We Need a Teaching Force!

This revised essay has become far more imperative now that the most recent study has been done on teacher experience. The study concluded that in 1988 a typical teacher had 15 years of experience; today that number has been reduced to 3 years!

In many ways teaching is a relay race as one generation of teachers passes the baton to the next. The faster the baton is passed the faster the mentor teacher can get the young protégé ‘up to speed.’

A lot has been made by my Baby Boomer colleagues that we were the first generation (“post the Korean War,”) that embraced teaching as a ‘lifestyle choice’. And with that push, the commitment to excellence and innovation in teaching evolved. No doubt, the children of the Baby Boom made an impact on the lives of new ‘g-g-g-generations’ who fell under their wing.

I had the pleasure of teaching dozens of would-be-teachers who are alumni of my English classes, and I emphasized that they bring something every teacher must have when they walk into a classroom — compassion. Each has had to run hard and fast, often facing hurdles that our generation did not have to leap.

Unfortunately, factors besides the many hoops that these young people have to jump just to get the teaching profession. The financial cost/ benefit of teaching is laughable. Students leave college with, not a money on their back, but rather, a King Kong. “Student loan debt in the U.S. reached another all-time high of $1.4 trillion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2019, according to Experian data. That’s an increase of 116% in 10 years and represents one of the country’s most significant and widespread financial burdens to date.”

As for a typical Bachelor Of Arts degree, students rack up $16,000 of debt. That does not count the year that it takes to earn a teaching degree — time that often requires a student to work without any pay (or work in the evenings to survive). 

Once these teachers are placed in the classroom, they have a terrible turnover rate. 50% of them quit after five years. And that number is even more striking when one considers how few are even taking the plunge (understandably) to go into the profession.

Once then are past the five year mark the National Average for teacher salaries is abysmal. As of August of 2019: “Nationwide, the average public school teacher salary for the 2017–2018 school year was $60,483, according to data from the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.” What a statistic like this does not indicate is that opening salaries are often as low as $45,000 (Oklahoma, South Dakota and Arizona where shortages are dire); these averages do not take into account how many years it takes to move up to just the average. 

As for ‘keeping up with inflation’ as they say in New Jersey — “For get about it.” According to the Washington Post in 2018: “…some states seeing big drops in average salaries. Colorado, for example, which is having a serious teacher shortage, saw a 15 percent decline in average teachers salaries from 1969–2017….”. That amounts to a Rocky Mountain low.

What to do what to do? First, on the agenda is the removal of a Trump administration that abhors public schools. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose only qualification for this post was being a rich donor to Trump’s campaign, said recently: “Government has never made anything better or cheaper. more effective or more efficient. And nowhere is that more true than latest in education.” 

This statement is a gut punch to all those great public colleges, schools, and the teachers and professors that sacrifice less pay for more fulfillment. Of course, she speaks from absolutely no peresonal experience either as a teacher or having her children attend even one day in a public school. Trump and Co. have no vested interest in anything ‘public.’ 

Next, America needs to invest in its children and those teachers. Study after study concludes the same thing: the teacher is the single most important factor that creates success in a classroom. Not the computer. Not the textbook. Not the online impersonal technology. All those things are just the tools of the trade. It is the teacher that is the artist, the motivator, the counselor, the leader and the coach — sometimes all those jobs on a Thursday. 181 days a year. And America wants it done on the cheap…but not for much longer.

To add insult to injury, many thousands of teachers signed up for a program that asked for a ten year commitment, and after that commitment ended, they would have their debt forgiven. Scores of reports are indicating that the federal government is now reneging on the deal. Talk about getting screwed and being disgusted by an administration that shows utter disrespect to these public servants.

Yes, the climate crisis is the most existential issue the world faces, but without this nation’s new generation of children becoming educated and literate, this nation, dare I say the leader of the free world, will continue to be bamboozled by those foolish enough to perpetuate the idea that the global warming is a hoax. Our children will have to have the critical thinking skills and work effort, not to mention grit, that it will take to sift through the disinformation and disregard for the facts — pure and simple.

This will take time and political courage. The votes it will take to raise taxes or make cutbacks in the military industrial economy may cost political careers. It is not the moon or mars we should be shooting for with the insane Space Force — not today, not for the next decade. It’s a Teaching Force that this nation needs right now ASAP. 

So here’s to the runners, those noble teachers, who grab the baton and head to the finish line — even though it is more a marathon than a sprint. We owe tem more than our gratitude. 

ps. I am always willing, like many, many of my retired colleagues to jump in and make a ‘guest appearance.’ All they need to do is ask.