This will be a rather short diary, as I am still feeling overwhelmed. Welcome to the next installment on the War on Education. This diary will be framed around trying to account for all of the educators (such as myself) that have gone missing from the ranks of teaching and the teacher colleges. If you think the teacher shortage is bad now, give it about 3-5 years. It will be a huge crisis by then!
Both the number of teachers retained AND the number of prospective teachers has taken a significant dent in the last five years. A trend that started before the pandemic has only accelerated because of it.
Why is this the case though? Join me below the fold to see some of the main reasons.
1) More is being added to our already overfilling plates. People expect teachers to fix all of the ills of society while treating them like a whipping post profession when they inevitably fail. To teach these days is to become a martyr — literally and figuratively.
2) The job has become increasingly dangerous, with threats of violence on the rise. It affects mostly administration, but at least 30% of teachers have catalogued a verbal threat of violence since the pandemic started. The threats come from both parents and students — and mostly in opposition to masks or other pandemic counter measures. Increasingly, anti-CRT nonsense is leading to further threats.
3) The pay is abysmal for the amount of work actually put in. Teachers, due to inflation, actually are paid about 11% LESS than they were thirty years ago. Too many states, like North Carolina, are basing pay on arbitrary measures such as standardized test scores and calling it “merit pay” instead of the previous step system which worked well to retain some teachers.
4) What we teach is increasingly coming under assault and scrutiny by people who don’t even have children in the school system. Under the guise of ‘classroom transparency’ and ‘parent bill of rights’, right wing legislatures are passing laws mandating all instructional materials be posted publicly before they are taught to students. This is a means to aid those seeking to snitch on teachers who are running afoul of many of the reasons below. Kansas is the latest to pass this nonsense.
5) Red state after red state is passing the equivalent of educational gag laws to prevent “Critical Race Theory”. This is usually backed by fines, firings, or loss of license in the state. Some have even proposed jail time. Any hint of diversity in the curriculum is being hunted down and struck from the lessons in these states. Already there have been many teachers fired for running afoul of these laws. Here are some of the culprits.
Mississippi
Georgia
South Dakota
And this is merely a taste of what could be down the pipeline. Many states are shielded by a Democratic governor or legislature that could easily flip GQP this fall. States like Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wisconsin only stay protected from this nonsense if we all work extremely hard at defending our governors and state legislatures this fall!
6) In addition to anti-CRT law, many red states are following the Florida model and passing their own versions of the “Don't Say Gay” law. LGBTQ+ children are suffering because no educator can talk to them about these topics on those states. Also, LGBTQ+ educators are at risk of being fired unless they return to the closet. These laws are intended to intimidate the LGBTQ+ community into silence and erase all of the gains of the past three decades.
7) Did I mention ridiculous ideas and requirements unrelated to teaching? Cannot wait for the first lawsuit in Ohio for accidental gun discharge if this fever swamp law passes.
The experts tell us how to deal with the teacher shortage crisis. Step one is to actually listen to teachers and educators and not the idiots trying to profit off of the system and have no educational background. Step two is to take over state legislatures who are punishing teachers with these gag laws and other means of coercion. Step three is to actually fund the requirements being placed on schools to the degree where there is a chance of success. Step four is to cancel most of the student standardized testing, which does nothing except measure the wealth of the zip code you teach in.
If you are a former teacher, why did you leave the profession? Feel free to add onto this story.