With Turnover High, Schools Fight for Teachers

With Turnover High, Schools Fight for Teachers

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The retirement of thousands of baby boomer teachers coupled with the departure of younger teachers frustrated by the stress of working in low-performing schools is fueling a crisis in teacher turnover that is costing school districts substantial amounts of money as they scramble to fill their ranks for the fall term.


Bruce R. Feeley for The New York Times
Rebecca Rheinheimer, a teacher at Oak Hill Elementary in High Point, N.C., was lured from Indiana by a $2,500 bonus.
Superintendents and recruiters across the nation say the challenge of putting a qualified teacher in every classroom is heightened in subjects like math and science and is a particular struggle in high-poverty schools, where the turnover is highest. Thousands of classes in such schools have opened with substitute teachers in recent years.

Cops and teachers... you get what you pay for.
I taught public school, before teaching community college, for less than a year.... things are better now than they were when I did it, but I still would not do it for what they pay.
It is a JOKE.
Blaming teachers for the system is crazy.
Garbage men and women are paid better and get better benefits than teachers (they are where they should be, I am saying the teacher's union is corrupt and broken) and people wonder why we can't get devoted, focused outstanding individuals in numbers to teach our kids?
Those people are idiots.
We deserve what we get and WE are DOING this to our kids.

Raise pay and benefits, more and better people will want the jobs and you can ask more of them as far as education, hours, devotion, etc.
It IS that simple.
See what administrators get paid compared to teachers in your area and then you will SEE clearly what the problem is.

[Clodfobble]

About two or three years ago, Texas implemented a policy that anyone with a bachelor's degree in the appropriate topic could with very little effort become certified to teach that topic in high schools, without actually going through the typical multi-year University course accreditation. This helped lessen the shortage tremendously.

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and two aunts are all teachers, and they were all vehemently against this legislation when it came out. Basically to them it amounted to being told that they had no special skill at their jobs, anyone off the street could do it. The difference, as I tried to explain to them, is that they all teach elementary school and younger. A kindergarten teacher can reasonably be expected to need various classes in child psychology, developmental processes, etc. A high school teacher, however, does not. Sure, it's nice to have that sort of preparation, but high schools today have much more important problems to focus on.

I definitely agree that raising pay would help, but only to a certain degree--private schools typically pay teachers less than public schools, and yet are harder to get jobs in, because those jobs are inherently more desirable to the teachers. Students have to improve to allow the teachers to improve to help the students improve... I think we should seriously consider the concept of vocational schools as an alternative to high schools for those students who would find that environment more appropriate. Section off the kids who don't care and the ones that remain will be able to get a much better education.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

The difference, as I tried to explain to them, is that they all teach elementary school and younger. A kindergarten teacher can reasonably be expected to need various classes in child psychology, developmental processes, etc. A high school teacher, however, does not. Sure, it's nice to have that sort of preparation, but high schools today have much more important problems to focus on.

I'm not a teacher, or even play one on TV, but it seems to me that high school hormone factories would require teachers with all those extra skills.
At least from memory (ok, looong memory) and from what I see on the news, discipline was, and has become, a major problem in high and Jr high schools. They not only need the extra training but hand to hand combat skills, as well.

In this area, teachers had fallen behind the inflation curve in the 70s but they doubled their pay over a ten year period in the 80s/90s. After a few years, with a masters, $60/$75k and retire at 55 with 85% pay, is not exactly slave wages.

I also agree with that.
Disruptive students need to be removed from classes of students that want to learn.

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

Disruptive students need to be removed from classes of students that want to learn.

w-w-what???? I thought they just needed to be "educated" Weren't you touting that in the spanking thread?? Why is it different here?

[Griff]

Put away the broad brush. Education is still mostly a state and local issue despite the Bush/Kennedy disaster. Florida is not New York.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Griff

Put away the broad brush. Education is still mostly a state and local issue despite the Bush/Kennedy disaster. Florida is not New York.

Apple turnover UT? I like blueberry best.

[dar512]

You also have to differentiate between grade school and high school teachers. High school teachers are paid more.

Originally Posted by yesman065

w-w-what???? I thought they just needed to be "educated" Weren't you touting that in the spanking thread?? Why is it different here?

I missed the part where I stated that we needed to hit them, please point that out.
I see where Bruce gets what he does about your reading skills.

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

The days of the downtrodden underpaid teachers have been over for some time.

That's why you want the job so badly.

[Shawnee123]

Huh? Did someone say something pertinent? I didn't think so.

I know someone who went to Turnover High. Most of them were of Dutch descent, i.e. Danish. They had a killer cafeteria. Naturally, Culinary Arts were big in the Vocational School. But, those sons of biscuits had three months off every summer...got paid for a full year! Most of the families had a lot of dough, but the kids were a bunch of pale pastry pansy-asses. So many of them went on to become teachers, then actors, then firemen, then astronauts, then ditch diggers, then microbiologists, then dog walkers, then shoemakers, then astronomers, then truck drivers, then electrical engineers, then ambassadors, then butlers, then tailors.

[smurfalicious]

Well, if just one day could go by without yet another story about such-and-such teacher fucking such-and-such student(s)...

Clearly the skills they need include keeping their hands to themselves and concentrating on the curriculum.

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

I see where Bruce gets what he does about your reading skills.

I'll disregard the first comment of your post since you adressed it later in another, but when the hell has Bruce EVER said anything about my reading skills? ever???

Please cite.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Damifino?
All I said is you're ugly.

[roost]

Originally Posted by yesman065

w-w-what???? I thought they just needed to be "educated" Weren't you touting that in the spanking thread?? Why is it different here?

You are both right in your own way.
It really depends on the needs of the child.
My Son has Impulse Control Disorder, which is not understood in the medical community, so how could it be understood in the class room.
Autistics are starting to get their own classes now, but a school could not focus on all disorders that exist.
At the same token, special education classrooms are being filled with children whom are in an infintile stage. Why are we paying for babysitters in an educational facility, but it is mandatory to be provided.
Some teachers simply need more instruction to deal with behavioral disorders, but currently the focus is on ADD/HD.

In public school my Son was developing violent habbits.
Now his KG teacher was unopen to new ideas so he was pulled and kept home for a year to undevelop those habbits.
He was placed in first gr. at a different school, and his teacher was great, but he was too distracted by the social aspect and lost interest in learning.
Now we use virtual school, and he completed 2 grades last year and is currently in 4th at age 8. He enjoys learning and we are able to help develop his social skills, while improving upon his academics and his refound love of learning.

As for school funding, what ever happened to fundraisers.
We always had fund raisers while I attended school.
And some problems go right to the communities unwillingness to pay higher taxes.
In 1800s the community that used a school payed for the school

[wolf]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

With Turnover High, Schools Fight for Teachers


Cops and teachers... you get what you pay for.
I taught public school, before teaching community college, for less than a year.... things are better now than they were when I did it, but I still would not do it for what they pay.
It is a JOKE.

You were clearly living in the wrong state ... average here is $52K, with a lot of teachers making well above the mean ... and that's just base salary, and doesn't take into account the extra money for doing stuff like being a club advisor, sports coach, or whatever. Might not be superfantastic by business world standards, but it's not the pittance that teachers once were paid ... I got out of an education program in college because the expected pay was around $18K at that time.