Top Ten Ways to Lose Experienced Teachers

Top Ten Ways

to Lose

Experienced Teachers

We’ve all read the disturbing statistic (usually during legislative debate over salaries) that half of all new teachers quit the profession within five years. After 36 years in the classroom, I feel compelled to ask an equally alarming question: Where have all the experienced teachers gone? If most of your children’s teachers seem to fall within that first five-year category, you may also be wondering what became of the older, experienced teachers. Though baby-boomer retirement certainly accounts for some loss, I’m betting your local school practices some or all of my top ten ways to lose good experienced teachers.

#10  No pay incentives. The good, the bad, and the mediocre all make the same. No raises based on experience after 15 years. Want more money? Take more worthless teacher-training courses. Work more hours on district-approved projects. Fill out more paperwork. The last 21 years of my teaching career DID prepare me for retiring on a FIXED salary. No rewards for excellence.

#9  Hire teachers fresh out of college in preference to experienced teachers. Newbies are cheaper, less secure, and more malleable. Clone them to fit desired administration philosophy. Experienced teachers are harder to fool, harder to clone, and much more likely to challenge or dissent.

#8  Balkanize your faculty into “team players” AKA those newbies “on board” versus the independents or “deadwoods.” If one of those individualists volunteers for a decision-making committee, say it’s full. Warn newbies against associating with those not “on board.” Give the least experienced teachers the most decision-making authority.

#7  Practice the devious art of the Delphi Technique whenever possible at faculty meetings to focus on “consensus building” with dissent suppression the real goal. Promote planning period meetings to divide and conquer. Put controversial agenda items last and hope to be saved by the bell. Summarily dismiss dissent on major agenda items as “ minority” viewpoints. Ignore the voices of experienced teachers who have more practice in BS detecting.

#6  Dump administrative concerns on teachers. Create bureaucratic CYA paper trails for teachers. Force compliance. Hold teachers accountable for weak administrative disciplinary policies. Spread the blame to hide the shame.

#5  Waste valuable classroom time on unnecessary interruptions that could be covered in memos. Promote social agenda items that undermine or disrupt academic goals. Examples would include homework-free days, dress up days, days of silence in support or protest of social concerns. Emphasize student activism. De-emphasize academics.

#4  Eliminate excellence in the classroom as a basis for any deference, priorities, or perks. Do this under the “fairness” doctrine. Give the most desirable schedules to the least experienced teachers. Put the most structured teachers with classes that need the least structure and vice versa. Make the best teachers fight each year for the schedules they want to teach. Most will transfer, retire, or quit in frustration.

#3  Undermine the authority of the teacher in the classroom. Centralize all discipline to the extent that students are no longer accountable to the classroom teacher. Give a disruptive student equal standing with the teacher in disciplinary matters. Question the teacher’s conduct in front of students and/or parents.

#2  Mandate teaching methods. If the latest study says good results have been achieved with the “miracle” method, make sure everybody uses it.  Mandate training in every new idea that comes along. Incorporate checking for the “miracle” method use in teacher evaluations. Jump on every education bandwagon.

#1  Praise only the new and innovative. Honor those publicly. Ignore the continued excellence and refinement of the experienced. When they quit, tell their colleagues they chose to retire.

P.S.   On a personal note, I was able to deal successfully with #10 and #9, managing to stick around for 36+ years. Eventually #8 through #1 got to me with perhaps 5 good years left. I resigned in 2006 with prejudice (in the judicial sense).