Why are Less Citizens Around the United States Pursuing a Career in Teaching. by

"People Don't Want to Be Teachers Anymore. Can You Blame Them"

ar2222_ — 2023-11-13 16:32:58 UTC

This New York Times article highlights the main reasons that people are steering away from being teachers. After the pandemic it has become crucially demanding for teachers. Teachers aren’t going into the profession because they think that they are going to make a lot of money from it. Teachers do want to know that they will have stability in their lives if they do go into the profession, and from what we’ve seen from recent years they aren’t getting that. Depending on the area that you work in, your district may not provide you with health care, a retirement plan, or supplies for your own classroom. Those are things that have to come out of your pocket. Most teachers are paying for supplies for their students out of pocket because they aren’t getting a budget to get the necessary supplies. If teachers are working in an area where parents aren’t financially able to afford supplies for their kids, teachers are paying for it themselves to make sure that their child receives the education they deserve.

"The State of the Teacher Workforce"

ar2222_ — 2023-11-13 16:34:43 UTC

The Learning Policy Institute has highlighted the key factors that are offered in each state around the country. It includes the attractiveness of the profession. The starting salary and if there is wage competitiveness. The working conditions of teachers in various states and the qualifications that are needed to hold that position. The map is color coded by those shades. The darker the green is the more attractive the profession is to that state and the lighter that it is there is much need for more people to hold the position. New York has an attractive teaching market due it being one of the highest paying states, California then follows with the salary and having the most schools out of any state in the country.

"How the pandemic has changed teachers' commitment to remaining in the classsroom"

ar2222_ — 2023-11-15 15:44:12 UTC

During the pandemic teachers were held to an all time standard. They went from physically being able to see what their students were struggling in, to behind the computer screens. Then when hybrid classes came into play they were expected to be able to handle the students in the classroom and students online. Making sure that everyone is learning effectively. Knowing that it was hard to establish a connection with students through the computer screen, they were still put to the challenge. Teachers never really knew who was failing or who needed help because students were in the comfort of their own homes and had unlimited access to online resources. In early January of 2021 RAND ran a survey and they found that a quarter of teachers had the desire to leave their professions. After the pandemic, parents have become more fond of teachers because they were challenged with the task of teaching their children, realizing that they knew nothing about teaching their children academically.

Claim:

ar2222_ — 2023-11-15 15:46:10 UTC

Around the United States there are less citizens wanting to become teachers. Being a teacher has become more and more difficult to be a teacher in the United States. Being a teacher goes beyond the scope of working the school day and then just going home. Depending on the type of teacher you are, shows the level of difficulty you would typically deal with from day to day. There's all these factors that go into the type of teacher that someone is. There’s the grade level that you're teaching, the subject that you're teaching, or even if you're a special education teacher.

There is so much more that a teacher has to handle besides having to care for your child at. There is hours long of lesson preparation that goes into the lessons that students are learning. They have to make sure that students are learning effectively and retaining the information that is needed in order for their students to move on to the next grade level. They have to make sure that students are not only taught but cared for because school is essentially a place where a child has to feel safe and comfortable.

Teachers are held to a high standard, which amounts to the work that they have to put in. But are they being fairly compensated for the time and work that they are putting in? Should they be able to teach a student about questions that they have or don’t feel comfortable talking about with someone else? These are the challenges that go along with being a teacher.

The Great American Teacher Crisis

ar2222_ — 2023-11-15 16:19:36 UTC

Teachers are being forced to censor the things that they are teaching to their students. Real life issues that they would hear just about anywhere. From their friends, from their family, and basically just being out and about. Recently there was a bill passed called the “don’t say gay” bill. This bans teachers from having a discussion with their students about sexual orientation or gender identity in the classroom. Supporters think that it is up to the parents to indicate the time when it is best to introduce the topic of LGBTQ. The law now gives parents the right to sue a school district if a teacher is found violating that law. DeSantis, the current governor of Florida, feels that teaching kids that they can be whatever they want is inappropriate. This law now puts students in a weird position if they don’t feel comfortable talking to someone at home about it. They now have no one at school that they can talk to.

Sources Cited

ar2222_ — 2023-11-20 04:22:20 UTC

Jessica Grose, An American journalist and editor. She is an opinion writer for the New York Times. Studied at Brown University.

The Great American Teach Crisis, a short opinion dialogue for the New York Times.
People Don't Want to Be Teachers Anymore. Can You Blame Them?

Learning Policy Institute, Published July 27, 2023

ar2222_ — 2023-11-20 05:32:14 UTC