Friday night Shari and I were spending a usual weekend night in downtown Beaverdale. We had just sat down for dinner and drinks and a couple we've come to know sat next to us at the bar, very interesting people, she's a sales rep and he's a school teacher. Over the years we've discussed being an educator in Iowa, the things we love and those we wish we could change.
During our conversation I congratulated him on completing another year in the classroom. To my surprise he said that Friday was his last day. After 31 years he was walking away from his chosen career - four years short of retirement.
I asked myself what makes a teacher leave their career early, especially after having been recognized for outstanding service multiple times?
I know that the times have changed since I retired from the classroom. I also know I could never compare my career teaching at a community college to those spending their days in a classroom in a K-12 system. But still the question remains the same "Where Do All The Teachers Go?"
Classroom teachers have suffered through many issues over the years. They have always been challenged by lack of respect and support and now somehow teachers are the enemy that need to be told what to do and they’re the ones wrong if there’s any problem with their situations. Recently an Iowa republican legislator went on a tangent accusing teachers of having a "Sinister Agenda" and called for jailing educators who provide what he considers obscene material to children.
Regularly teachers are looked at to provide extra assistance to students whose parents can't or won't provide their child with the support they need to be successful in the classroom. Now the child's failure is seen as the teacher's failure not the parents.
Funding has always been a challenge with rising costs for books, technology, school supplies (many of which were already provided by the teachers) and facility costs. As these costs have increased the republican ruled legislature and the governor have continually chosen to provide less funding as opposed to finding ways to increase the money for education. As if these issues aren't enough the governor's personal agenda calls for the state to allow for over 50,000 student scholarships to private schools across the state further reducing the funds for local school districts. None of this mentions Iowa teacher's salaries which according to a 2021 survey rank 25th in the US.
In addition to the issues impacting teachers from outside the classroom the health, well being and safety of the students fall to the teachers. COVID threw teachers in the center of a health controversy, in person vs online learning, masks or no masks, shots vs no shots and how many days does a quarantine make?
Today teachers are concerned about the student's diet and if they've even had breakfast or lunch. Schools now provide essential food for the student's health.
Teachers also have become the safety monitor for their classroom. With mass shootings taking place almost weekly in this country teachers must conduct active shooter training to prepare students for the unthinkable. Oh, and still find time for fire and storm related training.
Lastly, the quality of education provided to students falls to the teachers. Educators take pride in their ability to help students at all levels of learning find success in the classroom and life. For most the very reason they chose education as a profession.
This spring Des Moines area school districts (not including WDM) are losing over 500 teachers.
Sadly, I think these issues are why teachers are leaving the professional but I still can't answer
the question.... "Where do all the teachers go?"
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