“Harder to Become, Easier to Be” (A path to ending teacher shortages)
A number of states and districts are experiencing teacher shortages, with Illinois and Florida apparently at the top of the list. From my perspective, teacher shortages are a case of the chickens coming home to roost. Two reasons for the shortages: 1) Not enough new blood and 2) a higher rate of departure by veterans, and both are the result of how badly we treat teachers.
A constant drumbeat of hostile ‘news’ about schools and teaching is keeping young people from choosing the field, while the practice of mistreating teachers in the name of higher test scores is driving some very good teachers out of the classroom.
Exhibit A for the latter might be this letter I received from an experienced teacher in an eastern state. Below is an excerpt:
“Let me tell you what a horrific day I had at work. OK, so yesterday I had to spend the entire morning proctoring the state science assessment for 5th graders. Today I was called to the office and told I needed to proctor yet another test for the 5th graders, whose results would be used to determine what ‘track’ they will be on in middle school. The test had four sub-tests. I was told that I had to pick up all the fifth grade ESL students and get their tests and subtest answer sheets and bring them into another room. None of the classroom teachers knew anything about this test, either.
So my ESL colleague and I took the kids to a separate room and started the test. ESL CONTINUE READING: “Harder to Become, Easier to Be” (A path to ending teacher shortages) | The Merrow Report
