grand Production that took months before I could give the kid any help.
Get rid of bureaucrats and admins and let teachers teach.
Not necessarily true about the salary. Teachers in large, urban districts typically make more than surrounding districts, particularly if there's a strong teacher union.
It's unfortunate that teachers were only cared about during lockdown because families had lost their babysitters. Once things opened back, it was all forgotten and there were less supports.
Certainly, wages would be higher in urban districts. The cost of living in those areas is also much higher.
@@ga6589 I teach in a high poverty area in the city and I don't make more than teachers teaching in suburban areas. Maybe that's just Nevada
Public school teachers earn a daily rate set by the state where they teach and individual school districts within the state (LEAs) have the opportunity to supplement the state rate. This is why you typically see teachers in the same state earning more in cities & their suburbs than educators teaching in rural areas. Lastly, charter schools are often exempt from many of the regulations public schools must follow, including teacher salaries and benefits.
@@sabrenak9063 yeah, that's why I was saying "strong teacher's union" because I'm sure it's the same way in my home state of Mississippi
@@Heyu7her3 Mississippi, is the poorest state in the union.
There isn’t a shortage of teachers - there is a shortage of respect and support for teachers, so they leave. Plenty of qualified teachers out there.
I cannot emphasize that enough. The issue is one of work environment. If it's a good school, with reasonably behaved students, a supportive administration, and decent pay, it will have no problem finding teachers. That's my observation as a substitute in the Central Valley of California for the past five years, having worked in 15+ school districts, at about 25 schools.
Yes, you might try paying us more. You try playing whack-a-mole, feeding baby birds, herding cats, dancing, and juggling plates all at the same time while trying to help every being in your room focus and learn. We teachers are also often feeding kids snacks and buying school supplies out of our own pocket books and then working weekends and late nights with no overtime pay as well as being both a counselor and often acting as a parent to many of them. Then we also have to deal with administration at the admin building and people on the state level not having even the tiniest clue as to what teachers really do or how to do it well, so they decide to have us do useless paperwork that justifies their admin jobs at the district level or one size fits all useless inservice time that wastes precious planning and individual training time. Hmmm, why in the world are teachers burned out? I am thankful that I have good administrators at the building level where I am now, because there are many horrible administrators out there who were horrible teachers and decided to become admin. Sheesh!
Don't forget about the parents and staff that complain about the materials that you buy with your own money, leaving to no one getting anything at all because of 1 person that ruined it for the rest.
I felt taking advantage of bilingual staff members without extra compensation. To be constantly pulled for translation purposes is a jarring task already on top of the job you were hired to do.
Teachers need more money, especially in Florida.
Agree on most counts, and pay is not the only factor teachers leave (pay is very low). Students here in America have a poor work ethic and are lazy, most do not want to put in the longer hours to do the work to really progress. Discipline has hit a low point, some kids are violent, some curse their teachers, but most have little respect for authority. This comes from home. Parents do not support teachers in discipline or academics. Admin does not support the teachers in discipline or motivation of lazy kids and parents since the admin is afraid of the parents. Further, admin often has spent the least time in a class before they moved up to admin. All admin must be made to sub for 2 weeks a year in a Title 1/ disadvantaged school each year. No person should be an admin without working in a class for 15-20 years and five of these years must be in a disadvantaged school.
Race and pay have nothing to do with anything. I got paid just the same as the black or Hispanic teachers. Student behavior and ability also has nothing do with race. It is a home product. Discipline your kids.
This is the opposite of what I saw in Asia. Things are merit based there. After elementary school you compete to enter the best middle, high school, and university in the city and later nation. Behavior is not a question. Those that do not behave or work hard are tracked to a good vocational program and made into productive members of society. Public teacher 26 years, MA East Asian Studies Chinese, Taught in Taiwan, Fulbright Scholar Japan 2003, Fulbright Scholar China 2005.
Same in uk. teachers are dropping like flies
You didn’t mention how teachers are made to be the enemy with all of the cries about CRT, gay and trans. I’m tired of being treated like sh** by some parents and students. The administration adds more and more to our plate. I just retired as I could not bear another year in the classroom.
You know you live in a rich country when so many people can just confidently quit their job with the confidence that they will find another better job.
Recruit foreign teachers to fill in the shortage,I am willing to teach in America if there's available employer to assist me to be part of their educational institution.
I do not think you know what you would be getting yourself into. Parents and children in the United States are on a completely different level. You will get eaten alive. If the people born and raised in this country are having a hard time dealing with the parents ands kids - why do you think you could do it? United States citizens can barely respect their own people -they will not respect someone from another country!
I'm the author of EIGHT DAYS IN AN INNER CITY SCHOOL the out of control OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING is chasing off more educators than anything else I
Ron DeSantis gave new teachers a raise but not veteran teachers. Be careful who you vote for.
A retired H.S. English teacher, widespread systemic heterophobia was my biggest problem, by far.
Heterophobia??
Lol what
Create a pool of community substitute duties like jury duty
Ha ha. They wouldn't last a minute in there.
The best solution they got is more indentured servitude for young adults
Another example of a wageslave or wagecuck
You're going to have to pay a LOT more until these wild out of control kids learn how to behave. Until then I'll keep delivering pizzas and making more money than I did teaching
Are they hiring??
A degree in education is a waste of time. Get a degree in a real subject. Math, Science, English or History.
Public education is not a constitutional right.
Police and military protection (or, for that matter, the existence of police, us armed forces, firefighters, etc) are also not constitutional 'rights'. They are however (like educators and public schools) necessary for a healthy country and competitive economy.
Education is reserved to the states, and many state constitutions include it as a right.
sure, but if the kids are bad and are keeping others from learning, and they don't want to be there, let them go to work@@hypnokitten6450
well, maybe it's time to change that, or at least put some behavior requirements in place. it's not fair to the rest of the kids who want to learn. other countries don't put up with this.@@Bobrogers99
Many states have a right to an education in their constitution. Depends upon the state.
bring in the national guard I guess, students always joke that schools are just concentration camps, GUNS.
Hire robots
How would you determine which robots will make Great, good, average, bad, or horrible teachers?