Jay – it’s not just the money, but the lack of recognition that doing this job really well requires inordinate talent and drive. A freelance war zone journalist may or may not get paid well, but stating this as your occupation does not make listeners conclude that you just wanted those summers off. Being a graduate science student at UC Berkeley is poorly paid and may involve 70-80 hour weeks and all-nighters in the lab, but no-one will conclude that you just weren’t smart enough to do anything better. Better salaries may well be an effective means toward attracting more talent and harder workers – but I doubt that low pay in and of itself is the reason why a young person who is intelligent, creative and driven will generally not see teaching as an obvious choice of profession. A success of Teach for America is that the organization has made it possible for recent college graduates – young people who still really need confirmation that they are talented and desirable as employees – to go into teaching without risking being branded as unimaginative slackers. But what can be done to change the perception that staying in the profession involves stagnation and lack of better options?

Spot On! If America wishes to have a corp of professional, highly qualified, teachers, than the system must change. I left for the corporate world 2 years ago. I hated my administration. I felt more like a student than an educator. I spent four years in biochemistry and another two earning my certification, for what. To be told I must speak word for word from the text given to us by the curriculum Nazis. That and knowing no matter how good I was, how many hours I put in or how much of a difference I make, I’ll pull down the same or probably much less than the slacker across the hall, in at 8:00 out at 3:00 and using the same lessons since ’82. Hi honey, let’s plan our budget, this is what I’ll make 10 years from now, see it’s all about tenure and nothing to do with talent. I had one teacher tell me recently that blogs and wikis were the 2 must horrible things to have ever happened to the world of education. I smiled, made sure she new she was at a technology conference and got her information to ensure my kids never go to her school.

Oh Dan,

Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear over at NYC’s place. I certainly don’t think you “oughtta” move on (and never would I call you a malcontent). But, we work in the public realm (I just read Chris L’s excellent characterization of our world as an externality in a capitalist system..it is indeed); the incentives and structures that define the system are entirely different than the world of work and investment for private profit. Those considering a long and successful life in public education should at least think about what that means in terms of career expectations and trajectory and what they personally need when it comes to motivation and fulfillment (Chris L again says this much better: “I also don’t feel the need to place or define my job in the market forces of today…”). I certainly did–long and hard–before I decided to leave the private sector and begin life as a public school teacher. And I didn’t have to embrace a self-image of glorious martyrdom to find happiness and success in the classroom. I do have a handful of wonderful colleagues who I co-plan with, observe other teachers as often as possible and invite my teacher pals to sit in my class whenever they want. We are constantly experimenting, revising, throwing out and bringing new stuff in. We’ve never had an efficient formal structure teaching us how to do this…we just do it and as a result I have never felt isolated or stagnant—anything but. Maybe I’m lucky, but I also think how I view my job and my colleagues goes a long way too.

None of this means I am complacent about what the system needs to better value our work and the needs or our students. I could argue for days on these issues and often do (I am quite visible around these parts on state and local issues—the value I place on political action and active citizenship is but one reason I would fight tooth and nail to preserve tenure).

But given the realities of the public system we have chosen to work in (not to mention the huge political and economic reckoning we’re facing on both the state and federal levels, which will severely constrain the scope of future ed reform efforts) it is up to you and you alone to consider whether it is one that gives you whatever you need to continue.

I for one would love to work with you or at the very least share a beer to decompress.

I’m late in finding your site and am reading through the archives. Great stuff and your last comment here really hits home. A teacher that tries new things or a different approach is often looked down upon. I’m always amazed at the elitism shown by the teachers who have been doing it for 20 years.

I wish I had a picture of their room from when they started, just so they could compare it to today’s classroom. Do you think that might help some of them understand that changing up some of those lessons might be a good idea?