Teacher Appreciation

Today marks the end of national "Teacher Appreciation Week". I'm afraid my husband, who teaches 9th grade algebra, is not feeling very appreciated.

When Kenny graduated in Mathematics Education in 2006, he could have gotten a job in pretty much any city in the nation, usually with an extra stipend, because the need for High School Math/Science teachers was so high. A degree in Mathematics Education leaves few job options aside from teaching, and we knew he would never be "rich" as a teacher, but everywhere we had lived, teachers always had good benefits and there would always be a need for math teachers, right? Plus, he's always felt it was his calling; he enjoys teaching and he is good at it.

He started teaching in 2007 at a Title 1 school about 30 minutes from where we live in Spring, Texas. About 80% of his school is "economically disadvantaged" and about 93% are minority. Kenny has to work at the metal detector stations every other week. The kids are not allowed to have opaque backpacks- they must be either mesh or clear, for safety . This is a very different school than the ones he and I attended.
But it is a "magnet school"- kids must apply to get in and maintain certain academic standards. Because of its demographics, the pay is better than in other nearby districts. His starting salary was significantly higher than it would have been in, say, Utah, where we were moving from (though if you consider the healthcare options it starts to look less shiney). We thought he'd teach there for the first few years, then hopefully we'd move elsewhere- the options at the time seemed limitless.

His kids are good kids, and he genuinely cares about them. Lots of them don't care about their education and aren't given any reason to care by their family and culture, but a good number of them DO care and go on to great college careers, often with substantial scholarships. This school has resources allocated to it to help those kids who do actually have it in them to excel.
Still, when his district's average passing rate for the TAKS 9th grade math test is 68% (kenny's kids were well above that last year, but still lower than you'd hope), you can see how it would be hard to maintain job satisfaction. With that background, you can see why Teacher Appreciation matters so much.

It's very important to remember this when discussing public education: this is NOT a free market, folks. If Kenny wants/deserves a raise, he cannot simply walk in to his manager and ask for one. If he has a problem with benefits, he can't just go work at the public education system down the street. If he does a really good job, he doesn't get a promotion. His education gave him the skills to be a great educator but his other professional options are limited without going back for another degree.
Educators can't sell more of their product or up their marketing efforts if they need more "revenue". They can only plead with lawmakers who in turn have to appease taxpayers.
For the record, Kenny does not have access to any teacher union. If any union approaches him near school property, they can be prosecuted. Texas is a not a union-friendly state. Which means if we have a problem, we have no voice.

In 2009, as part of the federal stimulus package, Texas received 3.2 billion extra federal dollars for its education department. Rather than using that money to boost the Education Department, the state took nearly the exact same sum out and used that money for everything but education (including for the state "rainy day fund"). In the end, Texas educators didn't see any of that extra money.

Under current proposed budgets, up to ONE THIRD of Texas teachers might be losing their jobs. That's 100,000 teachers. 

And yet there is a billboard on 1-45 that says "Want to Teach? When can you start?" (can you think of anything less sensitive and more insulting to the thousands of teachers who planned and prepared for their career only to be laid off this year?)

We considered taking time off during this education "crisis" to get Kenny a master's degree so he'd be more eligible to teach in a different state (fun fact: in Texas state, getting a Masters would raise his salary a whopping $500 a year. That wouldn't even begin to cover student loans). As a teacher, he'd be eligible for government aid in getting another degree- but those "loan forgiveness" programs require him actually working for 5 years after graduating.

Last year, when Kenny applied at a better school closer to home, he was told he was one of 1100 applicants. For two open positions. Needless to say, as a relatively new teacher, he didn't get the job. Suddenly that Master's Degree doesn't look like such a good idea. We could be saddled with a whole lot of debt and no job options.

Add to this the fact that in the last two months, Kenny has been told all of the following by his employer:

• His school, which currently has 850 students, is expected to grow to 1100 next year. But, since they are essentially bankrupt, they can't hire the appropriate amount of teachers, so Kenny's class size is likely to go from 25 to 40 students (there isn't even room for that many chairs in his classroom), and he's losing his prep period (teaching 6 periods a day instead of 5, without any extra compensation).
• His $3000 stipend he was getting for teaching a "high-needs" subject is being eliminated.
• The medical benefit premiums are going up again. Apparently the current $1200 or so a month it would currently take to insure our family (with a $2000 deductible!) isn't enough (it would be $2800/month for the "good" coverage). 

(Don't worry, we don't pay that much, we go through a private third party. Fun fact: Maternity coverage simply does not exist if you're not on a group plan. My 5-month-old baby was paid for out-of-pocket and we STILL saved money from not going through Kenny's school district).


My sister's children in Oregon attend an elementary school that has is losing 20 million from their duget this year. They've already eliminated bus routes so the school now only has 3 buses for roughly 500 students. They've shortened the school year 5 days and have early-outs every Wednesday to save on costs. Many schools throughout the country are cutting extra-curricular activities (also known as "those things you can't be standardized-tested on and therefore don't get funded").

And then, the most recent bit of news:

There is currently legislation in the works in the Capitol that would cut teacher pay and rights even further, eliminating "minimum pay" for teachers and allowing districts more flexibility in deciding on layoffs and pay schedules. I understand why the legislation is being considered- making sacrifices to keep teachers from being laid off altogether. The education budget is such that they have the option of either laying off hundreds of thousands of teachers, or laying off a few less teachers while reducing pay and rights to the remainder. Both options stink.
Kenny's district hinted that if the bill goes through, teachers in his district might no longer be paid for teacher inservice days- which accounts for about 15% of my husband's salary.

When all is said and done, Kenny might be making about 13k less next year for teaching than he did when he started 3 years ago.

On a lighter note, a joke:
What's the difference between a teacher and a large pepperoni pizza?
Answer: The pizza can feed a family of 4.

Kenny has officially let his school know he won't be returning next year. He loves teaching but not enough to be a martyr to it, especially not with two young kids to support. We are very lucky that leaving public education is a choice that works well for us- he hasn't been laid off, and I happen to have some great job opportunities right now. He will be a stay-at-home dad and hopefully feel truly appreciated, and I'll work from home fulltime.
I will be very disappointed, though, if he never returns to teaching. The world is losing yet one more young, passionate teacher. But first, our state and our nation need to get some priorities straight. I won't pretend to know what the solution is, but something has got to change.
Next time you feel the strain of taxes is too high or that teachers are asking for too much, please think of teachers as individuals, with goals and families. Let your legislators know that you want education to be a priority.