Yup

This is true. Most of the teachers I work with are fine with their pay, as low as it is. They love the act of teaching and mentorship. The problem is that they get so much pushback from a widespread culture of anti-intellectualism. I just had a meeting with a parent where I mentioned that their child’s job was to get their school work done. As a child living in America they are protected from having to work in factories and extending the cycle of poverty with the understanding that they will go to and attempt to excel in school. That father who I was talking to said to me “what job? School ain’t no job. What are they [students] being paid?” I replied, barely able to control my anger, “with education”. To which the father responded “that’s nothing.” And that sums up everything that is wrong with America today. We need a JFK-level effort by our political leaders, regardless of where they stand, to galvanize the American public to care about education. The American mythos celebrates the ‘self-made man’ who ‘didn’t need no school’ to succeed. While this may have been true in 1900, and to some degree it is true in 2023, the fact is that money can buy you happiness, but not intellect, a good work ethic, nor general knowledge of how the world works. Understanding Shakespeare is to understand the human condition. To research the genome is to understand the fundamental nature of life. To read history is to understand the causes of modern problems and maybe how to fix them. To solve a trig function is to flex your logical thinking skills and decision making skills so that you can determine whether you are being lied to or not by someone with a fancy chart. Education is the lifeblood of society, especially a democracy. Why are we so committed to poisoning that blood? Any reasonable person in America agrees that education is a must- we may disagree about the particulars, but we all agree that education is important. So why can’t we at least start there and make an effort to change our problematic culture.

@Waleed Khalid The devil is in the details of “disagreeing about the particulars” - for a sizable chunk of the American public, that well has been poisoned. If I can’t teach about climate change in earth science or evolution in biology - because a group of parents has become convinced that my goal is to undermine their worldview or indoctrinate their children, rather than to share with them the best picture of reality we currently have - then I can’t actually do my job. I imagine history teachers and English teachers are in a similar situation.

AMEN!!

​@@waleedkhalid7486one of the best takes on the issue of education I've seen. This comment should be solidified.

8-10 hours a day?

Most teachers work 12 hours a day and on weekends. It’s become a 24/7 job with no freedom for teachers during the school year.

A lot of them leave because the kids are horrible and have no respect.

YES!! The useless Professional Learning meetings that cut into planning at least once a week can certainly go. Also, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I had a co-teacher. We worked so well together that he asked if he could remain my co-teacher for the next year. The answer was no. In spite of being very effective, we were separated and never worked together again.

Admins giving up useless staff meetings? Lol. That is never going to happen, but that would be a start.

I was saying out loud “NO!” when she was talking about lowering the standards. Couldn’t agree more with you

I saw a post for a Connecticut Elem Teacher - No Experience Necessary :0(

There's no money for any of that. Calif. is already around $1 trillion in debt. Chicago Public schools is $25 billion in debt, half of which is unfunded pensions. Do teachers think our elections are fair? Good. Three school funding measures failed in LA after the 2019 teachers' strike, including Prop 15 in 2020.

​@@waverly2468teach your own kids then there will be less people going into the profession.

@@waverly2468 There's no WILL for that. Money for that is sitting in the coffers of those whom we don't tax sufficiently. Money is sitting in police stations as tanks and armor to contend with the criminality that results when you don't invest in education and other quality of life factors for your citizens. The money is there. The WILL is what is missing.

@@DamascusHarris Rich people pay more than their fair share at the state and local level. Calif gets most of its tax from rich people and Silicon Valley. David Tepper is a rich guy who pays Connecticut $100 million a year in state tax. The state went into a panic when he left to live in Fl. for a while. You can look up the balance sheet of any state or city oniine. Chicago, for example, has $15 billion cash and $70 billion debts and unfunded pension liabilities. And BTW, when states have budget problems, they cut education first. It's a big target and it's easy to cut. It's harder to cut pensions for police and firemen.

@@waverly2468 Brandon, just raise property tax to increase funding for CPS, but nothing is going to improve, as long as you have, students and parents that don't care. Additionally, the principals, in most instances, leave a lot to be desired.

And now in Virginia, where the first grade Newport News teacher was shot by her six year old student, the district is claiming getting shot is now an "expected workplace hazard". They're arguing it's a workmen's comp issue. They're using this argument against her in a law suit she filed against the district for liability/medical care coverage since they'd ignored her warnings and pleas for help. So yeah, one of many last straws for this teacher.

edTPA is why I quit. I was halfway through that final semester and they put me in a school with 35+ kid classrooms and extreme violence and emotional problems... then said NOW DO THE EDTPA! Like I was going to get the footage I needed for something like that from kids that wouldn't do a simple worksheet unless you walked them through it step by step. Absolute nightmare... switched to straight English and never looked back.

I remember that too. After hours of prep and writing workshops, the eliminated the entire series of CERT requirements. Now I know why people work as baristas and hotel concierge, its what makes you happy.

It’s all of the above.

Best comment, @pamelaclark909

@@worldobserver3515 I agree 1000%

Tons of people want to teach but can’t pass praxis how is that a bad idea

@@deandreray3500Because “wanting to teach” isn’t enough. American children deserve the best.

@@GonzalezKoerber But American children also have to work hard to earn the best. Good teachers are a must. But when the world of education undermines their expertise, authority, and value as people and professionals, then those same good teachers gladly take their business elsewhere, never to return.

@@GonzalezKoerber stay short handed 🙃

Lowered standards have been in place since NCLB became law. There is no such thing as a 90+% graduation rate. Those drop outs now drag everyone down rather than getting a job and learning a life lesson.

I agree that kids and schools need more counselors and more support AND I just learned that there is a 30% reduction in students pursuing their masters degree in social work! The low paying and undervalued professions seem to be in a state of real crisis. I’m a 22 year high school social worker who is returning after a years leave of absence because I was just so burned out. I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it. I asked for part time but admin wouldn’t support it. I don’t have answers but I am really really worried about our educational systems collapsing. So scary to hear about lowering standards of teachers…

@@jenroberts2382 Im sorry to hear that. Its like the lowest wage jobs are the ones we need the most but the current political structure doesn't care to pay or support these jobs until there are no-one left to work them.

This is the truth. I just left early after 25 years & not yet making it to full retirement. I considering switching districts for a different teaching opportunity but would have been knocked down from step 25 to step 9 on the pay scale- a $20K pay-cut. The pensions are no good anymore so why am I still punished for switching districts? It's not a career for the modern world, where people are more transient. I'd rather not have my retirement be used to lock me into one place. There are so many more ridiculous old fashioned rules & expectations teachers have to follow.

All of this. Then, living the lie when we all know there's no such thing as a 90% graduation rate, is enough to make your skin crawl. Low standards, teaching to the test, checking boxes that mean nothing and are touted as success in order to maintain funding and keep a job that sucks beyond compare is the equivalent of selling your soul.

Preach it!!! And the issues that are causing the teacher shortage are getting worse! They just told us 2 weeks ago that we are disaplining the students too much and they want less write ups. The behavior is out of control as is and they keep taking away disciplinary tools because it looks bad on the district.

From your keyboard to my eyes and I 100 percent agree with you. This is why I don't hold out much hope of it happening. I'm 24 years in and I would need at least a 10-15 thousand dollar raise if that happened.

Or teachers that got their masters and doctorate degrees only making 500 dollars a year more than a basic degree...

@@michaelwallace1189 I teach and have a Masters in History. The truth is, a Masters or PHD does not really help anyone teach high school.

@@michaelwallace1189 a doctorate in education is a phony as it gets.

Not to mention that the 10+ years teachers have to be mentors for the newbies-at no additional pay. Veteran teachers also have to be part of the many, many committees that new teachers can't be a part of, because they're new.

Yes, good point!

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

So what industry are you in?

@@sharinaross1865 education.

@@lylyluvda916 you must haven't been in the classroom.

@@sharinaross1865 I was. During school and after school. Since 2015. I only recently took an admin job at the district away from all that.

@@lylyluvda916 so what do you do all day besides sit on a computer?

@MyYami123 I definitely agree

Are you serious? They make you pay for a $12,000 class just to be a sub?

I am sure you do, but maybe not in California. A degree in math makes you very desirable in many states.

Just so you're aware, you'll be asked to teach advanced math (algebra, geometry, advanced algebra) to kids who still count on their fingers and be blamed if they don't learn it. And you'll have to sit through endless meetings where people who either never taught or failed at teaching tell you, vaguely, how to do your impossible job. And then blame you when it fails. Oh, and it'll be a different gimmick every year that you're supposed to implement... and document that you've implemented it, adding hours to your planning and grading time. And if you try to discipline a student (you know, so you can teach the class) they may go off on you, their parent may go off on you, and the principal will take the side of the student and parent every time.

@@twiedenfeld That has not been my experience as a teacher for over 30 years in Alabama. Yes there are bad students, parents and administrators, but the good far outweigh the bad. As for the new gimmicks, sure they crop up. You learn to ignore what you can and wait for it to go away.

Finland hires the best out of college to be teachers, and teachers are respected in Finland. Those two things probably won't be happening in the US.

That might be true but what is also true is that these tests are so easy that anyone who can't pass should not be teaching.

What a ridiculous comment, sabrinaestrada3590. The aim should be to get the brightest teachers possible, not the low-end of IQ curve.

@@worldobserver3515 If you want the brightest you are going to have to pay more taxes.

​@@glennwatson3313yes, it is going to take more money to attract the brightest college graduates. I am ok with that, because our country is at stake.

@@worldobserver3515 I don't think you are. If you want teachers to be at the academic level of say engineers or lawyers you will have to double their pay and keep increasing it over time. I am a teacher. My wife makes nearly three times what I do. The reality is, students in college who plan to be teachers are the lowest performing students on average. If you want the people at the top half of the class to go into teaching you will have to pay them what they could get in the private sector. And even then you would have the change the working conditions. I work at a great school with well behaved students, but many teacher are not as lucky as I am. They are treated terribly from all sides. A person with better options simply will not put up with that level of disrespect.

I a person cannot pass the Praxis then I doubt they could run a French fry machine. That test is very easy.

Teachers can choose to teach at other schools or leave the profession altogether. School Choice does nothing for teachers.

What is the root problem?

I have been teaching in Alabama for over 25 years. I never had to get "recertified." Is that really a thing? All I ever needed was thirty hours of certified education over a five year period, which was easy to get.

@@glennwatson3313 We need 120 hours. I wish it were 30!

@@elizabethdaniels538 How long do you have to get the 120 hours?

Careful! Ask and ye shall receive!

They are quitting. Pay attention. 😂

They are now suspending license...

On it! It's hysterical that people say stuff like "If you don't like the conditions of teaching, then quit," teachers do and then people are like, hey where did all the teachers go? 😄

No!

Right, let do for teaching what we have done for the customer service call industry. That worked out real well. Maybe we could also hire some Nigerian princes to teach.

so it's a privilege of the rich?

@@CesarAnton Calif. has $100 billion unfunded teachers' pensions (CalSTRS). That is not a public good. The University of California alone has around $13 billion in unfunded pension liabilities for its professors. That's partly why tuition at UCLA is $13,000 a year.

​@@waverly2468 fully agree on those particular details, I think I see your point now. Sorry you're statement was a little too broad. What you mention are side effect of having 100% for-profit education system. Education should be a public right like in other developed nations, ideally with 100% free options on all level and with a guaranteed minimum quality regardless of school. Sadly it's impossible under the current system where each school depends on the tax income of the area, creating a gap between public schools on poor areas and rich ones. It's also impossible to have a minimum quality standard using American common core, which was poorly planned and basically set to fail.