Okay, here me out on this one. First of all, teachers are fantastic. Until you step into a classroom and teach a room full of students, you really don’t understand the value of our teachers. They educate, babysit, and counsel our youth despite continued barriers being placed by local, state, and federal governments. Because of these added barriers and seemingly lack of support, teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers. An even greater cause of concern is the lack of students entering the teaching field and enrolling in a teacher preparation program at four year institutions. It’s bad now, but wait to see what happens in five to ten years. Why five to ten years? The answer to that is rooted into something that took place about twenty years ago.
As a professional that has spent the last two decades in public education, I’ve seen the change. However, to understand the why, we need to go back to the start of the problem. Let’s take a deeper dive.
For the greater part of the 20th century, teaching was a position of respect. Yes, there have always been students that were more difficult than others, students with disabilities, and teachers that just were not very good. That has not changed. However, the teachers’ decisions were respected and more often than not, not questioned. The principals of the schools were respected leaders and students feared any trips to the office. These principals were not “highly trained” doctors that we now too frequently see. They were former teachers that were good at their job and excited to take on leadership roles. Unfortunately, this all began to change in the 90’s and early 2000’s.
As attending four year college became mainstream for graduating high school students, more began entering the teaching field. Teacher certification programs were at an all time high, making it very difficult to find a job in some states when it was time to graduate. With this demand, there became a shift in pay. Many of the more affluent schools increased their starting pay substantially to attract the “best” teachers available. The teachers’ unions fought for better pay and understandably. Teachers were underpaid for many years and what better way to attract the most qualified candidates. The perception of teachers now began to shift. No longer were teachers viewed as generous public servants, but rather as well paid professionals open to scrutiny. The classic, "I pay your salary" conversation from tax payers became way too common. Despite the shift in attitude, teacher certification programs maintained their high numbers in the early 2000’s.
Now this is where it started to shift and go downhill. With the potential of making six figure incomes in some states and districts, many students entered the field. The individuals that at one time began teaching because they enjoyed working with students, were now being replaced by individuals looking for jobs that paid well, had good benefits, and had a retirement plan. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of great teachers still entered the field at this time, but many not so great ones also entered the game. These subpar teachers looked fantastic on paper with above average grades and references. They were then able to pass the eye test to get their feet in the door.
So, we now enter the 21st century and now have to deal with all these teachers. Many of the teachers that should have never been teachers in the first place leave the profession. Some may have taught for a few years and realized they entered the wrong field and pivoted in a different direction. Now the others…the ones that had no other place to go. They were either very poor at teaching or just couldn’t deal with students. Regardless of the reason, they needed to do something. The only logical move was up into the administrator side of things, i.e. principal/supervisor. In many states, all they needed was two or three years of teaching, so that’s what they did. At this point, schools are losing their not so great teachers, but gaining them as administrators. Not good… What also began to occur in the mid 2000’s? Did you say, “online classes”? If so, that is correct. Now, these teachers wanting to get out had an even easier exit.
College and Universities saw this new opportunity and were eager to cash in on the online format. Not only were graduate programs moved online, but certification programs became readily available and were often paid for by the employer. Now, everytime you turned around in the mid 2000’s, someone else was getting their MBA or attending graduate school. Everyone was getting their master’s degree or next certification. The distinction was now getting watered down. Personally, my father obtained his master’s degree in the 80’s by attending night school and weekend classes. True family sacrifices were made for higher education. Not saying that effort wasn’t put in for these 21st century degrees, but it isn’t the same.
So enter the 2010’s…we now have many teachers with principal certifications, so what is next? Superintendent? Great idea. Now, the teacher that wasn’t very good at teaching, got a principal certification, is now going to lead a district. Fantastic. Remember, many states only require a couple years of teaching before moving up the administrator chain. It’s really hard to understand your teachers and students when you barely got your feet wet in the field, yet they are making educational decisions.
Since we know colleges and universities enjoy profits, let’s give these principals and superintendents something else to work on. Let’s add a doctor prefix to their name. Now the last time I checked, the majority of CEOs and presidents of billion dollar companies do not hold doctorates. No, these leaders earned their growth through success and performance. Yet, the educational system feels the need to often empower individuals that were not very good at what they did and truly don’t understand the field they are charged to lead. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve worked with many great administrators, but they are the minority. In my experience, maybe 2 out of 10 are good leaders. The remaining ones are often data and paper pushers since that’s all they can relate with. Their people skills are limited and students often have a hard time looking up to or respecting the other 80%. Additionally, many of these leaders go on to teach at the college level creating headaches for all future educators and also serve as consultants for our educational system.
It seems that education is in a bit of a conundrum. Teachers are leaving the field at an alarming pace and teacher preparation programs are having record low enrollment. Educators are fed up with poor administration and leadership. Special education teachers are burnt out paper pushers forced to do the impossible. The support and love for educators and staff during COVID was overwhelming, but that feeling quickly dissipated and is all about gone.
Twenty or so years ago, teachers fought for better pay. They were overworked, underpaid but valued by the community. Many states and counties improved the salaries of teachers and support staff, but now we’re stuck with the effects of those pay increases. Many now believe teachers make too much, especially since they “don’t work in the summer”. The respect is slowly waning, but the teachers still take verbal attacks from parents and students with little support from administration. Teachers continue to put on their happy face, but are defeated behind the scene.
Teachers and the involved unions fought for so much.Yes, pay and benefits have increased for many, but was it really worth the sacrifice? Personally, I’ll take a 5th grade teacher with twenty years teaching experience as a principal over the doctoral candidate that was a science teacher for three. It’s time education takes a page from the business world and starts hiring the best at what they do. Once the schools start ignoring the prefixes and hire those that understand the system in every way, the culture within the schools will begin to shift. Until that happens, the youth of America will just continue to be affected.
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