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| 'I'm $100k in debt. I'm drowning': teachers share their stories – live | 'I'm $100k in debt. I'm drowning': teachers share their stories – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| From Oregon, Tina said she’s incredibly frustrated with the physical facilities she’s expected to work in – | |
| “My district finally has potable tap water after being on bottled for more than two years following a lead crisis. However, they only certified two water fountains safe to drink in a building that serves 450 students and 60+ adults every day. I have no idea what’s going to happen when they take away the water coolers we’ve been using. | |
| “Our superintendent says he’s trying to cut the budget in ways that don’t affect the classroom, but when he cuts maintenance (or printing, or textbooks, or won’t buy basic things like folders or copy paper etc.), it just means that teachers have to pick up the slack on their own time and/or money. | |
| N from the rural US south wishes to stay anonymous and said teachers just lack support and is dismayed with the Common Core standards. | N from the rural US south wishes to stay anonymous and said teachers just lack support and is dismayed with the Common Core standards. |
| “I was inventing, from scratch, 20 hours of lecture each week, creating worksheets/notes/homework for every lesson, and grading 130 students’ work 2 times each week (2 grades per student per week, minimum). | “I was inventing, from scratch, 20 hours of lecture each week, creating worksheets/notes/homework for every lesson, and grading 130 students’ work 2 times each week (2 grades per student per week, minimum). |
| The pay was $31,000/year. I didn’t become a teacher to get rich, though since I was also doing grad school to get my teacher licensure finalized, I had no time for cooking or laundry, etc. I had to eat out or not eat, I had to dry clean work clothes or they wouldn’t be clean. I was nervous every month about making all the bills, student loan payments, car and gas payments happen. I wasn’t worried about budgeting for going out or social activities, I typically spent 30 hours on the weekends working on my lessons, so I never went out anyways. Finances were still tight. Our school had 80% of the student body qualify for reduced/free lunches because of their socioeconomic status. We’re confident that 10% ate breakfast and lunch at school and nothing at home.” | The pay was $31,000/year. I didn’t become a teacher to get rich, though since I was also doing grad school to get my teacher licensure finalized, I had no time for cooking or laundry, etc. I had to eat out or not eat, I had to dry clean work clothes or they wouldn’t be clean. I was nervous every month about making all the bills, student loan payments, car and gas payments happen. I wasn’t worried about budgeting for going out or social activities, I typically spent 30 hours on the weekends working on my lessons, so I never went out anyways. Finances were still tight. Our school had 80% of the student body qualify for reduced/free lunches because of their socioeconomic status. We’re confident that 10% ate breakfast and lunch at school and nothing at home.” |
| What teachers want | What teachers want |
| As part of our teacher takeover, we’re inviting all teachers and educators to add personal stories and ideas to this manifesto for change. Submit ideas, anecdotes and thoughts via our form here. | As part of our teacher takeover, we’re inviting all teachers and educators to add personal stories and ideas to this manifesto for change. Submit ideas, anecdotes and thoughts via our form here. |
| We’ll compile your comments into a final manifesto next week – and the Guardian will hand-deliver it to Betsy DeVos, the education secretary. | We’ll compile your comments into a final manifesto next week – and the Guardian will hand-deliver it to Betsy DeVos, the education secretary. |
| Marie (not her real name) in California, said she struggles to get supplies for her Title I students | Marie (not her real name) in California, said she struggles to get supplies for her Title I students |
| “So many of my students are homeless, struggle financially, or are struggling with severe difficulties in other forms. For the last two years, we have received only one box of pencils, a 24-pack of crayons, and a pack of folders. I have had to spend over $1500 both years in preparation for gathering supplies for my students. While this includes basic classroom decorations the majority of the cost is actually for pencil, glue sticks, individual whiteboards, dry erase markers, folders, composition notebooks, erasers, scissors, rulers, and more. Almost every single teacher at my school buys their own supplies for their students, or use Donor’sChoose to get books and decorations for their students. | “So many of my students are homeless, struggle financially, or are struggling with severe difficulties in other forms. For the last two years, we have received only one box of pencils, a 24-pack of crayons, and a pack of folders. I have had to spend over $1500 both years in preparation for gathering supplies for my students. While this includes basic classroom decorations the majority of the cost is actually for pencil, glue sticks, individual whiteboards, dry erase markers, folders, composition notebooks, erasers, scissors, rulers, and more. Almost every single teacher at my school buys their own supplies for their students, or use Donor’sChoose to get books and decorations for their students. |
| “I have always been dedicated to teaching at a high-needs school, but so many people are under the impression that schools of diversity are full of kids who ‘can’t be saved’. In terms of pay, our district does a decent job but I absolutely cannot afford to live locally. Not a single teacher I know has enough to afford rent, and most are living paycheck to paycheck. I know many teachers who live with a group of people, and no one I know owns a home. We have no maternity leave, and are encouraged to have kids in the summertime. We finally got a stipend for a masters degree, but even with this it is barely enough to cover our slight increase in pay. | “I have always been dedicated to teaching at a high-needs school, but so many people are under the impression that schools of diversity are full of kids who ‘can’t be saved’. In terms of pay, our district does a decent job but I absolutely cannot afford to live locally. Not a single teacher I know has enough to afford rent, and most are living paycheck to paycheck. I know many teachers who live with a group of people, and no one I know owns a home. We have no maternity leave, and are encouraged to have kids in the summertime. We finally got a stipend for a masters degree, but even with this it is barely enough to cover our slight increase in pay. |
| “I led my students on the school shooting walkout last year and read them books about gender equality and LGBTQ rights. I am very vocal about my students needing to develop their own opinions and encourage them to listen to each other and respect other people’s opinions. I firmly believe teaching would attract the strongest of candidates if it became more competitive with higher pay. So many teachers at our school are highly educated (with MAs and PhDs) but are paid so very little. This causes burnout and so many leave the profession before five years. If teachers were paid higher, based on the eight hour days we actually work rather than six for school hours alone, it would encourage the public to take the profession more seriously. The incredible educators I know deserve this, and I believe the reason we do not receive pay raises is due to the underlying belief that teaching requires very little knowledge or pedagogical skill.” | “I led my students on the school shooting walkout last year and read them books about gender equality and LGBTQ rights. I am very vocal about my students needing to develop their own opinions and encourage them to listen to each other and respect other people’s opinions. I firmly believe teaching would attract the strongest of candidates if it became more competitive with higher pay. So many teachers at our school are highly educated (with MAs and PhDs) but are paid so very little. This causes burnout and so many leave the profession before five years. If teachers were paid higher, based on the eight hour days we actually work rather than six for school hours alone, it would encourage the public to take the profession more seriously. The incredible educators I know deserve this, and I believe the reason we do not receive pay raises is due to the underlying belief that teaching requires very little knowledge or pedagogical skill.” |
| A new report shows teacher pay is declining, even as more educators have master’s degrees and doctorates. | A new report shows teacher pay is declining, even as more educators have master’s degrees and doctorates. |
| Teacher salaries are down by nearly 5% compared with before the Great Recession – and it’s not because teachers are younger or less educated, according to the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. | Teacher salaries are down by nearly 5% compared with before the Great Recession – and it’s not because teachers are younger or less educated, according to the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. |
| In fact, the opposite is true. Read more about the wage crisis in education. | In fact, the opposite is true. Read more about the wage crisis in education. |
| In California, Patrick (not his real name) has over 15 years of teaching experience. He calls, California’s education funding is “deplorable”. | In California, Patrick (not his real name) has over 15 years of teaching experience. He calls, California’s education funding is “deplorable”. |
| “It makes sense that California schools are one of the lowest performing states in the USA (35th according to data from Education Week). Students don’t have an opportunity for success when California’s priorities is to lock up its population rather than provide it with an opportunity out of poverty. For a state as rich as California, their schools should be state of the art. The system is set up for the 1% to flourish and keep the 99% uneducated and blind. | “It makes sense that California schools are one of the lowest performing states in the USA (35th according to data from Education Week). Students don’t have an opportunity for success when California’s priorities is to lock up its population rather than provide it with an opportunity out of poverty. For a state as rich as California, their schools should be state of the art. The system is set up for the 1% to flourish and keep the 99% uneducated and blind. |
| “It’s no surprise then that the school I work at has rodents, asbestos, ants, no air conditioning, desks and lighting from the 1980s, outdated textbooks, and an extremely high teacher turnover. Public schools in California are more like haunted houses than schools. Teachers have to plead for a simple cost-of-living increase, often portrayed as being greedy when they do. Teachers can’t even afford to go to lunch in the area they work, let alone live there. Who in their right mind would go into teaching?” | “It’s no surprise then that the school I work at has rodents, asbestos, ants, no air conditioning, desks and lighting from the 1980s, outdated textbooks, and an extremely high teacher turnover. Public schools in California are more like haunted houses than schools. Teachers have to plead for a simple cost-of-living increase, often portrayed as being greedy when they do. Teachers can’t even afford to go to lunch in the area they work, let alone live there. Who in their right mind would go into teaching?” |
| Push back against remediation, and not investing in school facilities are a challenge for teachers, said David Chin, 57, in AZ who has 29 years teaching experience. | Push back against remediation, and not investing in school facilities are a challenge for teachers, said David Chin, 57, in AZ who has 29 years teaching experience. |
| “In one school I taught at, I set up a remediation program but was told by my supervising administrator that I was in violation of district policy because 4th grade level students had to learn 4th grade level instructional objectives. I thought this reprimand was ludicrous because the assistant principal expected me to teach compound multiplication to students who did not know their multiplication facts let alone their basic addition facts. | “In one school I taught at, I set up a remediation program but was told by my supervising administrator that I was in violation of district policy because 4th grade level students had to learn 4th grade level instructional objectives. I thought this reprimand was ludicrous because the assistant principal expected me to teach compound multiplication to students who did not know their multiplication facts let alone their basic addition facts. |
| “In another school where I worked as a culinary arts instructor where there were a lack of facilities, I ended up with 56 students in the kitchen which was built to only accommodate 28. On top of this we had a roach infestation. I was ordered to teach hands-on production in a roach infested kitchen in violation of the law. I was told to ‘do your job’ which I did by reporting the incident to the county health inspector. The kitchen was subsequently closed, the infestation dealt with but I had become a persona non grata and transferred to another school.” | “In another school where I worked as a culinary arts instructor where there were a lack of facilities, I ended up with 56 students in the kitchen which was built to only accommodate 28. On top of this we had a roach infestation. I was ordered to teach hands-on production in a roach infested kitchen in violation of the law. I was told to ‘do your job’ which I did by reporting the incident to the county health inspector. The kitchen was subsequently closed, the infestation dealt with but I had become a persona non grata and transferred to another school.” |
| Arne Duncan, former education secretary under Barack Obama, asks: What do Trump’s authoritarian dreams have to do with education policy? Everything, he says. Authoritarian regimes benefits from an educated citizenry. | Arne Duncan, former education secretary under Barack Obama, asks: What do Trump’s authoritarian dreams have to do with education policy? Everything, he says. Authoritarian regimes benefits from an educated citizenry. |
| Shannon Ergun in Tacoma, who we featured earlier in the blog, has written back to us to say her district has voted to go on strike: | Shannon Ergun in Tacoma, who we featured earlier in the blog, has written back to us to say her district has voted to go on strike: |
| Our admin refuses to provide competitive professional compensation commensurate with local area districts even in the face of significant funding increases from the state. I’m on the bargaining team and we go back to the table today. If the district will shift, we’ll start school tomorrow. If not, we’ll be on the picket lines on Thursday morning. | Our admin refuses to provide competitive professional compensation commensurate with local area districts even in the face of significant funding increases from the state. I’m on the bargaining team and we go back to the table today. If the district will shift, we’ll start school tomorrow. If not, we’ll be on the picket lines on Thursday morning. |
| From Reno, 38-year-old David Zepeda said though he has declared bankruptcy he still tries to help with classroom supplies: | From Reno, 38-year-old David Zepeda said though he has declared bankruptcy he still tries to help with classroom supplies: |
| “The biggest challenge to teaching in Nevada is lack of funding and adequate resources to facilitate ‘21st century learning’. The school I teach in is 43-years-old and our heating and cooling systems are badly in need of repair. I teach US History and Geography and our textbooks were published in 2006. They are out of date and it will be a long while until we get new ones. | “The biggest challenge to teaching in Nevada is lack of funding and adequate resources to facilitate ‘21st century learning’. The school I teach in is 43-years-old and our heating and cooling systems are badly in need of repair. I teach US History and Geography and our textbooks were published in 2006. They are out of date and it will be a long while until we get new ones. |
| “Technology is in short supply with only a few laptop computer carts (that have to be checked out) available to our entire school of over 1,000 students. | “Technology is in short supply with only a few laptop computer carts (that have to be checked out) available to our entire school of over 1,000 students. |
| “The pay for teachers in our state is barely adequate. I recently had to declare bankruptcy despite having a full time job as a teacher! Despite this financial hardship I routinely purchase classroom supplies and materials with my own money. I have never totaled the figures but I would estimate I routinely spend about $300 to $400 of my own money for supplies annually. | “The pay for teachers in our state is barely adequate. I recently had to declare bankruptcy despite having a full time job as a teacher! Despite this financial hardship I routinely purchase classroom supplies and materials with my own money. I have never totaled the figures but I would estimate I routinely spend about $300 to $400 of my own money for supplies annually. |
| “I am an active union representative for our state and local teachers unions. Though I have never had occasion to strike or protest as a teacher (yet) I have been a participant in many demonstrations over the past 20 years.” | “I am an active union representative for our state and local teachers unions. Though I have never had occasion to strike or protest as a teacher (yet) I have been a participant in many demonstrations over the past 20 years.” |
| As we listened to the riveting – and often devastating – stories during a national teachers’ conference in July, it became clear that no one could tell the story of the crisis in America’s classroom better than the teachers themselves. We hatched the Guardian US teacher takeover and invited a team of educators from across the country to collaborate with us on a project that launched today. | As we listened to the riveting – and often devastating – stories during a national teachers’ conference in July, it became clear that no one could tell the story of the crisis in America’s classroom better than the teachers themselves. We hatched the Guardian US teacher takeover and invited a team of educators from across the country to collaborate with us on a project that launched today. |
| Over the last two months, our guest editors have helped us develop story ideas, photo essays, and written first-person essays that will unfold on our site this week. (Side note to Stephen Colbert: Our teacher-editors would like to interview you this week about your involvement with DonorsChoose, a fundraising site for teachers, if you have a few minutes.) | Over the last two months, our guest editors have helped us develop story ideas, photo essays, and written first-person essays that will unfold on our site this week. (Side note to Stephen Colbert: Our teacher-editors would like to interview you this week about your involvement with DonorsChoose, a fundraising site for teachers, if you have a few minutes.) |
| We will be partnering on the series with local publications in four of the states where teachers are paid the least, to extend the reach of the project in communities where teachers struggle most. | We will be partnering on the series with local publications in four of the states where teachers are paid the least, to extend the reach of the project in communities where teachers struggle most. |
| Teaching a country’s children is among the most important tasks in society. But what happens when a country fails its teachers? That’s the story we are telling in this three-day series. | Teaching a country’s children is among the most important tasks in society. But what happens when a country fails its teachers? That’s the story we are telling in this three-day series. |
| With 20 years teaching experience, Christine from Florida thinks teachers are working with an outdated model. | With 20 years teaching experience, Christine from Florida thinks teachers are working with an outdated model. |
| “Personally, I strongly believe that most of the problems we face in schools are caused by the fact that we’re working on an outdated model. ‘Back in the day,’ as my students would say, college students were a fairly homogeneous bunch. Mostly white, mostly male, mostly middle-class, they expected to graduate in four years and go on to careers in business and the professions. This is still the vision of college that high schools work on, and it no longer matches reality. | “Personally, I strongly believe that most of the problems we face in schools are caused by the fact that we’re working on an outdated model. ‘Back in the day,’ as my students would say, college students were a fairly homogeneous bunch. Mostly white, mostly male, mostly middle-class, they expected to graduate in four years and go on to careers in business and the professions. This is still the vision of college that high schools work on, and it no longer matches reality. |
| “There’s a ‘silent majority’ of kids in our classrooms don’t see much point in school. What they’re taught seems to have little relevance to their lives, because no one has really shown them the connection. Some are beyond caring. They failed to learn to read in elementary school, and have fallen further and further behind their peers ever since. They sit through six hours of classes on hard chairs, restless with boredom, taking every opportunity to leave the classroom on some pretext or other; or they decide to create their own entertainment in the classroom by being disruptive. | “There’s a ‘silent majority’ of kids in our classrooms don’t see much point in school. What they’re taught seems to have little relevance to their lives, because no one has really shown them the connection. Some are beyond caring. They failed to learn to read in elementary school, and have fallen further and further behind their peers ever since. They sit through six hours of classes on hard chairs, restless with boredom, taking every opportunity to leave the classroom on some pretext or other; or they decide to create their own entertainment in the classroom by being disruptive. |
| “And then there are those who simply march to a different drum. They include artists and musicians, woodcrafters and mechanics, and countless others whose hands do their talking for them. We expect the bearers of all these differences to magically anneal themselves into a single representative entity called ‘Student’. | “And then there are those who simply march to a different drum. They include artists and musicians, woodcrafters and mechanics, and countless others whose hands do their talking for them. We expect the bearers of all these differences to magically anneal themselves into a single representative entity called ‘Student’. |
| “Some remedies for this sorry state of affairs have been known for years, such as preschool starting at the age of three or four and tiny class sizes through third grade to allow for individual attention. Unfortunately, our legislators, backed by us as voters, still buy into the one-size-fits-all industrial model of education: Push the kids through, like so many widgets on a conveyor belt, test for quality control at intervals, and spit them all out onto the same widget heap at the end of the belt. If the conveyor belt workers fail to get their widgets to fit the mold in the time allotted, throw out the workers along with the misplaced widgets. | “Some remedies for this sorry state of affairs have been known for years, such as preschool starting at the age of three or four and tiny class sizes through third grade to allow for individual attention. Unfortunately, our legislators, backed by us as voters, still buy into the one-size-fits-all industrial model of education: Push the kids through, like so many widgets on a conveyor belt, test for quality control at intervals, and spit them all out onto the same widget heap at the end of the belt. If the conveyor belt workers fail to get their widgets to fit the mold in the time allotted, throw out the workers along with the misplaced widgets. |
| “The legislators, and by extension, we voters, are still trying to quantify something that’s unquantifiable, paying lip service to diversity while attempting, and failing, to force all our children into the same mold. Society is not going to change back to the way it was in the fifties, and it behooves us to think up a new model of education that fits the future.” | “The legislators, and by extension, we voters, are still trying to quantify something that’s unquantifiable, paying lip service to diversity while attempting, and failing, to force all our children into the same mold. Society is not going to change back to the way it was in the fifties, and it behooves us to think up a new model of education that fits the future.” |
| From NY, J said low pay is the issue for new teachers – | From NY, J said low pay is the issue for new teachers – |
| “There’s very little institutional support and the state of higher education in general is not great. I am a graduate student and my university has a notoriously low TA stipend. | “There’s very little institutional support and the state of higher education in general is not great. I am a graduate student and my university has a notoriously low TA stipend. |
| “I also have to design coursework and lead technical writing classes that I have no training for. It’s hard to know what kind of writing assignments science students need to improve their writing, and my department doesn’t give any help with syllabus design or lesson plans. Since we changed our composition program to suit STEM students, we basically eliminated literature teaching for graduate students. Basically I feel like I’m totally on my own, and that in a few years there may not be any academic jobs at all. So I’ll have been doing graduate work for six years for basically no reason at all. And no administrators or department chairs seem to want to do anything about this.” | “I also have to design coursework and lead technical writing classes that I have no training for. It’s hard to know what kind of writing assignments science students need to improve their writing, and my department doesn’t give any help with syllabus design or lesson plans. Since we changed our composition program to suit STEM students, we basically eliminated literature teaching for graduate students. Basically I feel like I’m totally on my own, and that in a few years there may not be any academic jobs at all. So I’ll have been doing graduate work for six years for basically no reason at all. And no administrators or department chairs seem to want to do anything about this.” |
| If you’ve not already seen it, take a look at our article on why some schools in Arizona are employing Filipinos to fill teacher shortages. | If you’ve not already seen it, take a look at our article on why some schools in Arizona are employing Filipinos to fill teacher shortages. |
| Terry Greene Sterling and Jude Joffe-Block write that some American public schools are turning to foreign teachers because Americans with college educations are increasingly uninterested in low-paid, demanding teaching jobs. | Terry Greene Sterling and Jude Joffe-Block write that some American public schools are turning to foreign teachers because Americans with college educations are increasingly uninterested in low-paid, demanding teaching jobs. |
| Many teachers, struggling for a toehold in the shrinking middle class, have switched careers. And fewer college students are choosing to become teachers. The need for mathematics, science, and special education teachers is especially dire in poor and rural schools throughout the country. | Many teachers, struggling for a toehold in the shrinking middle class, have switched careers. And fewer college students are choosing to become teachers. The need for mathematics, science, and special education teachers is especially dire in poor and rural schools throughout the country. |
| Melvin Inojosa, 29, from the Philippines is one of 12,000 foreign teachers who have come to the United States in the last five years on temporary J-1 cultural exchange visas. (The three-year visas offer no path to permanent residence in the United States). | Melvin Inojosa, 29, from the Philippines is one of 12,000 foreign teachers who have come to the United States in the last five years on temporary J-1 cultural exchange visas. (The three-year visas offer no path to permanent residence in the United States). |
| Inojosa wishes he could stay but will teach in Arizona as long as he can. If authorities want him to leave, he’ll leave. No hard feelings. He respects American laws. He’ll find a job teaching someplace else in the world, and “make my own happiness”. | Inojosa wishes he could stay but will teach in Arizona as long as he can. If authorities want him to leave, he’ll leave. No hard feelings. He respects American laws. He’ll find a job teaching someplace else in the world, and “make my own happiness”. |
| Shannon Ergun, is a single mother and teaches ESL at a public school in Tacoma, WA with previous experience in Turkey and Poland. | Shannon Ergun, is a single mother and teaches ESL at a public school in Tacoma, WA with previous experience in Turkey and Poland. |
| For her, teaching her students of different abilities in one classroom can be a challenge. | For her, teaching her students of different abilities in one classroom can be a challenge. |
| “I currently have 178 ESL students on my caseload. State law says I must provide each of these students services. However, I would have to have 35-36 students in each class to do that. I have a range of students from those who have no proficiency in English to those fluent in English who simply haven’t passed the state ESL exam. I have students who arrived in the US in the last few days to those who were born and raised here. To meet their needs I cannot simply put 35+ kids in a classroom. I need to be able to target my instruction so I have to be able to assign students to classes based on their proficiency and their age in some cases. No one is served if students are simply dropped in whatever class fits the rest of their schedule and then I’m expected to work miracles. | “I currently have 178 ESL students on my caseload. State law says I must provide each of these students services. However, I would have to have 35-36 students in each class to do that. I have a range of students from those who have no proficiency in English to those fluent in English who simply haven’t passed the state ESL exam. I have students who arrived in the US in the last few days to those who were born and raised here. To meet their needs I cannot simply put 35+ kids in a classroom. I need to be able to target my instruction so I have to be able to assign students to classes based on their proficiency and their age in some cases. No one is served if students are simply dropped in whatever class fits the rest of their schedule and then I’m expected to work miracles. |
| “Because of the challenges above I am active in my union. I have helped to organize rallies and protests related to high-stakes standardized testing, educator salaries, and lack of professional respect. I work directly with legislators and other local officials to improve the working conditions of our educators because that in turn improves the learning conditions of our students. My activism has often made me a target of district administrators and I have been reassigned to a new school, not told my teaching assignment until two weeks into the school year, and even told I would be assigned in multiple schools and multiple levels where I have no experience.” | “Because of the challenges above I am active in my union. I have helped to organize rallies and protests related to high-stakes standardized testing, educator salaries, and lack of professional respect. I work directly with legislators and other local officials to improve the working conditions of our educators because that in turn improves the learning conditions of our students. My activism has often made me a target of district administrators and I have been reassigned to a new school, not told my teaching assignment until two weeks into the school year, and even told I would be assigned in multiple schools and multiple levels where I have no experience.” |
| As part of our teacher takeover, we’re inviting all teachers and educators to add personal stories and ideas to this manifesto for change. Submit ideas, anecdotes and thoughts via our form here. | As part of our teacher takeover, we’re inviting all teachers and educators to add personal stories and ideas to this manifesto for change. Submit ideas, anecdotes and thoughts via our form here. |
| We’ll compile your comments into a final manifesto next week – and the Guardian will hand-deliver it to Betsy DeVos, the education secretary. | We’ll compile your comments into a final manifesto next week – and the Guardian will hand-deliver it to Betsy DeVos, the education secretary. |
| Anna Burr, in Phoenix, AZ, said she struggles with debt – | Anna Burr, in Phoenix, AZ, said she struggles with debt – |
| “As a teacher, I was told I would love my job so the salary wouldn’t matter. That was true until this year. I’m $100k in student loan debt (the promise of more pay after obtaining a masters enticed me). I make $2,400 a month and half of that goes to rent alone. I’m drowning. I have 40 students in my class and some don’t even have their own desk. I used to be the cool teacher now I’m the mean teacher. They made me hate my dream, I thought I’d love this career forever now I just want to make enough where I don’t stress at night. My students come to school hungry and leave worried on the weekends. I have been apart of the Red for Ed movement here in Arizona but I feel like I can never do enough.” | “As a teacher, I was told I would love my job so the salary wouldn’t matter. That was true until this year. I’m $100k in student loan debt (the promise of more pay after obtaining a masters enticed me). I make $2,400 a month and half of that goes to rent alone. I’m drowning. I have 40 students in my class and some don’t even have their own desk. I used to be the cool teacher now I’m the mean teacher. They made me hate my dream, I thought I’d love this career forever now I just want to make enough where I don’t stress at night. My students come to school hungry and leave worried on the weekends. I have been apart of the Red for Ed movement here in Arizona but I feel like I can never do enough.” |
| One reader who responded to our callout is pre-K teacher Andrew Berg, from Boston. | One reader who responded to our callout is pre-K teacher Andrew Berg, from Boston. |
| Though his school is well-resourced, teachers are increasingly finding themselves doing things that are not typically expected of them: | Though his school is well-resourced, teachers are increasingly finding themselves doing things that are not typically expected of them: |
| “Nationally, there are serious problems around school funding because so much of this is derived from local (municipal) taxes. There is often an inverse correlation between a district’s needs and its ability to raise revenue. | “Nationally, there are serious problems around school funding because so much of this is derived from local (municipal) taxes. There is often an inverse correlation between a district’s needs and its ability to raise revenue. |
| “Feeding children, for example, is not the same as teaching, but since hungry children do not learn well, we have to do this. | “Feeding children, for example, is not the same as teaching, but since hungry children do not learn well, we have to do this. |
| “Providing clothing, helping families find housing or navigate child protection services, assessing and dealing with the effects of trauma are not, properly speaking, teaching, but we do these things because they are necessary precursors. These things have to be done before learning can happen. All this makes education much more expensive, and less efficient as instructional time is redirected. This is a societal problem. As a nation, we have decided not to deal with the problems caused by social inequality, and much of this has come down on schools.” | “Providing clothing, helping families find housing or navigate child protection services, assessing and dealing with the effects of trauma are not, properly speaking, teaching, but we do these things because they are necessary precursors. These things have to be done before learning can happen. All this makes education much more expensive, and less efficient as instructional time is redirected. This is a societal problem. As a nation, we have decided not to deal with the problems caused by social inequality, and much of this has come down on schools.” |
| September marks the start of the new school year for many US public schools. It’s a difficult time for teachers who are returning to overcrowded classrooms, decrepit buildings, precious few supplies and out-of-date textbooks. | September marks the start of the new school year for many US public schools. It’s a difficult time for teachers who are returning to overcrowded classrooms, decrepit buildings, precious few supplies and out-of-date textbooks. |
| This week we’ll tell teachers’ stories in a special series called the Guardian US teacher takeover. We’ve been working closely with a team of teachers from across the country who are serving as our guest editors Sept. 5-7 to highlight falling teacher pay, underfunded schools, and a new wave of activism. | This week we’ll tell teachers’ stories in a special series called the Guardian US teacher takeover. We’ve been working closely with a team of teachers from across the country who are serving as our guest editors Sept. 5-7 to highlight falling teacher pay, underfunded schools, and a new wave of activism. |
| In this live blog we’ll share the stories from teachers reading the project, and those who responded to our callout last week. If you’d like to share your experiences and join the conversation you can do so via the secure form below, and we’ll post it here, with your permission. | In this live blog we’ll share the stories from teachers reading the project, and those who responded to our callout last week. If you’d like to share your experiences and join the conversation you can do so via the secure form below, and we’ll post it here, with your permission. |
| Let us know if you’d like to add your submission to our Teachers’ wishlist – a manifesto outlining the basic conditions that teachers need in order to address the crisis in schools. We’ll update the document with your contributions – and the Guardian will deliver the final version to US secretary of education Betsy DeVos. | Let us know if you’d like to add your submission to our Teachers’ wishlist – a manifesto outlining the basic conditions that teachers need in order to address the crisis in schools. We’ll update the document with your contributions – and the Guardian will deliver the final version to US secretary of education Betsy DeVos. |