Sunday, December 1, 2013

9.6 percent swing and drop in teacher enrollment since Act 10.

Thank you Scott Walker, for diminishing a once admired profession, and reducing the number of teachers getting into education:
WSJ: Since Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican Legislature enacted sweeping changes to collective bargaining and teacher compensation, the number of junior and senior undergraduates enrolled in state teacher-training programs appears to have dropped, state data show. The 2.8 percent decrease between 2010 and 2012 at University of Wisconsin System campuses comes after a 6.8 percent increase between 2008 and 2010.
That's a 9.6% swing. Walker’s insulting response to statewide teacher hatred? He denies he had anything to do with their vilification, and instead, challenges everyone to search through and watch all of his YouTube videos for just one time he might have said something negative. Gee, can’t wait to do that.

Teaching Poisoned by Politics: And yet, teachers on the front line are now complaining about the politicization of the teaching profession:
Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, associate dean of the UW-Madison School of Education, said some graduates there are now reporting feeling ill prepared for what they call the political atmosphere surrounding teaching. “Until our most recent surveys, we’ve never had a complaint that ‘you didn’t prepare us for the political atmosphere’” of teaching…
Profession now just a Short Term Job: But that’s not all. The future looks even worse for experience educators:
Hanley-Maxwell also said since 2009, the number of survey respondents planning to teach as long as they are able or until retirement has dropped significantly — from 85 percent in 2009 to 39 percent last year. She said she doesn’t know why just yet. “There’s something going on out there — whether it’s Act 10 or negative commentary (about teachers),” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s definitely something going on out there.”
I thought I would include the following comment so everyone could see it.
Actually the decline in teaching candidates is FAR worse than 10%. 

The study only looked at larger UW campuses; in the smaller campuses and private colleges, the decline is closer to 50%.

Even better for Wisconsin's future is that the number of candidates going into STEM areas (science, technology, mathematics) is down about 80%...and most of the recent graduates during the past 2 years have left Wisconsin for teaching jobs in Minnesota, Illinois, or Michigan where a teacher will earn well over 1 million dollars more during their career than if they stay in the WORST place to teach in America: Wisconsin.

One former math teacher put it best: "Life is short, don't waste it in Wisconsin". 

4 comments:

  1. Actually the decline in teaching candidates is FAR worse than 10%.
    The study only looked at larger UW campuses; in the smaller campuses and private colleges, the decline is closer to 50%.

    Even better for Wisconsin's future is that the number of candidates going into STEM areas (science, technology, mathematics) is down about 80%...and most of the recent graduates during the past 2 years have left Wisconsin for teaching jobs in Minnesota, Illinois, or Michigan where a teacher will earn well over 1 million dollars more during their career than if they stay in the WORST place to teach in America: Wisconsin.

    One former math teacher put it best: "Life is short, don't waste it in Wisconsin".

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Life is short, don't waste it in Wisconsin".

    Yep.. as a born and raised Wisconsinite I fully agree.

    “There’s something going on out there — whether it’s Act 10 or negative commentary (about teachers),” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s definitely something going on out there.”

    Really? Something? Read a local Wisconsin news station article comment section on anything related to Act 10. I've never seen anything like it.

    How about this, 'thugs, moochers, goons, leeches, & lazy takers.'

    There's your 'something.' Never have I witnessed a profession vilified like I've seen here in Wisconsin over the last couple of years. That Minnesota border is getting closer by the day. I'm giving it 2 more years.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, Anonymous #2, if you are looking for a high school teaching job, with Minnesota's booming economy, Minnesota is experiencing a critical shortage of science, mathematics, technical education, foreign language, and special education teachers.

    Instead of vilifying teachers as the majority of Wisconsin's citizenry has done since Walker's election, Minnesota's leaders and citizens VALUE good teachers as the key to continued economic vitality of their state.

    The majority of Wisconsin's citizens have clearly turned their backs on teachers. Teachers need to turn their backs on Wisconsin and leave for greener pastures in Minnesota and other neighboring states.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are you guys implying this supply-and-demand thing works for the labor market as well? And when you pay less, fewer want to go in?

    Amazing how free-market GOPs forget this part

    ReplyDelete