Parents Make Better Teachers (Sara Mosle)
Sara Mosle teaches writing at Philip’s Academy Charter School in Newark, N.J., and has written about education for Slate, the New York Times, and The Atlantic among other publications. This appeared in Slate, August 30, 2013.
In a recent [New York Times] article, Motoko Rich described how many schools are now exclusively hiring teachers and principals in their early 20s who work for just two to three years before leaving education altogether. Instead of deploring this trend, charter programs have embraced a pool of eager, young, and idealistic college graduates, many in or fresh out of Teach for America, who are willing to work long, grueling hours for low pay and with no promise of a sustained career path.
The Times focuses on the resulting turnover and inexperience among these educators. Studies show that schools with high rates of teacher attrition perform poorly on average and that many educators don’t hone their skills until their third year in the classroom or beyond. The Times article, however, neglects another downside to charters’ emphasis on youthful hiring: Many schools launch with few or no adults on staff who know first-hand what it’s like to be a parent.
If you aren’t a parent, maybe this won’t strike you as odd. It wouldn’t have
