I kept going back to this tweet because it is surreal.
It is a teacher job fair at the University of Michigan.
The tables are around the room, staffed and ready to hand out fliers to prospective teachers.
But the hall is empty.
There are no prospective teachers.
Thanks, No Child Left Behind.
Thanks, Race to the Top.
Thanks, inventors and promoters of VAM.
Thanks, teacher-bashers.
Who will teach?
Oh, right. Computers.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The blog this time says the truth but please!!!! Get permission to use the computer in vain.
LikeLike
We are a rural district in Michigan with 12 positions (possibly more) and we are either poaching teachers from other districts and their years are low enough we can afford them or they are out of our salary range. Young teachers out of college? Forget about it, the few are going else where or honestly what’s left we don’t feel would be a good fit. Our legislaturers don’t get it.
LikeLike
Even scarier. They don’t give a damn. No qualified teachers? Good, get someone off the street and pay them dirt. That will suffice.
LikeLike
Hi Loren,
I’m a Michigander who had to move out of state for a teaching job over 4 years ago. I would love to interview with your district in rural Michigan. I grew up in Howell, MI and my first teaching position was a christian school in Niles, MI. I did my student teaching in Tawas. I am Michigan Professional Certified and have a Master’s degree in Literacy Education from Madonna University and Master’s credits in Learning Disabilities and Autism. I would love to hear from you and to hear more about your district in rural Michigan. Thank you, Pauline
LikeLike
Is this an example of the adult problems Secretary DeVos tells us about?
LikeLike
On the contrary, our state (and federal) legislature’s get it — it’s all about draining money away from “government schools” and rewarding private schools (charters or religious schools or home schooling – so America is becoming or already is “vouchered”). The think tanks and the conservative institutions such as ALEC, the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, and other foundations such as the Bradley and Walmart entities favor “private” schools.
LikeLike
As the state legislators drain resources, they are also making working conditions so miserable no one would want to go into the profession. The PA lege is taking away teacher’s sick days.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pa-legislature-plans-taking-away-teachers-sick-days_us_589e5b0ce4b0e172783a9c25?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003
LikeLike
After several years of teacher shortages my school district and one other nearby district finally figured it out and have boosted starting teaching salaries substantially and are giving all teachers a 12% raise. Woohoo! It’s a start, hope it helps.
LikeLike
Thanks to DeVoss
LikeLike
Yes, thanks to DeVos.
But big thanks to Bush and Barack Obama, who paved the way for DeVos.
LikeLike
“The Great Facilitator”
The Great Communicator
Communicated lies
But Great Facilitator
Facilitated ties
LikeLike
Yes, and now that bastard and thief Obama gets rewarded with a $64 million dollar book deal as he leaves behind a trail of devastation to public schools and public educators. What a horrible little piece of garbage he is. Although he did not do it alone, by any means.
LikeLike
You are so right about Bush and Obama! They started the movement of teacher bashing and disrespect that we see now. They allowed business moguls to put their two cents into how to teach. Bill Gates is one who started the Common Core BS and the push towards vouchers so that companies could start up charter schools and the company along with their shareholders to rape the federal school funding system in order for them to gain monies from the feds. Charters are all for-profit schools and their concern is NOT for students to become educated so that they can join the work force and make a fair living but to put money in their pockets. DeVos has done this throughout Michigan and now we have kids who can’t get into college or show educational gains. The State of Michigan is to the point of closing many charters because the students have been failing state testing.
LikeLike
“Mission Accomplished!”
Mission accomplished!
Send in computers
Teachers are vanquished
Bots are our suitors
Contracts are written
For soft-ware and hard-
Teachers were smitten
By Gates and his guard
LikeLike
“To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.” This is neither the season, nor the time for teaching in the United States.
LikeLike
Thanks, Avigail. You give hope (an absolute ‘must’ for any teacher). As you know, seasons ‘Turn, turn, turn’, so their may be a future. However, the future is not now, as you say.
LikeLike
“Slashed and Burned”
When expertise is gone
It never will return
Like dead and dying lawn
That underwent a burn
LikeLike
I was driving in Philadelphia today and the advertisement calling for teachers to apply played twice on the radio within an hour. Since when did they have to advertise for teachers on the radio?? Wasn’t it enough to go to the education departments of the local colleges?
LikeLike
Philadelphia hasn’t had a contract, or cost-of-living wage increase for almost five years now. There has also been a step-pay increase freeze in place for the same amount of time. New teachers who started within the last five years or so are still at their starting salary. This makes it difficult for the district to keep these new, younger teachers, and for these new teachers, who want to keep their jobs, to stay.
There is an up-front cost for recruiting and training new teachers, and there is an additional cost, as new teachers find their footing during their first few years, while learning on the job. Teachers get better, become more effective, and of higher value with experience. Unfortunately this investment in human resource is wasted if the district can’t afford to keep their new teachers! By any measure, this is a stupid business model!
LikeLike
Perhaps the radio advertisements we have for $11 an hour test graders who can work in “casual attire” will turn into TEACHERS being solicited with the same conditions….?
LikeLike
Please include Common Core State Standards and educator effectiveness paperwork as additional reasons for teacher shortages. There is so much to do during the day at a school and then tasks at home using many evening hours and weekends on completing everything. For teachers in an elementary program with caps of 25 students (if they qre lucky to hqve a cap) they too have the extra work with CCSS and educator effectiveness. but at least have the same 25 students.
I know teachers in Middle Schools and High Schools with over 100 students each day, some have 150 students. This is making it so hard to do all of the paperwork– (computer work) and to have enough time to go things at home like cook, clean, sleep….. When adding up how many hours each day is spent on school related tasks outside of the school day, it makes the hourly pay (if one divides it up this way) to be around $10. hour. There are other jobs people will apply for now instead of teaching to avoid perpetual completion of duties this has turned into (teaching always had extra work to do but the situation now seems excessive). Adults starting college will choose other degrees that will pay more in the long run and don’t demand another 20 hours per week at home doing school related tasks.
I hope that the bill in Ohio (that you posted info about) will pass quickly and actual changes are made in their state. I hope it is successful and this becomes a model to end CCSS and educator effectiveness throughout the USA.
LikeLike
I assume you are referring to HB 176. The bill “promises” to get rid of the Common Core. That is nothing but political bait for installing competency based education as a requirement throughout the state, with non-stop delivery of “modules” of content for student to process until an algorithm says the content is mastered.
https://publiceducationpartners.org/2017/04/08/dr-laura-chapman-comments-ohio-hb-176/
LikeLiked by 1 person
More than scary. Terrifying. Online is not best kind. This is only one example, I realize. Nevertheless, how many other nightmare learning is online. True story….A student in high school was told to take Algebra I online. Trust me when I say, “It was the WORST EVER.” Thinking about that online course turns my stomach. The course was jumbled.
LikeLike
Refer back to my comments on previous post, “Colorado Teacher Shortage.”
All part of the ALEC plan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
and still Colorado is held up as a school-reform success story over and over
LikeLike
This bald Piano Guy tells us qualified teachers know what they are doing, as compared to DeVos. You’ll love the video!!
Public School Teacher Vs. DeVos
Published on Mar 12, 2017
This is a revision of “Teacher vs. Governor” to reflect Betsy DeVos.
LikeLike
Wow! Loved it!
LikeLike
Online learning. Ummm. I don’t think that is going to be happening anytime soon at my elementary school in the South Bronx. Not too worried about being replaced by a computer for the near future.
LikeLike
I work in a suburban Detroit district. It took 4 months to fill an English position. Our principal position opened up in January. It pays 6 figures. 8 applicants. 8! And 3 had no administration experience. We are still without a principal.
Education has become an incredibly unappealing field. For all the reasons in Msome. Ravitch’s post.
LikeLike
Teacher shortage?
All the more reason to get those kids in front of computers!
LikeLike
Just think, some day in the not too distant future when robots finally take over, all of humanity’s problems will be solved.
We won’t have to worry about silly things like educating our young because the computers will either have eliminated us entirely or, if they do keep us around, simply use use us as gladiators in their arenas for entertainment.
LikeLike
Now I want to watch some of the Terminator movies.
Thanks a lot!
LikeLike
I suspect if the Romans had had robots, they still would have chosen humans vs humans in the Coliseum.
I just can’t picture a bunch of rowdy, bloodthirsty Romans getting off on battling bots.
Just not that interesting for them. No blood and gore. No screams. No begging for mercy, etc.
And robots of the future will almost certainly use humans in their Coliseums — probably all the best athletes, so wimps like me will still be safe. If they choose to keep us around, the bots will have folks like me weeding their gardens.
LikeLike
“If Romans had had Robots”
If Romans had had Robots
They would have used their slaves
To fight to death in lots and lots
Of Coliseum raves
Cuz robots do not bleed
And robots do not cry
And robots do not lead
To wailing when they die
LikeLike
fait accompli
LikeLike
Too bad MFT acquiesced to Race to the Top before ever considering a fight. Too bad about the Emergency Manager taking 10% of their salaries and unilaterally changing their insurance. Too bad MFT negotiated 45 students in a classroom and bonuses for teachers who take more than 45. Not so good for students. Can’t imagine why no one wants to teach.
LikeLike
What is MFT?
LikeLike
Back in the 1960s, Detroit & surroundings were so hard up for teachers, they were hiring anyone with 2 years of college–no teaching certificates needed. I passed it up, knowing I would rather teach adults. Now, with an MA, PhD, & many years of college teaching experience, I am officially less “qualified” for a K-12 teaching job than I was as a college sophomore, and the pay & benefits are MUCH worse. The difference? 50 years of Reaganomics.
LikeLike
Karen,
It takes more than an MA and a PhD, or even college teaching to become a ‘master’ at teaching younger students. I know. I taught undergraduates in college, ‘graduate level’ medical students, but after I spent several years becoming ‘certified’ to teach high school (free, thanks to my association with the University), I found that even the valuable experience of most of the certification courses (mostly at the graduate level) left me unprepared for the world that I found. In fact, the ‘top down’ culture of the University was a problem, particularly when teaching younger students, but also in undergraduate classes.
The term ‘education’ involves a ‘drawing out from within’, not a stuffing in. Until ‘teachers’ understand that the most effective method is to educate, they will remain less than effective.
That being said, your experience in your field is important, since it means you will convey your technical competence (subliminally) to your students. The students need to sense that you actually know what you’re talking abut (and in my areas of expertise, the kids often sensed that teachers had a rather poor grasp). I’ve felt that a teacher needed to be at least three or four years ahead of the students in any particular ‘subject’, since some of those students were at least two years ahead, and those precocious students could detect a weakness and, thus, inform the rest of the class.
So, your PhD allows you to avoid that particular problem (although makes you less ’employable’ because of the salary scale). On the other hand, your experience in a University environment makes you less likely to understand the nature of education. Go get the courses necessary to become ‘certified’ (hopefully, you can do that at the graduate level) and, then, pick a school with a supportive administration. After five or six (or ten) years, you may finally find yourself competent and in a career that will give you enormous satisfaction, although very little money. I’d choose satisfaction over money any day.
LikeLike
“The term ‘education’ involves a ‘drawing out from within’, not a stuffing in. Until ‘teachers’ understand that the most effective method is to educate, they will remain less than effective.”
How does one “draw out from within” without there being something “within” (information “stuffed in”)?
Is there not a need to guide students to “stuff in” information in a logical, progressive fashion?
How can one go from knowing nothing (all humans experience this) to being able to a “drawing out” of that nothingness?
LikeLike
And the dumbing down of Amerika continues…right oh schedule.
LikeLike
You assume a ‘blank slate’. I assume a functional nervous system pruned for many years by experience before ‘stuffing in’ ensued. If you don’t lead from the student’s past experience, you will be less effective.
Also, let me point out that people have a a pre-determined biology, and we can only live within those confines (shaped by evolution). You may think that ‘everything is possible’, however you would be wrong. Hence, the importance of a strong background in epistemology for teacher certification.
LikeLike