Have you notice the shortage of teachers in your school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The contempt expressed on this thread by teachers for parents and their students does not surprise me at all. We are leaving our private after 7(!) years because ever since Covid, every year has been an experience of enduring a teacher who seems annoyed that they have to teach students. As the mom of a quiet, self-contained kid who just wants to get though their day, it’s hard to get them home every day and hear stories about teachers sniping at each other in the halls, badmouthing administrators, giving each other the silent treatment, or spilling the personal business of kids to the rest of the class when kids aren’t in school that day. I’m sure it sucks for teachers who are doing a genuinely good job and feel devotion to their work, but for everyone else: don’t go into teaching if you resent children or their parents. Working with them is literally your job.

It reminds me of what a friend in medicine said about pediatrics, which is that people shouldn’t pursue it because they like kids, because the bulk of the job requires working with parents. Same for teaching: if you don’t want to interact with other adults or parents, maybe public school or community college teaching is a better answer.

Also, plenty of parents here are getting their kids to school and rushing to distant jobs. The idea that it’s ok to arrive at the same time as students for that reason is silly. Hire a nanny, find a carpool, or have a partner take a more flexible job like the rest of us.

Hear that, teachers? Y'all need to hire nannies.

That entire post is ridiculous and tone-deaf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The contempt expressed on this thread by teachers for parents and their students does not surprise me at all. We are leaving our private after 7(!) years because ever since Covid, every year has been an experience of enduring a teacher who seems annoyed that they have to teach students. As the mom of a quiet, self-contained kid who just wants to get though their day, it’s hard to get them home every day and hear stories about teachers sniping at each other in the halls, badmouthing administrators, giving each other the silent treatment, or spilling the personal business of kids to the rest of the class when kids aren’t in school that day. I’m sure it sucks for teachers who are doing a genuinely good job and feel devotion to their work, but for everyone else: don’t go into teaching if you resent children or their parents. Working with them is literally your job.

It reminds me of what a friend in medicine said about pediatrics, which is that people shouldn’t pursue it because they like kids, because the bulk of the job requires working with parents. Same for teaching: if you don’t want to interact with other adults or parents, maybe public school or community college teaching is a better answer.

Also, plenty of parents here are getting their kids to school and rushing to distant jobs. The idea that it’s ok to arrive at the same time as students for that reason is silly. Hire a nanny, find a carpool, or have a partner take a more flexible job like the rest of us.

Hear that, teachers? Y'all need to hire nannies.

That entire post is ridiculous and tone-deaf.

I like the part where she advises the teachers to have their partner take a more flexible job "like the rest of us."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The contempt expressed on this thread by teachers for parents and their students does not surprise me at all. We are leaving our private after 7(!) years because ever since Covid, every year has been an experience of enduring a teacher who seems annoyed that they have to teach students. As the mom of a quiet, self-contained kid who just wants to get though their day, it’s hard to get them home every day and hear stories about teachers sniping at each other in the halls, badmouthing administrators, giving each other the silent treatment, or spilling the personal business of kids to the rest of the class when kids aren’t in school that day. I’m sure it sucks for teachers who are doing a genuinely good job and feel devotion to their work, but for everyone else: don’t go into teaching if you resent children or their parents. Working with them is literally your job.

It reminds me of what a friend in medicine said about pediatrics, which is that people shouldn’t pursue it because they like kids, because the bulk of the job requires working with parents. Same for teaching: if you don’t want to interact with other adults or parents, maybe public school or community college teaching is a better answer.

Also, plenty of parents here are getting their kids to school and rushing to distant jobs. The idea that it’s ok to arrive at the same time as students for that reason is silly. Hire a nanny, find a carpool, or have a partner take a more flexible job like the rest of us.

Hear that, teachers? Y'all need to hire nannies.

That entire post is ridiculous and tone-deaf.

I like the part where she advises the teachers to have their partner take a more flexible job "like the rest of us."

Yes, my teacher DH. I’ll let him know he should find a school with more convenient hours.

And I love being told that it is literally my job to put up with disrespectful, rude people. (Um… it’s not.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The contempt expressed on this thread by teachers for parents and their students does not surprise me at all. We are leaving our private after 7(!) years because ever since Covid, every year has been an experience of enduring a teacher who seems annoyed that they have to teach students. As the mom of a quiet, self-contained kid who just wants to get though their day, it’s hard to get them home every day and hear stories about teachers sniping at each other in the halls, badmouthing administrators, giving each other the silent treatment, or spilling the personal business of kids to the rest of the class when kids aren’t in school that day. I’m sure it sucks for teachers who are doing a genuinely good job and feel devotion to their work, but for everyone else: don’t go into teaching if you resent children or their parents. Working with them is literally your job.

It reminds me of what a friend in medicine said about pediatrics, which is that people shouldn’t pursue it because they like kids, because the bulk of the job requires working with parents. Same for teaching: if you don’t want to interact with other adults or parents, maybe public school or community college teaching is a better answer.

Also, plenty of parents here are getting their kids to school and rushing to distant jobs. The idea that it’s ok to arrive at the same time as students for that reason is silly. Hire a nanny, find a carpool, or have a partner take a more flexible job like the rest of us.

Hear that, teachers? Y'all need to hire nannies.

That entire post is ridiculous and tone-deaf.

I like the part where she advises the teachers to have their partner take a more flexible job "like the rest of us."

Yes, my teacher DH. I’ll let him know he should find a school with more convenient hours.

And I love being told that it is literally my job to put up with disrespectful, rude people. (Um… it’s not.)

DP. I am a private school parent and am hugely grateful for our school's teachers. The teaching quality is really strong and my daughter feels that her teachers care.

We obviously have a lot of serious cultural problems in our country right now and schools are absorbing those.

I actually think that better transparency about school financials to parents would be helpful. I don't think that most are aware that the discrepancy in salaries is so significant with local publics. Most privates fundraise for general funds but after reading this I think a better approach would be a capital campaign to give our teachers raises and create an endowment to ensure we hold onto to these lovely people as long as possible!

And for the teachers out there: thank you for doing what you are doing. I don't know how our education system became so broken, but your efforts are supporting children in spite of our adult-driven failures. Kids need as many good guys in their lives as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have noticed that the academic background of the recent hires is very weak. On the contrary older teachers are much better at teaching and dealing with kids at school.

For instance the recent math teacher in my kid school comes from a public school where none the kids are proficient in math according to state evaluations. Also every month 1 teacher is leaving. So the shortage is very disruptive and it seems that the school is not raising salaries to retain top talent. This in spite of setting the tuition at 50+k. Do you experience something similar?

Even if your school raises salaries, they won't match the salary/job security/benefits of a public, and that should concern you. If you want truly "top" talent, you need to EXCEED what the public is offering. Publics in good areas have decent working conditions, and the job security and benefits mean a lot. Sure, some good teachers have their reasons for choosing your private, but the majority of the "top" won't or can't take that financial hit.

In what other industry would you expect lower pay, limited benefits, and no job security to attract top talent when other employers down the road are all offering higher pay, job security, and benefits?

You're not just competing with publics. You're competing with every other job that talented and knowledgeable person could take. All my life people have looked at my academic credentials and told me I'm wasting my life as a "teacher." There's no question that I could be making more money in another career. I 'd likely even be happy in another career. But for me teaching was a calling and my middle class upbringing and employed and supportive spouse make it possible for me to follow that calling. Not everyone has that luxury or support. I think we lose male teachers because there's greater pressure to have the higher paycheck on them.

Over the 25 years I've been teaching, I've seen us lose so many talented and devoted teachers due to burn out, poor treatment, poor pay, etc. public and private. COVID hit the teachers of young students very hard, but it's not just covid and it's not just those teachers of young kids. Teaching needs to be one of the highest paid professions with competitive hiring. Instead because of sexism and corporate greed, it is one of the lowest paid, despite the qualifications and experience that most of us have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The contempt expressed on this thread by teachers for parents and their students does not surprise me at all. We are leaving our private after 7(!) years because ever since Covid, every year has been an experience of enduring a teacher who seems annoyed that they have to teach students. As the mom of a quiet, self-contained kid who just wants to get though their day, it’s hard to get them home every day and hear stories about teachers sniping at each other in the halls, badmouthing administrators, giving each other the silent treatment, or spilling the personal business of kids to the rest of the class when kids aren’t in school that day. I’m sure it sucks for teachers who are doing a genuinely good job and feel devotion to their work, but for everyone else: don’t go into teaching if you resent children or their parents. Working with them is literally your job.

It reminds me of what a friend in medicine said about pediatrics, which is that people shouldn’t pursue it because they like kids, because the bulk of the job requires working with parents. Same for teaching: if you don’t want to interact with other adults or parents, maybe public school or community college teaching is a better answer.

Also, plenty of parents here are getting their kids to school and rushing to distant jobs. The idea that it’s ok to arrive at the same time as students for that reason is silly. Hire a nanny, find a carpool, or have a partner take a more flexible job like the rest of us.

Hear that, teachers? Y'all need to hire nannies.

I teach at a private and don't have kids, so I just put that extra $50K per year into my country club membership like the other teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have noticed that the academic background of the recent hires is very weak. On the contrary older teachers are much better at teaching and dealing with kids at school.

For instance the recent math teacher in my kid school comes from a public school where none the kids are proficient in math according to state evaluations. Also every month 1 teacher is leaving. So the shortage is very disruptive and it seems that the school is not raising salaries to retain top talent. This in spite of setting the tuition at 50+k. Do you experience something similar?

Even if your school raises salaries, they won't match the salary/job security/benefits of a public, and that should concern you. If you want truly "top" talent, you need to EXCEED what the public is offering. Publics in good areas have decent working conditions, and the job security and benefits mean a lot. Sure, some good teachers have their reasons for choosing your private, but the majority of the "top" won't or can't take that financial hit.

In what other industry would you expect lower pay, limited benefits, and no job security to attract top talent when other employers down the road are all offering higher pay, job security, and benefits?

You're not just competing with publics. You're competing with every other job that talented and knowledgeable person could take. All my life people have looked at my academic credentials and told me I'm wasting my life as a "teacher." There's no question that I could be making more money in another career. I 'd likely even be happy in another career. But for me teaching was a calling and my middle class upbringing and employed and supportive spouse make it possible for me to follow that calling. Not everyone has that luxury or support. I think we lose male teachers because there's greater pressure to have the higher paycheck on them.

Over the 25 years I've been teaching, I've seen us lose so many talented and devoted teachers due to burn out, poor treatment, poor pay, etc. public and private. COVID hit the teachers of young students very hard, but it's not just covid and it's not just those teachers of young kids. Teaching needs to be one of the highest paid professions with competitive hiring. Instead because of sexism and corporate greed, it is one of the lowest paid, despite the qualifications and experience that most of us have.

+100!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have noticed that the academic background of the recent hires is very weak. On the contrary older teachers are much better at teaching and dealing with kids at school.

For instance the recent math teacher in my kid school comes from a public school where none the kids are proficient in math according to state evaluations. Also every month 1 teacher is leaving. So the shortage is very disruptive and it seems that the school is not raising salaries to retain top talent. This in spite of setting the tuition at 50+k. Do you experience something similar?

Even if your school raises salaries, they won't match the salary/job security/benefits of a public, and that should concern you. If you want truly "top" talent, you need to EXCEED what the public is offering. Publics in good areas have decent working conditions, and the job security and benefits mean a lot. Sure, some good teachers have their reasons for choosing your private, but the majority of the "top" won't or can't take that financial hit.

In what other industry would you expect lower pay, limited benefits, and no job security to attract top talent when other employers down the road are all offering higher pay, job security, and benefits?

You're not just competing with publics. You're competing with every other job that talented and knowledgeable person could take. All my life people have looked at my academic credentials and told me I'm wasting my life as a "teacher." There's no question that I could be making more money in another career. I 'd likely even be happy in another career. But for me teaching was a calling and my middle class upbringing and employed and supportive spouse make it possible for me to follow that calling. Not everyone has that luxury or support. I think we lose male teachers because there's greater pressure to have the higher paycheck on them.

Over the 25 years I've been teaching, I've seen us lose so many talented and devoted teachers due to burn out, poor treatment, poor pay, etc. public and private. COVID hit the teachers of young students very hard, but it's not just covid and it's not just those teachers of young kids. Teaching needs to be one of the highest paid professions with competitive hiring. Instead because of sexism and corporate greed, it is one of the lowest paid, despite the qualifications and experience that most of us have.

I think you unraveled the knot we’ve all been picking at.

Most people posting here probably came up through schools in the 80s and 90s, when they were staffed primarily by women who graduated college anywhere between the 50s and 70s. My mom was a teacher, and although there were a handful of women in her age cohort and our neighborhood who were ad execs or doctors or research scientists, the vast majority of her peers were teachers (or admins who had started as teachers), executive assistants, feds, or in nursing. We had such talented teachers because women had far more limited options.

At my large public school, we had teachers all the way through HS when I graduated in 2000 who had been chemists, corporate execs, etc. before they had their children and could never get back into the workforce (this was before FMLA). We were really fortunate to have such a variety of talent in the classroom. But it was also taken advantage of and expected, and it set a terrible precedent for current teachers.

There are also plenty of unqualified teachers in the profession, and unfortunately they taint the reputation of those teachers who excel.

[Anonymous]

The batch of teachers in my school is a complete disaster. Not worth paying private to get the same quality as a public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The contempt expressed on this thread by teachers for parents and their students does not surprise me at all. We are leaving our private after 7(!) years because ever since Covid, every year has been an experience of enduring a teacher who seems annoyed that they have to teach students. As the mom of a quiet, self-contained kid who just wants to get though their day, it’s hard to get them home every day and hear stories about teachers sniping at each other in the halls, badmouthing administrators, giving each other the silent treatment, or spilling the personal business of kids to the rest of the class when kids aren’t in school that day. I’m sure it sucks for teachers who are doing a genuinely good job and feel devotion to their work, but for everyone else: don’t go into teaching if you resent children or their parents. Working with them is literally your job.

It reminds me of what a friend in medicine said about pediatrics, which is that people shouldn’t pursue it because they like kids, because the bulk of the job requires working with parents. Same for teaching: if you don’t want to interact with other adults or parents, maybe public school or community college teaching is a better answer.

Also, plenty of parents here are getting their kids to school and rushing to distant jobs. The idea that it’s ok to arrive at the same time as students for that reason is silly. Hire a nanny, find a carpool, or have a partner take a more flexible job like the rest of us.

Hear that, teachers? Y'all need to hire nannies.

I teach at a private and don't have kids, so I just put that extra $50K per year into my country club membership like the other teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The batch of teachers in my school is a complete disaster. Not worth paying private to get the same quality as a public school.

The quality of students has gone down universally in this country too. I will say the private school curriculum can be a lot better than the public. I am paying for that, along with responsiveness of teachers and school culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The batch of teachers in my school is a complete disaster. Not worth paying private to get the same quality as a public school.

Why are you still there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The batch of teachers in my school is a complete disaster. Not worth paying private to get the same quality as a public school.

The quality of students has gone down universally in this country too. I will say the private school curriculum can be a lot better than the public. I am paying for that, along with responsiveness of teachers and school culture.

But your kids are students, right? Are they lower quality? Have you let them know this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The batch of teachers in my school is a complete disaster. Not worth paying private to get the same quality as a public school.

The quality of students has gone down universally in this country too. I will say the private school curriculum can be a lot better than the public. I am paying for that, along with responsiveness of teachers and school culture.

But your kids are students, right? Are they lower quality? Have you let them know this?

But there is a grain of truth in the previous post. Unanimously teachers agree that post covid students are showing behavioral issues that makes teaching more difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The contempt expressed on this thread by teachers for parents and their students does not surprise me at all. We are leaving our private after 7(!) years because ever since Covid, every year has been an experience of enduring a teacher who seems annoyed that they have to teach students. As the mom of a quiet, self-contained kid who just wants to get though their day, it’s hard to get them home every day and hear stories about teachers sniping at each other in the halls, badmouthing administrators, giving each other the silent treatment, or spilling the personal business of kids to the rest of the class when kids aren’t in school that day. I’m sure it sucks for teachers who are doing a genuinely good job and feel devotion to their work, but for everyone else: don’t go into teaching if you resent children or their parents. Working with them is literally your job.

It reminds me of what a friend in medicine said about pediatrics, which is that people shouldn’t pursue it because they like kids, because the bulk of the job requires working with parents. Same for teaching: if you don’t want to interact with other adults or parents, maybe public school or community college teaching is a better answer.

Also, plenty of parents here are getting their kids to school and rushing to distant jobs. The idea that it’s ok to arrive at the same time as students for that reason is silly. Hire a nanny, find a carpool, or have a partner take a more flexible job like the rest of us.

Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!