Well....I Could Always Teach.. I Guess

Recently I have been seeing some billboards posted along the freeways here in Dallas. They simply say in large letters, "Want to Teach?" Then in slightly smaller letters, "When Can You Start? www.teachtexas.org"

These billboards irk me every time I pass them. They seem so nonchalant, so casual, as if teaching is something you can just show up one day and start doing. Sadly, I have to admit, our requirements for teachers have been lowered enough that it actually is almost that easy, but even as a product of alternative certification myself, I am deeply convicted that this attitude toward teaching is at the root of our educational woes.

Part of the "No Child Left Behind" movement was to ensure that all teachers are "highly qualified." Each state has its own way of determing what constitutes this status. Texas has recently changed its law where anyone with a four-year degree can take a content-area certification test to be accepted into an alternative certification program and start teaching. Basically, that means that a random Joe off the street with a degree in Underwater Basketweaving could randomly decide to sign himself up for the 8-12 biology certification test, for example, cram for a couple months, pass the test, and walk into a classroom a month later on a temporary permit. He would have to be accepted into a program (based on passing the test), but those requirements are fulfilled simultaneously while working as a first year teacher of record....not a student teacher, not an intern...a full-fledged teacher of record.

I can't count the number of people I know, who uncertain of a career choice after college, would state, "Well, I could always teach if nothing else works out." I was one of those people, as a matter of fact. I had done a little subbing in Lubbock; it seemed easy enough. The pay seemed decent enough for me and hey, those summer vacations sounded great. However, it wasn't until I was in my own classroom and was faced with dozens of bodies of walking potential that I was responsible for developing, that I realized....this is not as easy it seems. Teachers not only need to know their content forward and backward, but they need to know how to analyze each individual child and creatively come up with ways to present that content in dozens of different ways so that each unique child is able to grasp it and own it. That, my friends, is not something you can show up one day and start doing.

Why do we pay doctors and lawyers so much? Because their services are valued. Their services require years of hard work, study, and stringent qualifications. Not everybody can be a doctor or lawyer. Not anybody can just go to med school. We would not want to go to a doctor who showed up at the clinic one day with a four-year degree and somehow passed a test on a fluke. Why then do we trust our children's futures and minds with people who may not actually know anything at all about education, much less the content area they teach?

Yes, I know we need teachers. As adamantly as I believe in qualified teachers, I also believe in small class sizes and student-teacher ratios. But I don't believe in just filling the rooms with warm bodies and giving them a paycheck in the name of a 20:1 ratio. Somehow, we have got to demand more of our teachers. They have got to be masters of their trade! They can't be just math teachers or science teachers....they have to be real scientists and real mathmeticians! They have to know their stuff! And they have to know how to transfer that knowledge to students in meaningful ways...ways that give students real-life problem solving skills.

There is a lot of debate on what would fix the educational system...more funding...more schools...more technology....more parent involvement....etc etc . All of those things are indeed important. But I think we need to start first with getting GOOD teachers in those classrooms. If we require more of the teachers, then we will need to pay them better. If we pay them better, then we can expect more. If it becomes a better-paid and more valued position, then more quality people will be drawn to the field and retained in the field. Experience and longevity will go a long way in a school's success. What if we actually encouraged teachers to further their education? What if we actually required Master's degrees and compensated teachers accordingly? (The $1000 per year pay increase is not exacly motivating or sending the message that the extra education is valued). What if we actually demanded that teachers be learners? We can have a brand-new school, full of beautiful books and all the technology in the world, but if we don't have innovative, creative, and knowledgeable teachers to know how to use it, it will become nothing but a pointless expense. I firmly believe that good teachers know how to overcome all the baggage that kids come to school with today....they can overcome lack of parent involvment and support, poverty and lack of funding and all the myriad of problems that we tend to use as excuses for our own failure as educators. Am I one of those brilliant teachers? No...I'm not. Every day I struggle with my own mediocrity. I myself am the reason that I am so passionate about the need for truly highly qualified teachers....because I'm not one! I was one of those people who came in through the back door and I am painfully aware of how unfair that was to so many of the students who have been entrusted to my care.

Last year I heard of a new charter school in New York City that is going to be paying their teachers $125,000 a year. My jaw dropped. Despite the difference in the cost of living, teacher salaries in New York are about the same as here in Texas. Out of curiosity, I looked at the application requirements, and gosh was it intense. The application was like applying to Harvard! Yet, because the compensation they offer sends the message that they value their teachers, they have the right to demand the best. At the end of the day, they will recruit only the most experienced, smart, and innovative people in the field. If they have good, quality teachers, the need to spend money on a lot of fancy curriculum or "interventions" and big buildings will be minimal. People might still be drawn to teaching for the wrong reasons (paycheck and spring break), but they won't be allowed in and definitely won't be allowed to stay unless they prove their worth. Teaching MUST be a calling...a passion...a mission...not a last choice option for people for people who can't figure out any other career. It MUST be something that candidates are carefully and rigorously prepared for... not a "when can you start?" walk-on type position. Only when we start demanding high expectations for our teachers can we demand high expectations for our students.