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Boosting ranks of teachers

As a Utah (USU '97) educated teacher living in Las Vegas, I applaud Utah for proposing the kind of sweeping changes that are needed to make teaching the profession it needs to be. By attracting the best, the classrooms will become havens of inspiration and the students will actually respect their teachers because, among other reasons, they will make a competitive wage. This is important because students will look at teaching as a viable career, instead of just something noble to do for a while until one can make real money. Raising the salary will attract the best and make teaching a more competitive profession, weeding out those who do not meet proficient teaching standards and waste the students' time with poor methods and worse practices in the classroom.
Anyway, what I mean is, well, this could be viewed as a good thing.
Thank you and have a nice day.

Didn't the legislature recently get us all excited about giving the teacher's a pay raise and then said,"Oopsy, sorry we can't pay you what we promised. We made a teensy mistake in the budget. We know you wouldn't really want to deny us our trip to China or all the wonderful perks we get. Thank you for being so understanding. We love you!"

They are basically saying, "O.K. teachers, work year round now and maybe you can get the same pay you can make in neighboring states that still are on a traditional 9 month school year."

How slow are the people on this committee?

I asked a couple of teachers about this year round deal. Everyone of them basically said, "I can't take teaching year round. I have to have some time without having a kid in my face. If I had to work year round I would LEAVE THE PROFESSION!"

Now I know that will trigger some, "I work year round so they should too" comments but it isn't the same. We will have more teacher burnout and even less people in the profession if this were to happen.

Most teachers would love to work year round as long as some of that summer time doesn't involve students and the worries that come with them.

In fact I think the LDS seminary teachers started doing this a while back. They work in the summer and get paid for setting up the curriculum for the coming year.

The committee members really need to get a clue!

How is asking teachers to work year round for the same pay they can get in other states, while working the traditional 9 month schedule, going to attract more teachers to Utah?

It won't. It will just be seen as one more reason not to come work here.

Let's face it Sen. Stephenson. The way to attract more teachers here is to pay more than other states for the same work.

I know that is hard for our legislators to come to grips with. They keep saying, "lets find some creative ways to improve education."

We don't need creativity. We just have to bite the bullet and actually pay them more. From what I have seen a $15,000 a year raise for beginning teachers should pretty much take care of the problem.

We have the money. We have the need. Let's put the money where the need is.

Is that so hard to figure out? It is what the public says they want time after time. Yet the legislators STILL don't get it.

JUST PAY THEM MORE AND THEY WILL COME!

Utah has always had too many teacher. Even with the utah college teaching programs scaring away future teachers. So what has changed. Cost of living. It is not math teachers that are in shortage, it is well Jordan school district. I believe Salt Lake county will have a hard time finding new teachers. Only way a new teacher could afford to live in Salt Lake valley is to rent.

I do know teachers in Salt Lake county who got good deals on homes through some teacher home buying program. I don't know if people know about that, if things like that are well know that would might attack more teachers.

Most Teachers I know Start in mid august and go to mid june thats 10 months if you add 4 weeks of vacation that most people get in other professions they are pretty close to working year round now

Teaching is a demanding profession because it is so intensely people-oriented. Today teachers are required to also be social workers, mothers and fathers within tight societal constraints upon discipline. I sympathize with them. My father was a teacher. But it is also a job. Wages for them ARE too low, but benefits are high. How many jobs offer three month vacations? Or protection from layoffs through tenure? They do work at home, but many in the work force are required to work a lot of overtime. It is not unreasonable to bring up their long vacation times,their teacher preparation days, etc.

I am a Kindergarten teacher beginning my 4th year of teaching, and I would JUMP at the chance to raise my salary 40-60 percent. Many of my colleagues already work year round, as we all teach summer school, etc. We love the board of regent's idea!

I am a biologist and will soon have a master's degree. As part of my master's degree program, I taught college introductory biology courses. Yet I am unqualified to teach at Utah schools because I do not have a teaching certificate. It would take me an additional year or two of school to get one. Science curriculums are rigorous enough that it is a burden getting the additional teaching certificate and teacher salaries do not compensate for this extra education. I would probably be interested in teaching as a career option but I have no interest in getting a teaching certificate because of the additional educational requirement. I do not think my situation is unique. It is the teaching certificate requirement that prevents science majors from persuing a career in education. If they want more science teachers perhaps altering the teaching certificate requirements would be prudent.

Dear Anonymous,

Just so you know, as I'm a teacher I do get almost three months off, but I am not paid for it, so how is it a vacation like other jobs? I actually get three days of personal leave each year, plus sick leave. As for preparation days, teachers teach the kids longer every day to make up for the time they don't get paid for on prep day. There are a lot of misunderstandings out there about the actual benefits of the teaching profession. As for the high benefits, we'd better receive it or at least half of the teachers, including me, would quit. These benefits help make up for our poor pay and difficult job demands. We are also losing a lot of our good benefits because of monetary issues.

Will implementing a year-round teaching program to boost salaries help address the teacher shortage? I say no. I think it will cause MORE teachers to leave than it would attract.

Even on the 9 month program, teacher burn-out is a huge issue. There are many high-stress elements to teaching and the loads teachers have here in Utah adds to that.

I have talked to many teachers about the concept of "year-round" employment and the vast majority do not want to participate. Most feel worn-down and stressed with just nine months of employment. Most want "recovery" time. Most feel they would be far less effective if they had to teach year-round.

I think the better way to keep teachers and attract new teachers is to address the conditions of teaching here in Utah. Lower class sizes are needed as well as an increase in support staff and funds for supplies. I would extend contracts slightly to require additional planning times and trainings.

I think giving teachers a 10-month contract with better conditions and built-in planning and training times and allowing them the other two months to rejuvenate would be far more effective in keeping and attracting teachers.

When my wife's school was year-round, the parents had a fit. They didn't like it at all, and eventually the school was forced to go off of it. Now Davis County has all but eliminated year-round school despite the massive population growth still in progress.

So to make the argument that teachers should teach year-round is politically unsustainable because of parents.

The other aspect about "year-round" employment for teachers that many people forget about is that such a schedule would require STUDENTS to attend during the summer.

On paper, the three semester system looks great. Parents would choose two out of the three semesters for their children to attend. Teachers would teach all three semesters. But most of the parents I talked to would want to choose the fall and spring semesters and NOT the summer.

So, not only are the majority of teachers against the year-round system because of burn-out concerns, but the majority of parents are also against such a dramatic change to their family schedules.

If a vote (not referendum, please) would be conducted, I sure the Utah communities would vote "no" on year-round schools.

Huge difference between teaching a classroom of motivated college students paying their own tuition and a classroom of 7th grader who really don't want to be there. There are many strategies for teaching reading, writing, learning, motivation, classroom management etc that having a masters degree in biology just will not prepare you for.

Good luck with that "no interest in getting a teaching certificate" thing. No teacher was excited about it, but I'll bet if you poll your friends who are teachers, 98% would suggest you don't try it without it.

Regarding year round for the same pay as teachers teachinging out of state: teaching that ten months is not a marathon, it is a sprint. You use the restroom every 50 minutes and it is hurried, you eat in 35 minutes, you have to be on top of what 30+ children are doing bell to bell, and the bell rings and 30+ more walk in.

What I am saying is there are not alot of easy answers. I suggest the Legislators ask teachers what they think would help us prevent a teacher shortage instead of running in with their own agendas just to say they tried.

Good Luck Though

The legislature is finally figuring out that teachers don't want to stay in Utah to work with 40 students or more in their classrooms for terribly low pay and decreasing benefits.

As a teacher I'd rather have more pay period. I don't want to teach extra to increase my salary, I have other jobs to compensate my income already that are a "break from teaching."

Yes, working with other people's children is rewarding but difficult. Year round teaching will just bring more teacher burnout. I taught summer school for several years and after a while it wore me out emotionally. My verve picked up when I took a break to do something else. Teachers should get 20% raises based on what they teach now.

Regarding Merit Pay. Does that mean if I'm lucky to have AP students and they do well, I get more pay? Should my Physics teacher that teaches 15 kids per class get more pay than I do since I teach Government with 40 kids and Physics is deemed "more important"? Is my merit pay based on test results so I should hope that I teach in an affluent school with no ESL students?

Oh, well. I guess as a non-teacher state employee I can count on another year of hearing the crying about how little the teachers make while I get no raise. I think this would be year number 4 if I am not mistaken. And before people tell me to go get another job take a moment to think how much you would enjoy driving on dirt roads again. Hey legislature, there are more than teachers under the state system that would like the occasional raise too!

I agree with with Stephenson, and I quote:
"We need highly qualified people in classrooms who will really teach and inspire these kids to seek careers in those fields � it takes someone with real passion to inspire them to go into math and science fields,"

With one important change though:
"We need highly qualified parents in the home who will really teach and inspire these kids to seek careers in those fields � it takes someone with real passion to inspire them to go into math and science fields,"

The weakness in our school system is not in the
school it is in the home.

Yes I am a school teacher.

Teachers are sick of being blamed for everything that is wrong with schools and student learning.

Teachers have NO power in the school system. They must teach to that giant stack of standardized tests given each year.

Teachers must teach and inspire every student who walks through the door. This may number 40 or more. They may vary from non-readers to Sterling Scholars to students released from jail just yesterday.

Did you do know that special education students must now take standardized tests at their calendar age and grade? Never mind that they may be non-readers or reading at a 3rd or 4th grade level. Very inspiring!

Aren't parents supposed to do anything? Like get their kids to school on time, see that they do their homework, insist that they behave in class, get them to bed by 9 or 10!

Aren't students responsible for any part of their own learning?

Wishy, washy legislature.

Crazy thinking at the State Department of Education.

District administrators who think that taxpayer money is their own. District administrators who, without skill, unashamedly micromanage schools.

So, you think money is the only problem?

So, you have a teacher shortage?

Can't imagine that.

Maybe we could turn around some of the wonderful things the legislature (and national legislature)has done over the last decade.

No Child Left Behind is an onerous program that requires significant inroads into teaching time through required testing.

More difficulty in keeping a teaching certificate as mothers leave the profession to pursue family goals. Some would come back but their license has expired - and they need twice as much recertification credit at their own expense.

No raises every year the budget is tight. I think I counted five years without raises at the end of my teaching experience.

The Legislature has supported moves to support three school systems - charter schools, public schools and school vouchers at times when there wasn't money to support one school system.

More lumping in of funds into one fund, putting pressure on districts to redistribute money away from teachers and towards other critical needs. This has made it easier for the legislature to "we gave teachers 5% (thru increase of the wpu) but never reached the pockets of the teahcers.