Teacher Turnover On The Rise

There are many problems in the American public education system today. Some of those include the quality of teachers, who have no real passion for the job, and are only allowed to remain in the position because of tenure privileges. Another issue is the state budgets that are allowed for public schools, with some states investing billions of dollars, and others prioritizing it lower on the list. In hot debate today is standardized testing, and the negative effect that it has on high school education, with the limits it places on teachers and what they have time to teach in the classrooms.

Initially, the author begins by summarizing a story featured on the news. A simple thought, college level professors come evaluate teachers at a high school and then give tips to improve the learning environment. The only issue though, is that after the first round of workshops, the professors were fired and sent home. The story claims that the issue with this project was that the professors themselves were poor teachers.

Across the United States, schools are facing a major teacher shortage as they try to fill positions in science, math, special education, bilingual education, and other fields. The shortage mainly lies in the schools serving low-income or colored students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the student population will increase by about three million in the next decade. While the number of students is multiplying, teacher enrollment in preparation programs is down remarkably, falling 35 percent nationwide in the last five years (Long 2). Not only are more people not entering the teaching profession, multiple teachers are reaching retirement age. Because of the shortage, several states have been loosening their certifications

The No Child Left Behind act emerged as a result of a massive increase in the costs of schools, while failing to show an improvement in their students performances. (Paterson 32) Since these standardized test have been in effect teachers have been judged off them. The problem is that

“California has cut $18 billion, one-third of state school funding, from money for kindergarten through high school over the past three years.” USA Today (Welch, 2011). Budget cuts to the California Public School System, which is the underlying factor in the deterioration of the quality of education, has had a negative impact on every facet of society. From students to teachers to employers, all have felt the effects of decreased funding of schools. The state of California is headed in the wrong direction by reducing school funding and unless a solution is found to minimize or put a halt to these reductions, our children will bear the

The state of Arizona is facing a serious education crisis in the retention of qualified teachers. Personally, my school in Yuma, Arizona encountered an average of seven new teachers every year. Yuma High School District allowed for a teacher to teach chemistry when his/her Bachelor’s degree was in mathematics. According to the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ enacted in 2001, schools are required to provide “highly qualified” teachers to teach at all times (Educator Excellence). Having quality, long-term teachers is imperative to develop students in becoming productive members of society. Unfortunately due to federal budget cuts directly affecting education, Timothy L. Ogle, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association, says, “Arizona has faced the most dramatic cuts to K-12 education spending of any state in the nation” (Lopez). As a result, administration is forced to have teachers make up for the lack of a certain subject by teaching it without qualifications. Due to this, out-of-state teachers leave within the first 5 years, and 25% all leave within the first year. Some reasons for this include a

California is facing not only teacher shortage but teachers that are diverse. While the Hispanic and Asian population are increasing, there are hardly any teachers that are diverse. According to American Association of College for Teacher Education “that students of color made up more than 45% of the PK–12 population, whereas teachers of color made up only 17.5% of the educator workforce." (Deruy). While many may argue that the lack of diversity is happening because majority of the diverse population is going towards jobs that pay more such into technology and other occupations, one has to look also on how schools are encouraging those students into the teaching profession. Old schools like Mesa Verde High School that have been providing

“In 1983 American education reform entered a new era. It was in that year that the federal government published a report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education entitled A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Commissioned in August 1981 by President Ronald Reagan's secretary of education, Terrel H. Bell, and chaired by David P.” (1). School reform has been poisoning our American educational system for 33 years and keeps on going with Obamas’ No Child Left Behind. This article should inform you on how school reform had developed, what is still causing the problem, and how school reform affects society.

The Union High School district was having extremely high staff turnover. This was more prominent with regards to new teachers. The resources for the district were declining throughout. Teacher absences were at a 20% increase from the past three years. Overall, the school district was receiving an increase in complaints from faculty and support staff dealing with many issues. District leaders knew that they needed to take appropriate steps to solve this issue.

According to Bredekamp (2014), “Federal education policy is often designed to hold schools accountable for educating every child and to close the achievement gap between groups of children” (p.183). Federal policies have many affects on child development. There are certain policies that mandate that schools are held accountable for students’ test scores. Teachers and staff are expected to reform their curriculums in order to raise scores. Not only do the policies have an effect on children, but the teachers as well. Within the policies protocols and standards are created to ensure that children learn through experiences and critical thinking to attain academic enhancement. For policymakers, it is important to promote healthy development,

There are many contributing factors to low teacher turnover, however, the main issue is a lack of support and respect for our teachers. Instead of working on maintaining and providing support for our current educators, the conversation usually surrounds expensive and often ineffective recruitment programs. The harsh fact is that it is very expensive to live in our valley and the current teacher salary/benefits are not enough to attract top talent. We need to have a serious conversation with our teachers in order to learn what incentives they need to be successful in their roles as well as to maintain a comfortable living. Teachers are the one profession that truly molds the future of our

And although I love my career choice and my students, I feel that more educators would enjoy our schools more if we had consistency and uniformity in administration. I say this due to the lack of teachers in my current district with the gap only to spread in the coming school year. This school year began with one hundred seventeen teachers, which quickly went to one hundred by Thanksgiving. If this was not enough, many have been retiring and/or quitting after Christmas which brings our current staffing to around eighty- eight; with many not returning next year. I cannot, entirely, blame our administration for this dilemma our school now faces because selection works both ways. A lot of new teachers come out of college into “another trap that can

There is a consensus among the concerned stakeholders that the quality of teachers is the leading factor in determination of student performance. In the case of United States, the student performance can only be given an impetus by the efforts which the state can make, under all costs, to develop and retain high quality teachers. The measures undertaken determine the level of turnover of the school teachers. Lazear (2009) similarly argues the length of employment is a critical factor in averse risks of employment a trend contrary to teachers treatment. The turnover of public school teachers will refer to the rate at which the state, which is the teacher’s

According to the award-winning history teacher, Kerry Sylvia, without tenure, she was concerned about being fired for her public opposition to her school administrators’ initiatives. 5. It encourages careful selection of effective and qualified teachers. Due to the fact that tenured teachers are very difficult to remove, school administrators are encouraged to take more care when making recruitment decisions. In addition, tenure urges administrators to dismiss under-performing teachers before they achieve tenure.

The HEF claims that using the HSTP as a tool to select potential teachers will reduce teacher turnover due to burnout. To be honest, I am not completely sold on the use of the HSTP as a screening tool for districts to use as part of their hiring practice. For one thing, numerous questions were so obvious it was almost comical while others needed only a little thought to figure out which answer was wanted. Additionally, like many of the students we teach, not everyone is good at taking tests. More importantly is the need to examine the effect of environment and life experience influence disposition; does a person’s disposition change over