"Teacher Shortage"

Peter Green, a contributing author at Forbes Magazine published an article earlier this year titled "We Need To Stop Talking About The Teacher Shortage".  The article talks about the fact that there isn't actually a teacher shortage. My favorite line from the article is "We need to stop calling it a teacher shortage. You can't solve a problem starting with the wrong diagnosis. If I can't buy a Porsche for $1.98, that doesn't mean there's an automobile shortage. If I can't get a fine dining meal for a buck, that doesn't mean there's a food shortage".

I remember this article circling around the internet being shared by my teacher friends and non-teacher friends alike. People outside of education often ask the question "If you aren't satisfied with your job and its pay... why don't you just get a new job?" In terms of being an ethical educator, I just don't think it's that simple. I worry all the time if I don't do this job and take care of these kids... who will?

Rock in My Shoe

I think if you ask any teacher why they became a teacher the answers you would get would all be similar. When I reflect on the reasons I myself went into teaching I think about how much I love to help people. The largest rock in my shoe is the entire education system and how difficult it is to get students help. I, a professional educator, should be able to say I have a student that needs more support than I can provide them in my classroom, how can we support this student in other ways? Instead, I am asked how I have differentiated for the student, have I called home, have I tried an intervention?

The red tape and established processes that make it difficult to identify students with special needs that aren't currently diagnosed is so disheartening that it makes me question if this job is really for me.