[Vision2020] RE: Half of teachers quit

Ed ecooper at turbonet.com
Wed May 10 15:58:27 PDT 2006


Hey Mat,

 

Student teaching is over; and yes, it was formal work attire--with a tie about half the time. Fridays were dress-down days though, luckily. 

 

You had some great points, as did Keely, regarding why teachers quit. I believe pay is a huge factor, even in Washington, where teachers are paid quite a bit more than their neighbor to the east. I would be taking an 80% pay cut if I decided to take a teaching position. It's either teaching or law school at U of I... yehaw!! 

 

Yes, the lack of respect is a problem in school as well. Parents very seldom support the teachers as they religiously did when I was in school a few years back (60's, 70's, 80's). This, I believe, is a societal/culture issue due to a host of --mostly liberal resultant--factors that I'll spare ye. 

 

Yes, the ACLU and NLG are at work in our Nation's schools as well. The slightest wrong move or slip, even well intended, will be the end of your career...

 

I've sometimes called teachers glorified babysitters as well... Nevertheless, I think that respect is earned (not asked for) by something much more substantive than appearance. A well thought out classroom management plan is a good place to start for success in and out of the classroom. My classroom management style is not laissez-faire, not authoritarian, or one of indifference, but an authoritative controlled environment that places limitations but also encourages independence; I am polite but firm. My management style is also related to my teaching style as I would rather guide the students rather than lead them. I use the constructivist approach, a method that incorporates a student-centered process through active involvement and utilizing prior knowledge while encouraging responsibility and autonomy.

 

I, too, know numerous teachers that have left the profession only a couple years into their career. Pay, stress, unattainable expectations (from new NCLB act), no parental support, no discipline in school or support from admin in disciplinary procedings, and much more...are all reasons used to justify a career change.

 

--Ed ( "the Incessant Strobe")...more like a beacon of truth

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Donatelo Juan 
  To: ecooper at turbonet.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 2:56 PM
  Subject: [Spam] Re: [Vision2020] RE: Half of teachers quit


  Hi visionaries,

  I think Keely has some good points.  I don't think any teacher goes into the 
  job thinking they are going to make a lot of money, but what they do find in 
  those first years can be a salary which does not allow them to repay loans 
  and eat.  Is there a papered professional that makes less than a entry level 
  teacher in Idaho?

  I know a number of former teachers that have left the field from fear of 
  being sued by former students, accussed by current students, harassed by 
  students and their parents.

  How about respect?  The USA is great about giving lip service to respect, 
  but really do we as a nation respect the job that teachers perform, the 
  hours they work?  No

  Why not?  Consumers do not pay the teacher, the government does, so it seems 
  free.  But man if they put ketchup on that 79 cent hamburger, which you 
  wanted with out, here comes the concern.  As long as little Johnny gets a 
  70.1 the world is good.  Is the educational system in America simply large 
  scale day care?

  Teachers do you ask for respect?  Again I don't mean lip service.  Do you 
  show up to work in a shirt and tie or in something else?  Does the guy at 
  Les Schwab look more professional than you do?  Ed are you going to wear a 
  shirt and tie when you student teach or are you going to dress in attire for 
  your other job?



  >A big "Amen" to Keely's reasoning (about why teachers quit, not her RWR 
  >slam), from "an incessant strobe reflecting off nothing more substantial 
  >than a mirrored ball in a poorly lit disco"
  >
  >--AKA, Ed
  >   ----- Original Message -----
  >   From: keely emerinemix
  >   To: donboy22 at hotmail.com ;
  >   Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 3:14 PM
  >   Subject: [Spam] [Vision2020] RE: Half of teachers quit
  >
  >
  >   Perhaps, Mat, they live in a town that has a large group of people who, 
  >for
  >   reasons they claim are found in their religious beliefs, treat them like
  >   emissaries of Satan himself and who pray for the destruction of public
  >   schools.
  >
  >   Or maybe it's because neo-conservatives and libertarians who are experts 
  >in
  >   running shoe stores and pencil factories believe that the same 
  >market-based
  >   philosophies can and should be applied to public schools, whose 
  >"product" is
  >   vastly more complex than running shoes and soft-lead pencils, but which
  >   lacks serious representation in the halls of power.
  >
  >   Perhaps it's that many "liberals" have abandoned public schools and the
  >   public good in favor of idyllic and isolated lives that neglect the 
  >children
  >   and families they once swore, over cheap beer and chips, that they'd 
  >fight
  >   for.
  >
  >   And it may have something to do with the method of parenting, or lack
  >   thereof, that these children receive at home, which turns them over to 
  >the
  >   crudest elements of society via media and electronics and then produces
  >   combative or uninterested parents who can't believe and don't care that
  >   anything's wrong with their child.
  >
  >   Finally, it may have to do with the obscene way we fund public schools,
  >   which virtually screams its disregard for children from kindergarten 
  >through
  >   college and cheers mightily at a bloated war budget, tax cuts for the
  >   wealthy, and a runaway economy that leaves those most dependent on 
  >education
  >   the least likely to receive a good one.
  >
  >   Whatever the answer, Mat, it can be traced back to one thing:  a lack of
  >   clear, solid, committed, generous and vocal support for public schools, 
  >from
  >   the crankiest lone voter all the way to the halls of the White House, 
  >and
  >   this, I believe, is the single biggest issue facing our nation.
  >
  >   keely
  >
  >
  >   From: "Donatelo Juan" <donboy22 at hotmail.com>
  >   To: vision2020 at moscow.com
  >   Subject: [Vision2020] Half of new teachers quit
  >   Date: Tue, 09 May 2006 21:49:07 +0000
  >
  >   Hi Visionaries,
  >
  >   I thought I would introduce a new topic.   Please read this article on 
  >MSN:
  >
  >   
  >http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2628&ncid=2628&e=27&u=/nm/20060509/us_nm/life_teachers_dc_2
  >
  >   I really do understand why most teachers leave teaching.  My question 
  >are
  >   simple.  Why are the salaries so low for beginning teachers?
  >
  >   "The kids were wonderful to be with, but the stress of everything that 
  >went
  >   with it and the low pay did not make it hard to leave,"
  >
  >   Why are most of the teachers in their mid 40, white and religious?
  >
  >   "The study, which the association released last week ahead of its annual
  >   salute to teachers on Tuesday, also found today's average teacher is a
  >   married, 43-year-old white woman who is religious"
  >
  >   Why are there not more men?
  >   Can a new teacher support a family with an entry teaching salary?
  >   These 43 year old teachers, Are they second income families, single 
  >income
  >   families, single parent families supported additionally with child 
  >support
  >   payments?
  >
  >   Just some questions.
  >   Mat
  >
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  >  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
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