Why So Many Leave Teaching................... About This Page:

[MickeyMAC]

I got this email a few minutes ago. It reminded me of Matt's post about his thoughts on leaving teaching. Most of you can relate to this through your own teaching job or through your child's teacher:

Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go

into that room with all those kids and fill their

every waking moment with a love for learning. Not

only that, I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride

in their ethnicity, behaviorally modify disruptive

behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and

T-shirt messages.





I am to fight the war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases,

check their backpacks for guns and raise their self-esteem. I'm

to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair

play, how and where to register to vote, how to balance a

checkbook and how to apply for a job.





I am to check their heads occasionally for lice, maintain a safe

environment, recognize signs of potential antisocial behavior, offer

advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and

scholarships, encourage respect for the cultural diversity of others,

and, oh yeah, always make sure that I give the girls in my class

50 percent of my attention.





I'm required by my contract to be working on my own time summer

and evenings at my own expense toward advance certification and

a master's degree; and after school, I am to attend committee and

faculty meetings and participate in staff development training to

maintain my employment status.







I am to be a paragon of virtue larger than life, such that my very

presence will awe my students into being obedient and respectful of

authority. I am to pledge allegiance to supporting family values, a

return to the basics, and to my current administration. I am to

incorporate technology into the learning, and monitor all Web sites

while providing a personal relationship with each student. I am to

decide who might be potentially dangerous and/or liable to commit

crimes in school or who is possibly being abused, and I can be sent

to jail for not mentioning these suspicions.





I am to make sure all students pass the state and federally mandated

testing and all classes, whether or not they attend school on a regular basis or complete any of the work assigned. Plus, I am expected to make sure that all of the students with handicaps are guaranteed a free and equal education, regardless of their mental or physical handicap. I am to communicate frequently with each student's

parent by letter, phone, newsletter and grade card.



I'm to do all of this with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few

books, a bulletin board, a 45 minute more-or-less plan time and a

big smile, all on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food

stamps in many states. Is that all?

[maggieworkman]

God bless teachers. They should be given the pay of sports star or movie star!! (And I am not just saying that because I am a teacher too. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img])

Maggie

[BabieeMelly]

I'm majoring in Elementary Education, and wow... maybe I should get out while I can [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]

[mestitch]

AMEN SISTER!!

[RobinKay6573]

But hey...at least you get the summers off [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

No seriously, my sister and mother are both teachers so I hear you! It is like the teacher is also a parent! Is school a learning environment or DAYCARE?? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] to those who go into teaching. I couldn't do it! I have no patients with kids!

[graygables]

Yep, that's mostly why I left after only 3 years. You left out the parents screaming in your face b/c you had the nerve to question their parenting, and the administrator who holds your job over your head b/c you gave the basketball player the F he *earned* in your class. No thanks, and I don't blame anyone who leaves the profession.

[Teresa]

Hey, The school nurse can check them for nice! She loves it!