# There’s a Reason There Aren’t Enough Teachers in America. Many Reasons, Actually.  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Thomas B. Edsall]] - Full Title:: There’s a Reason There Aren’t Enough Teachers in America. Many Reasons, Actually. - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/14/opinion/teacher-shortage-education.html ## Highlights > Teachers are not only burnt out and undercompensated, they are also demoralized. They are being asked to do things in the name of teaching that they believe are mis-educational and harmful to students and the profession. What made this work good for them is no longer accessible. That is why we are hearing so many refrains of “I’m not leaving the profession, my profession left me.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1tp20e5kt542xen8xnyj9)) > University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign wrote that they > > systematically examined news reports, department of education data, and publicly available information on teacher shortages for every state in the U.S. We find there are at least 36,000 vacant positions along with at least 163,000 positions being held by underqualified teachers, both of which are conservative estimates of the extent of teacher shortages nationally. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1vgasge067wr670w0r9bz)) > Wages are essentially unchanged from 2000 to 2020 after adjusting for [inflation](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_211.60.asp). Teachers have about the same number of students. But, teacher accountability reforms have increased the demands on their positions. The pandemic was very difficult for teachers. Their self-reported level of stress was about as [twice](https://www.rand.org/news/press/2022/06/15.html) as high during the pandemic compared to other working adults. Teachers had to worry both about their personal safety and deal with teaching/caring for students who are grieving lost family members. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1wytxfd509ymht5rfze5r)) > According to the [National Center for Education Statistics](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d21/tables/dt21_322.10.asp), the number of students graduating from college with bachelor’s degrees in education fell from 176,307 in 1970-71 to 104,008 in 2010-11 to 85,058 in 2019-20. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1xaa4ktwr3v66pcqhxmvd)) > In 1979, the average teacher weekly salary (in 2021 dollars) was $1,052, 22.9 percent less than other college graduates’, at $1,364. By 2010, teachers made $1,352 and other graduates made $1,811. By 2021, teachers made $1,348, 32.9 percent less than what other graduates made, at $2,009. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1ymtzjvc6z7yqcgk5mmmy)) > Teachers in the United States perform worse than the average teacher sample-wide in numeracy, with a median score of 284 points out of a possible 500, compared to the sample-wide average of 292 points. In literacy, they perform slightly better than average, with a median score of 301 points compared to the sample-wide average of 295 points. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1zd61rgbfszf5qcp6yy9g)) > They must ensure that higher salaries go to more effective teachers. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh20f83ndwbyks8brar7q07)) > “On top of the herculean task of carrying out the essential functions of their jobs,” they write, “educators increasingly find themselves in the position of addressing contentious, politicized issues in their schools as the United States has experienced increasing political polarization.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh21hp2k2d58y3fs0yk163j)) > Teachers and principals, they add, “have been pulled in multiple directions as they try to balance and reconcile not only their own beliefs on such matters but also the beliefs of others around them, including their leaders, fellow staff, students, and students’ family members.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh223d7zbb6jn4gz1jxhng0)) > Forty-eight percent of principals and 40 percent of teachers reported that the intrusion of political issues and opinions in school leadership or teaching, respectively, was a job-related stressor. By comparison, only 16 percent of working adults indicated that the intrusion of political issues and opinions in their jobs was a source of job-related stress. This difference demonstrates the especially salient impact that politicized issues have had in schools compared with other workplaces. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh22nb6pzj3zhrb7n17tn02)) > The issue of [systemic racism](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/15/systemic-racism-what-does-mean/5343549002/) provides an example of the intellectual and moral cross-pressures on educators as teaching becomes increasingly politicized ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh231791x496f8845nktryd)) > Sixty percent of teachers and 65 percent of principals reported believing that systemic racism exists ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh23dya70x785a9x32jqnwk)) > White educators working in predominantly white school systems reported substantially more pressure to deal with politically divisive issues than educators of color and those working in mostly minority schools ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh243sqfcp1knbdpp1dh72s)) > A 54 percent majority of teachers and principals said there “should not be legal limits on classroom conversations about racism, sexism, and other topics,” while 20 percent said there should be legislated constraint. There were significant racial differences on this issue: “62 percent of principals of color and 59 percent of teachers of color opposed such legal limits, compared with 51 percent of white principals and 52 percent of white teachers.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh24gzahvtp1p4vvr0be3yw)) > Public schools increasingly are targets of conservative political groups focusing on what they term “Critical Race Theory,” as well as issues of sexuality and gender identity. These political conflicts have created a broad chilling effect that has limited opportunities for students to practice respectful dialogue on controversial topics and made it harder to address rampant misinformation. The chilling effect also has led to marked declines in general support for teaching about race, racism, and racial and ethnic diversity. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh25znee93jq0cwa2t9q419)) > Several principals shared that they were reconsidering their own roles in public education in light of the rage at teachers and rage at administrators’ playing out in their communities. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh26p938ap34bwp3vvtm1s1)) > consistent and dynamic pattern across every measure: a rapid decline in the 1970s, a swift rise in the 1980s, relative stability for two decades, and a sustained drop beginning around 2010. The current state of the teaching profession is at or near its lowest levels in 50 years. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh27a46r2mke4rnfgtympar)) > Perceptions of teacher prestige have fallen between 20 percent and 47 percent in the last decade to be at or near the lowest levels recorded over the last half century. Interest in the teaching profession among high school seniors and college freshmen has fallen 50 percent since the 1990s, and 38 percent since 2010, reaching the lowest level in the last 50 years. The number of new entrants into the profession has fallen by roughly one third over the last decade, and the proportion of college graduates that go into teaching is at a 50-year low. Teachers’ job satisfaction is also at the lowest level in five decades, with the percent of teachers who feel the stress of their job is worth it dropping from 81 percent to 42 percent in the last 15 years. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh27wksygqf6bkjy46dzwfd)) > the likelihood that schools could not fill vacant teaching positions. Even more concerning, effects on unfilled vacancies were concentrated in hard-to-staff schools that often serve larger populations of low-income students and students of color ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh29nptxqdm9mehhgbgqx3s)) > In other words, the economic incentives, salary structure and work-life pressures characteristic of public education employment have created a climate in which contemporary education reforms have perverse and unintended consequences that can worsen rather than alleviate the problems facing school systems. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh29v6sakc5eyd9m1h2a0wz)) # There’s a Reason There Aren’t Enough Teachers in America. Many Reasons, Actually.  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Thomas B. Edsall]] - Full Title:: There’s a Reason There Aren’t Enough Teachers in America. Many Reasons, Actually. - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/14/opinion/teacher-shortage-education.html ## Highlights > Teachers are not only burnt out and undercompensated, they are also demoralized. They are being asked to do things in the name of teaching that they believe are mis-educational and harmful to students and the profession. What made this work good for them is no longer accessible. That is why we are hearing so many refrains of “I’m not leaving the profession, my profession left me.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1tp20e5kt542xen8xnyj9)) > University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign wrote that they > > systematically examined news reports, department of education data, and publicly available information on teacher shortages for every state in the U.S. We find there are at least 36,000 vacant positions along with at least 163,000 positions being held by underqualified teachers, both of which are conservative estimates of the extent of teacher shortages nationally. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1vgasge067wr670w0r9bz)) > Wages are essentially unchanged from 2000 to 2020 after adjusting for [inflation](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_211.60.asp). Teachers have about the same number of students. But, teacher accountability reforms have increased the demands on their positions. The pandemic was very difficult for teachers. Their self-reported level of stress was about as [twice](https://www.rand.org/news/press/2022/06/15.html) as high during the pandemic compared to other working adults. Teachers had to worry both about their personal safety and deal with teaching/caring for students who are grieving lost family members. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1wytxfd509ymht5rfze5r)) > According to the [National Center for Education Statistics](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d21/tables/dt21_322.10.asp), the number of students graduating from college with bachelor’s degrees in education fell from 176,307 in 1970-71 to 104,008 in 2010-11 to 85,058 in 2019-20. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1xaa4ktwr3v66pcqhxmvd)) > In 1979, the average teacher weekly salary (in 2021 dollars) was $1,052, 22.9 percent less than other college graduates’, at $1,364. By 2010, teachers made $1,352 and other graduates made $1,811. By 2021, teachers made $1,348, 32.9 percent less than what other graduates made, at $2,009. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1ymtzjvc6z7yqcgk5mmmy)) > Teachers in the United States perform worse than the average teacher sample-wide in numeracy, with a median score of 284 points out of a possible 500, compared to the sample-wide average of 292 points. In literacy, they perform slightly better than average, with a median score of 301 points compared to the sample-wide average of 295 points. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh1zd61rgbfszf5qcp6yy9g)) > They must ensure that higher salaries go to more effective teachers. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh20f83ndwbyks8brar7q07)) > “On top of the herculean task of carrying out the essential functions of their jobs,” they write, “educators increasingly find themselves in the position of addressing contentious, politicized issues in their schools as the United States has experienced increasing political polarization.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh21hp2k2d58y3fs0yk163j)) > Teachers and principals, they add, “have been pulled in multiple directions as they try to balance and reconcile not only their own beliefs on such matters but also the beliefs of others around them, including their leaders, fellow staff, students, and students’ family members.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh223d7zbb6jn4gz1jxhng0)) > Forty-eight percent of principals and 40 percent of teachers reported that the intrusion of political issues and opinions in school leadership or teaching, respectively, was a job-related stressor. By comparison, only 16 percent of working adults indicated that the intrusion of political issues and opinions in their jobs was a source of job-related stress. This difference demonstrates the especially salient impact that politicized issues have had in schools compared with other workplaces. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh22nb6pzj3zhrb7n17tn02)) > The issue of [systemic racism](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/15/systemic-racism-what-does-mean/5343549002/) provides an example of the intellectual and moral cross-pressures on educators as teaching becomes increasingly politicized ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh231791x496f8845nktryd)) > Sixty percent of teachers and 65 percent of principals reported believing that systemic racism exists ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh23dya70x785a9x32jqnwk)) > White educators working in predominantly white school systems reported substantially more pressure to deal with politically divisive issues than educators of color and those working in mostly minority schools ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh243sqfcp1knbdpp1dh72s)) > A 54 percent majority of teachers and principals said there “should not be legal limits on classroom conversations about racism, sexism, and other topics,” while 20 percent said there should be legislated constraint. There were significant racial differences on this issue: “62 percent of principals of color and 59 percent of teachers of color opposed such legal limits, compared with 51 percent of white principals and 52 percent of white teachers.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh24gzahvtp1p4vvr0be3yw)) > Public schools increasingly are targets of conservative political groups focusing on what they term “Critical Race Theory,” as well as issues of sexuality and gender identity. These political conflicts have created a broad chilling effect that has limited opportunities for students to practice respectful dialogue on controversial topics and made it harder to address rampant misinformation. The chilling effect also has led to marked declines in general support for teaching about race, racism, and racial and ethnic diversity. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh25znee93jq0cwa2t9q419)) > Several principals shared that they were reconsidering their own roles in public education in light of the rage at teachers and rage at administrators’ playing out in their communities. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh26p938ap34bwp3vvtm1s1)) > consistent and dynamic pattern across every measure: a rapid decline in the 1970s, a swift rise in the 1980s, relative stability for two decades, and a sustained drop beginning around 2010. The current state of the teaching profession is at or near its lowest levels in 50 years. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh27a46r2mke4rnfgtympar)) > Perceptions of teacher prestige have fallen between 20 percent and 47 percent in the last decade to be at or near the lowest levels recorded over the last half century. Interest in the teaching profession among high school seniors and college freshmen has fallen 50 percent since the 1990s, and 38 percent since 2010, reaching the lowest level in the last 50 years. The number of new entrants into the profession has fallen by roughly one third over the last decade, and the proportion of college graduates that go into teaching is at a 50-year low. Teachers’ job satisfaction is also at the lowest level in five decades, with the percent of teachers who feel the stress of their job is worth it dropping from 81 percent to 42 percent in the last 15 years. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh27wksygqf6bkjy46dzwfd)) > the likelihood that schools could not fill vacant teaching positions. Even more concerning, effects on unfilled vacancies were concentrated in hard-to-staff schools that often serve larger populations of low-income students and students of color ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh29nptxqdm9mehhgbgqx3s)) > In other words, the economic incentives, salary structure and work-life pressures characteristic of public education employment have created a climate in which contemporary education reforms have perverse and unintended consequences that can worsen rather than alleviate the problems facing school systems. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gmh29v6sakc5eyd9m1h2a0wz))