Why is there a teacher shortage?

[Anonymous]

Well, locally, it’s actually quite difficult to get a teaching position in MCPS. No shortage there.

[Anonymous]

The teaching shortage is real. I teach secondary in a NoVa school system. In my hallway last year there were 3 long-term subs who taught classes all year because the school system couldn't find permanent teachers for those positions.

[Anonymous]

I don't always agree with the NEA, but this article, and the comments, are well worth reading: http://neatoday.org/2019/06/20/student-attacks-on-teachers/

I would say being expected to deal with serious behaviors day after day, with little backup from admin, has a lot to do with it.

[Anonymous]

I'm in a different state. This past year, instead of getting hundreds of resumes from qualified applicants as in previous years for general education K-5 classrooms, we got maybe 2 dozen qualified applicants (and about that many more from people who had misspelled words, emoji's or tons of exclamation points on their resumes). But in some subject areas like Spanish bilingual, sped, math, science, school counselors, and speech paths we've gotten 5 or less applications total, most of those not qualified. Our Spanish bilingual classes in particular are often seeing zero applications. And we are a highly desirable district. The major city near us is seeing very few applicants, even for the "good" schools. Something has shifted in the past few years, at least where I'm at. My principal colleagues and I are very worried.

[Anonymous]

1. Parents
2. The politicians who support them
3. Profiteering corporations resulting in endless testing (eg., data collectors)


- Teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, locally, it’s actually quite difficult to get a teaching position in MCPS. No shortage there.

They just had a hiring expo for over 60 schools...
https://twitter.com/MCPSCareers/status/1149609772322177024

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in a different state. This past year, instead of getting hundreds of resumes from qualified applicants as in previous years for general education K-5 classrooms, we got maybe 2 dozen qualified applicants (and about that many more from people who had misspelled words, emoji's or tons of exclamation points on their resumes). But in some subject areas like Spanish bilingual, sped, math, science, school counselors, and speech paths we've gotten 5 or less applications total, most of those not qualified. Our Spanish bilingual classes in particular are often seeing zero applications. And we are a highly desirable district. The major city near us is seeing very few applicants, even for the "good" schools. Something has shifted in the past few years, at least where I'm at. My principal colleagues and I are very worried.

What state are you in? Guessing California?

[Anonymous]

Not California. I'm in a mid western state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I posted this before, but it still stands.

I was a teacher for 6 years before leaving the profession to pursue medicine. It's strange because there are parallels to the fields, but I found a massive amount of disrespect for the importance of good pedagogy and achieving real learning outcomes (instead of generic test-based outcomes). I also felt a huge lack of respect personally. I found it frustrating because we don't want seasoned teachers. We don't want good teachers. We want cheap ones who will shut up and teach from the outline. And will be at-will employees (even though the hiring timeline for teachers runs once a year).

I got into teaching because I love childhood development, learning, and science. I found fostering these connections to be my true calling. After spending so much time, money and energy on my students, I realized that my passion doesn't matter because my classrooms aren't funded enough, my leaders (i.e. principal) do not have an interest in anything beyond beating last year's numbers, and my kids, who were from FARMS households, didn't have a framework to support their success beyond the bare walls of my classroom. I don't even think the school was invested beyond not getting shut down. The main goal was just to get above the minimum required passing rate. So, rote memorization took the day. And my county really didn't care about this population, so I gave up. Because I'm rational and realized that pushing a boulder up a hill over and over isn't a life.

No one blames me if a patient of mine who I've spent years counseling (along with their caregivers) develops a condition like type 2 diabetes. There is a sense of personal accountability in medicine (since no one wants to die), which doesn't apply to teaching (since lots of people hate learning difficult things).

Teaching is just so different. Outcomes, many of which are beyond your control, are your responsibility. Your evaluations are not based on your actual perfomance; it's driven by your students. It doesn't matter how good you are. If you don't have that support, it's a house of cards. And when I read threads like this, I just want to send each of my children's teacher an amazon gift card for supplies. Because I know how hard it is and how absolutely frustrating it is to work in a profession that is viewed in such an unfair manner.

At conferences, I hear doctors complain about the state of medicine and the decline of respect for our field. It takes a lot for me not to laugh. Yes, insurers are terrible. Negotiated rates hurt. And coming up with ways to make a decent living while not working insane amounts is hard. Yeah. It's bad, but man, I've had it worse.

I don't pay for medical supplies. I am compensated fairly and my clinical judgment is given some form of deference (even though parents still second guess me). I do a decent amount of medicine in the Medicaid space. I feel a similar burn to churn through but people tend to give me a bit more room (including insurers) when I give a medical justification. There was no parallel when I was teaching. No reason, no matter how evidence-based, mattered if it went against the fiat of numbers above all else.

I think people give me this space because they don't think they could be a doctor. I think no one bothered when I was a teacher because they felt any idiot could teach. The truth is, there are a lot of idiot physicians out there. And there are many, many teachers who are so good at what they do, they should bottle it. But only the physician is given that respect as a default. Making the training more difficult won't solve this because it's not only the coursework that matters. It's the years spent refining and developing in the classroom that make a great teacher. Too bad the bulk of people leave the profession within five years because it's so screwed up.

I actually work less as a MD. And I make a multiple of my previous salary.

Thank you for saying this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, locally, it’s actually quite difficult to get a teaching position in MCPS. No shortage there.

They just had a hiring expo for over 60 schools...
https://twitter.com/MCPSCareers/status/1149609772322177024

Except when there’s an actual hiring freeze, MCPS always has open positions. They’re just picky. I’ve watched them turn down applicants from neighboring districts who then stayed in those districts or taught elsewhere successfully for many more years.

[Anonymous]

I think it's because, historically, women who wanted to work had very limited choices - teacher, nurse, secretary. Now that women can do anything they want, there are fewer teachers.

Also, think about the academically talented kids in your high school class, which of them went on to teach? very few from my class. The talented kids are now doctors, professionals, and a few bike repair guys. The people from my high school who went on to be teachers were not at the top of my class. And of my college cohorts, lots of lawyers, more than a few docs, finance people, sahms, but only one became a teacher.

[Anonymous]

I am so sick of people saying teachers work long hours. It's bull shit. They HAVE THREE MONTHS OFF A YEAR AND EVERY SINGLE MAJOR HOLIDAY. The school year is what, 182 days? Even if you add on teacher work days and some summer planning days, you are no where near the normal number of work days for an average, full-time employee.

Even if they work 10 hour days, every single working day of their year, they will end up working less than ANY OTHER full time profession.

It's just bull shit that people have to stop saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so sick of people saying teachers work long hours. It's bull shit. They HAVE THREE MONTHS OFF A YEAR AND EVERY SINGLE MAJOR HOLIDAY. The school year is what, 182 days? Even if you add on teacher work days and some summer planning days, you are no where near the normal number of work days for an average, full-time employee.

Even if they work 10 hour days, every single working day of their year, they will end up working less than ANY OTHER full time profession.

It's just bull shit that people have to stop saying.

So what’s stopping you from becoming a teacher if the working hours are so awesome?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so sick of people saying teachers work long hours. It's bull shit. They HAVE THREE MONTHS OFF A YEAR AND EVERY SINGLE MAJOR HOLIDAY. The school year is what, 182 days? Even if you add on teacher work days and some summer planning days, you are no where near the normal number of work days for an average, full-time employee.

Even if they work 10 hour days, every single working day of their year, they will end up working less than ANY OTHER full time profession.

It's just bull shit that people have to stop saying.

I admit I have only read back a few pages, but are people saying that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, locally, it’s actually quite difficult to get a teaching position in MCPS. No shortage there.

They just had a hiring expo for over 60 schools...
https://twitter.com/MCPSCareers/status/1149609772322177024

Both of those things are true. Some areas like special ed and STEM subjects may be harder to hire for because the pool of applicants is smaller, and schools are still looking to hire those kinds of positions now, but it remains true that if you want to get a general elementary teaching job, or an English or Social Studies or art or music position at MCPS, you basically have to have either done student teaching in MCPS or been a long-term sub or have some connection with a principal. Ask people who work in nearby districts and are trying to get to MCPS.