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Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,397
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

School is starting here this week and next.  Albuquerque is short about 300 teachers so they are going to hire some from the Philippines and pay them $36,000, which is 10+ X more than they'd make at home.  It's no wonder our state education system is rated at or near last nationally.  Maybe if they paid decent salaries, they wouldnt have this problem.  Can you just imagine what great teachers these people will be?

 

I remember when my niece in Pa. graduated with her degree and teaching certificate, she couldn't find a job.  She worked as a long-term substitute her first year.

 

Are teachers scarce in your neck of the woods?

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,813
Registered: ‎03-17-2010

in overabundance and making 76k+ tenured.  Full benefits, no summer work and don't have to get up when it snows.  Never teach more than 4 classes daily.  

 

I picked the wrong profession. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,473
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

It is Shameful.

So very nice of you to support education, children and teachers.

Frequent Contributor
Posts: 112
Registered: ‎07-11-2011

That's quite a story, @Kachina624. I am without words. Wow.

 

I teach in a rural area of Wisconsin. Teachers are scarce here, too. Teaching vacancies receive only 2-5 applicants, compared to 200+ from years past. The quality of candidates has sharply declined. Our kids deserve better than that.



 


 

Green Bay, Wisconsin
Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,523
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

Yes, WV has a teacher shortage, but they seem to be dealing with it fairly well, by using retired teachers as long term subs.   

 

We also have a shortage of nurses.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,397
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@RedTop wrote:

Yes, WV has a teacher shortage, but they seem to be dealing with it fairly well, by using retired teachers as long term subs.   

 

We also have a shortage of nurses.


@RedTop.  Everybody gets them from the Philippines too.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,035
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

@Jtdmum wrote:

in overabundance and making 76k+ tenured.  Full benefits, no summer work and don't have to get up when it snows.  Never teach more than 4 classes daily.  

 

I picked the wrong profession. 



That is similar to our area. My girlfriend taught from 10 am - 2 pm. She started at $75,000 with full benefits for her family. 

Many tenured teachers are making $100,000+. And their pensions are out of this world. 


PS - I wanted to add the $75,000 starting salary was almost 10 years ago.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,783
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Our state has been warned to expect a teacher shortage in the near future.  Reasons are many.  College  students are not specializing in education.  Those interested and talented in math and science are being lured to industry and better paying jobs with career potential.  Salaries in rural areas are lower than suburban and urban areas (where there is union representation).  

 

Trying to lure young people into returning to the education field will cost taxpayer money and I don't see anyone volunteering to pay higher taxes.  It is what it is.

~The only difference between this place and the Titanic is that the Titanic had a band.~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,397
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

I retired from state government 20 years ago, but maybe I ought to dust off my teaching certificate and go back to work.  I've never taught except for student teaching but that doesn't seem to matter.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,168
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

I taught in Albuquerque public schools from '88-'93. When I moved back to Texas and took a teaching job in a small district, I immediately made $27 more in salary than I made in NM. Texas usually fixes their teacher shortage by bringing up people from Mexico, giving them an alternative, quickie certificate after a week-long cram session about how to teach. Most speak zero English so they are put in "bilingual" schools...code for little, if any, English is spoken let alone taught. Every state has their own way of filling in the teacher shortage...but they need to figure out why there is a shortage in the first place! Not hard to figure out at all....crappy pay, long hours, and zero respect for the profession. Tenure is an out-dated, archaic system of rewarding endurance instead of excellence. Am very happy it has been replaced in most areas.