Teachers are quitting their jobs at the highest rate since 2001

[demmiblue]

Americans are quitting their jobs at elevated rates, thanks to a tight labor market with historically low unemployment. Among them are public educators, who are leaving the field at the highest rate since 2001.

According to the Labor Department, educators quit at an average rate of 83 per 10,000 a month for the first 10 months of 2018. This is still lower than the average rate for American workers overall, which totals 231 per 10,000 workers, but is the highest rate for educators since data collection began 17 years ago.

By contrast, the lowest number of public educators quitting was in 2009 when 48 educators per 10,000 left their jobs voluntarily.

Since 2015, school districts reported having trouble finding enough qualified teachers to fill open positions. This, according to nonpartisan education-policy research group Learning Policy Institute, has lead states to open up temporary teaching jobs to people with no official training.

The increased rate of public educator departures is likely to exacerbate that trend, the Wall Street Journal reported.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/12/29/teachers-are-quitting-their-jobs-highest-rate-since/06hsVQgN1IQWxhaJz2OigK/story.html

[kimbutgar]

1. I substitute teach and get offers to work full time

No thank you, 2-3 days a week is ok with me.

[ProudLib72]

2. Uh oh.

I'm going in next week to discuss getting my licensure with the alternative pathways program here in Denver. I've been teaching as an adjunct at community colleges for what seems like forever, and I figured full time in high school would be better. Now you have me worried I'm making a mistake.

[kimbutgar]

4. I'm 62

And I have a complicated family life. My older sister has health problems and needs help and my son is on the autistic spectrum and when he is home every other week it is draining. On top of that my hubby works full time so I have to take care of home, grocery shopping, cooking etc.

Only because I have a lot on my plate is why I don’t work full time. But I will caution children have really changed and in high school especially dealing with teens with smart phones is very difficult when you’re trying to teach a class.

[ProudLib72]

9. I taught one year at a gateway to college program for high school students

I learned a LOT from that experience. These were not good students. In fact, they were the worst of the worst students, and this was their final chance to pass high school and make something of themselves. I remember the first semester, one of the brighter boys told me, "You do realize we are the worst students in the town". I don't recall what I told him at the time, but I his comment made a lasting impression.

At least now I know you aren't saying that you can't teach full time because you have so much on your plate, not that you can't handle the horrible students or administration. Whew!

[kimbutgar]

13. I work a lot of special Ed day classes

Those kids are sometimes easier than the regular Ed.

[janx]

12. You are not making a mistake.

If you can get out of the adjunct gig, you will be better off. If you need health insurance, all the better.

[ProudLib72]

14. Yeah, adjuncting is horrible

The old chair of my department told me a few years ago that he was well aware of how little I got paid and suggested I try to get into another college in the area because they paid double! I knew one dude who had a class before me in the room I was teaching. I asked him once how his semester was going as he was getting ready to leave. He told me that he was taking it easy that semester, only teaching seven classes instead of the usual eight plus tutoring. Four to five classes is what the full timers are assigned!

[mcar]

3. I subbed a bit last year but got busier with freelance work this year

the district calls me begging to work. They are desperate for subs.

Hubby teaches and can retire next year. He'll probably stay but he said the shortage is pretty dire.

[allgood33]

5. Where are these teachers finding other work paying higher salaries? My daughter would like to know.

[tavernier]

6. Not a teacher but I work in the school system as a sub.

I have had steady work for five years because they can’t hire anyone.

[bluehen]

7. I am public school teacher-

There was a time when we would receive hundreds of applications for each open teaching position. Now, we struggle to fill vacancies and have to hire non-certified subs to fill the spots for extended periods of time.

Teachers are under a great deal of pressure from many directions- from standardized tests to over zealous parents. I love my job, but I do understand why some teachers seek greener pastures.

[Hekate]

8. Saw a LTTE the other day saying a teacher's strike would hurt poor families hardest. The problem is

...that teachers themselves are poor. They don't make fabulous salaries/benefits, they must purchase all or nearly all classroom supplies out of their own salaries, and they work far beyond the school-day preparing lessons, grading, writing reports, counseling parents, counseling students -- so that if you factor all of that into a presumptive hourly wage, it's pretty low. And stressful.

I've known many teachers in my adult life, and most are devoted to their students and love their profession.

I come from a long line of schoolteachers, back to a great-great grandmother who taught in a sod hut in Nebraska. I always thought it was a noble profession, though I chose not to teach myself. But in the past 30+ years, the voters of this country have been deluded into believing their taxes are wasted on public education. Long sad complex story, but here we are now.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

10. Republicans hate public education

Their attacks on public education are paying off.

[FakeNoose]

11. Competition from the "for profit" schools

I would imagine that the experienced, licensed public school teachers might be given attractive offers to work in a private school setting, and that makes it harder to fill the public school teaching positions.

[Bucky]

15. In my experience the traffic flows the opposite direction

I know lots of colleagues who started out in private schools and then moved to the public system for the better pay and better benefits. I know of damn few public school teachers and went private. And actually, a new teacher who may not have the classroom management skills required for public school can often benefit from a couple of years working in private schools.

Anyway, I'm not too worried. Trump is about to crash the economy, and that always brings in a new wave of rookie teachers.

[lindysalsagal]

16. Depending on the state, you can make better money waiting tables these days

and either way, you get no job security or health insurance or pension, so, it doesn't pay to take abuse from nasty kids, parents, and administrators.

We're trashing our public school system, which used to be the envy of the world.