The Great American Walkout

 

The Great American Walkout

                This year will be the greatest exodus of educators in history. Already significant percentages of teachers are moving schools or resigning. More will follow as the summer progresses and the next school year approaches. These results have yet to be reported because the process of resignation happening now, and it will not be until the next school year is about to start when the ramifications of this trend will become painfully obvious. This is a critical moment for the country, and not enough people are taking notice.

                This past school year was subject to a national shortage of teachers in record numbers (Frontline Education, 2021, ). The National Guard was asked to fill positions, as substitutes in New Mexico. For all the horror stories about students not engaging in their learning and internet issues during distance learning (among many other things), it was not the worst year for teachers; that was the 2021-2 school year. Now that a whole year in the classroom has passed for most of the nation’s schools, it is clear that education has a lot of work to do, and the students changed a lot during their time in isolation. The teachers felt the full weight of those changes and the difficulties they added to the profession.

                This past year was disheartening and difficult for many teachers. Students are failing in larger numbers and the skills they enter high school with are far below what is needed to succeed. The sad part is that the little standardized testing that is left will not reveal these trends for years, and by then it will be too late. There will always be students who do well in the system no matter what happens, and they have kept test result averages stable. This population of guaranteed achievers continues to exist, but in smaller numbers than previous generations of students. More of the children need more frequent and direct care, and a large portion of those are the most likely to be absent. This group is at increased risk for negative long-term consequences, in part because they are more likely to take longer to grasp concepts than their peers. Large class sizes make it untenable for teachers to provide the direct instruction and care to most of their students, let alone the large subpopulation of students who really need significant individual help (a number that is also increasing). I received my first invitation to participate in a study about teacher mental health. This needed to happen more often and far earlier by more institutions. I am aware that there is such a large pool of educators that it is unlikely any individual will be asked to participate, but if I am anything near the average in the random sample size, it is too little too late to gauge the full height of the wave of educators leaving the profession, at least for a few years.

                People all over talk about how teachers are not paid enough and are not appreciated for what we do. Teachers need action on this sentiment. Teachers must be paid the wage necessary to live independently in the communities in which they teach and live. It would be even better if they were paid above a living wage and given a housing discount, but let’s start with a decent wage. The inability to support oneself on a teacher’s salary, combined with the added stress from the added needs of the students has laid the foundation for the Great American Walkout.

                My estimate is about 10% of the nation’s educational force will be missing next year. This will be a devastating increase from the trend which began the previous school year (The Guardian, 2021). Many more schools will not have enough adults to fill the classrooms, as a substitute shortage has also been exacerbated by the pandemic. There has been a shortage of both substitute and credentialed teachers since the recession of 2008, and will only get worse because of the past school year. Others rely on the upcoming teachers to assume more teaching roles earlier in their training. There has been a long-term shortage of teachers in the training pipeline, and it will not be enough to account for half of the teachers that are on their way out.

                When schools do not have enough adults, they could be unable to open. Parents will have to leave their children unattended or pay for daycare. At this point the low-income population will feel the ripples far more quickly and more intensely that the rest of the nation (Teachers College Columbia University, July 2021). Daycare has been prohibitively expensive for some time (CNBC, February 2022). There are other expenses that put more hardship on the disadvantaged, and they only add to the need for schools to be open and staffed with trained, competent, compassionate adults. This is a national crisis in the making and it will have a deep and lasting impact on our society. Districts and voters, as well as states and the federal government, will have to work together quickly to keep the foundation of our society open (and maybe make it better in the process).

                I could be wrong about the Great American Walkout (of teachers from the profession), and I hope I am for the kids’ sakes, as well as that of our nation’s future. It appears to be happening in all of the areas that have come to my attention. I am also a member of this walkout. I love teaching and could do it forever. At least, that’s what I thought when I started over a decade ago. I don’t know why I am part of the walkout or what traits make a teacher more or less likely to leave, but I do know that it is a hard decision that we do not take lightly. I want to make a difference in the lives of the next generation; I no longer feel I can do that with the education system as it stands. Once I’ve seen how truly broken the system has become and how far we have gone from the root intentions of the institution, I cannot continue to perpetuate a system that harms as many students as it helps and has few resources to make the difference it could. Something has to change in education, and change quickly.

Note: There are far more resources that explain my reasoning, and others that informed my thinking over the pandemic educational experience. I am stating my opinion based on my experience and conversations.