Why science teachers don't hang around

Hello, blogfans!

Believe it or not, I just completed a survey conducted by Texas A&M university, the main thrust of which was "why don't math and science teachers in Texas stay in the profession very long?"

You're kidding, right?

I think you'd be better served asking why on earth anyone WOULD want to be a math or a science teacher in Texas! I've never taught math, but here's why teaching science in Texas is frustrating (And it's NOT all about money, if that's what you're thinking!):

1. Only Social Studies and Science teachers have to deal with "full inclusion" classrooms. Every other discipline enjoys classloads that do not necessarily include special education or students with learning disabilities. Most such students work to the best of their ability, but they do necessarily go at a slower pace, which drags the pace of instruction and limits the type of activity that can be done (we have a state-mandated curriculum to get through, after all), all to the detriment of "regular ed" or GT students in the same class.

2. The Science TAKS at the intermediate level covers ~35% 7th-grade material and ~15% 6th grade material. The test is administered toward the end of the 8th grade year! In no other discipline is this done! So, when you see low intermediate science test scores, look no farther than the nature of the test that is being administered! It's set up for failure from the get-go!

3. Speaking of the TAKS, it's taken all of the fun out of science! When I was in school, I looked forward to Science because I knew it was going to be fun! We were going to build something, or tear into something, or set up a lab and observe something, etc. Now, it's all about the test.....24/7! If you want to keep science teachers in Texas and elsewhere, make science fun to teach again and don't worry so much about the test all the time!!!!

4. Money (well, you knew it would come down to that sooner or later, didn't you!?). Although I personally don't care that much about the money, I know other teachers who've left the profession because they can take their science education degree and make 6 figures with it in the private sector instead of struggling along making $40,000 per anum. Personally, I think that many more would stay for less if the frustrations listed above were reduced or eliminated, but that's just me.

5. On a related note....experience. My "experience" is only good at the district I currently teach in. The longer I'm there, the harder it is to leave that district. In other words, it costs me THOUSANDS to move to another school district because my "district experience" starts all over when I move! So you wonder why we're losing so many qualified teachers? Why start all over someplace else when you can move to the private sector, make WAY more money, and not worry about it anymore?

While we're at it....I'm sick and tired of hearing about how "easy" teaching is and how it's just a "fall-back" profession. I've been a meat-cutter, a route salesman for a beer company, a safety man in a chemical plant, and now a teacher. Out of all of those, teaching is by FAR the hardest I've ever worked! Oh, don't get me wrong; it's not physically as demanding as those other positions, but in terms of total hours and hours where you're actually WORKING, there's no comparison! I get to my campus at 7:00 in the morning on most days and, on an average day, leave at about 6:00 or so in the evening.

That's an 11 hour day for those of you keeping score at home!

In that time, there's a conference period that's generally spent grading, or lesson planning or doing something else that's related to the job, there's a 1/2 hour break for lunch, and....well....that's it! No other breaks or time off! Now, I'll grant you, the last period of my day is the athletic period and the time from 3:45 until 6:00 is athletic practice, but that's the busiest time of the day!!!!

Well, sorry to go off on a tangent like that, but it just rubs me wrong that so many people think that teaching is something that just anyone can do.

So, you want to keep science and math teachers in the classroom? Here's the formula:

1. Put only interested and self-motivated students in the classroom. The ones who don't want to be there or who are more interested in causing a disruption than in learning...put them someplace else learning "fried potato management" or some other career-oriented instruction.

2. Bring back the "Board of Education." I'm sorry if little Johnny's self-esteem will be damaged if we bust one across his backside, but he doesn't fear detention or time out or any of the other little "feel-good" disciplines you've invented to disuade him from misbehaving. He DOES fear the "Board of Education," so I say let's bring it back and use it liberally for a couple of years until Johnny figures out that he's going to experience some actual physical pain if he doesn't get his stuff together.

3. Pay them what they're worth and let them bank "state experience" instead of experience at the district level. What's a really good science teacher worth? What's a good engineer worth? What's a talented lab director worth? I'd say it's a lot closer to $75 or $80,000 per year than it is to the $40,000 that we're making on average, but that's just me. Maybe a figure somewhere in the middle, but, let's face it; when all of those other frustrations come home to roost and you start trying to figure out why you're doing it, the extra cash would be a powerful incentive to keep going, wouldn't it?