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Almost anyone familiar with international education comparisons knows that teachers in the United States do not enjoy the same status as teachers in other industrialized nations.  This lack of status and respect manifests itself in very quantifiable ways.  For example^[1]:

• 95% of teachers report that they spend some of their own funds to supply classroom resources. Estimates of average spending range from $338 to $479 per year.  In high poverty schools, teachers spent $767 out of pocket each year.
• From 1996 to 2017 average weekly wages for teacherdecreasedby $27 when controlled for inflation.
• The wage gap between teaching when compared to professions with similar education, experience and other factors was 4.3% in 1994 and has grown dramatically to 18.7% in 2017.
• Female teachers in the 60’s and 70’s enjoyed earned 14.7% more than females in comparable professions.  In 2017, female teachers earned 15.7 lessthan comparable female workers

This erosion of support for teaching has not gone unnoticed by those who might have wanted to choose teaching as a profession.  Enrollments in teacher education programs has dropped by 35% from 2009 to 2014!  

There is certainly a moral reason for treating teachers well, but there are enormous practical reasons which we should not ignore.  This decrease in new “recruits” choosing teaching will be exacerbated by the general decline in the population of 25-65 year-olds that, According to US Census data, will not begin to increase again until 2028.

Our nation’s children cannot afford for us to wait to address this shortage.  However, it is critically important that we not revert to our past short-term responses of occasionally and sporadically pumping more dollars into the existing system of teacher compensation.  There are deeper problems that must be solved in providing the support teachers need:

• Nearly all districts distribute salary funds to teachers through a “salary schedule” – a century-old mechanism that does not recognize differing responsibilities, does not reward serious growth in professional competency and forces teachers to take 20 years to reach longevity compensation that should be available in 5 years.  We need to create career tracks for teachers that include serious leadership roles with respect to their colleagues.  (see Redesign Support for Teachers– https://herdingglaciers.com/category/possible-theme-for-change/teacher-support/)
• A much stronger system of mentoring and collegial professional development might stem the attrition that plagues teaching every year.  Both could be led by teachers with the right additional training and compensation.
• Serious consideration also needs to be given to re-thinking the decline in benefits available to teachers.  Not only do most teachers report paying for some of their own supplies, most lack parental leave and in-house childcare is unheard of.

These changes will all come at substantial cost.  It remains to be seen if we can become committed to substantial improvements in our educational system as an investment in our future economic interest, or if we will continue to view education as a domestic service to be obtained at the lowest cost.  If we choose to do nothing, we will have the answer to “Where have all the teachers gone?”

^[1]The support for these data points can be found in A Coming Crisis in Teaching? By Suchter L., Darling-Hammond, L., and Carver-Thomas D.- 2016 Learning Policy Institute as well as Teacher Pay Penalty Hits a New High, Allegretto S. and Mishel L.  – 2018 Economic Policy Institute.