<p>With so much teacher bashing, who in the world would want to teach?</p>
<p>Seeking to combat such sentiments, the Department of Education in partnership with the Advertising Council, Microsoft, State Farm Insurance, Teach for America, the nations two largest teachers unions and several other educational groups is unveiling a public service campaign this week aimed at recruiting a new generation of classroom educators.
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<p>What do you think about this campaign? Would you want your child to become a teacher?</p>
<p>I think the recruitment of high achievers to be teachers is a great thing. I have no comment about this particular campaign because I know nothing about it.</p>
<p>Obviously, standardized tests never show the whole picture, and there are a lot of ways to measure a good teacher. But being at least an average student yourself is a pretty good place to start. It is understandable that brighter and better-prepared 18-year-olds don’t want to enter teacher training programs where their classmates would be so much less ready to excel. We’ve got things terribly backwards when high-achieving young people are embarrassed and discouraged out of careers in education. Fighting back against that tide is a good thing. Maybe someday we can aspire to a system like South Korea’s or Finland’s, where educating elementary students is a privilege for which the brightest students compete.</p>
<p>Upper level teachers generally must have a degree in a content area with a GPA above a certain level. I’m not sure why that isn’t the case with elementary education. Maybe because they don’t separate out the individual subjects as is done in the upper grades.</p>
<p>In our district, teachers are required to get master’s degrees before a certain number of years have passed. They receive many resumes for each open teaching position.</p>
<p>My sister is a teacher - special ed, no less. She helps kids learn to read. She loves what she does and is really good at it. She doesn’t take summers off - she teaches other teachers! The hardest thing for her is when a parent decides to put a child in a private school to get a “better” education, when my sister is the one who taught the teachers at that school!</p>
<p>My dad was a little annoyed at her for going into teaching, because she would have been a killer lawyer! She’s sharp as a tack.</p>
<p>Getting into a teaching certification program here in NY state does not seem to be a rout. Teaching positions are difficult to find here in the public schools as well, from what I’ve seen. When I lived in the midwest there were over 400 applicants for each job that came up in our public school district. Math, science, computer majors are exceptions to all of this. It doesn’t seem to me that the standards for entry into teaching programs are low.</p>
<p>Mini, why are these programs Teach for America, eliminating teacher’s jobs?</p>
<p>I have to agree with zoosermom- there are way too many applicants (at least in New York) for too few teaching jobs. I know quite a few young people who are bright and eager to teach who can’t find jobs in teaching.</p>
<p>It sounds similar to the STEM push where there is a big promotional campaign while so many end up taking jobs outside their field of interest due to too few jobs for too many applicants.</p>
<p>“Mini, why are these programs Teach for America, eliminating teacher’s jobs?”</p>
<p>Because they’re cheap, they will never get step raises, don’t have masters degrees, and will never collect pensions, and their health care is almost nil. And there will be no accountability, because in two years (or less) they’re gone.</p>
<p>Did I mention they are unlikely to question the corporate agenda for education?</p>
<p>But you may have to relocate, or teach in an inner city school, or teach high-needs students, or teach outside your comfort zone of K - 3, or expand your certification to teach middle school, or teach in a private school for less salary than a public school.</p>
<p>Here’s my issue: why would any super-talented person agree to be a part of a system wherein he or she gets paid the exact same amount as someone who is not nearly as bright, diligent, or good at his job? </p>
<p>I would never teach in public school because of the unions: if I were no good, I would get the exact same compensation as if I were outstanding.</p>
<p>But that’s true of every government job. And, as in government jobs, there are step raises for longevity, and some advancement opportunities (teaching at teacher training institutes, etc. and then moving up to assistant principal, etc.) Doesn’t have anything to do with unions. </p>
<p>(Not trying to defend schools or teachers here.)</p>
<p>My daughter is an inner-city teacher of middle/high school special education and social studies. It is nightmarish to find a job, even with a master’s degree and experience. If not for the assistance of someone here on CC, my D wouldn’t have gotten her job. Here in NYC, only certain positions like upper level math, science and special ed can be filled through open hiring. Otherwise, only teachers already in the system can be hired. For those positions where hiring is open, there are often dozens of applicants for each spot. The hiring process involves multiple interviews, panel discussions and demo lessons. It’s also not the case that people with poor college grades get hired. They don’t. They don’t even get interviews. My D had an excellent resume and transcript. She got a fantastic job, but through the process, she looked in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as through an agency across the southern United States. She is lucky because she got a job, but many of her friends still haven’t.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t seem to me that the standards for entry into teaching programs are low.”</p>
<p>Academically, at least, they are quite low compared to the professions that attract the high-achieving kids I’d like to see consider teaching. In other parts of the world where they value education more, becoming a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or accountant is more closely comparable to becoming a teacher. I don’t know anyone who claims that even the best M.Ed. programs in the country are as academically challenging as an average master’s program in nursing, architecture, law, engineering, etc., whether you measure by the qualifications needed to enter or the mastery needed to graduate.</p>
<p>In some (desirable metro) areas, it is very hard to get a JOB teaching. That’s a different question from how hard it is to get into, and graduate from, a teacher ed program.</p>
<p>“Math, science, computer majors are exceptions to all of this.”</p>
<p>Yes, and ditto special ed and bilingual teachers. Why? Because the programs required to teach those subjects are academically demanding and can’t be watered down as easily as humanities programs can, and too many of the kids interested in teaching are those who can’t handle this work. It’s a very rare student with a 19 ACT who can survive in a STEM program. Hence crappy K-12 science and math scores in the U.S. If the teachers can’t grasp the material, there’s no hope for the kids.</p>
<p>Hanna, there is a split between education programs and academic programs that provide required credentials in order to teach. In many states, upper grade teachers must have a degree in the content area. But it is also true that the master’s can be in the content area, as well, or another related content area. Not all teachers have degrees in education, they just have to have taken certain classes and completed the licensing requirements.</p>