Half of Teachers Quit in 5 Years

[SLCPUNK]

Working Conditions, Low Salaries Cited

By Lisa Lambert
Reuters
Tuesday, May 9, 2006; Page A07

Jessica Jentis fit the profile of a typical American teacher: She was white, held a master's degree and quit 2 1/2 years after starting her career.

According to a new study from the National Education Association, a teachers union, half of new U.S. teachers are likely to quit within the first five years because of poor working conditions and low salaries.
   

Jentis, now a stay-at-home mother of three, says that she could not make enough money teaching in Manhattan to pay for her student loans and that dealing with the school bureaucracy was too difficult.

"The kids were wonderful to be with, but the stress of everything that went with it and the low pay did not make it hard to leave," she said. "It's sad because you see a lot of the teachers that are young and gung-ho are ready to leave."

The proportion of new teachers who leave the profession has hovered around 50 percent for decades, said Barry A. Farber, a professor of education and psychology at Columbia University in New York.

The study, which the association released last week ahead of its annual salute to teachers today, also found that the average teacher is a married, 43-year-old white woman who is religious.

Teachers are more educated than ever before, with the proportion of those holding master's degrees increasing to 50 percent from 23 percent since the early 1960s.

Only 6 percent of teachers are African American, and 5 percent are Hispanic, Asian or come from other ethnic groups. Men represent barely a quarter of teachers, which the association says is the lowest level in four decades.

"We must face the fact that although our current teachers are the most educated and most experienced ever, there are still too many teachers leaving the profession too early, not enough people becoming teachers and not enough diversity in the profession," NEA President Reg Weaver said in a statement.

Because of the high dropout rate of younger teachers, there will be plenty of job openings for teachers over the next 10 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Because education is governed at the state level, programs to retain younger teachers differ from state to state.

[D]

U would think something would be done about this.

No one wants to be a teacher anymore cause whats the point?

Why go to school for all those years to make peanuts when u can use that degree to make 5 times more money?

Ive had some pretty bad teachers in my day.

I had a math teacher in 8th grade who absolutely ruined me.

I am a human calculator when it comes to division,multiplication,addition and subtraction. one of my teachers actually called me "Rain Man'

time my 8th grade piece of shit teacher got through with me, I just never was the same.

I still can do basic math in my head like a calculator, but she did irrepairable damage to me when it comes to harder math.

after she got through I was never able to comprehend more difficult mathematics.

[lennonisgod]

I can relate with ya on that one D.  Its not hard to tell when a teacher hates his or her job and is just a complete bitch or ass to the students.  Teachers that do hate what they do and decide to stick it out, just take their frustrations out on the students.  I'm 3 years into college and have had plenty of teachers and professors and it seems to me that most of my horrible teachers were in junior high and high school.  I will never forgive some of my teachers for the shit they put me through.  There are some great teachers out there though.  Some of them deserve so much more than what they get.  I've seen some really good people quit there teaching job because of the lame pay.  But not all teachers get paid like shit.  My brother-in-law makes over 70 thousand dollars a year and teaches at a very small school.  He is the head basketball coach and golf coach and of course makes more money because of that, but without those he would still be making 50 thousand dollars a year, which is damn decent money.  Working conditions and pay have a lot to do with what area you get a teaching job in.  Some people need to search around for a job and not take the first one that jumps out at them.  Personally, I could never be a teacher and thank god there are some really great people out there who are very inspiring teachers. 

[gilld1]

I am a teacher and I see this happen each year when our contracts are due.  They make us jump through an endless amount of hoops in my district i.e. classes, seminars, tests, etc. and for what?  Last year we received a 2% raise only to have our benefits costs increase 2%.  I have a buddy that has been here in the same district for 15 years and doesn't make over 40k and he is head basketball coach, JV softball and a department head.  Whats worse than the pay is the fact that we can not hardly discipline the kids anymore.  All mommy and daddy have to do is come and bitch us out and the kid gets out of it.  Then they are uncontrollable.  I had shitty teachers my entire MS and HS years but I have vowed to be different, a rebel with in the system!

[SLCPUNK]

I am a teacher and I see this happen each year when our contracts are due.  They make us jump through an endless amount of hoops in my district i.e. classes, seminars, tests, etc. and for what?  Last year we received a 2% raise only to have our benefits costs increase 2%.  I have a buddy that has been here in the same district for 15 years and doesn't make over 40k and he is head basketball coach, JV softball and a department head.  Whats worse than the pay is the fact that we can not hardly discipline the kids anymore.  All mommy and daddy have to do is come and bitch us out and the kid gets out of it.  Then they are uncontrollable.  I had shitty teachers my entire MS and HS years but I have vowed to be different, a rebel with in the system!

How long have you been a teacher now?

[gilld1]

I am nearing the end of my third year, so it looks like I only have 2 to go!!

I do like the kids though.  I am an elementary PE teacher and HS basketball and softball coach.  The little ones treat me like a rock star, calling my name out all the time, hugging me, giving me things.  I also taught alternative ed. for a year, that was an experience for sure. 

[journey]

Teachers don't get paid enough for what they do. They have one of the most important jobs on the planet but it seems to go unappreciated most of the time. There are two teachers from high school and college who influenced me in a positive way. I'll always be grateful to them.

[SLCPUNK]

The teachers at Los Angeles Unified start at $35 an hour.  And they get all sorts of benefits..........and most of them suck at teaching!

They get paid for the time they work or is that based on an annual salary?

In Fla they start in the low 20's. Which a waiter could double working half the hours.............

I am nearing the end of my third year, so it looks like I only have 2 to go!!

2 to go til what? Sorry if I missed something.........

[Guns N RockMusic]

i think he was joking about teachers quiting in 5 years.  He has 2 more to go until he hits the 5 year mark.

[SLCPUNK]

i think he was joking about teachers quiting in 5 years.  He has 2 more to go until he hits the 5 year mark.

haha, a bit early for me. I was thinking along the lines of something else........

Please pass the side of DUH....................

[D]

In college algebra in High School I got a D


In College Algebra in College I got an A


Make any sense??

[gilld1]

I used to build cars for a living at a Subaru-Isuzu plant and made over 50k, it will take me about 20 years of teaching to equal what I made after just 4 years at the plant.  But I will say that teaching is more rewarding....most of the time.

[MCT]

In college algebra in High School I got a D


In College Algebra in College I got an A


Make any sense??

There's a D pun here somewhere...I just can't find it...

[godiva]

I'm a teacher too, but I work and live in the Netherlands. I have to say the job pays reasonably well, although it isn't hard to find a job with my degree which pays more. Nevertheless, I choose teaching instead of working in an office (which would pay about double) because I find teaching very satisfying and rewarding. Sure, I have my off days, but I thouroughly enjoy working with these kids (well, some of my students are just too old to be called 'kids', but the majority of them are teenagers).

The downside of the job to me definitely is the paper work. Things are overregulated. For every test I give, I have to fill in loads of papers and forms, most of them complete nonsense anyway (most of the time I simply 'forget' because I don't feel like it, never been reminded of it, so what's the point???). I quit about six times a week due to all the excessive administration (me yelling in the teacher's room: to hell with it, they can find another moron to fill in these stupid forms!  My colleages are quite used to it)

In the Netherlands the situation is quite similar, lots of young teachers, fresh out of college, quit after just a few years. There are a number of reasons: they get job offers that pay better, they get overworked (yes, quite a lot of holidays, but you still make killer hours in a normal week), or they have problems dealing with the children (or the parents of the children). These would be the top three reasons teachers quit early in this country, according to the union a couple of years ago.

My story, maybe nice for comparison!

[D]

The High School teacher confused me and I basically just slept. Fuck it.

College I was like OK, this is what u are talkin about. it was very easy.

[pilferk]

I'd quit too.

The payscale is shit.? In many school systems, you deserve combat pay.? The "suburb" schools are filled with teachers who have 10, 20, 30 years of service and who will not leave until they are carried out. There is little to no opportunity for upward mobility beyond long term seniority getting you a dept head chair (in, say..20 years or so).? You teach the same board of ed mandated/approved curriculum year in and year out.? Any "progressive" teaching methods, or doing anything remotely interesting (or that costs anything) is "frowned upon" by both the board of ed and your long standing senior peers.? You see many, many students who just don't want to participate, or "own", their own education and the process it entails.? You get no praise when you do a good job, and you get shit on if you make the smallest mistake.?

I'm not surprised the burnout rate is so high.

Especially considering that masters in education, combined with a decent liberal arts background, fresh out of college will get you about 150% more pay (that's just hourly rate...probably works out to more like double because you're working a full year, not just a contract year).? AND that job will offer more opportunity for advancement AND, on average, double the pay raise every year.

The only downside is you have to work year round, and not take summers off.? With all the new requirements most systems are putting in place for teachers (CEU's, etc), you're pretty much working year round anyway.? You're just spending the other 3 months maintaining your certification...

[SuperMike]

I'm nearly done my senior year in HS, I feel like I'm leaving hell to heaven. I have always been in special education classes. It was the shitty teaching's fault that made me flunk 2nd garade. All the "smarter" kids look down on you like you're retarded if you're in those classes. That's probably why I was always a loner. There was probably not even more than 3 teachers I only liked out of those 13 years, lol.

[Queen of Everything]

The teacher definatly makes a difference, but how the teacher teaches is based on the attitude of the class.

I see teachers as I should, people who are doing their job and teaching us.  Other kids seem to see them as these horrible people out to ruian their lives, they're the victim.  Which is stupid.  So they distrupt the class and in turn the teacher gets pissed.

Its a cycle, a horrible one for the kids who genuinly want to learn.   

[godiva]

The teacher definatly makes a difference, but how the teacher teaches is based on the attitude of the class.

I see teachers as I should, people who are doing their job and teaching us.  Other kids seem to see them as these horrible people out to ruian their lives, they're the victim.  Which is stupid.  So they distrupt the class and in turn the teacher gets pissed.

Its a cycle, a horrible one for the kids who genuinly want to learn.   

I agree. I do think though that if you make your lessons a bit more fun, adding some games, using your creativity etc, it helps to calm down the hormones and the kids will help you making the lesson fun for everyone. I taught Shakespeare today by turning the dialogue of Kath and Petruccio in Taming of the Shrew into a rap battle. Later that day one of the more 'difficult' kids stops me in the hallway. He actually went on the internet to find out more about the play. He thought it was cool  Needless to say I was flabbergasted when he asked me if we could do some more in tomorrow's class 

The problem is that with 26+ lessons a week plus lots of paperwork it is difficult to be inventive, because you just can't find the time. Boring lessons lead to disinterested students which leads to disruptions which leads to one hell of a pissed off and overworked teacher. I try to negotiate as many as parallel classes as I can, so I can use the same lesson twice or three times for different groups, recycling the material, so I only have one preperation, three cool periods.

[D]

In school all i really wanted was for a teacher to care.

If a teacher showed an interest in me and took the time to treat me as more than a recycleable student, I also excelled and did very well.


Up until my Junior Year from 1st Grade to 11th I was a straight A student in line for a possible valedictorian run and then a bunch of shit went wrong in my life and I got extremely depressed and lost my mind for a couple years and I started flunking out.

Not one teacher ever asked me what was wrong.

to me if u got a student that aces every test, answers every question and then all of a sudden sleeps through classes, blows off homework, fails tests, u would think they'd care enough to see if they c ould help.

Maybe that isnt there job but it sure wouldve helped just to know someone cared.