SC Teachers Fleeing

Recently I read this article, “The SC teacher mass exodus you heard about? How it’s about to hit your child’s school” and thought about the implications it has on our young people. It states,

“The shortage of special ed teachers — and the need for more math, science and social studies teachers — is a reality for S.C. schools, which last year had 190 vacancies in those critical areas.”

I believe that as long as we keep asking teachers to do more administrative work and paperwork, teachers spend less time actually teaching, which is the main reason that most people go into education.

Now, teachers have to do too many reports, administer too many standardized tests, and do too much redundant paperwork that makes the joy of teaching impossible to achieve. By the time the teacher actually gets to teach, they are too exhausted or frustrated to do a good job.

I have taught many new teachers who have great enthusiasm and ideas but when they are spread too thin, it is inevitable that they will feel unappreciated and overworked. Educators are smart and they learn quickly that staying in a profession where they no longer feel happiness is downhill business. It is better to get out when they are still young and don’t have as much invested as an older teacher with more years in the process.

I also don’t think we encourage young teachers to have a life outside of education. It is too easy to get sucked into the belief that our whole life revolves around our classroom and our students. It is important to have a hobby or several of them. It is important to have friends outside of the classroom. It is important to have outside interests because this helps keep us fresh and interesting. Sometimes I can find new ideas from doing something outside of my comfort zone. It is too easy to get bogged down and over-involved in education and not leave room for family or friends or fun.

I also think we have scared a lot of young people away from the profession by constantly complaining about the negatives and sharing enough of the positives. The positives more than outweigh the negatives but we don’t let enough people know about them.

I think the media also focuses on the negatives and the bad things that some teachers do. I think every profession has some lazy and unethical people that they have to get rid of but that doesn’t define that profession. There are corrupt cops and firemen who become arsonists but that doesn’t mean all of them are. But we need to stop spotlighting the negatives if we want to encourage others to go into the field.

Are you experiencing a shortage where you live? If so, what suggestions do you have to help solve the problem? Please share.

Photo by Tra Nguyen on Unsplash