This week alone…
The Tampa Bay Times published a story that reveals the bleak reality of the drastic decline in teacher preparation programs. 40% for one of our local universities.
Within a thread discussing education, I saw veteran teachers sharing about walking away and not being able to take it anymore.
I met with a friend who’s only been in the classroom for one year and is already considering her next move out of education.
And we interviewed teachers for Indi-ED who ran the gamut.
Teachers who’ve taught a few years and already see the writing on the wall, teachers who have taught for over a decade in private schools and who are searching for more, teachers who came from fundamental schools, teachers who came from magnet schools, teachers who taught middle school, teachers who taught elementary school. And on and on.
Do you see the change in the theme?
From the elementary level to the university level, what we’re doing is not working.
As a society, we’re slowly opening our eyes to the broken realities for our students.
But what’s finally making its way to the light is that adults are no longer saying that they’re willing to suck it up.
The positive aspects of the profession no longer outweigh the negative even among some of the most altruistic humans-teachers.
When we began this journey, our number #1 goal was and will always be to do what is best for students. However, our #2 goal was and will remain; to support teachers.
It’s time for a wake up call. Regardless of political affiliation or financial status, I think we can all agree that teachers-real, quality, caring teachers-provide value.
Consider what type of employee you would be if you were beaten down, constantly criticized for things that were outside of your control, silenced, not trusted, not valued, not allowed to apply strategies that are proven to work, and forced to implement tactics that you don’t agree with.
Now imagine what is happening to your child if they have someone leading them, helping them navigate life with the same job description.
Our teachers partner with our families to raise our students. Literally.
We support their growth academically and socially. We love them. Our families understand the value of that.
But unless there is a larger shift in how we do things, the majority of students and families won’t ever feel or understand that.
We’re only beginning our 2nd year. But as you can see from our 1st year, we don’t aim low.
Improving the culture of education is one of our small goals and we won’t forget the treatment of our teachers in the process.