If you haven’t noticed, there is a teacher shortage.  Everywhere.  Students getting out of college with majors in education should have their pick of jobs anywhere in the country.  People without majors in education can get jobs teaching in some states.  If you are willing to work with rooms full of various aged children for a majority of your waking hours and then spend more time preparing to do it all over again the next day, this job is for you!

In what other profession can you be expected to pay to be an intern where you eventually do all of the work while the person who actually gets paid with the certification sits and watches you?  Then, once you get that first job, you have to wait until October of the school year to get your first pay check.  Meaning you might have to work a second job during the summer between going to mandated meetings so you can afford to live the first couple of months of the school year.

And speaking of pay, you will only be contracted to work 180 days per year because you get your summers off, lucky you – except for those mandated meetings, so what the district will do is take what you make during those 180 days and stretch it over a year so you actually get paid each month.  What a deal!  I’ve been very fortunate to teach in a district that pays pretty well, but you have to be sure to check out what that district has decided your education and experience is worth before you sign that contract.  I heard a future teacher say that we don’t do this for the money while smiling through her mask, which she may have to wear for 7-8 hours per day at the rate we’re going.  She may not be smiling after that first year of not doing it for the money.

Everything is given to you to teach exactly what the school/district wants you to teach, sometimes scripted to the very words you need to say to the students to make sure that every student gets exactly the same education, even though the children are all different.  Creativity, intuition, knowledge of children is not necessary when you’re being told exactly how to teach by just about everyone.  The district, administration, teacher leaders, parents all have something to say about how children are educated.  Despite your work to earn a 4 year degree (or more) and become a professional at your craft, nobody is going to trust you to do your job because we all know teachers have personal agendas.  It’s why they got into teaching after all.  I just keep thinking about that enthusiastic future teacher who has no idea what she’s gotten into.

Teachers have become pawns in a political game, they’re the reason our students are brainwashed, the reason they’ve lost learning, the reason they change genders, the reason they become bullies or violent.  As a teacher you’re expected to cure all of societies ills, but not overstep you bounds, develop relationships with students, but not get too involved, teach without bringing any of your own personality into it.  You’ll have to take into account every little difference in every student you teach, even if you only see them once every 4-5 days, even if you have 500 or more students.  At one time I taught 800 students at two different schools.

It blows my mind that while the world reeled from a pandemic, teachers made it work, teaching both in person and virtually, paying attention to students in their classrooms and on their screens.  I watched those screens while observing teachers doing what was being asked of them.  Trying to maintain behavior management and learning in their physical classrooms while watching kids on their screens get up and get blankets to lay down on their sofas, learning in their pajamas, getting up to get food and drinks, playing games all while they were supposed to be attending class and learning, with no parent in sight.  I watched while it seemed the world was finally beginning to understand just how amazing teachers were and again when somehow everyone decided teachers were the enemy, ruining their children and this country. 

Teachers are neither devils nor saints, but would love to be taken seriously as the professionals they are.  By everyone.  By anyone.  And we wonder why there is a teacher shortage.  The shortage that research told us was coming and we ignored.  A shortage caused by teachers who are retiring earlier than they intended because they just can’t deal with the unrealistic expectations from people who don’t have a clue and the disrespect from everyone who thinks they understand education just because they spent some time in a classroom.  Young teachers who are leaving in droves because this is not at all what they thought they were getting into and who can make more money and get more respect doing just about anything else. High school students who would NEVER consider becoming a teacher because of all the reasons just mentioned and parents who dissuade them. Why would you ever want to be in education?

I’m getting close to my second year out of the classroom and I’ll tell you why you would ever want to be in education.  It’s because of the kids.  It’s just that simple.  The rest of it is nonsense.  I asked a couple of teachers the other day what the best part of teaching was and they answered in unison “when the lightbulb goes on”.  Great teachers love to help kids learn how to learn and love it when that lightbulb goes on.  They love getting kids excited about learning something new, helping them feel they’ve accomplished something, showing them they can do more than they ever thought they could do.   It’s beyond exhausting.  And in the past, totally worth the exhaustion because teachers knew that the bottom line was the student.  I miss teaching because I miss the kids.  Period.

But for everything, there eventually has be the line in the sand, the straw that breaks the camel’s back and ladies and gentlemen, congratulations, we’ve done it.  We’ve pushed teachers to the edge and they’re saying goodbye.  In droves.  And all of these people who have complained, bullied, disrespected and demoralized these teachers are going to find out what it feels like because they’ll get to do what they asked for. They’ll be responsible for the education of our young people.  And as for the quality of education – well, imagine a doctor or lawyer practicing without a license, people building things without training in engineering.  You get the idea.  

To our legislatures, political leaders and parent groups, please help.  Support and encourage our teachers instead of tying their hands or assuming the worst.  Trust their training, trust their love for the art of teaching and trust them to do their best for students.  Before everyone is asking, why would I ever want to be a teacher?