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Rebel Teachers Rising
Even before the pandemic lock-downs, American teachers from sea to shining sea reported a critical shortage of teachers within their ranks, and have watched in horror at the crippling levels of greed, arrogance, apathy, and ignorance at every level of K-12 educational governance. While embattled teachers have continued to try in vain to draw attention to the issues, our leaders have failed to acknowledge the problems at all. But since covid, the nation’s teachers have borne witness to a break neck hastening pace of this downward spiral–and a total avoidance of a conversation from our leaders.
This a-political podcast, created and produced exclusively by teachers, gets into the nitty gritty details of why teachers are leaving the profession in droves, and uncovers huge contributing structural problems baked into the teaching profession which are not discussed or understood even within the K-12 educational world, which also explain why so much of what is done in K-12 is ineffective. These desperate, passionate, highly qualified teachers use this podcast series to insert teachers forcefully into the national conversation about the critical issues plaguing K-12 education, because no one else was letting them in–a fact which belies a central thesis about the roots of the problems discussed throughout the episodes. Listeners will be gripped by the reality that without substantial reforms which empower teachers to lead the work, the inevitable result is a collapse of our very ability to effectively self-govern–a process which they argue is already well underway.
Listen as they describe the problems in teacher pay, teacher preparation requirements, special education, climate and culture, reading instruction, the false promise of existing DEI based frameworks in K-12, and the problems inherent in outsourced canned curriculums. Become a part of the solution as they outline a framework to authentically fix these problems, which require all hands on deck from both inside and outside of K-12 education.
Rebel Teachers Rising
22. The Teacher Pay Mess Part IV: A Candid Conversation with a Veteran Teacher Who Chose to Leave Teaching
In this episode of the Teacher Shortage Crisis Podcast, the hosts welcome Janice Cook, a veteran teacher from New England. They delve into the critical issues surrounding teacher pay and the hardships teachers face trying to make a living in this profession. Janice shares her personal journey, discussing the difficult choices she made due to insufficient salaries, taxes, high, cost of living, and excessive bureaucratic hurdles. They explore the idea of forming a national professional teacher association with innovative teachers leading the way. Throughout, they highlight the disconnect between different stakeholders in education and the need for systemic reforms.
00:00 Welcome and Introduction
00:30 Guest Background: Meet Janice
01:42 Teacher Pay in New England
02:36 The Reality of Teacher Salaries
04:16 Challenges and Decisions
11:26 Certification and Relocation
15:34 Navigating the Salary Schedule
23:47 Certification Hurdles
29:05 Navigating Professional Development Credits
30:07 Challenges of Staying in the Teaching Profession
31:37 Teacher Evaluation Process
32:15 Tenure and Job Security Issues
34:56 Side Hustles and Leaving Public Education
43:24 The Petition for National Teacher Pool
45:37 Systemic Issues in Education
58:25 Final Thoughts and Call to Action
www.rebelteachersrising.com
Petition to Save K-12 Schooling and our Precious Democracy!
