Why veteran teachers aren't surprised young people are shunning the profession
L.A. teachers rally in Grand Park in February 2015. In the last decade, there has been a 70% drop in people preparing to be California teachers.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
dging from my email, a lot of California public school teachers are demoralized and questioning their career choices.
They're not at all surprised that fewer and fewer college students are going into teaching.
My column last week about a growing teacher shortage triggered a barrage of responses. Most of it came from current or retired teachers.
The volume and intensity matched what would be expected from a column about such contentious topics as guns, abortion or taxes.
"I am a retired teacher who years ago encouraged my children to go into teaching," one woman wrote. "Sadly, we are now strongly recommending that it is the last profession that my college-aged grandchildren consider."
The former Los Angeles Unified teacher asked for anonymity because "I still have exhausted, discouraged but dedicated family members teaching."
The retiree, now a classroom volunteer, wrote about one 8-year-old who is "confused, bored and frequently unaware of the need to use the bathroom," yet is not in special education. That's probably because there's a particular shortage of special ed teachers.
A 7-year-old, she continued, is the daughter of a woman "in and out of rehab [who] has taught her child that she should never obey the rules. So the student refuses to work, lies on the floor and screams, bullies classmates and uses profanity that would make a truck driver blush."
The retiree cited "teacher bashing, general disrespect for the profession … out of touch politicians and parents who either neglect their children or who set an example of disrespect and entitlement."
She concluded: "Young people are well advised to look elsewhere until society takes a good, hard and honest look at what they have done to the profession."
Scores of emails echoed her sentiments. Only a handful hailed the profession.
"Teaching is a hidden gem of a career that only needs a slight nudge to get young people into," wrote Bob, a retired high school teacher from the San Fernando Valley. He recommended "a modest advertising program and not so many hoops to get a teaching credential."
As for being burdened with nighttime paper grading, he said, "I did it for years until I noticed that most teachers were car key teachers. That's the only thing being carried to the parking lot."
My late wife never achieved "car key" status. Why veteran teachers aren't surprised young people are shunning the profession - LA Times:
