Threats, Classroom Cameras & Politics: Why American Teachers Are Dropping Out | Amanpour and Company
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- Journalist Jennifer Berkshire co-authored an analysis of what she calls the “dismantling” of America’s public education system. She speaks with Hari Sreenivasan about the reality behind the teacher shortage in America.
Originally aired on September 21, 2022.
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Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, Alicia Menendez and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.
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Anyone who didn't notice that teachers are underpaid and mistreated long before the pandemic wasn't paying attention. Teachers were rightfully recognized for the work they do during the height of the pandemic then right back to the same old garbage of blaming them for everything wrong with the schools when it goes back to problems with hostile legislators and administrative decisions. They work hard for betterment then are underpaid, underappreciated, told they have no value when they are the best asset to this society. They're the reason I can write this and you can read it.
ruclips.net/video/PDs8BcbXbVI/видео.html
❤️
@Bart Solari obvious you know nothing about education & what really goes on in & out of the classroom!
Amen!!!! I love ❤️ your comment!!!!
I left teaching and I’m never going back....massive responsibility, zero power, horrible treatment, low pay.
Yes and violence and abuse all around.
@@AE-yt4lx Yep. It's not even safe to be a librarian these days. The world changed recently as mentioned here and in these threads. Those are the reasons I resigned from being an emergency dept. RN in August of 21, as did 5 nurses before me and two walked off the job the following week after being assaulted in a small ER that has 3 nurses on days and 2 at night.
I wish I could quit! But I can't as I am too old to get a new job. It's truly not worth it. It's Sunday and 4 or 5 hours of unpaid planning awaits me. In the week I work an average of 12 hours per day and only get paid for 7.5. My mother didn't want me to be a teacher. Sad to discover mama was right!
@@sugardragon9001 Thank you for all of your hard work and truly valuable contribution to our society!
You are totally correct. It is a thankless profession and demands that we sacrifice our own health, families
As a young lad in the 60's I nostalgically remember the ebullient sense of pride, trust and self-righteousness I then had in all things American. It was exhilarating to a naive mind. Now, some 60 years later, I feel nothing but disgust and shame. The America that "might-have-been" has become another beast altogether. Power and greed has vanquished all of the "better angels" of human nature. I am reminded of an old Jimmy Buffet song whose message was that "we are the people our parents warned us about".
I'm 64 and feel the same way. I'm actually to the point I don't know what to think of our flag. What does it stand for now.? If I was a person who traveled, I'd be telling people I'm from Canada, who would think some of us would be ashamed to say USA.
Do you recall the name of that song?
@@D0praise
ruclips.net/video/4YiW5Z0fr-Q/видео.html
I’m a naive gal of the 60s. I just watched “I Am Not Your Negro”-Raoul Peck’s film based on James Baldwin’s unfinished book about Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. That movie eloquently squashed any illusions I still had that our country was trying to improve and heal itself. Some rarely seen footage in that movie that is more disturbing than I ever imagined. I recommend it to all, especially white people.
@@FightingForFacts7074
I made a comment on the episode of Who do you think you are featuring Vanessa Williams, after hearing her ancestors stories not much has changed. A young girl answered that saying, that's not true, I've been to college have a good job, car and home. Made me think of the words from Harriet Tubman...I could have saved more if they realized they were slaves. I don't think that girl realized how fortunate she is.
I’m a professor at a major university. I’m labeled as adjunct faculty which is BS because it’s only a reason to pay me less. I make $60 an hour, but when you factor all the outside work…I am basically making minimum wage. Students are paying full price for an education but receiving a high turnover staff that are not respected and have no job security. Education has become a business where students are really being scammed out of a proper education and left with lifelong debt and a workforce where wages are stagnant. Education is a scam just like healthcare.
Education is a sector, like healthcare, where a market based approach (at the provider to student/patient level at least) does not even work well in theory.
Humans just cannot make rational choices in the economic sense when it comes to questions like "how much $ is my child's future success worth?" or "how much $ is my life worth?". Impossible, even if they had all the information they would need, which they most certainly don't. And then there's issues of equity and meritocracy... If how much $ your parents have is a big factor in educational success, then it isn't based on ability/skill and we're leaving a lot of talent untapped
Fortunately we have an alternative to use in situations where "vote with your wallet" doesn't work well... Socialise them, ie. "vote with your vote"
I’ve heard All the $$ in higher Ed goes to outside consultants
Not sure what you mean by healthcare but that is a totally different challenge.
SUNY keeps everyone adjunct even though you're teaching accredited courses. I was Adobe certified still getting $40hr
I bet your university has a half dozen “vice” and “associate” administrators who don’t teach or do research.
Watch any teacher talk online about why they want to leave/ have left, you’ll hear basically the same things: lack of appropriate & logical consequences for the students; lack of decency & respect for the teachers from administrators (students & parents too, but not having someone who has their back when they’re being abused by a student &/or parent is a different level of disrespect); unreasonable & unrealistic expectations set by administrators, who keep even _that_ a moving target.
Teachers aren’t asking to be treated like kings and queens, they’re just asking to be treated with the same dignity and respect that the average job requiring a master’s degree normally gets. *At the very least, they can’t continue to be treated as though their health and wellbeing, along with the health and wellbeing of their families, DOESN’T MATTER as much as the CONVENIENCE of students, their parents, or administrators.* _THAT CANNOT CONTINUE, AND THAT’S VERY OFTEN THE STRAW THAT BREAKS THE CAMEL’S BACK FOR TEACHERS,_ *AND I DON’T BLAME THEM!!!*
It's a brutal job. My mom was a teacher, I saw what she went through and decided to never be a teacher. Highest stress, highest cancer causing job. Mom died of cancer a few months after retiring.
The long and dedicated work to propel Americans into complete stupidity has been a huge success.
Thank the rightwing
It's not a solution or even pinpointing issues. Just idle banter. Stop it
Congrats Republicans, your children will be as stupid as you are! Grand kid are going to be even more stupidity!
@@jakemf1 Partly yes. BUt lot of other factors, incl. general anti-intellectualism and leftist nonsense at other levels play in as well (I lean left myself on most things). There must be structure and discipline, and adults must have authority, not parents or politicians or students
I make no apologies for my conservative values and if I were a parent I would be a prickly momma bear about basic moral , correct and just education for that child
As a teacher in the UK I locate a big part of the problem to parenting. Something went wrong around the late 80s and early 90s. The people born then have become some of the worst parents in recent history. They're entitled, angry, deeply distrustful of educators. Teachers aren't perfect and need to be held to account, but the idea that teachers are lying about everything - your child is a bully, or doesn't do the work, or even just talks a little too much - such that parents challenge anything and everything the teacher says is ridiculous. These parents treat their children like infallible angels and it utterly ruins them.
Most of them aren't like that but with even 10% at that level it becomes a nightmare to teach with the *constant* harassment and pushback from parents. No wonder people are throwing in the towel.
What went wrong in the 80s and 90s, as you say, was the advent of the helicopter parent; that vacuous self indulgent bully who made sure little Sam had a very elevated sense of self, massive self esteem but no consequences from any bad behaviours.
Who raised those parents during 80s and 90s? Who educated them? Who taught them their core morals and values? The apple never falls far from the tree. This has been in the making for a long time. Now we have social media throwing fuel on a fire. This is what happens when uneducated kids have kids and their kids have kids, etc…
Same in US. Some parents nose up to the principals and hands off ever disciplining their kids
@@jezero7214 That's a nice thought but economic pressures often force both parents to work to maintain their lifestyle. The pro-birth absolutists are making this worse forcing women to birth babies.
@@oceandrew Moms and their boys.............
When the parents believe their children are perfect, politicians deny schools appropriate funds and teachers re ridiculed and underpaid, then a teacher shortage is inevitable. Our school system has been allowed to fail by those in power and the teachers are getting the blame.
I am certified and working abroad. I am wondering if I should go work in Canada or go back to the U.S. My family's in the US, but I do have Canadian citizenship.
Teaching undisciplined rude and ignorant students in this country.
It starts with good parenting and discipline , love and reason at home.
And yet, those students are the parents now
The kids are not what most teachers complain about. It’s low pay…
@@wandaseaman LOL! THAT is utterly false - Students who face no consequence is in the top 5 reasons many of us are leaving after this year Parents are # 3
@@wandaseamanot true. Student behavior is out of control. It was bad prior to the pandemic but it’s gotten much worse. Student behavior is definitely one of the main reasons why a lot of teachers leave the classroom. It was definitely one of the reasons why I recently resigned.
A student who simply will not comply with staying seated, or not calling out, can completely derail any hope of delivering instruction in the classroom. Seems so simply but shootings and throwing desks and fights breaking out are the extremes but the little tiny selfish behaviors that so many "good" little kids claim is their right wrecks instruction for everyone else in that classroom. And it is happening right now in your child's wonderful school because parents do not take it seriously enough.
Yes, I’ve got at least one in every class! K - 5 specials teacher here.
Due to the behavioral problems and school shootings doesn't help to increase new teachers. Also, teachers are not paid very well.
Getting killed working in a school happens, but it’s still rare. Getting seriously injured by students (furniture, scissors, beaten) happens a lot. And since the special ed teachers are gone, the regular teachers have to manage huge classes, dodge thrown chairs and now change diapers.
There is ALot to the teacher pay issue And it varies.
In WA state teachers I know teachers who r paid $75,000 a year Which is a middle class wage in WA. In expensive western WA u can live a comfortable life (yes still have to work) But that is a living wage. And then in retirement teachers continue to get good pensions. So we Need to think about pension /retirement package When considering teacher pay.
@@IndigoBellyDance depends on how much you value educating and caring for the youth. Our kids spend the majority of thier waking hours with teachers. I think pension retirement is a bare minimum. Without it, we would be without enough teachers the day it ended. In short, I don't think anyone is forgetting the pension when they ask for higher pay.
@@jshyoungblood I do value children. I work w/disabled children And I am not guaranteed a pension (401k) and I make similar salary as teachers.
@@IndigoBellyDance It varies so much, as schools get a good share of their funding from property taxes. Schools in wealthy communities with a strong tax base have better resources and can pay better salaries. Funding is not equitable.
No wonder FL & AZ have shortages. Politicians don’t want their people to be smarter than themselves.🤪🤤
🎯💯 Neither do the parents, unfortunately.
Exactly .
It’s much easier to control a large group of uneducated idiots… just look at a trump rally. 🤷🏻♀️ this is exactly why the republikkkan party refuses to fund public education. They want the US to be more like Venezuela than like Denmark. Facts. (Just look at primary and secondary state rankings, red states are all at the bottom, and states like Conn, Massachusetts, Maryland are all at the top)
EXACTLY! The on-going effort to dumb-down the Public is the Orwellian "elephant in the room" that so few can see!
I taught in Florida. It was a miserable experience.
Excellent guest! I listen to her podcast “Have You Heard”. It’s all about the education system in our country, and she & her co-host Jack Schneider do deep dives into all of the things that she mentioned here. Schneider is an education historian. So they also do episodes looking back on the history of our education system & even when the episode is about stuff that’s happening currently, they always show the instances in which all of it has been attempted before in one way or another. I’m not an educator, but I’ve learned so much from their podcast & have thoroughly enjoyed doing so. Thanks so much for having her on.
This is how you take control of a society. I left teaching 25 years ago. I saw the dismantling of critical thinking. We were being dictated to teach the way that countermanded critical thinking.
I am an American teacher. I REFUSE to work in public schools, charter schools, or private. Pay is insanely low, and its insanely dangerous. Expectations are the most insane of all. Unrealistic. Never again.
As an attorney, I would do everything I could to change careers and become a teacher if it paid something fair, like, 100k with health insurance - even if that was just the max. But for 45k? It would be miserable
First year teachers in AZ or OK usually earn $19,000 [- $35,000].
I was making $65,000 after 38 years of teaching.
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, these salaries have absolutely no connection to the cost of living, especially for me in New Jersey.
@@ss0108Thx how can they repay university loans that could be as much as $800 a month with a $19k salary? Ridiculous!
Your premise is interesting, and yes, it would be miserable. But, the job is just impossible to do without enormous stress, and no amount of money is worth that.
Teachers are PROFESSIONALS who have a comprehensive college education that prepares them to teach children. Who would want to teach in an environment where some parents are so caught up in culture war issues that they think they know what children need to be taught to become complete, well rounded citizens? Who would want to work in this contentious environment especially at substandard wages? The GQP likes the uneducated voter so I guess now they will get their wish as education continues to decline.
And add in the disrespect they are allowed to show and who can blame someone for NOT wanting to be an educator? The teachers have to worry about losing their jobs, just to defend themselves. It won't ever work when the children and the parents have more control in schools than the experts.
I have a niece who has such a handful of learning and personality disorders that I have genuine sympathy for teachers stuck in oversized classrooms trying to deal with both average learners and also students like my niece who seem to always require more attention and time.
Oversized classroom angers me !!
Believe me, an ex-teacher, when I say that kids like your neice aren't a problem, but many able bodied and no-disability students are.
I tutored kids in that program, most of which were foster kids. Their foster parents were in it for the money, unable to help them with their projects and homework. Not only did I teach, but worked very hard to help them understand the value of education and how precious it is.
Another example of the deep, long term effect of extremism in the USA.
What about the Book Banning and circumscribing of what can be taught - the result is mass ignorance. This bad enough already.
Privatised health really does not work in the USA already, make schooling lower quality and less available - oh that is going to have positive results.
I'm a 3rd year teacher and watched you many times for instruction and inspiration. Already, after only 3 years, I think about leaving teaching EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And I'm not even dealing with the problems in public school! I'm in a classical education charter school, where the worst thing the kids do is talk too much. For me, it's the hours I have to put in. I have a doctorate in history but that doesn't mean I have all the stories, and lesson plans, and quizzes, and exams one needs to teach middle school/high school. To be really great at this, I'd never take a day off. But I'm exhausted. I admire what you aim to do now, but I don't see how you can change the fact that we work from 7am to 4 or 5 pm PLUS nights and weekends. Is there ANY other nation that requires this much work and these many hours from its teachers? I have a life outside of this that I do not want to visit just a few days a month. I started this career older than most, but I don't think that's the issue. The teachers in their 20s are exhausted too!
Suggestion. Use support system like teacherpayteachers for curriculum. Look at programs in your area and grade and get a membership. Don’t go it alone. Ask if your school has money for this. If not look for grants to pay for it. Grants are out there. Kiwanis clubs, Moose Clubs, Catholic charities maybe. Best wishes to you and yours!
Yes, in Canada......pay/benefits definitely better (unionized)....but you are so right that demands on teachers always being high....have risen exponentially....I retired in 2009, age 59 and cannot express the level of exhaustion at that time!
This nation is in very serious trouble. At my work we have a girl who is doing oil changes and has yet to graduate after 5! Years of high School and it SHOWS in how she handles things and her attitude. It's as if the schooling doesn't matter and no thoughts as to a future. America is going down hill VERY QUICKLY. And can't imagine how much of anything is going to get done that is of crucial importance in 10 to 20 years in the operating of this nation.
In my home state most students knew they would not be able to buy a house where they grew up, no matter how hard they tried. They saw their teachers driving older cars, and living in expensive rental housing. Why bother?
Wonderful interview on a very critical matter! Teachers
are vital!
When all of the teachers who are sane, rational, and secular drop out, what will students be left with?
Very bad future lives.
As a retired teacher, I strongly suspect voucherized private schools will be left with teachers who will be willing to teach a certain party line, which will be nationalistic and quasi-religious. Plus, parochial/private school wages are typically lower and their systems have poorly-funded pension plans, if they even HAVE pensions at all. So, disenchantment all around.
I just quit after teaching 8 years… my second career. Never felt better in my entire life. Teachers are a God-send, and then are treated and paid like garbage. I don’t even blame the kids… it’s the parents. Students learn bad behavior from thier asshole parents, and the (republikkkan) government refuses to treat education as a moral good in our society.
Teacher Siri or Alexa
"patriotic education"... At least that is what DeSantis is calling it.
Funny, I don't think he realizes that phrase is also very popular with the Chinese Communist Party -_-
God forbid administrators stuck up for their teachers!!! In 23 years I only had one, one principal that actually stood up to parents. She’s also the principal who first hired me… after that it’s been downhill with admin. They’re cowards.
🏆
And liars and gaslighters
I’ve been teaching 27 years, and my daughter is in a program to become a teacher. My two cents: fix teacher salaries-we have extensive college degrees that do not pay the same as degrees for jobs outside the educational field; make schools safe-this is huge and multifaceted-school shooters are getting younger and younger, and seem to have access to guns & ammo. Protocols for purchase, for monitoring threats & individuals glamorizing violence on social media should be a top priority. Parents need to step up as well. Over the decades, I’ve seen parents abdicate from their role as primary influencer to online influencers and to expecting school personnel to raise the kids. Some parents seem to think that if they send their kid to public school, they don’t have to parent. Make time for the child you create. Finally, please express value in education to your child. Kids who come to school from all walks of life do far better than their peers if the parents speak frequently and sincerely at home about the value and importance of doing their best in school (and follow up with consequences for not doing this). I love teaching, I love my students and the joy they give me every day, but education has become less important after the pandemic, every kid thinks they’ll be the next big social influencer, parents take their kids out of school for prolonged vacations, and as a nation we are in trouble if this continues. I’m retiring in four years.
Thanks for your hard work. Teachers are wonderful
Thanks for this thoughtful comment. I too am alarmed at the number of families who take their kids out of school any time they please for vacations. In my day that simply was unheard of.
I suspect too much online activity for kids and parents, too little respect for education [generally] and too little encouragement to be curious about the world around us have led to foolish angry entitled adults raising foolish angry entitled children.
Thank you, sincerely, for your service in this selfless line of duty. We need to value our educators much more than we do. It is truly a shame this country is so far behind in so many ways.
This retired teacher is so glad I am Canadian. The U.S. is reaping it’s anti-intellectual stupidity.
The country is in crisis, and it's inevitable that we see the impact in the response to teachers.
I loved teaching. After I retired I was asked to come back 3 times. I cannot. The fear that some Kafkaesque accusation could ruin my life is just too real.
We need to talk about the role that christian nationalism plays in the ongoing destruction of secular, public education in this country.
Yes, exactly this.
Agreed.
Yup
So talk about it.
Yes, there needs to be a deep conversation about this because it is destroying public education. I was a teacher for 30 years and the last 10 years suffered in my profession due to the demonization of teachers. I asked my Mom, “When did teachers become the enemy?” No wonder teachers are leaving in droves.
At least Betsy Devos is no longer in the White House
Well said
I resigned after 24 years last march. Before I left I noticed a huge number of foreign uncertified “teacher”. Rather than addressing the issues, school districts and politicians outsourced the job.😢
A thoughtful interview, part despair and part hope. It seems to be a good time to go back and ask why we created “public” education in the first place. It was a noble idea to give everyone a chance to learn in an environment that is as equal as we can possibly make it. Nourishing potential should be the task of every school. Unequal funding makes that nourishing close to impossible. A noble society’s noblest gift to its members is a thoughtful and comprehensive education.
Actually the first public school is in Massachusetts. It's called Boston Latin and still exists as a Boston Public school! It was started by the puritans who believed a strong education created a strong Christian and a strong community. From there towns across Massachusetts started their own schools which then moved across all 13 colonies.
That is easier said than done. Inequality is inventible. Poor communities have poor schools
And an education that inspires strong critical thinking skills about the moral challenges one WILL encounter in life.
Critical thinking skills canNOT be grown in a moral or intellectual vacuum :-(. A view of "I want my children to only learn MY values in school" is the core educational fallacy we are currently operating under. IF parents consciously (key word) modeled the values they espoused in their homes, the schools could then do the job of helping students address the many other varied perspectives they will encounter in life. This fear-based idea that "exposing students to a variety of perspectives will be detrimental" is VERY problematic . . .
@@jakemf1 Poor communities have poor schools because much of the funding is based on property taxes. Wealthy communities have a high tax base to draw from. It's inequitable and something can be done about it.
interesting how America including the teachers and teachers union refuse to look at exemplary models and results in Europe ditto with regard to Healthcare and social security. 😉
I was an 8th grade science teacher in 2019. By 2020, I quit for obvious reasons. Becoming a teacher was the worst career mistake I've ever made by a long shot. What a disaster.
I agree I’ve been in teaching since 2009 and I have nothing to show for it expect obesity and poverty. What the hell was I thinking?
Well be thankful they weren't playing Call of Duty at recess.
@@kcc879lol it’s so true !!
Republican targets - education and the media. Running the fascist playbook
Even in our area, where teachers are well paid, it is the lack of respect from too many parents, and from the administration who won’t defend the teachers.
Yes.
I was a teacher for 18 years. Parents try to bully teachers.
100%
I'm a substitute teacher and farmer with two kids. We need to help our education sector instead of cutting it.
Question, how does anyone anywhere in the USA expect the future to become prosperous if the students are not taught about the reality of the here and now? Blaming anyone, especially the teachers, will not improve the education of the children. Life doesn't have simple, easy, and confined experience. There ARE racial issues, there ARE financial issues, and blocking anyone from learning why these issues exist is leading to an ignorant society.
The people who complain incessantly about teachers providing a wider view of history, of the income disparity, the fact that people love in different ways, NOT wrong ways will make a population ignorant of the reality their dealing with.
No wonder teachers are disgusted. Pushing ignorance instead of compassion and intelligence will cost the entire US far too much in the long run.
The right-wing factions are undercutting the entire country, democracy, and future for millions of children who will become adults lost, confused and ignorant.
Fascists like the Trump cultists want a Christian theocracy. They can't accept teachers teaching reality.
The left wing is doing it too, don't just blame the right wing, they are both trying to push their own agendas.
Says a demo crat........ the ones who have spent decades pushing their own political party on impressionable children.
Here's a clue.... TEACH ACADEMIA and leave world opinions to their parents.
If I want my kids to know about transsexual intercourse with farm animals, ILL explain that to them.
If I want my kids to have an opinion on political issues, ILL discuss that with them.
It's not your place to interject YOUR personal feelings about something on others children....and that's why you all are hated.
And as far as the kids themselves go, don't dumbacrats believe in speaking up and rejecting authority to make a point ? Of course you do, so now you get little smartazzes who won't listen and don't fear consequences..... good job !
Republicans love less educated Americans, those r their M&L class voters. It’s a lot easier to con ppl who aren’t college educated and that’s clearly seen in that the majority of high school or less vote Republican, while the majority of college educated vote Dem. The gop also doesn’t want republican voters listening to experts, science, educated ppl bc most aren’t pushing the disinformation, propaganda, baseless conspiracy theories, and gaslighting/inverting of reality. To wealthy republicans, they don’t care about their M&L class voters and they don’t really care about America. The wealthy can move anywhere in the world and usually don’t have to live by the same rules inflicted on the M&L classes. Once they destroy America, they’ll just move to a country they haven’t destroyed yet. It’s very short-sighted and stupid. We can’t ever compete w/China and other countries who know the more educated their society/workforce, the greater the innovation, the better the country, the greater the chances those countries will get the STEM jobs and be the leaders of tomorrow. The gop is more concerned w/power today than they r about America’s outlook tomorrow. American corporations will just hire from countries who invested in education, like Asia and India, to work in the U.S. or move more jobs to China and India.
100% FACTS! Everything you said is true. They need to do away with the PUBLIC funding PRIVATE schools. There should be no such thing as "charter schools". Just another way to give even more to the already over privileged and continue to segregate society.
Thank you Amanpour&co. Keep reporting on the teaching shortage. What makes teachers miserabe is due to many aspects that developed over time to produce the problems people now see. The accumulation of damage to the teaching profession should be addressed.
Parents are letting their teens make decisions; rather than argue with them they let their kids drop out. That was never a thought in our home. You went to school.period.
Maybe they need to drop out so they can see the struggle of life that comes from not having an education...thankfully there r GED programs trade schools and college if they want to go eventually
I'm not surprised at this trend. Our country has put military pride and investment at the center and never invested in the future for our teachers or educators for 30+ years. So much "Support Our Troops", but nothing for our education system. Most of the money that goes into education is for administrative at the top and doesn't trickle down. We reap what we sow.
Don't u think that was the point?
These discussions never touch upon the failure of school administrators that rake in huge salaries. Perks for auto, travel, meals and lodging at exclusive resort settings to have (Retreats). No wonder the lowly teachers are throwing in the towel.
I mean that's a problem, but not as much as literally dismantling the education system altogether
Listen to the woman being interviewed. It's the right-wing assault on education, nationally, that's the main problem.
Right-wingers think teaching factual history is "liberal indoctrination".
Those administrators shouldn't be paid so much more than teachers, but that's not the root of the problem.
Those are the academically talented teachers. If you can't become a district manager, some teachers would quit because there's no upward mobility in that career.
And you think paying admin a shit salary is gonna entice the most talented? Try that in any other industry. Teaching AND administration is hard work. I taught for eight years and quit this year! Best decision ever.
There is no reason for paying the administrators more than what they pay teachers.
The problem is poor parenting. Parents are treating their kids like royalty, and not disciplining them or mentoring them at all. A parents job is raising their kids, but if your just letting them do what they want and not teaching them some choices they make have consequences, how are you preparing them to face the real world when they get older?
I voted to increase taxes and mill levys for public education. I am outraged that charter schools moved into my part of the city without public notice or vote from taxpayers and voters in an affected neighborhood. Our neighborhood schools' funds for teachers are plundered to support privately operated charters. We lose teachers because we've allowed private charter operators to destabilize public education in the US in a most undemocratic way. I get more notice and have more input about what kind of shops we want in redeveloped shopping areas or creating bike lanes! We now have more segregation of students because of charter schools that are operated by large, out of town private corporations. I would gladly vote to close them and have my tax dollars stay in our neighborhood public schools, bring back school nurses, psychologists, athletic programs, cultural art and civic events and activities that have been stripped to fund charters. We must treat teachers as the professionals they are, we must quickly take action to fix their wage gap.
If people want their children to attend what basically amounts to a private school, THEY can PAY for it. MY TAX DOLLARS do not be spent sending already privileged children an even better education. There should be no such things as "charter schools".
I was a teacher in non profits and public school in the New England area of the USA for over 15 years.
I stopped teaching in December 2021.
I now can't find any other work except as a cashier. The public schools will not allow me to continue being a unionized educator unless I go back to school, on my own dime, at age 38, with a disability, while working full time, and get a SECOND bachelor's degree.
They would not accept my BA from Boston University, my TEFL certification, or my 15 years of teaching experience. None of the state qualified MA degree programs would accept me.
I was injured at school because they refused to turn on the air conditioning and I fell and hit my head on a chair. I was so stressed I developed high blood pressure and was hospitalized twice for severe diverticulitis infections.
There are thousands like me.
I'm so sorry. You sound like the very educator we so desperately need.
Admittedly, the shortage of teachers, and in some subject areas also the quality of teaching, is now reaching crisis level. However, these concerns have their roots back as long ago as the 1990s. The quality of middle and high school teaching, particularly in English, modern languages, and geography/global history, was the deciding factor in determining my family's move from the US after my initial six-year contract ended. This was 25 years ago.
I remember, as a public high school teacher in the early '90's, watching new student teachers trying to bridge the "gap" between their university teacher training--I use that term loosely--and the classroom reality, and then seeing them hit the wall of complete disillusion. I realized then that university preparation of educators might have become less-than-effective.
Much later, in the 2010's, when teaching at the community college level, I saw it again, more acutely, then living in a metro area where most of the instructors had learned "teaching" from a single university in the area. It was very obvious that many (not all) instructors had only been "trained" in their area of expertise (sciences, composition, mathematics) and NOT in the nuances of being an effective teacher. I would say, generally speaking, teachers-to-be are not at all prepared for the task before them :-(.
@@allthingswavy6420 if we don't know how to teach teachers to teach, can we teach at all?
@@johnstewart7025 That may be the key question :-/. There are still probably some strong teacher ed programs out there, but most have gone the way of "Let's certify as quickly as we can." This focus means that student teaching assignments have shifted from an 18 week assignment to often only 6-8 weeks in the classroom as preparation before certification. That length of time doesn't provide ANY truth about the situation prospective teachers are about to enter. No semester grades to post, rarely parent-teacher conference experience, not nearly enough time to be adequately mentored by the supervising teacher and THEN to plan and teach successfully on his or her own for 8 weeks straight. A university student can "practice" in an upper division ed class all they can, but until that "theory" is put in a real situation, it's not really valid. The other truth is that more and more degree programs are reducing or eliminating required Education courses as part of a teaching degree. Courses that teach how to build effective and objective assessments (tests), or conflict resolution, or assessing and preparing lessons for students with a variety of learning styles. I'd love to hear from a recent Ed program graduate and whether they feel truly prepared for the 2022 classroom. Anyone?
Even now teachers who create content teaching elementary do not speak correct English and I don’t mean they are from a foreign country.
@@kenyonbissett3512 I really agree that many teaching candidates are not the "best of the best." I want them to be but I haven't seen it as a reality.
There needs to be a nationwide audit of just how public money is spent on public education in all 50 states. The misappropriation of welfare money in Mississippi is an example of related problems with how taxpayer money is channeled away from where it would benefit students most in public education.
Failure to educate well could be expected to increase the need for welfare.
Yeah, after that Mississippi story, I've got even less confidence that funds meant for public good are going where they should be in states like that
Admin salaries
It is an absolute mess what is being done to the education system. Education, health and wellness should not be geared toward financial gain. These are public services needed for a thriving society.
This is an easy fix. Teacher must have 75 K, an expense account, and support! Administrators also need much more support!
Everybody should see this interview. Everybody.
I taught 32 years. I left my job because I got injured twice in 6 months . I can't teach. I babysit.
You cannot have a malleable population if they a well educated.
Exactly.
There is also the fact that for a long time, we've thought of teachers as expandable. They are litterally expected to take bullets for their students. And still early in the pandemic, when there was a lot of sickness and death, no-one batted an eye about sending them back into crowded classrooms. I also work in education and wanted to laugh earlier this fall when the news made a big deal about large companies sending their workers back into the office. Many educators have been back in classrooms for 2 years.
expendable not expandable
We, AMERICA, have got to start looking at Public School Teachers as the first line of American Defense... AND Teachers must be paid accordingly. Because without teachers, if AMERIAN kids can't read, write, or do math, America is sunk. The other piece of this? Public School can be for everyone. If a kid, for whatever reason, doesn't want to be in school, by virtue of that kid's behavior/performance, out he/she goes. Bad apples can spoil the entire barrel.
But that never happens the bad apple wreck the barrel
@@jakemf1 Specifically, I'm talking about kids. The same with adults.
@Lugosi Sure seems like YOU'RE the one with a political agenda. You're absolutely parroting reich-wingnut media jackals talking points. And I KNOW they aren't paying you.
When I was teaching in the ghetto and an AFT member these precious little suburban naïfs who belonged to the NEA would come to observe us and then they compliment us on how “dedicated” we were. I would just laugh at them cynically and not even bother to explain my negative attitude. I felt like I was being patronized because my students were mostly black and Hispanic. What we need is a better funding system to get some of the money away from these suburban schools to help out schools in poverty areas. But long term my money is on massive privatization on the form of vouchers which could be spent anywhere including even at church schools.
@@marcmeinzer8859 I do not believe in these vouchers. I do not want to pay for other people's kids to be taught creationism instead of facts and true history. That does them no good and does not benefit society in any way.
In the 1980’s these attacks began with the Reagan Administration. I vividly recall my whole family denigrating my chosen profession in that era. People used the phrase “ piggies at the public trough” . I do not regret my chosen profession and I do believe there is also an undercurrent of teaching being “women’s work” as well. Teaching is a call to serve. Bless those who are brave enough to serve as teachers.
Some years back I watched a group of experts debating how to improve American schools. The Teacher of the Year, for the whole U.S., was there.
Seated at the end of the row.
They ignored here.
Let's here it for all the experts.
Let's here it for all parents who tremble at the thought of a birthday party in their home.
For one day, a few hours, and they're just supposed to keep everyone happy.
Wanna try teaching something?
Excellent new insights, I look forward to checking out this book.
Check your spelling, "here vs. hear" especially if you're expressing an opinion about education.
Students in my last year of teaching were yelling “F you” across the classroom. Had no regard or respect for me or class mates, did not care about any repercussions. I knew I was done that day. Went to the principals office and quit.
Teachers don't want to fear being fired or arrested for teaching US history.
Our drag time story hour. This is why schools need to go.
“Upset that teachers are teaching a book that might be pornographic….” That would be the Buy-Bull, wouldn’t it?
Lol good one
This is the republican platform, and putin's wish
American Redoubt in full effect. It's wild to me how bad things have to get for it to become a topic of conversation. It's taken 3 generations, or more, of people going through this failing system to get here. It always sucks the most for the last people standing.
Pay teachers more. Do you want teachers to have to worry about working two jobs to survive? How are they going to do well teaching your children? If being a mother is the hardest job in the world, what about people that do 25 kids at a time?
Support public education. Support equity not many people can afford to provide good education for their children. Education is not a business. It’s basic human right.
I agree with you. Unfortunately, libertarians do not.
I know someone, who recently left teaching. She said the children would hit her, and there were no consequences for them. And this was a private school, that parents had to pay for.
Any thinking person understands the need for an "informed public" in any socio-political enterprise, IF the intention was for an ever-expanding, all-inclusive democracy. American Government has done the exact opposite. What does that say about "America the Beautiful" in the 21st century? It is good to be old.
The fascist Trump cultists are not trying to have an informed public. They are trying to have a Christian theocracy that discriminates against anyone not white, straight, cis, or Christian.
I loved my career as an elementary teacher. I taught 26 full-time years. I had a few years when I didn't work while caring for my elderly mother and later my disabled husband. I inherited my mother's house, luckily, because with my retirement I wouldn't have been able to rent a 1000 square foot house. Rents in my community are $ 2000 for a studio, and up for bigger places.
I wonder if you could afford that rent if you had saved 15% of your pay over the 26 years you worked as a teacher? This narrative that teachers are underpaid is disingenuous and not at all supported by the data. Here's a link to the Albany, NY 2022-2023 Teacher's Salary Schedule 4.files.edl.io/e5d9/10/19/22/223000-2555592b-225a-4bab-97fe-4ec5b7911be1.pdf $58,191 for a first year K12 teacher and $70,222 by year 6. FYI, the median salary for 6 years after graduation from Skidmore College is $49,700/year. Mind you the teacher salary includes 10 weeks off during the summer months and 3 full weeks off during the school year in addition to every federal holiday. Not saying it's any easy job, but money is not the issue.
Everyone thinks because they went to school they can be a teacher.
Yup
No child left behind did not help us. I'm a professor, not a teacher in K through 12 so I'll defer to the teachers' perspective on this one. However, at university we have many of same concerns. I am a teaching professor and I dedicated for life to this field because I believe it is an honorable and noble profession. I love all my students,but especially saw myself as an advocate for young women who often don't think themselves capable of going to grad programs or doctorates. It has been my great honor to teach in one form or another for 27 years and in my 21st year at my current position. I have always put my students first in my life. I wanted to be the professor I never had. A tough role model, but with a kind heart and to inspire. I still care with all my heart, but I hear many negatives about the field and I don't understand why. I have some students now who struggle to write and my specialty isn't English. I worry for them. I refer them to the writing center, but fundamentals are being lost and I am very conscientious about what I see and do because somehow politics have entered the classroom. I do my best to keep that out as much as possible. I've never taught more content than now and I just want to be best faculty member I can be to my students. It's just tough walking on eggshells with laws. I want my students to excel, be best version of themselves that they can be, and to be prepared for the future. I sometimes don't sleep well at night worrying about what their futures hold. I can't imagine pressure in a K through 12 classroom. Teacher's have my complete respect and sympathy.
Fundamentals are difficult and in some cases politically dangerous to teach because of rapid changes in grammar conventions and poor modeling. No one seems to understand objective versus subjective pronouns anymore..or subject verb agreement, to name a few. Rules are considered passe. Just like historical facts apparently. 😒
Growing up my mother, a teacher, said that students and parents need to understand that school is where you learn, practice and speak business/general society english. There is home speech, neighborhood speech and even foreign languages, but school is for the English we all must speak so everyone understands everyone regardless of whether you are from Boston, New Orleans or Seattle. Excellent examples used to be news reporters on the evening news. Shame we have lost the concept.
If you want to help your students, give them writing assignments in your classes. Maybe even buddy up and co-teach a class with an English professor. Students these days read and write VERY LITTLE. It is impossible to give them the practice they need in just one Freshmen Composition class. They should be reading deeply and writing in every class. But too often, professors in other departments do not assign writing projects. instead, they give scantron tests or the equivalent. Students used to read and write across the curriculum. Not anymore and it shows.
I’m a retired teacher. About 10 years ago, upset about the way teachers were being vilified in the media, I asked my Mom, “When did I become the enemy?” It’s only gotten worse.
I am living all of this in Williamson County, TN. Our group is Moms for Liberty, and they work daily at hammering our public schools, teachers, and administrators.
I'm picturing that pack of radical Karens! Haha
This job is underpaid and overworked and I hope young people see this is not a sustainable profession. If I had to do it over I would choose another profession. Kids today have no limits and parents are doing a terrible job
I'm so glad that my kids grew up and got a good education without all the political BS today. My Niece is talking about quitting because she says some parents have become quite militant and that has taken all the satisfaction out of the job.
We've been hearing this for years. No one's listening IMHO.
Yup
The wrongness in classrooms and schools started WAAAAY before the pandemic and to suggests it comes from people who don’t want to wear masks, or looking for “groups” to blame is ridiculous. The teaching profession is subject in many ways more intensely to cultural changes than any other group because of their clients: parents and children. Teachers are subject to the whims of administrators who want to blow with every wind of educational trending. They are forced to constantly revise their work processes and adopt new philosophies. Children are being bullied and sexualized and administrators do little to support teachers in discipline. Instead they blame teachers because they don’t want to confront erring parents or support parents who do need help, for example with bullying. I was a teacher for over 30 years and retired in 2018 after experiencing this ongoing slide for years. I loved my students and cared for parents passionately. But I never looked back after I retired, not even to substitute. It is a dangerous, heart crushing profession for many.
Pay them more and keep extremist GOP parents out of school board meetings!
Teaching is NOT for everyone. I've tried teaching art classes for kids at a city recreation center and it was very difficult managing so many different temperaments of kids brought up in differing familial situations. I thought it would be easy but I quickly found out I was woefully unprepared. I taught one day a week and I couldn't imagine doing it for five. Training is definitely required.
Teachers are afraid repercussions, backlash, attack, accusations.
That’s before considering the gun violence in schools, post pandemic, divided country and families. Our teachers have our children more hours daily than the parents.
Emotional, physical and mental development daily in the early years especially, we need to pay the teachers well, teachers aides, healthcare, retirement plan.
Thank you for this important message.
I am a public school teacher. You have know idea what’s coming. The “ Smart Phone” generation. About 9 years ago students started all having smart phones. Histories most ironically named device 📲
Ready to learn behavior is mandatory. Student not motivated to learn? Parents need mandatory time in school participation.
You know what the late George Carlin said about public education. " Public education is a mess and it's never going to get fixed. They don't want you to think critically, they just want a workforce smart enough to fill out the paperwork and turn on the machine".
So scary.
Well, let's see: Teach pay has not kept up with inflation, no parent's child does anything wrong (they are ALL angles..), parent's expect teachers to do it all, and administrators are unreasonable and many have never been a teacher in a classroom year in and year out. Plus, state legislatures and/or the Dept. of Ed put unrealistic demands on teachers (no child left behind...don't say gay....new weird math, etc) Is it any wonder why no one wants to be a teacher. I have a minor degree in Education, and the University I went to, had a program where I could have gone for one more year and had a Master's in Education. Hell no, I thought upon graduation. Not worth it.
I have been teaching in China for 15 years. I have recently been thinking about moving back to the states but it gives me anxiety thinking about the difficulties of teaching in the US. In China there is ultimate respect from parents, students and society as a whole for teachers. I truly believe that all problems stem from there. Lack of pay= no respect. Posting all lesson plans online= no respect/trust. Abuse=no respect. I don't just think it's the teaching profession. There was a lot of quitting in many industries and it's from a crappy boss. With teaching, you have more than one boss all with conflicting addenda's . Principal, district, state guidelines, parents and therefore the students are also a proxy boss. The financial benefits of being a teacher accumulate after years and years of staying in one state and one district. Who wants that kind of lifelong commitment with so many uncertainties?
I work in a public school in Texas. I am a retiree educator who subs. The teacher shortage is very real. You want to know why??? Go volunteer in your local public school. Teachers spend 75% on classroom management and discipline and 25% on teaching. Most parents and administrators are no support. I have had parents tell me, "It's your problem. I can't do anything with him. You figure it out." And administrators are afraid of them and the school being sued. It can be a real zoo!!!
Discipline starts early in the home and parents should support our teachers
They are just overpaid babysitters.
@@phoenixrising4995 It does sometimes seem like that. Most (and I mean 9 out of 10) educators are really there trying to teach. It can be very difficult. That is why people should volunteer in their local schools so they can see what is really going on. Thanks for your comment. I agree with you- but, I do not go to babysit. I am old school. I go to teach!
Having spent the first half of
my working life working as a nurse and the second half as a psychologist I can honestly say that I would hate to be either now. I imagine it is the same for teachers, university lecturers, police and many others. Something has gone very badly wrong
School Choice for me is code for defunding public schools if redirecting public funds to private schools is involved in the choice.
I think our education leaders are relieved they can now finally blame something else for the country's epic failure of an education system. I just hope they listen to teachers now.
They won't
Not a chance
I’m afraid that ship has sailed long ago!
The last school I worked during the interview with the Principal, he said, "Just so you know, if it comes down to a teacher and parent, I usually take the parent's side." Think about that. The students with the worst attitudes, who did not do their work, constantly interrupted instruction, and sometimes made false charges (and especially with a bulldozer parent, or bully parent) had more power than a teacher with 20 years of experience, voted Teacher of the Year in 2012. This is one of the many reasons teachers are leaving teaching in the age of Generation Z. Whenever I hear an administrator or politician say, "We love teachers," they don't. Teachers are not treated as professionals.
Jennifer Birkshire speaks truth to power !! Teachers need more respect , less harassment, more support, less threats , more pay equity, less " out of pocket " expenses, more safety structures in schools, less guns & violence in schools. !! Public education IS vital !! USA can and must do BETTER !! 🖌🖍✏✒🖋🖊📚📓📖📒💻🧮⌨💲💰💲💰💲💰💲💵💲💵💲
I am so sad about the state of our educational system, and I will support public education all my life. I believe in self-education but, you can never be educated totally alone for education is a community activity from schools to churches to home life. I will fight for our kids!
In the segment about vouchers, the focus was placed on Arizona, which just implemented full vouchers. Yet Indiana has had a voucher system for years, and should be studied more.
It began as School Choice, touted as a way for low income students to get out of low performing public schools and afford tuition at private and religious schools. The rules were that the student had to have attended a public school for a year at least, and there were income limits in order to qualify for vouchers.
The elected State School Superintendent, Glinda Ritz, fought hard, and that resulted in Indiana making the position appointed rather than elected, and curtailed the power of the office by appointing Congress members as an overruling board.
Since then, the voucher system has expanded, with no requirements to have ever attended public schools, and no real cap on income.
I believe that Indiana is a test case for privatized education, and that what has happened here is important to understand how the plan is developing.
Interesting
But you didn't really say how that is going or how that is working out for students, teachers or tax payers.
Years ago, my husband and I were traveling in Europe, and I was amazed at the wonderful response when I said I was a teacher. We have not honored our teachers here. Another problem is funding by property taxation. Rich districts have amazing schools, poor communities have no supplies.
Thank you very much, Amanpour & Co., for Jennifer Berkshire's enlightening report on the state of American education. Of course, I think she hits the nail on the head when she links the movement for privatization to these challenges/assaults on our long-standing and assumed rôles for teachers and administrators. The only thing I see very differently than Ms. Berkshire is the time line for these attacks. Conservatives, since Lewis Powell and more formally during the Reagan administration, formulated plans to monitor, intervene in and effectively punish academics (admittedly, in colleges and universities and not in elementary or junior high or high schools) for teaching disputed or unacceptable ideas, ideas which may have run against the general tenor of conservative or right-wing ideologies or doctrines. One example, in Massachusetts, a supposedly "liberal" state, from the early 1980's, was conservative student's associations showing up at classes taught by Marxist professors of economics at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, in what were obvious cases of violations of academic freedom or, to quote the conservative exemplar, the "free play of the market of ideas". It really doesn't get any crazier than that - you have to violate your own canon and protocol to insure that others don't have the chance to speak freely.
In any case, all of this happened on Reagan's watch, and after Lewis Powell had circulated his White Paper - nearly 40 years ago, and so the writing was on the wall, for those keeping track and worried about the future - a future that has come.
After, to take the example of Philadelphia, a conservative governor, Tom Corbett, shorted the Philadelphia schools budget 1 billion dollars (around 2011 or 2013, I think), it effectively solidified or cemented the privatization of what were formerly public schools. Charter schools, which are thought to perform no better than, and probably worse than what were once public educational institutions, took root and have now largely displaced the public schools.
What all of this has meant for civic life and civic discourse is an open question, and I am certain that most conservative critics of erstwhile public school systems and educations would simply say that privatization is an inevitable and desirable consequence of the free market, in addition to saying that all-in-all, civic life and civic discourse were beginning to erode in the 1960's, so you have to take a somewhat longer historical view.
Whether conservatives' current attempts to further privatize and narrow educational perquisites toward conservative ends is justified is almost a null question or a moot one: this trend is surely the inevitable thing, given the coarsening and straitening of both budgets and discourse in the US and beyond.
And yet, the question remains, who will benefit from limiting teachers, students and administrators to the vociferous, fanatical demands of increasingly alarmist conservative enemies of "free" education, when the economic pie is getting smaller and smaller?
One last thing - and it kind of made me laugh to keep from crying, maybe - the arch-conservative, multi billionaire Charles Koch - who has paid at least $200 million to shut politicians up on the question of climate change - went to a libertarian academy (of the kind, perhaps, spoken of by Ms. Berkshire) the likes of which we are destined to see more and more of, maybe even in Philadelphia.
What is happening is disgraceful and alarming.
I do not need these surveys to demonstrate the longstanding problem, only to show what was evident decades ago and ignored (as usual) has come to pass and more. I am 72 and remember my experience as a young teacher in 1973. NO mentoring my first year of teaching. My rent then was like 75 dollars a month and my pay was still very low. My workload was four classes of junior high, four of high school, school lunch monitor, and track aide (never played track on my life). There is more, but I will leave that for now. I left,in tears, after one year. Teachers are not respected. In fact, education is not respected in the US. it is increasingly politicized. And schools located in areas where the rich live and there is more tax money, get a better education than places where poorer families live. We need to look at South Korea, where funds are spread equally to help ensure equal access to an excellent education.
Politicians need to keep their hands out of education policies as much as possible unless they have significant background in education. School board members need also to have an educational background. PTAs are great for families without an educational background in teaching or school admin,or a related area.
I think that we need a new CIVICS requirement that helps children learn about democracy and the constitution, how to participate in government, how laws are enacted.
And we need more arts, music, visual arts, graphic arts, media arts, performing arts, to help children develop and apply creative solutions to challenges in all areas of life. The arts inspire creativity in us and balance lectures and other forms of learning.
I am terribly dismayed by what is happening in education and hope you have more programs like this to sound the alarm as well as to show where and how educators and parents and voters are fighting to stop the dismantling of education and instead improve education and teacher training in colleges and universities, and give a well rounded education the respect it deserves.
All these hyperactive parents need to take their children and teach them at home or not but don't bother the rest of us.
The first time a boy called out, “fake news” during a lesson on climate change (completely aligned with the curriculum and reality) I knew I needed to retire.
I hung in there for four more years, mostly because I considered myself an ally to disenfranchised students.
At some point I had to think about my mental health and leave the profession.
It was a very sad day.
Teachers in Grand Rapids, Michigan start out at 38k a year before taxes and student loans. Average rents for a 1 bedroom? 1500 a month. Thats half of your salary right there.
Almost like by design
Parents just teach your own children. You'll find it so much more difficult than you think! Give up you job so then you can't send them to college. Sad for you, your kids will hate you!