歪歪漫画

As the school year comes to a close, I think about the many times I heard people (non-teachers) say, 鈥淟ucky teachers. You get the summer off.鈥�

I have several teacher friends who took offense to that statement, but my response was always, 鈥淲ell, that鈥檚 what the schedule is. So why didn鈥檛 you become a teacher so you鈥檇 have summers off?鈥� Usually, the response was something like, 鈥淥MG, I could NEVER be a teacher.鈥�

Not everyone is cut out to be a teacher. I wasn鈥檛 cut out to be a nurse 鈥� as my system is not particularly tolerant of the sight of blood or disturbing images of severely injured or ill people. But from the time I was quite young, I knew I wanted to be a teacher.
Each summer I was certain that I would teach whatever grade I鈥檇 just completed 鈥� until I got to college. There was something about high school kids 鈥� that transitional stage between childhood and adulthood 鈥� that seemed the best fit for me.

I remember each summer as a well-earned break, sometimes filled with continuing education classes for relicensing, but a time of revitalization and renewal that allowed me to start the next school year with maximum energy and enthusiasm.

I graduated from Bemidji State College with a Bachelor of Science degree in language arts education in 1975 during a teacher surplus. (A surplus? Unbelievable, right?) I had hoped to stay in or near Bemidji and applied for a job here. I was one of four applicants selected to interview. Three of us were fresh out of college; one had some experience. The one with experience was hired.

Fast forward two years: One long-term subbing job; six months of day-to-day subbing while working another part-time job; one year in a small rural community (where I was the only full-time senior high English teacher and taught 11 different classes in one school year); and finally returning to Bemidji to serve the students of District 31 for 33 years.

Two weeks ago, my great-niece graduated from BSU in math education. By the time she was about two-thirds of the way through student teaching this spring, she had already signed a teaching contract for next year. No teacher surplus in 2023, especially in math.

If the ever-growing demands of teaching and fears of school shootings weren鈥檛 enough to deter some would-be education students, a worldwide pandemic that put schools into further turmoil and divisiveness about mask-wearing and E-learning and what should and shouldn鈥檛 be read, taught, or discussed in schools has made the job of the teacher even more challenging.

Recently, CBS ran a story about 2023 college grads, their job searches, their hopefulness, and their challenges in finding work in their fields in an uncertain job market. The story mentioned layoffs in the tech field that would make it difficult for students to find jobs in those areas.

It didn鈥檛, however, mention grads in education. Many teacher retirements occurred across the country during the pandemic, and schools are finding very small pools (sometimes empty pools) of candidates from which to choose.

Pioneer file photo.

Jordan Hickman, Bemidji Area 歪歪漫画s鈥� director of human resources, says the most difficult teaching positions to fill are in special education, science, math, speech/language and school psychology.

The past few years have improved, he says, for elementary education, with greater numbers of applicants there; and new licensing pathways are helping people who are looking to enter into teaching, like BSU鈥檚 Fast Track program which helps college grads find the most efficient pathway toward a teaching license.

Hickman says the district needs to hire 8-10 special education teachers, some math and at least one science teacher and a school psychologist for the 2023-24 school year.

Nationwide, the number of high school grads entering into college education programs is not keeping pace with the demand as retirements across the country continue.

A story in Education Week by Madeline Will published March 22, 2022, points out that enrollment in teacher preparation programs has been steadily declining with the completion rate dropping by almost one-third from the previous decade.

Although traditional college programs have seen the largest declines, Will says the drop in licensures earned through alternative pathways is also down. And, the article states, those teachers who have gone an alternative route leave the profession at higher rates than traditionally prepared educators.

The very positions that Hickman pointed out as being the most difficult to fill are the same areas in which graduations/licensures have declined in the past decade, with science and math education having dropped a whopping 27%, according to the article. Although special education licensures are only down 4%, needs are not declining but growing.

While various states and colleges are trying to address the issue with scholarships, recruitment from two-year programs and alternative pathways to licensures, there is no quick fix. Hickman says he believes that there are still many people who want to pursue a career in which they can affect lives and have a positive impact on the world.

How do we get them to become teachers? Summer vacation isn鈥檛 enough.

Unfortunately, the politicization of education has created new hurdles and hassles that didn鈥檛 exist when I was a young teacher.

Bemidji Pioneer

I entered the field of education hoping to teach my students life-long skills, introduce them to literature, nurture their writing abilities, help them to think, process and problem-solve, and teach them how to become better communicators and to distinguish fact from fiction.

I had objectives to address, but I had the freedom to help my students meet those objectives in ways that worked best for them and me without concern that someone who had never been in my classroom would presume I was there to indoctrinate them.

Teachers become teachers because they have knowledge to share and a desire to help students learn. As a lifelong educator, I have endless admiration, appreciation and respect for today鈥檚 classroom teachers and for the vocation to which I dedicated my life. As a student-teacher supervisor for BSU for 10-plus years, I met and worked with many whom I would love to have as teachers for my grandchildren.

There are excellent teacher candidates out there. As a society, we need to restore respect for the teaching profession and help teacher candidates experience the value of working in the classroom and shaping the future.

And to you teachers who have just completed another year in the classroom: Happy restorative summer and thanks for what you do.