| THE UNAPPRECIATED TEACHER |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, July 07 2003 |
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| It's not unusual for kids in grade school to dream of someday becoming dancers, astronauts, firemen or teachers. Their professions of choice are usually fun, exciting or emulate people they admire. But when they get a little older, their motivation changes a bit. I've spoken at enough high-school career days to know that five minutes into the question-and-answer period, a student is going to stand up and ask me point-blank how much money I make. It just goes to show how important money is to America's young people. That's why I'm so worried about the future of teaching in this country.
You see, the United States is facing a critical shortage of teachers. We can't find enough of them. And when we do find good teachers, we can't seem to convince them to stay on the job. The problem, quite simply, is money.
The American Federation of Teachers reports that the average salary for a starting teacher in the United States is about $29,000 a year. The average salary for a teacher with 15 years' experience is in the neighborhood of $44,000. That's pretty dismal when you compare it with the average salaries of other white-collar occupations, such as accountant ($52,000), computer-systems analyst ($71,000), engineer ($74,900) and attorney ($82,700). I won't even mention professional athletes or movie stars.
Show me a college student who is willing to put up with the immense challenges facing classroom teachers for $29,000 a year, and I'll show you someone who has a true passion for teaching, a commendable sense of public service or couldn't care less about money. Those are great qualities, but the reality is that you just can't live on that kind of salary for very long, especially if you have a family. That's why nearly a third of new teachers leave the classroom after three years, and nearly 50 percent leave after five years, according to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
In Florida, where the average teacher pay ranks 31st in the nation, voters passed a constitutional amendment capping class size. The measure means that Florida is going to have to hire 20,000 new teachers by the time schools reopen in the fall. Recruiters are scrambling around the country to find qualified candidates who are willing to meet the challenge for an amount of money that leaves much to be desired.
The losers in all of this are the students in Florida's schools. This year, some 12,000 Florida seniors are being denied high-school diplomas because they failed to pass the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test, known as the FCAT. The exam, supported by Gov. Jeb Bush, is supposed to ensure high standards for high-school graduates. But critics say the test discriminates against African-Americans and Hispanics because these students attend schools that are hardest hit by the shortage of qualified teachers. Studies show that the least-qualified teachers tend to work in low-income, inner-city schools, where the student populations tend to be mostly minorities. It should come as no surprise to anyone that these kids have had the toughest time passing the FCAT.
Teaching is one of the most important professions as well as one of the most underappreciated. The responsibility of educating young people to become productive members of society is immense. Yet there is little financial incentive for dedicated and qualified individuals to take on that responsibility. New education laws are aimed partly at making teachers more accountable, but that's pretty tough when you're overworked and underpaid. It seems that for the time being, we have to rely on those special individuals for whom teaching is a labor of love -- until we find a way to pay them what they are really worth. |
