Withered Apples: Reforming the Education Profession
The American teacher is second only to the politician in that they are a scapegoat for uncountable problems. The role of teacher can be likened to that of a soldier: doing a difficult job for little pay and less recognition. The difference is that when the military performs poorly, we blame the administration. When the education system performs poorly, we blame the teachers. Teachers, says acting U.S. Secretary of Education John King, Jr, are the most important workers in the nation. The problem is that young people lack the interest or motivation to do the job.
Erik Benner is a public schoolteacher from Keller, Texas. A single father of two children, he is forced to work two jobs to support them. After school, he goes to work in construction until 11:00 at night-- just to take in enough money to support his family. Benner’s story is the story of teachers across the United States: overworked, underpaid, and undervalued. In a poll of high school seniors, only 5% intended to earn an education major. This is the lowest percentage in American history-- fitting, really, as the number of American history teachers dwindles. Teachers are paid nearly 20% less than other majors with the same level of training and qualifications. Young people see teaching as a dead-end job with no recognition, and those that do are, more and more, winding up in Benner’s situation: broke and broken.
Teach For America, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and motivating new teachers, is working to change that. TFA hires newly graduated educators and places them in low-income schools, where it pays them extra in addition to their standard salary. After two years in the program, these teachers have the experience required to move to more prestigious teaching jobs, which TFA is also working to improve by raising salaries, providing more efficient administration and granting greater autonomy in the classroom. With these goals in mind, it hopes to redefine the profession of ‘teacher’ into something to be honored and desired and bring in new minds to teach the children of tomorrow.
America’s teachers are retiring quickly, and fewer and fewer new educators are graduating from college. Reform is needed to make teaching desirable-- to make the “most important job on Earth” worth doing in the minds of young people. After all, every important decision made is made by people who went through school and had teachers to guide, motivate and inspire them. What better cause than to help these teachers help their students create a brighter future for everyone? We can all learn from teachers-- not just students, but everyone. And they need our help.
Works Cited
Williams, Joseph. "A Shockingly Low Number of High School Students Want to Be Teachers." TakePart. N.p., 25 Apr. 2015. Web.
Brenneman, Ross. "Teacher Pay Starts Low, Grows Slowly, Is Generally Awful, Report Says." Education Week. N.p., 23 July 2014. Web.
Eggers, Dave, and Nínive Clements Calegari. "The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries." The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Apr. 2011. Web.