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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/america-has-a-teacher-shortage-and-a-new-study-says-its-getting-worse/2016/09/14/d5de1cee-79e8-11e6-beac-57a4a412e93a_story.html

Washington Post article claims there's been a dramatic decrease in new teachers entering the profession:

"Enrollment in teacher-preparation programs dropped from 691,000 in 2009 to 451,000 in 2014, a 35 percent decline, according to the study, “A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand and Shortages in the U.S.”"

It also claims nearly 2/3 of teachers leave before retirement age.

If teaching is supposed to be such a cushy job, "summers off, home by 3", and so well paid with great benefits ... why aren't people rushing to become teachers?

[/quote]

Because it's not a cushy job, you don't actually get the summer off, you're not home by three, and you're not well-paid.

If we want more teachers, we need to pay them more and treat them better.  Like any other job.  [/quote]

My husband just entered his 5th year teaching in a Title 1 elementary school.  This is his second career.  We paid out of pocket for him to get a MSE.  He had been working as a Fed attorney for years.  As a teacher, he works three times as hard for half the pay.  Screw the idea of summers off.  It's more like three weeks by the time we are done with snow days and shifting school starts and mandatory training in the middle of the summer.  We pay out of pocket for child care for at least one month every summer because he gets out of school later in the year and goes back earlier than our kids.

He spends $$ out of pocket every fall to get supplies for his classroom.  He is expected to change his schedule on a dime because a training is scheduled at the last minute.  He must be at school so early there are no good child care options for when I have to travel for work, so we have to pay someone to watch our children at 6:30 in the morning.

In general, we both thought by giving up the commute into downtown, our life would be a little easier when he was a teacher.  Ha!  My life sucks more because he can never take off and feel comfortable about it.  Days off mean sub plans and no confidence the sub will get through to the kids.

He loves teaching, though.   It's the BS that comes with it, including constant judging by someone, that sucks.

I completely get it that no one wants to be a teacher.  I don't.[/quote]

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