As school districts across the country struggle with budget cuts, loss of staff, loss of programs, and intense scrutiny, there is a tendency to forget that teachers are being affected by these massive changes. According to the annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, teacher morale is at its lowest point in more than 20 years. The survey further stated that one in three teachers stated they are likely to leave the teaching profession within the next five years[i].
For the first time in decades, teachers are concerned about job security and their ability to perform their duties while being under intense scrutiny. Contributing to their angst is the test cheating scandal and ending some of the benefits afforded to them through collective bargaining. However, what concerns teachers the most is the call for greater accountability through evaluation. According to the MetLife survey, 40 percent of the teachers felt pessimistic about student achievement increasing, despite the emphasis on test scores, emphasis teacher quality and cuts to programs and staff[ii].
With the scrutiny surrounding public education, there is a tendency to forget the physical and emotional toll this is having on teachers. Teachers have been dehumanized, viewed as incompetent and lazy. However, there is a tendency to forget they are parents, spouses, friends, and neighbors. More importantly, they are human beings who have a life outside of teaching. They are expected to do their job under a cloud that threatens to take their job and they are expected not to worry about the consequences to the livelihood of their family if they are laid off or if there are severe changes to their benefits.
Teachers are rarely lauded for the supplies they purchase at their personal expense, the late nights grading papers and developing curriculum plans, and trying to educate an array of students with a myriad of needs. The myriad of student needs range from academic (gifted to remedial), students with disabilities (learning, physical, intellectual and emotional), parental involvement (high parental involvement, over involvement, or no involvement), and students with social obstacles (homelessness) are all in the same classroom and are expected to perform at grade level and pass the state exams.
With the current state of education, there needs to be meaningful change. Overhauling the teacher evaluation process is one way to make systemic change and increase teacher morale. In order to make systemic changes to the recruitment, retention, and credentialing of teachers, you have to have an evaluation system that identifies effective teachers, teachers who are in need of additional support/training, and non-effective teachers. A strong evaluation process will ensure students are receiving the effective instruction they deserve, prevent teacher complacency, and reestablish a respect for the teaching profession.
Additionally, a strong evaluation process will remove the across the board yearly compensation all teachers receive regardless of their effectiveness in the classroom and compensate teachers based on effective instruction. While teacher unions are not in favor of merit pay, corporations and other entities have used merit pay as an incentive to keep their workers engaged and responsible for productivity. Public education must do the same in order to put an end to the practice of rewarding equal compensation to both ineffective, complacent teachers and effective, engaged teachers. By providing every teacher with equal yearly compensation, public education will never be able to make the necessary changes to have its students compete on a global level.
Lastly, teacher morale is low for the wrong reasons. Low morale should be about failing our youth and dooming them to a life of mediocrity and unmet potential. Unfortunately, low morale stems form the selfishness of some adults to maintain a broken system that tolerates complacency and ineffectiveness at the expense of children.
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