Teacher absenteeism gets a fraction of the attention devoted to student absenteeism - but it's a major issue that threatens to derail pandemic learning recovery.
The one reason you have very wrong is that teachers liked remote teaching. I don't know of one teacher who could stand it, never mind liked it. It was truly an awful experience. The districts provided no materials so we were left scrambling to find materials we bought with our own money, we couldn't see what the students were doing or not doing, and it took triple the time to plan a lesson. Then somehow teachers were blamed and excoriated for a decision we had no part in making. Parents called us lazy, on vacation, and worse. I spent hours online trying to get an appointment for the vaccine, but despite all the criticism of teachers, we were not prioritized. No surprise there. I danced back into my classroom the first day I was able. As a result of this abuse, most teachers can tell you exactly when they can leave, and that's the real problem.
It takes a village to raise a child and our schools no longer have enough people in the village to deal with the increase in students who disrupt a class, are violent to classmates and the teacher. Are you aware that classrooms often need to be evacuated so a team of adults can subdue an out of control student? Do you know the term "runner"? Just 10 years ago, the term didn't even exist.
I note that you reached out to districts and school leaders, all of whom have doors they can shut (and they do), and have little to no contact with educators. They do what's called "walk throughs" - they literally walk down the hall twice a year and wave at you. These people NEVER ask the educators who do the actual work what's going on, what they need to be effective at their jobs. When I say never, I mean never and it's killing this profession.
I urge you to dig deeper, because we've read a lot of articles like this one that scratch the surface. Public education is in a crisis right now, and it's about to get a whole lot worse. The drop in applicants for graduate schools of education is 30% over ten years. When the current educators leave, there will be very few people in the pipeline.
But has this think-tank head spoken to *any* teachers? My first thought too, Jane. I'm a former history professor and public school mother, and I've spent considerable time in the last decade speaking in schools and at teachers' conferences, listening to teachers and getting to know more of them. You only have to talk with teachers to get a clear understanding of what they're up against. It's hilarious and preposterous to think that district administrators have the first idea of what's going on.
Detroit Community Schools (www.detcomschools.org) teacher heading into a monday morning. We had an emergency staff meeting Friday before leaving because another teacher quit the day before. A lot of this toilet dump falls on the heads of the few staff who do care. We call it "over under acc" (overburden, undercut, accuse), and it kills teacher resilience and retention. More news from the frontlines at kwaselizabroham.wordpress.com . great article.
One small piece missing from this is that many teachers saved days of leave from the pandemic. It was relatively easy to teach virtually while sick, vs in person while sick. So we didn't use up our days.
I know my district doesn't give any incentive for retiring with unused days.
The one reason you have very wrong is that teachers liked remote teaching. I don't know of one teacher who could stand it, never mind liked it. It was truly an awful experience. The districts provided no materials so we were left scrambling to find materials we bought with our own money, we couldn't see what the students were doing or not doing, and it took triple the time to plan a lesson. Then somehow teachers were blamed and excoriated for a decision we had no part in making. Parents called us lazy, on vacation, and worse. I spent hours online trying to get an appointment for the vaccine, but despite all the criticism of teachers, we were not prioritized. No surprise there. I danced back into my classroom the first day I was able. As a result of this abuse, most teachers can tell you exactly when they can leave, and that's the real problem.
It takes a village to raise a child and our schools no longer have enough people in the village to deal with the increase in students who disrupt a class, are violent to classmates and the teacher. Are you aware that classrooms often need to be evacuated so a team of adults can subdue an out of control student? Do you know the term "runner"? Just 10 years ago, the term didn't even exist.
I note that you reached out to districts and school leaders, all of whom have doors they can shut (and they do), and have little to no contact with educators. They do what's called "walk throughs" - they literally walk down the hall twice a year and wave at you. These people NEVER ask the educators who do the actual work what's going on, what they need to be effective at their jobs. When I say never, I mean never and it's killing this profession.
I urge you to dig deeper, because we've read a lot of articles like this one that scratch the surface. Public education is in a crisis right now, and it's about to get a whole lot worse. The drop in applicants for graduate schools of education is 30% over ten years. When the current educators leave, there will be very few people in the pipeline.
But has this think-tank head spoken to *any* teachers? My first thought too, Jane. I'm a former history professor and public school mother, and I've spent considerable time in the last decade speaking in schools and at teachers' conferences, listening to teachers and getting to know more of them. You only have to talk with teachers to get a clear understanding of what they're up against. It's hilarious and preposterous to think that district administrators have the first idea of what's going on.
I, a teacher, feel very guilty reading this from bed while a sub is “teaching” my students. 😰😰😰😰
Detroit Community Schools (www.detcomschools.org) teacher heading into a monday morning. We had an emergency staff meeting Friday before leaving because another teacher quit the day before. A lot of this toilet dump falls on the heads of the few staff who do care. We call it "over under acc" (overburden, undercut, accuse), and it kills teacher resilience and retention. More news from the frontlines at kwaselizabroham.wordpress.com . great article.
One small piece missing from this is that many teachers saved days of leave from the pandemic. It was relatively easy to teach virtually while sick, vs in person while sick. So we didn't use up our days.
I know my district doesn't give any incentive for retiring with unused days.