Teachers were a huge part of the Great Resignation. You’ve probably seen think pieces like this one about why teachers are quitting in record numbers. These are not new issues, but they are looming larger instead of getting resolved. The pandemic may have heightened these issues, but it certainly did not create them.
Teachers are quitting because of inadequate pay, unrealistic expectations, and lack of support. Most people are well-aware of these issues. But there’s not much talk about real solutions.
The system needs a massive overhaul. Until that happens, we are just putting band-aids on a massive heart attack. It shows. The education system is flatlining. The needed solutions are extensive, but they are not impossible. The alternative of staying on the current path we’re on will be far more costly for us all.
Start Paying Teachers a Living Wage Now
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reports that teacher wages have pretty much remained stagnant for 25 years. This is not true for similarly yoked college graduates in other professions. Some might counter that teachers have pretty sweet benefits, but the EPI also found that these have not been substantial enough to overcome the growing wage penalty of being an educator.
Teachers need living wages now.
Too many teachers have to face the difficult choice of going without or working a second job despite growing (and increasingly unrealistic) demands in the classroom.
Some may say that there isn’t enough money in education to resolve the teacher pay issue. While public education definitely needs more funding, somehow there is enough money to:
- Buy jewelry for high school football coaches’ wives.
- Rent a luxury bus for football players not to get rained on during a parade.
- Pay school superintendents six times what the average teacher in his school district makes.
- Spend over a billion dollars (nationwide) on standardized testing every year.
- Spend millions constantly purchasing new textbooks and curriculums (that teachers don’t even usually need or want).
These examples are not hypothetical. They are all things I’ve witnessed firsthand as a teacher. While these cases are anecdotal, any teacher could probably rattle off multiple ways money is squandered in any given district.
We need to prioritize paying educators or we cannot expect people to continue to volunteer for this financial abuse.
Stop Blaming Teachers for Everything
failing students
behavior issues
dissatisfied parents
Well, you might say a teacher’s job is to ensure student success, deal with behavior issues, and address parent concerns. You’re not wrong.
To an extent, but…
Students’ basic physical and social emotional needs must be met before they can learn or thrive in a classroom. Unfortunately, teachers have zero control over what happens in students’ lives outside the classroom.
We have students that come to us every day that are abused, homeless, hungry, and more. And we’re expected to work miracles. Amazingly, we often do. But still, it’s common for a punitive, blaming response when we can’t overcome near impossible circumstances.
How are you falling short?
What are you not doing for this child?
It really is a slap in the face to teachers who are already bending over backwards for their students in the face of impossible demands and inadequate supports.
We don’t blame dentists for patients having cavities. We don’t blame doctors for patients having heart attacks.
We cannot hold teachers accountable for children’s learning until we address the underlying problems that prevent it.
Yes, expectations should be high. But they must also be realistic. We have to start viewing and dealing with students’ needs holistically. We also have to be honest about what one professional in an overcrowded classroom of students with varying needs can accomplish.
Start Having Realistic Academic Expectations
Lawmakers who make educational decisions must have gotten a memo that unrealistic expectations are the cure-all for the ills of the education system.
They were dead wrong.
Sometimes less is more. If students are not meeting current standards, raising the expectation does nothing but put more strain on them and on teachers. It certainly does not get to the roots of the issues.
My current situation is the perfect example. The breadth of content that’s expected to be covered is mind-boggling. It’s impossible for teachers to have time to prepare for it and impossible for students to truly learn that much material with such limited exposure. Furthermore, the district mandated tests and materials are way above students’ reading levels. Rigor should not mean age-inappropriate.
Start Providing Teachers With Adequate Support Teams Now
The whole one teacher classroom model is not sufficient. It’s setting everyone up to fail. Right now, I have 27 6-year-olds in my classroom. Some are gifted, several speak different languages, and some have special needs and need accommodations. Many have emotional and behavioral issues. Most are reading below grade level.
And one teacher is supposed to get all of these students on grade level in every way? Anyone can see that’s an impossible task.
Schools need adequate support teams that are involved on a daily basis. Not an administrator that pops in and deals with office referrals. Not a counselor that checks in to do lessons and pull students out on occasion.
I’m talking about true support on a daily basis.
- At least one partner teacher to create a realistic workload
- An assistant to take on the countless administrative tasks that a teacher schedule does not allow for
- An interventionist to work with students who are performing below grade level
- A counselor dedicated to a small number of students and classes to work with their social, emotional, and behavioral needs
- An adequate number of administrators to sufficiently deal with discipline issues
Many of these positions do currently exist in schools, but these employees are swamped and overburdened as well. We can’t keep leaving more and more of society’s burdens on schools to solve without investing the money and manpower to make it happen.
Closing Thoughts
There is money in the school system to do better by our children. There is money in the economy. (Just take a look at the military budget for one.)
Teachers are quitting because we are going insane trying to rescue our children and no one is coming to help us. Adequate funding, expectations, support, and respect should be basic tenets of any profession. Especially one that is shaping the future.
We know why teachers are quitting. But what happens now?