The Great Recession did not cause the "Teacher Shortage." THIS IS WAR!
By now you have probably heard about the “teacher shortage.” You may have also heard that simple supply and demand economics and the Great Recession can easily explain the “teacher shortage” phenomenon.
However, let’s be honest. We don’t have a teacher shortage! We have an exceedingly high casualty rate from the War on Teachers! In other words, the last 30 years and the War on Teachers have decimated the ranks of teachers.
The attack was beautifully planned and enormously effective. The War on Teachers was launched simultaneously on three separate fronts. Veteran teachers were pushed into early retirement. Seasoned teachers were blamed for the achievement gap and relentlessly lashed for not fixing it. Anyone thinking of becoming a teacher simply watched the fist two attacks and ran for cover.
In fact here is what I said last week on a Sunday morning news talk show.
What do you think? Recession or War? Well here is what one person thought of the television interview.
Dear Tim,I just want to commend you for your commentary last Sunday per teacher shortages and some of the reasons behind it. You did a great job, and it amazes me that people are not more concerned about the great teachers leaving early with far fewer (and passionate) young candidates coming in to replace them.I am now an assistant professor at National Louis University having retired from Fort Atkinson in 2013 after being superintendent there for 14 years. I now see in my Ed. Leadership classes teachers and principals who just seem overwhelmed by the onslaught of demands upon them via Educator Effectiveness or political and sometimes DPI mandates (I have come to think that we embraced Race to the Top without knowing it was just as oppressive to teachers and administrators as NCLB). That standardized testing to your point is not used well in schools, and hardly indicate what really isThe Great Recession did not cause the "Teacher Shortage." THIS IS WAR! | BustED Pencils:
