Out of the roughly 150 people who attended a community forum last night called “Why Would Anybody Want to be a Teacher Today?” more than half were students from area colleges preparing to enter the tumultuous world of public education.
The forum was put on by Writers & Books and partners.
The data on new teachers and enrollment in college teaching programs is sobering. There is a sharp decline in the number of students who want to go into the field. In California, for example, enrollment in college teaching programs has dropped by more than half over the last five years.
And many students who make their way into the field don’t last beyond five years. The result is a national teaching force that is increasingly new to the field and less experienced in the classroom.
Organizers of the event, one of a series of education-related programs, cited a survey by Metlife measuring job satisfaction. It indicated a 15 point drop in satisfaction among teachers since 2009. Two-thirds of teachers reported seeing layoffs in their school during the last year and 34 percent said that they feel insecure in a field that was once known for its employment stability.
Students and more experienced teachers at last night’s event cited multiple reasons for the trends: too much testing, union busting and pressure to eliminate tenure, societal ills that have fallen on teachers to manage in the classroom, and a general societal resistance to address growing poverty and income inequality in the US.
The negative influence of corporations and wealthy individuals who seek to privatize public education and a general mistrust of government are also factors.
But the central question, “Why become a teacher?” illustrates a core difference between those who promote education reform and those who are against it. Many people last night described teaching as a calling. Teachers need to be nurturers and love their students, some said. And the ability to help people better their own lives, as well as equip them to address world problems is a noble cause.
But reformers frequently see teaching through a different lens. They often describe teaching in consumer marketing terms: achievement, competition, and performance values. They often cite the per student costs of education compared to tangible results, and they defend practices that try to offer incentives for those results, such as merit pay for teachers.
Some people at last night’s meeting talked about mounting some kind of state and national push-back on the reform movement. But one rather timely question that wasn’t asked: How many people in the room voted during Tuesday night’s election?
The answer would have been insightful. Though it’s hard not to appreciate the idealism many expressed last night, teachers are caught in a difficult position. Longtime alliances with Democrats are less fruitful. It’s been at the behest of a Democratic president and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that reformers have received some of their most ardent support.
Before changing the world, many of these young teachers will have to change the politics of education. Changing the world might be easier.
This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2014.
I can’t think of when I have read more nonsense in an article. Do you really thnk that college students hope to go into education in order to become Union members and get tenure? Are you joking? I think they like children and hope to be able to make a difference in some lives for the better. The status quo, which includes unions, prevents them from making improvements. Charter schools are not a panacea, but they do offer the opportunity for many to actually help. And they reward success, not mediocrity.
I think you need to read it again. A close reading. The article didn’t say that college kids are going into teaching because of tenure and unions. It DID say that union busting and lack of tenure (which is only the right to due process) are some of the factors causing dissatisfaction for teachers. Teaching is an art, not only teaching the content ateas but being able to do so to 30 or more kids who learn differently than each other, dealing with the physical, developmental and emotional state of each child, as well as the lack of respect and constantly having to do more with less. The problem is even greater than the article describes. 50% of new teachers quit after their first year because they can’t do a superhuman job the reformers want. It’s not a career for the faint hearted. We do much more than just spout information. Spend an entire day with a teacher and see how hard they work.
“lack of tenure (which is only the right to due process)”
Excuse me, due process is a right that all citizens enjoy, codified in the constitution in the form of the fifth and fourteenth amendments;
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:
[N]or shall any person . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . . .
Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:
[N]or shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . . .
Tenure is not due process, it it a special compensation that means the position that is covered is permanent (barring extreme cases of course) and has *nothing* to do with due process.
Why should any one group of people in any form, have a special protection afforded them on the security of their position? They should not!
One of the tenents of our system of government that was considered fundamental and revolutionary at the tinme of its writing, is that of equality of the law. That is, the law is blind, indeed the icon of the legal profession is Lady Liberty and she is wearing a blindfold for this very reason; all men are equal under the law. Or at least they are supposed to be.
Tenure has nothing whatsoever to do with due process; we all have the right inherent natural right to due process.
Tenure is a benefit bestowed on this privliged class, this is a thing that we in the private sector do not have and for that matter would be irresponsible and destructive.
In the private sector you are judged by your abilities and your accomplishments. If you fail, if you are unable to perform the duties of your position, you are eventually removed from that position and replaced with someone who is.
This is as it should be! This system promotes excellence and individual accountability. These things are good for the economy, as people who are incompetent and quickly removed – that is they are recognized for thier failure. On the other hand those who are competent and excell are also rewarded, with greater responsibility and compensation. This is the free market in a microcosm.
Tenure is just another statist manipulation of the mechanisms of the free market, which as we know when the government gets involved in a thing, that thing quickly is quickly degraded in effeciency, waste and graft.
Be Aware! To top off all of this discussion we have to remember that the job of these teachers and administrators is to mentor and guide our children, one of the most important jobs in all of our society. This is a great responsibility and deserves excellence in all levels. Tenure promotes incompetence and failure, why would we as society accept such a proposition? It makes no sense whatsoever.
Due process indeed. The writer of this seems to not understand the basic and inviolable rules of the free market, the constitution and simple human nature.
I have a strong feeling that this writer is perhaps a teacher, or an administrator, or at the very least a union representative as these are the people who advocate most strongly for tenure. Hey, if I could get my job – paycheck and pension guaranteed, regardless of my performance or ability, I might be a strong advocate of tenure as well. That is, of course if I was able to ignore my stong belief in equality of the law and the needs of our society to embrace the free market and excellence in human potential, which I could never do.
” societal ills that have fallen on teachers to manage in the classroom, and a general societal resistance to address growing poverty and income inequality in the US “.
Finally…someone understands the problems that new and ” experienced ” teachers face in the Rochester City School District. I have spoken to many teachers that say ” my kids are out of control and there is nothing I can do about it “. I try but the parent does not give a damn…so why should I after trying so hard “.
If anyone is going to have children and send them to any public or private school anywhere in Rochester / Monroe County please make sure you understand that it is expensive to raise a child and your first responsibility is to educate your children on proper behavior as well as living a relatively moral life in school…spend time with your children and help them with their homework . Go to parent / teacher conferences and if your child has some issues then it is your responsibility to get your child help…not the teacher’s unless it involves only learning. Seems like common sense to me but not to some parent(s).