Tensions in the education world are getting tighter and budgets are getting smaller. It is wearing us down. Everyday I hear more and more of my colleagues make some sort of comment about their desire, yet in ability, to change fields. With the budget cuts, the blame game, the higher expectations, the lack of respect, and the “do more with less” mentality from administration and government; educators are stretched beyond reason; beyond logic.
In my experience, teachers are becoming less respected and are not trusted to teach effectively. There used to be more freedoms in the choice of materials to enhance or supplement the curriculum and/or lessons. Now, there are mandates, directives, and “voluntary-requirements”. These strict demands are not only about the teaching materials and curriculum we use, but also for the methods we use. It is true that some items that a many teachers have used in the past were more “fluff” than beneficial; so management of effective teaching curricula and strategies are important. But, with all the intense restrictions, the joy of teaching has been sucked right out of the day. We are told exactly what we can and cannot use in our teaching. In some instances, supplemental materials that have been proven to be beneficial to the learning and motivation of our students are forbidden or taken away due to lack of approval from those in authority. We are told to “teach to fidelity of curriculum”. We are also being told just how to teach particular subjects, making many feel that they are no more than a robot spewing the keyed-in data. Now please don’t get me wrong, I believe in the monitoring of teachers and what they present to the students. As seen so prominently in the news, there are some people that should have been removed long ago, let alone become a teacher at all. But when teachers are being so restricted in what they can do, and are not given the trust of their experiences, expertise, or professionalism; many educators are ready to give up. It’s not as if teachers chose this career just to fail. We want to educate and to help our students succeed.
Not only are educators being very closely monitored and regulated, but we are being blamed for the lack of student success. That is a hard pill to swallow, especially when we know it isn’t all about us. There are so many other factors in play. Standards have been raised (as they should have been) and each year the benchmark for meeting those standards rise. Often that rise is faster and higher than what is realistic. In many cities and towns across our nation there are schools in areas of high poverty and high need. These schools do not have fantastic PTA’s or donors to support them. Students are coming to school unfed, without the proper clothing, without school supplies, without effective language skills, from unfortunate situations, and/or even without homes. Yet, we educators are expected to get those students to meet the state standards by the annual testing period. Really?! We can only do so much.
Now, to add insult to injury, we are losing money due to budget cuts that seem to be unavoidable. States across the country are battling out the budget crisis with cuts in every area of education. There are state cuts ranging from millions, like Delaware’s cut to public school transportation funding, to billions, as seen in California. Here are just some of the ways that states are cutting k-12 education budgets:
- Alabama – teachers will pay higher health insurance costs.
- Arizona – eliminating full day kindergarten funding, reducing funding for books, technology, and other teaching tools.
- Arkansas – funds for a distance learning education was cut.
- Georgia – allows school systems to expand class sizes over the next three years.
- Idaho – teachers will not get raises based on years of experience or training and administrators will take a 6.5% pay cut.
- Illinois – proposes to move to a four day school week.
- Louisiana – cuts are made to a school voucher program in New Orleans.
- Maine – after school and summer school funding will be cut.
- Mississippi – a proposal to push back the start of school, furloughing teachers, and cutting the school year from 180 days to 175 days.
- Missouri – less funding for busing.
- North Carolina – a one year moratorium on replacing ailing buses, as well as cutting other transportation costs, cutting school supplies and central office benefits
- Oklahoma – suspending professional development programs.
- S. Carolina – cutting programs aimed at reducing high school dropout rates, and reducing stipends of National Board Certified teachers.
Information from the Nat’l Conference of State Legislatures
The afore mentioned cuts are some of the creative ways that states are addressing their budget shortfalls. In addition to those cuts, many teachers will lose their jobs. It has been reported that nearly 4,000 teachers in Dallas alone may lose their jobs. In Georgia, they are possibly looking at losing about 8,000 teachers across the state next fall. Ohio projects that over 10,000 teachers will lose their job over budget cuts. And even worse, CBS reports that as many as 26,000 teachers could lose their job in California.
Unfortunately, there is no miracle in sight that will make all these problems disappear. We are stuck in the middle of it and we are exhausted. Educators work as hard as they can and are asked to work more. It seems impossible and causes a great deal of tension. But there is no where else to go. With jobs being as scarce as they are and many of us still hoping for the return of joy and pride we once experienced… we stay (providing we’re not laid off). We put our students first. We will continue to be stretched and pushed. I hope not to a breaking point. That would truly be a loss as there are still far too many talented, caring, creative, and genius educators out there. Here’s hoping for that miracle.
Bibliography:
National Conference of State Legislatures, (2011) http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=19646
Fiscalyearzero, (2011). http://ohiobudgetwatch.com/2011/04/oea-projects-10k-teachers-will-loose-their-jobs-from-funding-cuts/
John, (2011) http://freecollegeblog.com/policy/california-teaching-job-cuts/
Kanell, Michael, (2011) http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2010/07/18/as-teachers-lose-jobs-and-pay-the-georgia-economy-suffers-from-their-loss-of-spending-power/
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