They graduate wanting to change lives and the world. What happens in the first few years of teaching? Why do teachers go into other fields?

Why Not Ask?

Teachers know why they leave. Why not ask them? They will tell you. New graduates have enthusiasm and want to help students as much as they can. They want to perform miracles. What is the factor that forces them to leave the profession they spent 4-5 years studying?

California

18,000 teachers quit the profession each year in California. 18,000. The National Center for Educational Statistics did a study to find out why. Why do so many leave and what can California do about it?

The teachers in the survey that did not quit said they stayed because

• they were supported by administration
• they were supported by staff

Those that were leaving stated they were leaving because they were dissatisfied with the pay or conditions.

Conditions

What conditions are they talking about?

• More and more children are coming without family support.
• Teachers are required to do more and more in a limited period of time.
• Teachers are expected to be experts in all fields.
• Too little planning time.
• Too much paperwork.
• Unreliable assistance from the district.
• Rarely have a day off.
• Lack of support.
• Teachers work weekends without pay.
• Teachers spend summer vacations taking college classes or preparing for the next school year.
• Students always need more time and attention.

The study, A Possible Dream: Retaining California Teachers So All Students Can Learn, gave six recommendations.

1. School administrators should continuously assess teaching conditions.
2. California should increase education funding to at least adequate levels.
3. Introduce administrative policies that support teachers' instructional needs.
4. Principals should focus on "high-quality teaching and learning conditions."
5. The state should establish standards for teaching and learning conditions.
6. Administrators should address specific challenges in retaining special education teachers.

The full report is at www.calstate.edu/teacherquality/retention/. [Nanette Asimov, Amr Emam, San Francisco Gate.com, April 26, 2007]

New York

California is not the only state having problems retaining teachers. New York City has provided teacher housing to attract teachers to the city.

Iowa

Iowa has a declining population in smaller, rural areas. There is already an existing teacher shortage in key areas:

• math
• science
• foreign language
• special education

The state of Iowa recently passed the "Teacher Quality" law. Salaries have been raised to bring Iowa up to the 25th position in the nation. However, Iowa has forgotten that while they are phasing in this plan over two years, other states are raising teacher salaries, as well. It remains to be seen if this small increase in salary will be enough to keep teachers in Iowa or in the profession.

Education in Crises

Education, as a whole, is in crises. Other professions are earning much more annually and the gap between teaching and the private sector is growing. Many visionaries like Thomas Frey, see a different future for education.

Related articles: Principal Changes Student Grades, Paradigm Shift in Learning, Education and Society Are Changing.

Read previous articles on Educational Issues.

Copyright article 2007 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.