Why is there a teacher shortage?

[Anonymous]

Here is my issue. Someone on another blog published the salaries of FCPS teachers and I was flabbergasted to find out some of my kids' best teachers made a lot less than some of their worst teachers. This wasn't always about longevity either. There was a new teacher with masters plus making more than a seasoned outstanding teacher who just had her BA.

Almost every other profession finds a way to compensate people based on outstanding performance. Who not teaching? As I have said before, you take a multi-modal approach so it isn't just test scores or parent reports deciding. It's parent, colleague, student and principal evaluations, test scores (as a small part), student progress (as a bigger chunk), and various other factors all coming together. You still have pay go up each year, but the outstanding teachers get a higher percentage increase or at least a bonus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious what are the experiences of teachers at TJ or Sidwell - i.e. places with 'self-selecting' student bodies.

Is teacher satisfaction up super high in those schools?

At private schools, teachers are paid MUCH less and the jobs usually don't come with benefits. In addition, sometimes you have to deal with pushy parents, etc. However, the class sizes are reasonable, the resources are better, and the students tend to be better behaved.

I worked at a school similar to TJ/Blair. It had it's own challenges, but all the students were well behaved in class and generally wanted to learn. The hours were still long Jobs at the "best" schools tend to be harder to get and pull the top teachers away from schools that have more challenges.

Every private school I know of and the ones where I worked have benefits. In fact, I'm not sure a school could deny benefits to a full time employee? Is this Catholic schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of it is probably the lack of growth/advancement opportunities. It's a good job straight out of school compared to what is available, but when you are five years in and see your friends starting to get promotions and raises it starts to feel like you are missing out. I think it would be good if schools had positions like "senior teacher" where you get paid more and get more admin resources, to give younger teachers something to work towards

I am a team leader at my school but there is no extra pay for it and we aren't given a lighter class load either. We rotate the job every year because it is exhausting. School districts just don't have the money for this.

I have an issue with this. Ream leaders should be paid more and they should be master teachers/mentors.

[Anonymous]

TEAM not ream...sorry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was one of those who left citing "dissatisfaction" with the profession. What I hated was the lack of support from the administration on discipline issues. Every year I'd get one or two jackasses who wanted to make me miserable for unknown reasons. The kind of kid who never stops talking and distracting their neighbors, gives you attitude, refuses to cooperate or do the work, tells you to fuck off. The kind of kid you used to be able to kick out of your class but now have to keep because the admin doesn't want to be involved. It was bullshit and eventually I just had enough abuse.

Former teacher here. Many times those kids either have a neurodevelopmental issue that isn't getting proper intervention such as ADHD or there is major home stress such as an ill parent, father abandoned family or abuse. I found it rare a kid was just evil. I would not call any kid a jackass even privately. Adjusting your attitude toward the student and trying to figure out the underlying issue might help you manage the student.

[Anonymous]

Former teacher here. Many times those kids either have a neurodevelopmental issue that isn't getting proper intervention such as ADHD or there is major home stress such as an ill parent, father abandoned family or abuse. I found it rare a kid was just evil. I would not call any kid a jackass even privately. Adjusting your attitude toward the student and trying to figure out the underlying issue might help you manage the student

I also am a former teacher--but I taught primary grades. I did teach kids with serious problems and I would never call them jackasses (the parents, maybe!)
However, it sounds like the teacher who made the comment probably taught older kids. That is likely tougher.

The most serious problem child I taught--and I taught many over the years--had been sexually molested. She was in first grade and her mom was 20 years old. The mom did the best she knew how--but she was a child, herself. The little girl was a constant challenge. Constant. I felt very sorry for her and did the best I knew to help her--but I also began to resent her because of how she was impacting all the other kids in the class. If you have not seen this, it is very difficult to understand. She poked, hit, screamed, etc.etc. In the classroom, I had to keep her by my side most of the time.
She belonged in an ED class--but it would have required an hour bus ride and the school system felt that would not be good for her. The LD teacher took her out of my class for an hour a day, even though she did not yet fall into the "federal formula" for LD service. I had taught for a number of years in challenging situations, but this child was, by far, the most difficult challenge I ever had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Former teacher here. Many times those kids either have a neurodevelopmental issue that isn't getting proper intervention such as ADHD or there is major home stress such as an ill parent, father abandoned family or abuse. I found it rare a kid was just evil. I would not call any kid a jackass even privately. Adjusting your attitude toward the student and trying to figure out the underlying issue might help you manage the student

I also am a former teacher--but I taught primary grades. I did teach kids with serious problems and I would never call them jackasses (the parents, maybe!)
However, it sounds like the teacher who made the comment probably taught older kids. That is likely tougher.

The most serious problem child I taught--and I taught many over the years--had been sexually molested. She was in first grade and her mom was 20 years old. The mom did the best she knew how--but she was a child, herself. The little girl was a constant challenge. Constant. I felt very sorry for her and did the best I knew to help her--but I also began to resent her because of how she was impacting all the other kids in the class. If you have not seen this, it is very difficult to understand. She poked, hit, screamed, etc.etc. In the classroom, I had to keep her by my side most of the time.
She belonged in an ED class--but it would have required an hour bus ride and the school system felt that would not be good for her. The LD teacher took her out of my class for an hour a day, even though she did not yet fall into the "federal formula" for LD service. I had taught for a number of years in challenging situations, but this child was, by far, the most difficult challenge I ever had.

You show much more empathy and understanding than the teacher who referred to her/his challenging students as "jackasses." That is a sad situation and she is lucky you tried your best and cared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Former teacher here. Many times those kids either have a neurodevelopmental issue that isn't getting proper intervention such as ADHD or there is major home stress such as an ill parent, father abandoned family or abuse. I found it rare a kid was just evil. I would not call any kid a jackass even privately. Adjusting your attitude toward the student and trying to figure out the underlying issue might help you manage the student

I also am a former teacher--but I taught primary grades. I did teach kids with serious problems and I would never call them jackasses (the parents, maybe!)
However, it sounds like the teacher who made the comment probably taught older kids. That is likely tougher.

The most serious problem child I taught--and I taught many over the years--had been sexually molested. She was in first grade and her mom was 20 years old. The mom did the best she knew how--but she was a child, herself. The little girl was a constant challenge. Constant. I felt very sorry for her and did the best I knew to help her--but I also began to resent her because of how she was impacting all the other kids in the class. If you have not seen this, it is very difficult to understand. She poked, hit, screamed, etc.etc. In the classroom, I had to keep her by my side most of the time.
She belonged in an ED class--but it would have required an hour bus ride and the school system felt that would not be good for her. The LD teacher took her out of my class for an hour a day, even though she did not yet fall into the "federal formula" for LD service. I had taught for a number of years in challenging situations, but this child was, by far, the most difficult challenge I ever had.

It's nice that you put in all that extra effort. To OP's point however, some kids are just assholes

[Anonymous]

It's nice that you put in all that extra effort. To OP's point however, some kids are just assholes

Thank you. But, you need to know that that school year convinced me that I could not teach for the rest of my working career. You cannot imagine how exhausting it is--physically and emotionally.

FWIW, for those of you who are pushing merit pay--I would be for that, too--BUT there are too many variables. For examples, most principals think the best teachers are the ones who don't tell them their problems in classes. Good principals know that they need to know what is happening, but most would prefer not to hear about it.

I remember one year many years ago when our AP wanted to observe a science class. I was teaching first grade. I always tried to have a "hands on" science unit going in my class and chose to do this while he observed. It was a little chaotic. My colleague (and good friend) also taught first grade. She chose to read a storybook about a trip to the dentist. It was basically storytime. The AP raved about her talents in our team meeting. This was because she had the kids eating out of her hands while she read them a story. She was a good teacher, but this was NOT a science lesson. However, she impressed the AP with her kids listening to a story. FWIW, most kids enjoy storytime. That principal would have chosen her as the best teacher. And, as I said, she was a good teacher. However, he had no clue what went on in the classroom.

Here's another factor-let's suppose that we do have merit pay. It will be very difficult for some teachers if others are making more--just because the principal likes them better. And, that does happen. Parents will find out and then you will have chaos to see who can get in the "best teacher's" class. Too many variables.

[Anonymous]

Regarding merit pay--I work in a high FARMS school and my friend works in a school with a very affluent population. We both teach the same grade. I plan for and instruct 6 reading groups in my class ranging from 3 years below grade level to 1 year above grade level. She plans for 3 reading groups and the lowest group is on grade level. Small group instruction in math has a similar breakdown.

I provide and document interventions for all of my students who are performing below grade level. I advocate for my students who are not responding to interventions to go to EMT and screening meetings, but often find the process stalled because the parents don't respond to meeting requests or say they'll come but don't show up.

I work with students during my lunchtime and run after school clubs (unpaid). I use my own money to pay for supplies and materials outside of the small amount that the school provides us with. When students come to school without supplies--I provide the supplies. We are also asked to contribute to school-wide activities like family breakfasts and raffle prizes out of our own pockets. My friend is provided with hundreds of dollars from the PTA in addition to the money the school budget provides, and they get all the books on their wishlist from the book fair.

The field trips we go on are local, and one of the most important factors in deciding where to go is cost. Many families are not able to pay $5 or $10 for a field trip. Field trips are great opportunities to build background knowledge for many concepts that the curriculum writers assume that all students have. My friend's school goes on field trips to interesting places outside of the county in which we live because they have parents who will pay the cost of the buses. Many students are experiencing these places for the second or third time because they have already been with their families.

All of this may sound like sour grapes, but I truly enjoy working at my school and subjectively and objectively I'm good at what I do. But our data and test scores are not even close to my friend's school. We teach from the same curriculum, but it's apples and oranges. My district doesn't care about progress. They don't care that my lowest students made 1 and a half years worth of growth last year. They are still below grade level and their scores are in the red zone. So ultimately I'm a failure in the district's eyes.

So if merit pay comes to my district I'm going to have to hightail it out of there and into a school where students meet and exceed proficiency just by coming to school and doing the work assigned. Because as much as I feel like I can make a difference where I am, if they start paying my friend more than they pay me because her students score higher on tests then it's messing with my ability to provide for my family, which is ultimately more important to me. It would be difficult to keep good teachers in schools with high FARMS populations.

Kids are not just data points, as much as the education bigwigs and politicians (and even building level administrators) would like to have us believe.

[Anonymous]

That is an excellent account of what it is like to teach in a high poverty school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding merit pay--I work in a high FARMS school and my friend works in a school with a very affluent population. We both teach the same grade. I plan for and instruct 6 reading groups in my class ranging from 3 years below grade level to 1 year above grade level. She plans for 3 reading groups and the lowest group is on grade level. Small group instruction in math has a similar breakdown.

I provide and document interventions for all of my students who are performing below grade level. I advocate for my students who are not responding to interventions to go to EMT and screening meetings, but often find the process stalled because the parents don't respond to meeting requests or say they'll come but don't show up.

I work with students during my lunchtime and run after school clubs (unpaid). I use my own money to pay for supplies and materials outside of the small amount that the school provides us with. When students come to school without supplies--I provide the supplies. We are also asked to contribute to school-wide activities like family breakfasts and raffle prizes out of our own pockets. My friend is provided with hundreds of dollars from the PTA in addition to the money the school budget provides, and they get all the books on their wishlist from the book fair.

The field trips we go on are local, and one of the most important factors in deciding where to go is cost. Many families are not able to pay $5 or $10 for a field trip. Field trips are great opportunities to build background knowledge for many concepts that the curriculum writers assume that all students have. My friend's school goes on field trips to interesting places outside of the county in which we live because they have parents who will pay the cost of the buses. Many students are experiencing these places for the second or third time because they have already been with their families.

All of this may sound like sour grapes, but I truly enjoy working at my school and subjectively and objectively I'm good at what I do. But our data and test scores are not even close to my friend's school. We teach from the same curriculum, but it's apples and oranges. My district doesn't care about progress. They don't care that my lowest students made 1 and a half years worth of growth last year. They are still below grade level and their scores are in the red zone. So ultimately I'm a failure in the district's eyes.

So if merit pay comes to my district I'm going to have to hightail it out of there and into a school where students meet and exceed proficiency just by coming to school and doing the work assigned. Because as much as I feel like I can make a difference where I am, if they start paying my friend more than they pay me because her students score higher on tests then it's messing with my ability to provide for my family, which is ultimately more important to me. It would be difficult to keep good teachers in schools with high FARMS populations.

Kids are not just data points, as much as the education bigwigs and politicians (and even building level administrators) would like to have us believe.

Did I write this? 1000 times yes. I'm in the same situation. My DS showed up to kindergarten already knowing everything he needed to know. His kindergarten teacher told me this at the fall conference. I'm sure there were other students like him. His teacher got off easy because I taught him what he needed to know. He gets the credit. But when students show up to kindergarten already "behind" the teachers get the blame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding merit pay--I work in a high FARMS school and my friend works in a school with a very affluent population. We both teach the same grade. I plan for and instruct 6 reading groups in my class ranging from 3 years below grade level to 1 year above grade level. She plans for 3 reading groups and the lowest group is on grade level. Small group instruction in math has a similar breakdown.

I provide and document interventions for all of my students who are performing below grade level. I advocate for my students who are not responding to interventions to go to EMT and screening meetings, but often find the process stalled because the parents don't respond to meeting requests or say they'll come but don't show up.

I work with students during my lunchtime and run after school clubs (unpaid). I use my own money to pay for supplies and materials outside of the small amount that the school provides us with. When students come to school without supplies--I provide the supplies. We are also asked to contribute to school-wide activities like family breakfasts and raffle prizes out of our own pockets. My friend is provided with hundreds of dollars from the PTA in addition to the money the school budget provides, and they get all the books on their wishlist from the book fair.

The field trips we go on are local, and one of the most important factors in deciding where to go is cost. Many families are not able to pay $5 or $10 for a field trip. Field trips are great opportunities to build background knowledge for many concepts that the curriculum writers assume that all students have. My friend's school goes on field trips to interesting places outside of the county in which we live because they have parents who will pay the cost of the buses. Many students are experiencing these places for the second or third time because they have already been with their families.

All of this may sound like sour grapes, but I truly enjoy working at my school and subjectively and objectively I'm good at what I do. But our data and test scores are not even close to my friend's school. We teach from the same curriculum, but it's apples and oranges. My district doesn't care about progress. They don't care that my lowest students made 1 and a half years worth of growth last year. They are still below grade level and their scores are in the red zone. So ultimately I'm a failure in the district's eyes.

So if merit pay comes to my district I'm going to have to hightail it out of there and into a school where students meet and exceed proficiency just by coming to school and doing the work assigned. Because as much as I feel like I can make a difference where I am, if they start paying my friend more than they pay me because her students score higher on tests then it's messing with my ability to provide for my family, which is ultimately more important to me. It would be difficult to keep good teachers in schools with high FARMS populations.

Kids are not just data points, as much as the education bigwigs and politicians (and even building level administrators) would like to have us believe.

Yes to all of this. And it's true you essentially are taking a pay cut when you work in a high FARMS school because of how much you end up spending out of your own pocket.

[Anonymous]

Yes to all of this. And it's true you essentially are taking a pay cut when you work in a high FARMS school because of how much you end up spending out of your own pocket.

And, in some of those schools, the teachers deserve a stipend for just how difficult it is. I taught in such a school. I loved the kids, but some days I felt that I should be getting "combat pay" for the number of fights I had to stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes to all of this. And it's true you essentially are taking a pay cut when you work in a high FARMS school because of how much you end up spending out of your own pocket.

And, in some of those schools, the teachers deserve a stipend for just how difficult it is. I taught in such a school. I loved the kids, but some days I felt that I should be getting "combat pay" for the number of fights I had to stop.

This. And then there is the constant churn of teachers dropping in to save the world and moving on down the highway when they can't hack it at a Title I school or in our NOVA school system, which is particularly messed up. Teaching is a tough gig and it keeps on getting tougher. The new year has started with our most recent paycheck. I didn't change anything - none of the benefits, nothing. My 9/30 paycheck this year is $19 more than last year's 9/30 paycheck. It is increasingly hard to justify being a teacher.