What will happen when I retire in a few days as a public school teacher and don’t have to listen to the constant stream of nonsense about how bad things are? There is a vote coming up in Arizona on a one cent sales tax two-thirds of which will go to schools. If it doesn’t pass teachers in my district will take a 2 1/2 percent cut in pay instead of a 1 1/2 percent cut. The truth is that most will still have a job in an economy that isn’t nearly as kind to private sector employees. Teachers take pay cuts and maybe increased class size, businesses close down.
I know how difficult the job is, I’ve done it for 19 years. The problem is that it has been made even tougher because of what we in Arizona public schools have to deal with. We get the yearly blame for insufficient Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) because our students don’t score high enough. Last year it came down to our ELL (English Language Learners) and Special Ed. The issue is that besides huge numbers of ELL (no border control), EH (emotionally handicapped), and volatile students (many with learning disabilities due to trauma) we also have a high teacher turn-over. Most teachers stick around for a year or two and then decide that they don’t want the job. That’s understandable. It isn’t a lack of good teachers, it’s burnout or disillusionment with the reality.
Good education should be an alliance with a family, teacher, and student. As a teacher it often feels more like a minefield than a classroom. You go to war every day not to a friendly learning environment where people value what you teach. Why is that?
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