A Warning to Young People: Don't Become a Teacher

[theguru]

That being said, if I were 18 years old and deciding how I want to spend my adult years, the last thing I would want to become is a classroom teacher.

 

Classroom teachers, especially those who are just out of college and entering the profession, are more stressed and less valued than at any previous time in our history.

 

They have to listen to a long list of politicians who belittle their ability, blame them for every student whose grades do not reach arbitrary standards, and want to take away every fringe benefit they have -- everything from the possibility of achieving tenure to receiving a decent pension.

 

Randy Turner: A Warning to Young People: Don't Become a Teacher

[theguru]

Agree or Disagree? And what is the future of this important profession?

[kyyank]

I think that is more a product of local governments. I would assume in inner-city schools and rural, poor areas, the struggle is to pass the kids, teach to a number. There is a separate set of issues with upper middle class and above school systems. Parental involvement makes some things stressful.

Pensions are a terrible reason to get into any profession. Inevitably, they will go away. They are unsustainable. Pensions used to make up for poor pay. Teachers pay, while not great, is fine. Like any job, it increases with experience. Unlike most jobs, their pay never really tops out for doing the same job. Rare is it that a teacher is capped, unlike in the private sector.

[John Anthony]

Unless you want to coach football!

[Bluegrasscard]

Agree with the comments above.

 

A couple of things caught me in the article.

 

Tenure? For high school or primary teachers? Did not know that that existed. Why tenure? It is a function that no other profession really has and it is used in colleges to supposedly provide more freedom to proven professors.

 

The concern of non-teachers becoming teachers without having to get a teaching degree was interesting. If I have a masters of mathematics and a school needs math teachers at the high school level why would this not be encouraged? To teach at the high school level where the subject matter is critical more important than 'development' of students why is this such heartburn to him?

[BIGZIG]

Tenure? For high school or primary teachers? Did not know that that existed. Why tenure? It is a function that no other profession really has and it is used in colleges to supposedly provide more freedom to proven professors.

 

 

I never have been a supporter of tenure and I continue to wonder how teachers are able to recieve tenure after just like 4 years of teaching. Absolutely ridiculous.

[SSC]

Tenure? For high school or primary teachers? Did not know that that existed. Why tenure? It is a function that no other profession really has and it is used in colleges to supposedly provide more freedom to proven professors.

 

 

I never have been a supporter of tenure and I continue to wonder how teachers are able to recieve tenure after just like 4 years of teaching. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

They get tenured so that schools don't fire good teachers after 15 years for no reason other than taking a cheaper one right out of college. I would guess less than 5% of teachers take advantage of the tenure rules.

[FC]

Agree. The prospect of earning below median income while being judged on standardized test scores from students who many of which have little to no parenting at home is not an occupation that rates high on the list. Regardless of the pay, if academics and discipline isn’t stressed at home, then there’s going to be problems in our schools, particularly our public schools. I looked into becoming a teacher a few years ago when I was contemplating what to do after the military. The pay was 25% - 50% less than what I could make with other opportunities and the two teachers I talked to said don’t do it. My wife drives a school bus and the behavior she puts up with on a daily basis is awful.

[Bulldog_Chem]

99% of the time I stick to just reading the threads, but I just cant leave this one alone. I've been a classroom teacher and high school basketball coach for 12 years and I WOULD NEVER recommend education to any of my students as a possible career path. My son will be a freshman at the University of Cincinnati next fall and when he mentioned wanting to go into education and coach I nearly came un-glued.

 

We are grossly underpaid, we get zero respect from parents, politicians, or even community members, and the standardized tests that we are measured on are a statistical joke. In response to BigZig's comment about tenure...I work 60-70 hour weeks (closer to 100 hours during basketball season), I'm required to spend time on my own attending professional development conferences and I've worked with some of them most incompetent administrators in the state. I good sir have earned that tenure. I suggest you teach one year in a local school before you criticize a policy that the teacher's union has fought for and earned.

 

As perspective I teach in a very middle class high school with relatively good parent support and a low rate of poverty. I can't and don't want to imagine what teachers in extreme urban or extreme rural schools have to put up with.

[ErnestTBass]

99% of the time I stick to just reading the threads, but I just cant leave this one alone. I've been a classroom teacher and high school basketball coach for 12 years and I WOULD NEVER recommend education to any of my students as a possible career path. My son will be a freshman at the University of Cincinnati next fall and when he mentioned wanting to go into education and coach I nearly came un-glued.

 

We are grossly underpaid, we get zero respect from parents, politicians, or even community members, and the standardized tests that we are measured on are a statistical joke. In response to BigZig's comment about tenure...I work 60-70 hour weeks (closer to 100 hours during basketball season), I'm required to spend time on my own attending professional development conferences and I've worked with some of them most incompetent administrators in the state. I good sir have earned that tenure. I suggest you teach one year in a local school before you criticize a policy that the teacher's union has fought for and earned.

 

As perspective I teach in a very middle class high school with relatively good parent support and a low rate of poverty. I can't and don't want to imagine what teachers in extreme urban or extreme rural schools have to put up with.

 

Very good post!!

[Getslow]

The concern of non-teachers becoming teachers without having to get a teaching degree was interesting. If I have a masters of mathematics and a school needs math teachers at the high school level why would this not be encouraged? To teach at the high school level where the subject matter is critical more important than 'development' of students why is this such heartburn to him?

 

I agree. And it's been my experience that the shortages have been in finding knowledgeable teachers with degrees in those fields, not a shortage of people with teaching degrees.

[TheDeuce]

The only reason I would ever consider teaching is to coach. And if it hasn't been made possible already, I could see a scenario in the future where it isn't required to teach to coach.

[Habib]

How does tenure work for K-12?

[Randy Parker]

How does tenure work for K-12?

 

In Kentucky, I think teachers get tenure after four years of teaching. After the fifth year, I think that tenure transfers anywhere should the teacher go to another system. Pretty sure that's how it worked with my wife.

[Habib]

In Kentucky, I think teachers get tenure after four years of teaching. After the fifth year, I think that tenure transfers anywhere should the teacher go to another system. Pretty sure that's how it worked with my wife.

 

Thanks. And tenure entails being more difficult to remove? I assume that means a teacher could be fired for any reason prior to tenure, then after tenure it must be with cause or something to that effect? I know it's something that gets debated constantly, but I'm curious exactly what the mechanisms are.