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Weaving interviews of policy experts and startling facts with the lives and careers of four teachers, American Teacher tells the collective story by and about those closest to the issues in our educational system -- the 3.2 million teachers who spend every day in classrooms across our country.
Directors: Brian McGinn, Vanessa Roth
Directors: Brian McGinn, Vanessa Roth
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AprendizadoTranscrição
00:00:12I used to tell people that the government pays me to blow things up.
00:00:16And then they used to ask, are you in the NSA or the FBI or something like that?
00:00:20And I said, no, I teach science.
00:00:24Reading is not something that you either do or don't do well.
00:00:27You can actually learn how to do it better.
00:00:28Helping them transform from considering themselves non-readers to considering themselves readers
00:00:33was like a high better than any drug that I've never tried.
00:00:38I mean, the looks on their faces, you know, you can just see the change that's happening right in front
00:00:44of you.
00:00:45It really felt like my calling, and I know that sounds a little kind of hokey to say,
00:00:49but I had this constant pull.
00:00:51I just wanted to get out there and be the Fairness Fairy and make a difference.
00:00:55I know that I'm a teacher in every cell of my body.
00:01:01The debate about public education has never been louder.
00:01:04There are dozens of theories out there about what works and what doesn't.
00:01:08We've experimented with charter schools, test standards, class size, curricula, and technology.
00:01:14The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent tens of millions of dollars on education,
00:01:19and after all that research about what works and what's most important, this is what Gates said.
00:01:24How do you make education better?
00:01:26The more we looked at it, the more we realized that having great teachers was the very key thing.
00:01:32And it turns out that most people agree that a teacher is the most important in-school factor to a
00:01:39child's success.
00:01:39Without effective teachers, we don't have a democracy. It's that simple.
00:01:44Our students simply cannot be successful unless they have great teachers in front of them.
00:01:48Everybody who looks at this says the single most important ingredient inside the classroom is the quality of the teacher.
00:01:54And yet the teaching profession has never been less respected and less understood.
00:01:59They are our public servants, but why do I get the feeling that a lot of them are more in
00:02:04it for serving themselves?
00:02:05The average teacher's salary is much greater than the average private sector salary.
00:02:10Boy, it sounds pretty darn good to the 14 million people out of work.
00:02:13If they're here to serve our kids, why does it seem they're only serving us a big old bill?
00:02:18Teachers in the United States are routinely undervalued as the problem in the American public education system,
00:02:27rather than as a tremendous resource that we really haven't earned.
00:02:33There are currently 3.2 million public school teachers in the United States.
00:02:37In the next 10 years, 1.8 million of them will be eligible for retirement.
00:02:42Who will replace them?
00:02:44Always the best job I ever had.
00:02:46We should reward those people.
00:02:48I love teaching children.
00:02:50We should retain those people.
00:02:52If you talk to my wife, she'll tell you that that was the happiest she's ever seen me.
00:02:56But I can tell you that absolutely is not happening today.
00:03:01If we all agree that teaching is a vitally important occupation, then what conditions are driving so many teachers out
00:03:07of the classroom?
00:03:08And why are so few of the best college graduates considering teaching as a profession?
00:03:13For us to really maximize the potential of education in our country, we have to come to the realization that
00:03:20there are two sets of adults.
00:03:23Classroom teachers who ensure the future of their children and everyone else.
00:03:28and the chances of doing things are actually that we need good persons that homes.
00:03:29After that we are totally and.
00:03:57the future of our generation is
00:04:10I think now we will get together...
00:04:11I'm going to work with you
00:04:12It's time for you to make it
00:04:15I think I'll make it
00:04:17It's time for you to take the next time
00:04:20But the next step is to keep it
00:04:25I'm sorry
00:04:25I'm sorry
00:04:26I'm sorry
00:04:46I leave the house at 7 o'clock in the morning, and I get here at 7.45.
00:04:51My first student arrives at 8 o'clock from 8 to 8.30, and I assess him or her with
00:04:57a one-on-one assessment.
00:04:58And then this whole class comes at 8.30, school ends at 2.50, and I tutor from 3.30
00:05:04to 5.30, and I get home at 6.30.
00:05:09Good morning, Alina. Good morning, Imani. Good morning, David. Did you get a good night's sleep last night?
00:05:16First grade is a really intense year. Some of the kids are, you know, you teach them how to read,
00:05:22and it's such a pivotal point in their academic life and their school experience.
00:05:28Good morning, first grade.
00:05:30Good morning, Miss Jamie.
00:05:34Jamie walks in the room, and the whole room lights up, and I can see her in the classroom like
00:05:39that.
00:05:39She's just that type of personality.
00:05:43Somehow the teaching bug is in the Fiddler family.
00:05:45My sister's a teacher. My brother went into teaching. I'm teaching, so I think it was almost natural for Jamie
00:05:51to go into teaching.
00:05:53My first year of teaching, I was not in this school.
00:05:58So I walked in, and, you know, there really weren't any books,
00:06:00and I had no idea how much money I was going to have to spend out of my own pocket,
00:06:05because I didn't get anything, really.
00:06:10There weren't pencils. There weren't crayons. There weren't anything.
00:06:14So I came in and basically had to set up my whole classroom by myself
00:06:19and didn't expect to have to be cleaning for two days.
00:06:22And it was an eye-opener. It was very hard.
00:06:26And she came home off the bus, because I met her at the bus stop in Manhattan, where we are,
00:06:31and she was in tears.
00:06:33I really thought about not teaching anymore, which was really hard for me,
00:06:38because I obviously was committed to it.
00:06:40I had taught preschool for three years.
00:06:42I got my master's in this.
00:06:44Like, this was something I had wanted to do.
00:06:46And then all of a sudden, I'm in this situation where it was so bad
00:06:52that I couldn't really imagine continuing.
00:06:53I did the best Mike could to reassure her and to tell her, you know,
00:07:00you'll be okay, you'll be okay, you'll be okay, and some of the tricks of the trade
00:07:04to hopefully get through it. And she did.
00:07:08All right, my class, get your backpacks. Let's go.
00:07:12Like Jamie, over 90% of public school teachers spend their own money on supplies for their classrooms.
00:07:18The lack of support for a new teacher can make the job seem overwhelming,
00:07:21especially because schools often give the largest and toughest classes to beginning teachers.
00:07:27There's an unfortunate situation in the way we manage our schools.
00:07:32Specifically, we always put new teachers in the most difficult-to-teach situations.
00:07:50Hi. My name is Amanda Lewick, and I am 27 years old.
00:07:55This is my second year teaching middle school English.
00:08:02This is my sort of video diary.
00:08:05If you can see, I think I've got about 40 desks in this small classroom,
00:08:10just to sort of accommodate everyone.
00:08:12I have students sitting on the counter.
00:08:14All of these are my personal books, which I brought in to share with the students.
00:08:20How about these is my own money, too?
00:08:22Because really, you can't expect a school to spend money on, like, you know, literature holders.
00:08:28Or maybe I can't expect a school to spend money on that.
00:08:31I feel like everything I do, I'm just making do.
00:08:38I feel like I give everything I have, but it's never enough.
00:08:43And there's always more to do.
00:08:45And if I had, like, three of me, I might be able to get it done.
00:08:51One thing about teaching is that even though I have a department planning hour,
00:08:56a planning hour, and a lunch hour, I don't feel I get any of it to myself.
00:09:01It's all work.
00:09:02I spent all my lunch hour today with two students that I had to keep for lunch's attention,
00:09:06talking to them, trying to figure out what's going on, cleaning up my room.
00:09:09I spent the first planning period talking with my department about things we had to do.
00:09:14And I spent my final planning period just cleaning up the room and getting ready,
00:09:18doing seating charts.
00:09:19So it's work straight through.
00:09:21And I'm so tired, and I want to go home.
00:09:23But I should organize my library.
00:09:25I should clean my desk.
00:09:26I should get ready for tomorrow, no less.
00:09:32What can you do?
00:09:34What can you do?
00:09:37Everyone's heard that old axiom that those who can do and those who can't teach.
00:09:45Unfortunately, the proponents of that axiom have never stood in front of a classroom and
00:09:50had 24 to 30 sets of eyes looking at them in recognition of the fact that many of their
00:09:58futures are almost wholly dependent on how well or how poorly you do your job.
00:10:06Once we have oil and we have gas and we have cars, things like that, we're going to go
00:10:10from being a farming kind of state to being more of what kind of state?
00:10:14Industrial, okay, where we start manufacturing stuff.
00:10:17Now, in World War I, this is when we first start manufacturing things like, what, anybody?
00:10:21I'll be honest, I love teaching that Texas history.
00:10:25I tell them I'm giving them lessons, no matter what history class they take, they can be successful
00:10:30if they, you know, learn these tools in seventh grade, that'll help them, you know, wherever
00:10:33they go.
00:10:34Not just memorizing facts, but now that you've got the facts, tell me why is that important
00:10:39or how does that affect us?
00:10:53Growing up we were pretty poor, lived in a, in a trailer home, when it was snow or freeze
00:11:00we'd actually, you know, have to go outside and scoop up snow and boil it on the, on the
00:11:05stove just to like to flush the toilet or take a bath.
00:11:10Out of all my brothers and sisters, I am the only one to have gone and graduated from
00:11:14college.
00:11:16I got a call, hey, we want to interview you at Greyfunk Colleyville.
00:11:20I went in there and there were two principals from two of the middle schools and then the
00:11:24athletic director and we had to interview and they shook my hand and they said they'd be
00:11:28in contact and I got my truck and I got maybe five miles down the road and they called me
00:11:33on my cell phone and said, we'd like to offer you the job.
00:11:36And I'm just like, wow.
00:11:42They always say the first couple of years are the hardest for a teacher, you know, and
00:11:46but from coming from $5 an hour and to I think that first year I made like $27,000 and
00:11:52that's
00:11:52with my coaching stipend, you know, I was in heaven.
00:11:56Brazil, good.
00:11:56You're back.
00:11:59There you go.
00:12:00Good job.
00:12:03If I can reach one of those kids who is hating life right now because he's growing up in a
00:12:07trailer, if they can see there is hope, I mean that's probably one of the biggest driving,
00:12:14you know, intrinsic things inside there that, you know, I might want to see happen.
00:12:18He's gone on to what topic then are we talking about?
00:12:21The kids that come out of his classes score well on all the, you know, the standardized
00:12:25tests, but just as importantly they like going to class, you know, and history, I don't
00:12:31know for all these kids, but for me it wasn't the most fun thing in the entire world.
00:12:35When they come out of a history class saying they had a good time, that's an accomplishment
00:12:39as far as I'm concerned.
00:12:41I've always been able to build rapport with the kids and I think it's because sometimes
00:12:46I take a different angle than your average teacher does.
00:12:48I try to treat the kids like young adults.
00:12:51I try to teach them and give them respect and a lot of times that respect that they get
00:12:56is something they're not used to and it gets reciprocated.
00:12:59She was like an American kid and then the Indians kidnapped her and then she looked at the Indians.
00:13:05I don't even know how to describe Coach Benner.
00:13:08He's the most exciting teacher I've ever had.
00:13:10He pushes you hard, but then he's also like your friend too.
00:13:13The only time whenever he's not really nice is when we have to do a test or he makes the
00:13:22test really hard.
00:13:23Before in elementary school it was like social studies.
00:13:25It was just really, really boring because everybody died and why do we have to learn about
00:13:30them, you know?
00:13:31But Coach Benner makes it so like history is really important and it can be fun.
00:13:35Eric is one of a declining percentage of men in the teaching profession.
00:13:40In 1970, 34% of teachers were men.
00:13:44In 2002, it was 22%.
00:13:47Now, it's only 16%.
00:13:50In many cities, it's impossible for a man to support his family on a teacher's salary.
00:13:54My father had been a teacher for 34 years.
00:13:59He tells me stories.
00:14:00He's like, when I first started teaching, he said he went down to the, you know, head office
00:14:04and they told him where he was going to go.
00:14:07You're going to go to PS 32.
00:14:09And they gave him the, you know, this is your assignment paper.
00:14:11And off he went.
00:14:12In 1967, I started with $4,800.
00:14:16We went out on strike.
00:14:18I got a raise to $5,400.
00:14:21In 68, Bonnie and I got married.
00:14:24So in a combined income of about $10,000 a year, we rented an expensive apartment for
00:14:29$150 a month.
00:14:31We saved enough to buy a car.
00:14:34We saved enough to buy our first house.
00:14:36We saved enough to take a trip to England.
00:14:39I was grading a math test, a third grade math test.
00:14:44And I sat next to a woman who also went to 32.
00:14:46And I said, oh, my father taught there.
00:14:48She asked me her last name Fiddler.
00:14:50She said, are you related to Mr. Fiddler?
00:14:53And she said, oh, he was, he was that teacher.
00:14:57Your father, he was so tough.
00:14:59He used to give me such a hard time.
00:15:01But my mother loved him because he always used to make me work, work, work.
00:15:06And I felt really good about that.
00:15:07Good morning, dear teacher.
00:15:13Good morning.
00:15:15So the history of teaching in the United States is very interesting because at one time,
00:15:19most teachers were men.
00:15:21There was a conscious move to recruit women into teaching, women's true occupation, in the
00:15:28early 20th century, in part to reduce salary levels.
00:15:31Women became the primary workforce for teaching.
00:15:35And over many decades, what happened was we got a workforce that was much more talented
00:15:41and able than we were actually paying for because women were denied access to so many other jobs.
00:15:48So people who now go into law and medicine and architecture and accounting were mostly restricted to teaching, nursing, and
00:15:56a few other occupations like secretary.
00:15:58So we had very smart, very capable women, the primary professional job being K-12 public education teaching.
00:16:08What's happened, of course, is that we've had a change in the workforce.
00:16:12We've had an opening up of the labor market.
00:16:14And throughout the 1980s, we had a sharp decline in the talent pool for teaching.
00:16:21It became a much less attractive profession.
00:16:24We still struggle to provide the status, the salaries, the respect, and the training that teaching as a full profession
00:16:37requires and deserves.
00:16:38As teacher conditions and pay have declined, so has student achievement.
00:16:44Among industrialized nations, we now rank, at best, in the middle of the pack.
00:16:49To raise test scores and prepare our students for global competition that's tougher than ever before,
00:16:54we need great young minds to consider teaching as a profession.
00:16:58But very few top college graduates do.
00:17:04Our family comes from around the world.
00:17:06Our hair is straight.
00:17:07Our hair is curled.
00:17:08Our eyes are brown.
00:17:09Our eyes are blue.
00:17:10Our skins are different colors.
00:17:12Tra-la, tra-la, tra-la, tra-lee.
00:17:15We're one big happy family.
00:17:17All of my classmates were going on for MDs, PhDs, JDs, MBAs.
00:17:25I knew I didn't want to do any of those things.
00:17:27I want you to follow what it says on the do now.
00:17:30Think about a time when you had to decide whether or not to blend in, to assimilate, or to adapt
00:17:37to another culture.
00:17:39When I started telling my friends that I wanted to go into education, everyone immediately said,
00:17:44oh, like Teach for America?
00:17:45And I said, no, I want to do education as my career.
00:17:50And people really didn't understand that.
00:17:55They said, but you could do anything.
00:17:57Why would you be a teacher?
00:18:00Anybody can teach.
00:18:02You went to Harvard.
00:18:03You should be a doctor or a lawyer.
00:18:05You should make money.
00:18:10I mentioned it to my mother, and she was thrilled with the idea.
00:18:13She was on the Board of Education at the time and had always wanted to be a teacher.
00:18:17Some of my parents' friends were still a little confused.
00:18:21Like, that's great, but why would you do that?
00:18:24What's the sentence, Amir?
00:18:25Always be yourself.
00:18:26Always be yourself.
00:18:27And I would just say, well, who would you rather have teaching your kids?
00:18:30You know, you don't want your kids being taught by someone who went to Harvard.
00:18:34You two, I want you to work on that one.
00:18:35Don't let anybody peer pressure you.
00:18:37Okay?
00:18:42When I met Miss Jaycee, like, the first impression was very good because she was a very happy person.
00:18:48And she was very excited about being with the kids and meeting them.
00:18:52But again, I was looking at her like she was really young.
00:18:55But at the same time, she showed a lot of professionalism and experience in what she did,
00:19:00which I thought was very impressive.
00:19:03And my daughter was kind of quiet at the time, and so she kind of paid attention to that
00:19:08and took a little more time, spent a lot more time with her.
00:19:12And they did, um...
00:19:14Like, sometimes I would, um, during recess, I would, like, go to her room
00:19:21and we would just have, like, lunch together.
00:19:23You know, Rena is very self-assured and very confident and exhibits that to the kids.
00:19:30And I think that that's exactly what Sydney needed,
00:19:33was someone that was going to be a rock for her.
00:19:37My son had her in third grade, um, Isaiah.
00:19:41And, um, what she tends to do is push leadership.
00:19:45And he's quiet.
00:19:46He's a quiet leader, as I refer to him.
00:19:49He's not going to step out there, although he has a lot of potential,
00:19:53but he won't take the risk.
00:19:54And what she did was kind of recognize, um, the treasures and attributes of each child in the classroom.
00:20:02Rena brings in so many of the things that I think we should do.
00:20:06I think we should be having in classrooms.
00:20:09She's bright.
00:20:11She's excited about learning, so she shares that excitement with her students.
00:20:16She has an understanding of families and the need to work with families,
00:20:20and has an understanding of that.
00:20:22She sees herself as a learner who's always learning.
00:20:25Um, that's one of the things that makes her, you know, who she is.
00:20:29Fight.
00:20:30Fight for what you think is right.
00:20:31For who you truly, for what you truly feel.
00:20:34Who you are deep down inside.
00:20:36For who you are is real.
00:20:37Fight for you.
00:20:38Fight for me.
00:20:40Fight for everyone.
00:20:41Now go on.
00:20:42Now go.
00:20:43Go on to sixth grade.
00:20:44Go on and have some fun.
00:20:46Love it.
00:20:47Love it.
00:20:48I think the most important thing is relating to the kids.
00:20:51If you can't relate to them, if you don't get them, if you can't communicate with them.
00:20:57Like one of the kids yesterday said, you're a good explainer, you know.
00:21:00And I thought, yeah, that's what I want to hear, you know.
00:21:03I think teachers need to know how to explain things to kids who don't get it.
00:21:08Anybody can teach a kid who gets it like this right away.
00:21:12I mean, that's not really difficult.
00:21:15But the kid who gives you the blank look the first time around and you say, okay, let me
00:21:20think about a different way.
00:21:21Let me figure out another way.
00:21:22Let me come from a different angle.
00:21:24I think lots of people think that teachers go into the job because of the vacations or
00:21:31their short hours or because they like kids.
00:21:34And I don't think they understand the intellectual rigor that's involved in presenting information
00:21:43in such a way that a child can understand it.
00:21:47There's almost nothing harder in part because teachers are constant active decision makers.
00:21:55They make thousands of decisions a day.
00:21:58And they don't do it about an abstract idea.
00:22:02They do it about the life of a child in that moment.
00:22:06The thousands of decisions made about the lives of the children in the moment in which
00:22:10they're teaching are difficult because the children aren't the same.
00:22:13One child could be learning English for the first time.
00:22:16Another child could be from a really poor and distressed home.
00:22:18And a third child could be from a great family that's hanging together.
00:22:21And having all of that complexity in the world in which you're working every day
00:22:29and then having to make critical decisions about it, you can't imagine anything harder.
00:22:34A Hoover Institution study discovered that an effective teacher can impart a year-and-a-half's
00:22:39worth of learning to a student in one year.
00:22:42We spend a lot of time talking about achievement test scores and gains that one could get in
00:22:49proficiency levels and so forth.
00:22:52People vaguely know that these are important, but they don't understand how important.
00:22:57If we look at the economic implications for a student in a class, a teacher who's in the top 15
00:23:06% of the school
00:23:07compared to an average teacher can provide an extra $20,000 in lifetime earnings to that individual child in the
00:23:18classroom.
00:23:19Now, if you think about that, $20,000 is not the advantage of a good teacher.
00:23:25It's actually $400,000 because there are 20 kids in the class, each of whom is getting this added $20
00:23:32,000.
00:23:34It's really important for us to think about not only the quality of the teaching workforce,
00:23:39but also the diversity of the teaching workforce.
00:23:42And that's partly because kids need role models to look up to and to work with.
00:23:50They need to see themselves in a professional context and see that as an option for themselves,
00:23:57as well as having people who may understand them on a very intuitive and personal level.
00:24:05I don't know how it is in all the schools in this country, but I know, having worked in a
00:24:11variety of urban settings now,
00:24:13we don't need to fight anymore and we don't need to explore and we don't need to research who we're
00:24:18losing.
00:24:20And we are absolutely, without a doubt, losing our students of color.
00:24:26We're losing our poor kids, we're losing our black kids, we're losing our brown kids, we're losing our immigrant kids.
00:24:35I was a novelty, particularly for the African American kids who never had an African American teacher.
00:24:40And immediately there was this attraction.
00:24:46Mr. Derman was one of three black teachers that we had at our school.
00:24:53And our school at that time, I believe, was predominantly black.
00:24:58My father was a lawyer, but he was always a defense attorney when very few lawyers worked for African American
00:25:04families.
00:25:05I had a strong sense of public service and politics, trying to better the community that way.
00:25:11I think it's my job to take responsibility for the communities I live in.
00:25:15I think about African American young people, to bring back the hope, to infuse that and stoke that and encourage
00:25:22that.
00:25:24I feel my role is to be the wall.
00:25:26You can't go through the wall, you can't go around the wall, you can't go over the wall, but you
00:25:31can lean up against the wall.
00:25:32The wall is there to protect you and everyone else in the classroom.
00:25:3635% of American high school students are either African American or Latino.
00:25:41But only 15% of our teachers are African American or Latino.
00:25:45I was demanding of everybody. I just said, we can achieve brilliance and we will achieve brilliance.
00:25:50And it's going to be a lot of work, but it's completely doable for everybody in this classroom.
00:25:56For a lot of kids coming into high school, it's the first time anyone had said, oh, no, no, no,
00:26:01no.
00:26:01This is what you have to do. And you can't tell me, oh, I tried really hard. This is what
00:26:08you have to do.
00:26:09He started by being clear about what his expectations were for students.
00:26:13So his expectations didn't waver based on who the student was.
00:26:18Like he walked in first saying, here's the expectations. By the end of this year, I don't care who you
00:26:24are.
00:26:24This is what you need to know. This is what you need to do.
00:26:27He also said by the end of the year, this is who I want you to be.
00:26:30I'm a law student. And so I see how lawyers interact.
00:26:35And oftentimes a prosecutor and a defense attorney outside of court are like buddy, buddy, real good friends.
00:26:43But when they get into the courtroom, it's all business.
00:26:46And that's what I appreciated about Mr. Jeremy, because maybe at lunchtime or during break time,
00:26:50we were able to relate to him and to talk with him and and not be about academics.
00:26:56But once we were in the classroom, it was business time.
00:26:59Get kids in the classroom when they show up, you know they don't want to do anything or they've given
00:27:04up.
00:27:05They're hopeless. They're not. First day of school, you look at it.
00:27:08They're never going to write that essay or they're never going to read that book
00:27:11or they're never going to get up and do that presentation.
00:27:14And then they, through all the hard work, blood, sweat and tears, they do.
00:27:18I love that. I love that because then I get to tell you, I told you so. I love that.
00:27:24So little of what I do is actually teaching in terms of what you would think of as teaching.
00:27:29You know, instructing in the front of the classroom.
00:27:31So much of what I do is beyond the role of a teacher.
00:27:37So much of it is the role of a counselor or a social worker or a parent when they need
00:27:43one
00:27:43or a friend when they need that.
00:27:46Dealing with all of those other social and emotional and personal issues
00:27:50so we can just get down to the work of learning is a huge part of what I do.
00:27:55And I think of what many teachers do that I don't think people always realize.
00:28:03It is currently 5, 10 p.m. and I'm still at school.
00:28:07I got here this morning at 6 and I've been working the whole time.
00:28:12Currently it is about 5 o'clock. I've been here since 6 as always.
00:28:17I'm actually leaving fairly early today. It's only 5.15.
00:28:21It's about 5.30 p.m. and I'm almost ready to go home.
00:28:26It has been a busy day.
00:28:28The average teacher's day is often misunderstood.
00:28:32Teachers typically arrive at school at least 45 minutes before classes start.
00:28:36So if school starts at 8.15 a.m., they're there at 7.30.
00:28:40They spend that time planning, grading, meeting with peers, administrators, and students.
00:28:45Then there's three periods of teaching, 50 minutes each, back to back to back,
00:28:49with three-minute breaks between each class when students are always coming early or staying late.
00:28:54At around noon, a teacher will get 30 minutes for lunch,
00:28:57but these periods are usually used for meetings, planning, or grading.
00:29:01After that, there are two more full class periods of 50 minutes each.
00:29:05For the last period of the day, a teacher might have a grading period or a planning hour.
00:29:10Immediately after school, most teachers either coach, advise a club,
00:29:14or do after-school tutoring.
00:29:15That takes us to 5.30 p.m.
00:29:18They head home around 6, which means that by then they've been at school for 10 or 11 hours.
00:29:22That's 50 hours a week in school.
00:29:25But then there are papers to grade.
00:29:27If a teacher assigns an essay to, say, 30 students,
00:29:30and the teacher wants to spend even six minutes on each essay, that'll take three hours.
00:29:35Ten minutes on each essay means almost five hours grading one assignment.
00:29:38The average teacher's hours per week, then, would be 50 hours spent at school,
00:29:43and an additional 15 hours minimum spent grading papers and preparing lesson plans.
00:29:50That's 65 hours.
00:29:52Of course, many teachers work far more.
00:29:55I don't know any teacher who I respect as a teacher, who is a quality teacher,
00:30:04who doesn't work until 5, 6, 7 o'clock at night every night,
00:30:09who doesn't take work home on the weekend.
00:30:11Everybody, all the teachers I know, work at least one day of the weekend,
00:30:17if not both days of the weekend.
00:30:18They miss their own kids' Halloween parade so they can go to the students' parades here in this school
00:30:24because they feel that kind of responsibility.
00:30:27We're finally doing the heart. Come on in.
00:30:31You are going to make a map of your heart.
00:30:35Everyone's heart's going to look different, right?
00:30:37Because we all love different things, and different things are important to each of us.
00:30:41So, things that would be in my heart.
00:30:45So, I would say my students, and I think about you guys and my former students all the time.
00:30:52I think through my father and through my mother, I've developed a pretty strong work ethic,
00:30:56and I'm a hard worker. So, you know, I definitely don't just teach.
00:31:01So, what would be something else you could put in your heart?
00:31:05See how this is relaxed?
00:31:07If I'm like this, I'm like putting so much pressure. So, I want to be more like this. Okay?
00:31:14Like this. Like this actual?
00:31:18Sort of.
00:31:20Like this?
00:31:23That's it.
00:31:24So, you only have about 15 minutes to do this. So, if I were you, I'd stop talking and do
00:31:32your work.
00:31:33Let's see if you can stay this quiet, Matthew, through the hallway.
00:31:38Let's see if a child can face forward.
00:31:41With the joy of me having a child, there's also the anticipation of having to figure out the logistics of
00:31:47my life with school.
00:32:03Thank you for calling the Department of Education's HR Connect. If you are a current or former DOE employee, press
00:32:091.
00:32:11Please enter your seven-digit employee ID number, which is labeled as reference number, on your pay stub.
00:32:16Hi. I have some questions about maternity leave, and last time I had called, I had spoken to a woman
00:32:21named Maggie,
00:32:22and she said I could call back and talk to her again. Can I do that?
00:32:26Maggie, what department was she in?
00:32:27I don't know. She just said to call this number and to talk to her.
00:32:32And she was very informed about maternity leave, so I wanted to talk with her again.
00:32:36Hold on one moment for me, please.
00:32:38The call is very important to us, and we look forward to speaking with you.
00:32:45Thank you, I'm maternity leave, and you're calling here today to speak to Maggie Kirkland, who is in the leaves
00:32:50department. She's not in HR Connect.
00:32:52Hold on one moment. Let me get my clothes set up so that I can get you transferred.
00:32:55Okay, thank you so much.
00:33:01We know your time is valuable. Thank you for holding. Assistance is just a moment away.
00:33:09This call will be recorded and retained by the Department of Education for quality assurance and security purposes.
00:33:19HR Connect leaves.
00:33:21Hi. I was wondering if I could speak to Maggie Kirkland.
00:33:25She's on the phone right now. I could take a message for her.
00:33:28I'll get back to you.
00:33:29Is there any way that I could just wait for her because I'm on my prep right now, and I
00:33:32had spoken to her over the summer about-
00:33:33I don't know how long she's going to be on this phone, ma'am.
00:33:35It seems like usually they'd be on there for a while when they're dealing with other clients.
00:33:39You may experience a brief delay. Please remain on the line.
00:33:44Good morning. Leave you on it. Maggie's on the other line. Maybe I could help you.
00:33:47Okay, thank you. My name is Jamie Fidler, and I'm having a baby, and I'm due in October, October 24th.
00:33:54Hello, hello, hello.
00:33:55Hello, hello, hello.
00:33:57Tyreed, why are you running?
00:33:59So you get six weeks from the day you give birth, which means if you give birth the day before
00:34:04Christmas, even though we're not in school for a week and a half, you still have six weeks from the
00:34:09day you give birth.
00:34:10You'd have to be back in school without, you know, that would be the end of your getting paid point.
00:34:18Feeling strong. Should we grab this out of here first?
00:34:21There wasn't really much of a choice for us to do it any other way.
00:34:24We have a fixer-upper house, and so, you know, we're trying to do construction on the house, and there's
00:34:29just a lot of expenses right now.
00:34:33We're going to slide it into place.
00:34:35How was it?
00:34:37Oh, it's perfect. It totally fits.
00:34:41I'm so excited.
00:34:42There's this assumption that women are still the secondary income.
00:34:47You know, like, you only need six weeks because, you know, most of you are probably just going to stay
00:34:51home anyway.
00:34:52And it's just really frustrating.
00:34:54It's also assumed, I think, that most people are going to put their kids in daycare.
00:34:58Right.
00:34:58And that you're going to have these two incomes or one bigger income to pay for it, and it's not
00:35:02always the case.
00:35:04All right, it's deconstructed on it. There we go.
00:35:07I mean, we'll see what happens. I think it really just depends on when the baby comes, and then we'll
00:35:11have to kind of figure it out.
00:35:12Which is partly why I feel like I can't really go into work and say, I'm coming back on this
00:35:16day, because I don't really know.
00:35:18It depends on when the baby comes.
00:35:21That's because of the tradition.
00:35:23For many years, the teacher in the family was the wife whose husband had a job.
00:35:30I mean, it was a view of the salary demands of teachers that essentially assumed it was a second income
00:35:38and not a very needed one at that.
00:35:40We're in a different place now.
00:35:42You're not going into this to be a missionary. You're not going into this to live a life of poverty.
00:35:47You're going into this because you feel like you really can do something to make the world a better place
00:35:53by giving kids the chance that they need and deserve in order to succeed.
00:36:00But combined with that, you know, you've got to be able to feed your own children. You've got to be
00:36:04able to live someplace where it's safe for your children.
00:36:08You've got to be able to make sure that you have something that you can put away for the day
00:36:14that you do retire.
00:36:22We had actually met talking online. I proposed to her right, you know, down for the spot that we first
00:36:29met.
00:36:31When we got this house, I mean, it was like a blessing.
00:36:37The realtor, which was one of my students' moms, was able to broker some kind of deal, pulling some favors,
00:36:43I think, is what she ended up doing.
00:36:46We actually got this house for like $1.32. It's the nicest house I've ever lived in in, you know,
00:36:52my 38 years.
00:36:56It doesn't, you know, look like much, but it's a castle to me, you know, so this is home.
00:37:04Touch your chest. There you go. Good job.
00:37:09I thought I was going to be able to just teach and I'd have enough money.
00:37:18Factor in, you know, a $350 car payment, having to pay more in taxes and insurance, you know, those things
00:37:24you just, you know, that 27 gets cut, sliced pretty thin, pretty quick.
00:37:29It was pretty much paycheck to paycheck.
00:37:42I had to start paying my student loans back right away. I had to buy a new car because mine
00:37:46was falling apart.
00:37:47So those bills started adding up and Circuit City liked me so much.
00:37:53They, you know, worked around my school and football schedule and allowed me to work, you know, when I could.
00:38:12Coaching takes a lot of your time and then working also at Circuit City adds more stress to that.
00:38:19But sometimes you have to to make things meet where you need it to be financially.
00:38:25And sometimes you just don't have a choice, you know, and that's kind of where he was.
00:38:30He had to be there like at 6 in the morning and then school would end like, I don't know,
00:38:353 or 4.
00:38:37And then he would go to work like at 5 or 6 to Circuit City and then not get off
00:38:42till like 9 or 10.
00:38:45So I wouldn't see him till like maybe after that or on the weekends.
00:38:51Every once in a while, you know, run into somebody you know out on the sales floor.
00:38:55And I thought you were a teacher, you know, one of those things, like what happened?
00:38:58Did you get fired? Is that why you're at Circuit City, you know?
00:39:00And then, you know, you kind of have to try to explain yourself and, you know, say, well, I'm doing
00:39:04this for extra money, you know,
00:39:05and that type of thing.
00:39:06And sometimes it could be a little embarrassing if it was somebody you knew and, you know,
00:39:10and they're looking kind of down on you and, you know, it felt like you had to justify yourself.
00:39:17Ashley and I, we had Addie on Valentine's Day.
00:39:24It definitely became a lot more stressful.
00:39:28That's when I really wanted to start spending more time at home.
00:39:31But unfortunately, that wasn't possible. It wasn't feasible.
00:39:35My dad works a lot just because he has to support me and my sister and he has so much
00:39:41to pay for.
00:39:42As the man, you're supposed to be the provider, you know, and when you can't provide for your family, you
00:39:48feel like a loser.
00:39:49He worked all the time and I never really got to see him a lot.
00:39:58I had been there so long, I was making more than what they said I should be making.
00:40:02So, in their mind, they could get two workers for what they paid me, so they let me go.
00:40:12I had been saving up and saving up and saving up, so we blew that through the savings and, you
00:40:17know, not even a year.
00:40:19And my retirement, not even a year, it was all gone.
00:40:23I got to be home a lot because I didn't have a second job, but at the same time, we
00:40:27went through the savings pretty quick.
00:40:30It's stressful. It's a lot of, you know, sleepless nights. It's a lot of arguing over, you know, did you
00:40:37pay this bill? Did you pay that one?
00:40:39Or, it's just constant turmoil during those bad times. Like, there's no happy times, really, because you can't get past
00:40:48the stress of every day.
00:40:51And so, it got to be a point where I knew I was going to have to go back to
00:40:54work at that second job, because there was just no way to afford our lifestyle on just teaching.
00:41:06Today, we have lots of professionals who are doing the same thing when we would like them to be getting
00:41:12to know their students and their parents
00:41:14and working with tomorrow's lesson, making sure that they're going to provide the great instruction that we've been talking about.
00:41:20Instead, they're off to 7-Eleven.
00:41:23Thirty-one percent of America's teachers have second jobs outside of the classroom. When you count coaching, advising, and tutoring,
00:41:30sixty-two percent of teachers have jobs outside the regular school day.
00:41:34Almost every teacher I know has a second job. Whether it's, like me, you know, finishing concrete or hanging drywall
00:41:43or running some kind of an after-school program. In many ways, teachers who are coaches, their coaching is a
00:41:52second job.
00:41:53I think I taught GED at night. I taught aerobics in my small little community. I worked at, there was
00:41:59a little local clothing store.
00:42:00This is a community of about 2,000 people. They had a clothing store. I worked there on weekends.
00:42:04And then my summers, I went back to live with my parents and was a waitress during the summer.
00:42:09My first year as a teacher, I said, what can I coach? I'll coach anything. I have any experience as
00:42:14a wrestling coach.
00:42:14But if you want me to, for $200, I'll do it. I was the Spanish club advisor because it was
00:42:1975 bucks.
00:42:22Good morning.
00:42:23I've generally felt frustration with the teaching profession for the last couple of years.
00:42:31People often feel that if you're being paid a lot of money, it should be for something that requires a
00:42:37certain amount of skill and expertise.
00:42:43You know, nobody would question a doctor being paid or a lawyer being paid or, you know, somebody working in
00:42:50consulting being paid.
00:42:51And I think the skill set required to be a teacher is at least as complex, if not more complex.
00:43:01I think teachers are really quick to be defensive about that because we feel like we are professionals.
00:43:10If we actually paid effective teachers more, I think we could attract a different group of people into the profession,
00:43:19people that have gone off to be lawyers and doctors now who would like to be in the classroom.
00:43:25We could keep our effective teachers in the classroom.
00:43:31We could move to a rationalized system that rewarded teaching as a profession.
00:43:38Given the low pay and long hours, teachers burn out at a rate unparalleled in almost any other field.
00:43:4420% of teachers in urban districts quit every year.
00:43:50With teaching and the work and the hours, I wasn't around my family, not just my immediate family,
00:43:56but my sisters and my father and my mother.
00:44:01Teaching out of school, particularly how and where I taught,
00:44:06it was not just the hours of the school, it was hours beyond that,
00:44:10and then it was getting home and grading papers,
00:44:12and it just became a real vicious cycle and circle of burnout.
00:44:26When I got into teaching, I thought I had enough money saved from real estate that we were going to
00:44:33be fine
00:44:33and that I could use that to sort of subsidize my teaching habit.
00:44:38When my youngest daughter was born, we were feeling like there was no way we were going to be able
00:44:43to survive on just my salary.
00:44:49My sisters were asking me to join the family business and run the real estate sales part of that.
00:44:59After working in the classroom for five years, Jonathan quit teaching and went into real estate full time.
00:45:08You know, we didn't pay a lot, and so we expected a lot of work, we did not give a
00:45:14lot of money,
00:45:15and as a result, how could we expect that, you know, just because we want to have a diverse staff,
00:45:19they should come and work under those conditions.
00:45:22Yeah.
00:45:28So there are upgrades for different lighting, window coverings.
00:45:39Mr. Derman was leadership.
00:45:43He was like a pillar of Leadership High School.
00:45:46You always think of your pillars as those who are always going to be there,
00:45:50so then when they say they're going to leave or retire or something,
00:45:54it's kind of like, whoa.
00:45:55It kind of makes you think, like, wow, it's shocking.
00:46:00It was devastating when he left.
00:46:02I always took, like, when people come in and out of my life,
00:46:06I always take that pretty hard, because I build connections with people,
00:46:09and, like, when someone that you're going to spend time with at lunchtime
00:46:14and you're going in there and spend time with them after school every single day,
00:46:18someone you consult before you make big decisions about anything.
00:46:23When they leave your life, that's kind of traumatic.
00:46:30I think one thing that particularly students of color are struggling with
00:46:36is this feeling of isolation and hopelessness.
00:46:43For me, it's not about Jonathan. It's about the students.
00:46:47And as much as I love Jonathan, it's about what he did for students that is desperately missed.
00:46:54I just remember seeing people in the hallway just crying,
00:46:57and we're all, like, hugging each other, and everyone was sad.
00:47:00Mr. Derman is leaving. We'll never see him again.
00:47:03No, you shouldn't go work for real estate. You're going to miss us.
00:47:08When you have high teacher turnover, it creates a chaotic situation
00:47:13where kids don't have continuity,
00:47:16where the knowledge base of the school is continually flowing out like a leaky bucket,
00:47:21where the school is continually peddling just to stay in place,
00:47:27because it can't build the system of education that it needs to have
00:47:33to really ensure that kids are learning from year to year.
00:47:37In America, 46% of teachers quit before their fifth year.
00:47:42They're driven from the job by the long hours, the low salaries, the lack of support,
00:47:47and the lack of prestige given the profession.
00:47:50This attrition robs the profession of some of its best teachers,
00:47:53who realize they can earn more and have more freedom and respect in other occupations.
00:47:58And this turnover is expensive.
00:48:04I helped found an Academy of Information Technology at Balboa in my time there,
00:48:09and we were awarded the first Aldo Pappone Leadership Award on the West Coast.
00:48:15I helped to create a class for all of the ninth graders at my school
00:48:18who were struggling with the academic demands of the reading that we were signing.
00:48:21They realized how much in control they were of their achievement and how they can,
00:48:27you know, through their work, how they can get there if they, you know, keep pushing.
00:48:33I was one of five recipients of the Kananeta Goodman in Defense of Good Teaching Award,
00:48:40which was given to teachers who stand up for their beliefs in support of their students.
00:48:47And I left teaching because I could no longer provide the kind of education to the kids that I most
00:48:55cared about.
00:48:56I had to leave teaching because in order to be what I felt was a good teacher, I had to
00:49:02work insane hours.
00:49:03I just, I burned out after four years.
00:49:06It just, it took its toll.
00:49:07The lack of respect and the lack of, um, regarding me as a professional definitely also contributed to me leaving.
00:49:17I left teaching because of the, um, financial realities of the situation.
00:49:23It was like a $20,000 raise for me to go into administration, having 25 years in the classroom.
00:49:27The choice to leave the classroom is a really tough choice.
00:49:32And if you talk to those people and really try to get to the bottom of what, what they would
00:49:39have liked to have done long term,
00:49:41if there were avenues to progress through the teaching profession and remain a teacher working with children,
00:49:47that is a choice they would have made.
00:49:49And, and quite honestly, uh, in retrospect, I think it was a choice that I would have made.
00:49:55I think about going back every single day.
00:49:58Um, it was one of the most difficult decisions I ever made.
00:50:01I miss it every single day.
00:50:04I miss it.
00:50:05I still have boxes and boxes and boxes in my basement of all of my things just in case.
00:50:11And we've moved them now from three different homes because I won't let go of one single library book.
00:50:17I had a classroom library of over 2,000 novels that I cart with me to school after school and
00:50:23to home after home.
00:50:24And I won't give that up just in case I go back.
00:50:31Determined to stay in the classroom but needing a second job to pay the bills, Eric Benner took a job
00:50:36at Floor & Decor,
00:50:38working from 5 to 10 or 11 p.m. every night.
00:50:42My job is very similar to what it was at Circuit City and which is kind of, you know, was
00:50:46easy for me to make the transition.
00:50:48Instead of pulling a big screen, I'm pulling tile or I'm pulling wood.
00:50:53When you buy it, I pull it, I get it ready, you show up to get it, I'm going to
00:50:57load it in your vehicle, that type of thing.
00:50:59I might actually be able to go into a museum someday.
00:51:02I wish I could show it because it's my hero here, Sam Houston, but I don't have a player in
00:51:07it.
00:51:07At that point, I had the floor store, I had my coaching, and I had my teaching.
00:51:12And even though the money was really good, the strain on my marriage, it wasn't so good.
00:51:17Well, it was just never home. You know, I felt like a single mom.
00:51:24And there was no time for family stuff, and my family gets together a lot for family functions and birthdays
00:51:33and holidays, and he could never come.
00:51:35And if he did come, he was always just exhausted because, you know, he finally got to be still.
00:51:41And it was just, it was straining, you know. I didn't feel like I had a husband.
00:51:57When she moved out, the house was in foreclosure.
00:52:01I tried to make a payment, and that's when I found out that they were starting foreclosure procedures on the
00:52:06house,
00:52:06that I had killed myself to get us in, and, you know, and it was like watching everything just falling
00:52:12apart.
00:52:20Now, it's not such a big deal to me, but for my little sister, I just hope she doesn't miss
00:52:29out.
00:52:43They're not asking to make hundreds of thousands of dollars.
00:52:45They're asking to be able to buy a house, to have a decent car, to live in a nice neighborhood,
00:52:50to have some comforts, to maybe take a vacation every once in a while.
00:52:53And when you have teachers that have to have second jobs, when you have teachers that are living at the
00:52:57poverty level,
00:52:58then I think there's something wrong with that.
00:53:00And as a society, we need to really change that culture.
00:53:02We need to flip it around to say that being a teacher is the most important job in our society.
00:53:08I will see you on Tuesday, and don't work too hard.
00:53:13Bye.
00:53:16I left work a week before I was due, so I was due on the 24th, and I left work
00:53:20on the 17th.
00:53:23I went into labor at 1.30 in the morning.
00:53:40My whole life, I've just spent, not my whole life, but the past like nine years,
00:53:44I've spent so much time thinking about money and how to make things work.
00:53:48And I feel like this is a time that I can't get back.
00:53:51This is the first time in my life where I feel like there's other things that need to take priority.
00:53:58I have no idea what I'm doing. You have no idea what you're doing.
00:54:01We have no idea what we're doing.
00:54:02No, who cares though? I mean, does it really, I mean, who really does know?
00:54:06It'll be very interesting to see as she gets older the difference in how I am as a parent as
00:54:12opposed to how I am as a teacher.
00:54:14I'm so used to my role as a teacher, and I don't, this is all so new, you know.
00:54:43It's all so new.
00:54:47It's all so new.
00:54:47It's all so new.
00:54:48It's all so new.
00:54:48I've never thought about it that much.
00:54:56Everyone together.
00:54:58Today is...
00:54:58And I remember parents have said that to me over the years, the fact that I can leave my child
00:55:02with you and know that my child's going to be okay.
00:55:05Every day is more than you ever know.
00:55:09That is a gift that you can't even imagine.
00:55:11Tomorrow will be Wednesday.
00:55:13Bye.
00:55:14Zoe, hurry up. Let's go. Get your blue folder ready.
00:55:17Hi.
00:55:19Oh, I'm so glad you're here.
00:55:20I felt bad asking Sarah this morning to cover my class.
00:55:23You know, like I felt bad about it.
00:55:30Now I have to find a place.
00:55:43Hi, Eileen. Can I just use this office to pump?
00:55:49There's such a lack of understanding about what kind of maternity leave we get.
00:55:59When someone says, like, I can't believe you're back yet.
00:56:02Oh, my God, are you crazy?
00:56:03How, you know, or, you know, even just whatever.
00:56:06I don't know how you came back so quickly.
00:56:08Well, what am I supposed to do?
00:56:09You know, it's not like we have rich parents or, you know, it's not.
00:56:18What are you supposed to do?
00:56:20So, you know, I'm not taking care of myself right now.
00:56:23I mean, that's what's, you know, that's the really hard part.
00:56:26And I think that that's the case for all new moms.
00:56:28You know, it's really hard to take care of yourself.
00:56:30And I'm up with her at, you know, 1.30 and 3.30 and then getting up and being with
00:56:35five-year-olds who need your undivided attention all day.
00:56:38A lot.
00:56:40And I'm tired.
00:56:41So, yeah.
00:56:45Some of you have told me that you know this book.
00:56:49I love this book.
00:56:51Who knows what this book is called?
00:56:54If you're calling out, I'm definitely not going to call on you.
00:56:57Nia?
00:56:57Yeah.
00:57:00After the Alamo, Texas becomes its own what?
00:57:03State.
00:57:04State.
00:57:04Country.
00:57:05Country.
00:57:06Becomes its own.
00:57:07I'm serious.
00:57:08Okay.
00:57:08Texas became its own country.
00:57:11Right now, I'm working seven days a week.
00:57:14Monday, Wednesday, Friday, up at six at work, you know, probably by eight.
00:57:21Four, I'm done with my teaching because there's no sports going on right now.
00:57:25And then I make an hour commute to my other job where I work 5 to 10 or 11 o
00:57:30'clock at night.
00:57:33You know, I've been doing it this way for, what, 15, 16 years.
00:57:38And, you know, I'm used to it.
00:57:39I can do it.
00:57:39But, you know, having the little one, you kind of want to spend more time with her.
00:57:45I'm not going to coach next year.
00:57:47You know, I've already let my principal know that I'm not coaching.
00:57:49Because I can work at the store with less hours than coaching requires and make more money.
00:57:56So, even though I love the coaching part, I think this is the most logical, you know, plan for me
00:58:02right now.
00:58:10I think that there would be a lot of kids that go on to become better young men for having
00:58:17had him as a coach while they were here.
00:58:18And so, you know, I hate to think about future years of kids where that may not be possible for
00:58:24them.
00:58:31If you walk into a freshman classroom, a college freshman, and you say to them,
00:58:37how many of you would like to be a teacher if money were no object?
00:58:40You will find that 60, 70, 80 percent might raise their hand.
00:58:44Then you say to them, that same group, how many of you are planning on going into teaching?
00:58:49And only a few hands are raised.
00:58:51It's one of the things in teaching we don't talk about because, you know, we don't want to talk about
00:58:56money.
00:58:56We don't want to argue for our salaries.
00:58:58It's like the third rail of teaching.
00:59:00We talk about, like, I should be making more money.
00:59:03Okay, so the thing about teaching is, like, your money's set.
00:59:07And, like, you make a certain amount.
00:59:09And you have no control over, like, the level of stress as compared to the amount of money you make.
00:59:18Like, it's always going to be hard and a lot no matter what.
00:59:22Is this a unit down here?
00:59:23Yeah, that's a unit right there.
00:59:25Okay.
00:59:25This is a one-bedroom going.
00:59:27And how much did you rent it out for?
00:59:29I'm having a slow year, and I'm still making more than I made when I was teaching.
00:59:33Probably making twice as much as I made when I was teaching.
00:59:41I mean, if you were to say to me, if I were to make a lot more money, would I
00:59:45stay in the teaching?
00:59:46If that's all that would happen, I would probably say no.
00:59:49But I know that if, like, the salary went up, there would be things would follow
00:59:54because there would be more people who were invested.
00:59:57I hear you. I want to relax, too.
00:59:59Look, I'm in real estate.
01:00:00It was a pleasure meeting you, Larry.
01:00:01I know what happens when you, with money, the power of money.
01:00:05And it's a meaningful indicator of what is going to happen to you.
01:00:22I've often said that the problem with teacher compensation isn't starting salaries.
01:00:27It's the ending salary.
01:00:29Policymakers like to focus on the starting salary because it's, of course,
01:00:33changing the starting salary by percentages is easier.
01:00:36It's a much smaller number.
01:00:37It's a relatively small number.
01:00:40But until we create opportunities for teachers as they move into the heart of their careers
01:00:47to be good earners, great earners, then we won't have the ability to keep the kinds of stars we want
01:00:55in our profession.
01:00:56If you want somebody to stay in education, and you want them to feel fulfilled in their job,
01:01:00and you want them to feel like they can make a decent living at the same time,
01:01:06we've got to be more creative in the kinds of alternatives we provide for how we pay teachers.
01:01:13Ultimately, I think the issues in education today come down to a human capital problem.
01:01:18I don't think that you're going to be able to solve and reform some of the issues in public education,
01:01:27in failing schools, and in failing students without transforming the nature of teachers and the nature of teaching.
01:01:45So the premise behind the school is let's bring the best teachers to the students in schools who need them
01:01:52the most.
01:01:53I've seen that when you put teachers who have amazing content knowledge, who are great pedagogues,
01:02:00and who love kids in a room, you can do amazing things.
01:02:06All the teachers of the school will make a base salary starting at $125,000.
01:02:12That's completely funded by the public funds.
01:02:16And that was a deliberate decision so that other schools can say to themselves,
01:02:21legitimately, we can do this too. If we want to reallocate our funds, we can.
01:02:25TEP's idea of paying teachers a competitive salary attracted the attention of Rena Jaycee in New Jersey.
01:02:33I decided to apply to TEP because I thought it was really exciting and interesting that Zeke found a way
01:02:43to pay teachers this incredible amount of money
01:02:47and to raise the level of expectations.
01:02:50It's not like all of a sudden people who are bad teachers, if you pay them more money, are going
01:02:56to become good teachers.
01:02:57And it's not like people who are good teachers need the money to motivate them.
01:03:02If people think that's the goal of the project, they're deeply mistaken.
01:03:07The point about money is it does have a catalytic effect on a lot of things.
01:03:13So if you increase teacher salaries, you change the perception of what it means to be a teacher.
01:03:22TEP received 600 applications from all over the country, and they hired eight teachers.
01:03:28Rena Jaycee was one of them.
01:03:30I thought it would be exciting, an exciting change, and to be part of sort of the national dialogue around
01:03:36education and around compensation for teachers.
01:03:40TEP isn't the only place committing to better conditions and salaries for teachers.
01:03:45Districts and schools are doing so, with remarkable results.
01:03:50Greensboro, North Carolina, increased teacher compensation and in three years saw its teacher attrition rate drop from 29% to
01:03:5714%.
01:03:58At the same time, student graduation rates rose almost 12%.
01:04:03In 2005, Denver instituted a new system called Pro Comp, which increases teachers' pay and accountability.
01:04:10Since that time, teacher retention has risen and student dropout rates have plummeted 42%.
01:04:16And in Washington, D.C., administrators have realigned the whole system.
01:04:20The sort of paradigm we're trying to shift to is, yeah, this is really hard work.
01:04:25And some of you are knocking it out of the park.
01:04:29And to treat you like the real professionals you are, we want to make sure that you've got the money
01:04:33you deserve.
01:04:35And that, to me, shifts things.
01:04:37Now it's about being excellent, and it's not just thank you for doing it, but thank you for doing it
01:04:41and doing it well.
01:04:43And by the way, if you're not doing it well, we're going to try to help you out.
01:04:46But if that continues, you're not going to be here too long.
01:04:49And that changes the profession, again, from one of a, hey, thanks for doing it, to a, hey, you've got
01:04:55to be excellent to be doing this.
01:04:56And that is where we're trying to shift.
01:04:59Remember that stat about where the United States stands in terms of test scores internationally?
01:05:05The three top-performing countries are Finland, Singapore, and South Korea.
01:05:09And it turns out there's a correlation between teacher conditions and student achievement.
01:05:14So what do these countries do that we don't?
01:05:17First of all, they make it tough to get into teacher training programs.
01:05:22The government actually recruits top college students.
01:05:25The next thing they do is pay for teachers to get trained.
01:05:29In the U.S., we make teachers pay for their own training, which puts them more in debt just as
01:05:34they're about to take their low-paying teacher salary.
01:05:36Speaking of which, the salaries in these countries give teachers purchasing power of at least two and a half times
01:05:42what teachers have in the U.S.
01:05:44And in these countries, the work environment is highly professional.
01:05:48It would be unheard of for a teacher to be buying supplies out of their own pocket.
01:05:52And because training is selective and rigorous, the prestige afforded the profession in these countries is great.
01:05:59In Finland, for example, teaching is the most admired job among top college students, outpolling even law and medicine.
01:06:07Not surprisingly, those who go into teaching in Singapore, South Korea, and Finland assume it will be their career.
01:06:14And because they're well-paid and well-supported, they rarely leave the profession.
01:06:22I remember the president said in his State of the Union speech that the best anti-poverty program is world
01:06:31-class education.
01:06:33And part of having a world-class education is having teachers like Dearman.
01:06:39Part-time, I work with youth, too, over at my other job.
01:06:45And to have a teacher that's so powerful in your life means the teacher will do anything for you.
01:06:52I guess I'll see you guys after course.
01:06:55Okay, sure.
01:06:56All right.
01:06:58Give me some sugar!
01:07:03Jeremy was, like, one of the only people from leadership to call me after my father was killed.
01:07:08It was just, like, the end of the world for me.
01:07:10It was terrible.
01:07:12And Dearman called me just to see if I needed anything.
01:07:14And, like, I hadn't talked to him in years.
01:07:17But, like, he found my cell phone number through somebody else and just called me.
01:07:23Having a teacher that you can trust, you know, that will change lives.
01:07:30Good afternoon.
01:07:31I am Rena Jaycee, and I would like to proudly present my fifth-grade class for graduation.
01:07:45For my Seth Boyden friends, we shared special times together.
01:07:50We learned, we laughed, we grew together.
01:07:52We celebrated our family feast and Halloween.
01:07:55We explored the great swamp and the mines.
01:07:59We created inventions and electric circuits.
01:08:02We cooperated during Peel Day and Marvel time.
01:08:06CJ, I am so proud of you.
01:08:08We learned about the world.
01:08:10We learned about each other.
01:08:11And in time, we became a school family that shared in each other's joy.
01:08:16A caring community that supported every girl and boy.
01:08:23Girly girl.
01:08:24I saw your mom.
01:08:26She said you're really happy this year, right?
01:08:29You're happy?
01:08:29I'm so proud of you.
01:08:31You've come a long way, haven't you?
01:08:33Keep it up, okay?
01:08:35I'm glad that she's leaving, like, when I'm leaving, too.
01:08:40So it's not like, um, so it's not like she's leaving and I'll still be in this school.
01:08:48And I won't have a chance to really be with her that often.
01:08:52But I'm also kind of sad because I know, like, even when I leave and go to middle school,
01:08:58I can still, I can still, like, come back and have a chance to say hi to my old teachers.
01:09:05And she, I, Miss Jacey won't be there for me to say hi to.
01:09:10So, it's kind of sad.
01:09:14Even though it is time for me to go, we will all continue to learn and laugh and grow.
01:09:21And our fond memories will link us forever together.
01:09:25You like it?
01:09:26Beautiful.
01:09:27That was beautiful.
01:09:30What encourages me is the amazing dedication, perseverance, and commitment that we see among educators in our schools,
01:09:46despite all of the challenges and the obstacles that are continually put in their path.
01:09:53So I'm optimistic.
01:10:01When I stopped pumping, the whole world changed for me.
01:10:05And I think because I had to go back so early, I was just pumping for so long, you know?
01:10:10And it was, it was really hard.
01:10:13And I didn't feel like I was living at all.
01:10:16Hello!
01:10:17Who's a happy girl and a daddy with a big stain on his shirt?
01:10:23Hello!
01:10:25Hello!
01:10:26Hello!
01:10:27Hi!
01:10:28Hi!
01:10:28Yeah, I feel so much better now.
01:10:32It has been a very hard year.
01:10:34And a wonderful, amazing year, but also a really, really hard year.
01:10:50The stuff that really matters to teachers, we say, oh, well, research doesn't support that.
01:10:55Or, oh, you know, that's too expensive, we can't change that.
01:10:59Or that's, you know, too complex and we can't figure out how to solve those out of school problems.
01:11:05Well, that's not true.
01:11:06I mean, this is the most innovative entrepreneurial country in the world.
01:11:10The naysayers, the people who say, well, this is the way it's always been and this is the way it's
01:11:14always going to be.
01:11:14Well, get out of the way.
01:11:15It's over.
01:11:17I do love my job.
01:11:18Yesterday was National Talk Like a Pirate Day, which we celebrate here at Horace Mann, thanks to our vice principal.
01:11:25It was pretty fun.
01:11:26Yeah, this is why I love my kids, too, because I think more often than not they don't get to
01:11:31see how fun it can be.
01:11:33And I adore them.
01:11:35And I adore the opportunity to teach them.
01:11:38And I try my best at all times, and that's really all I can do.
01:11:43But I definitely give everything I've got to them.
01:11:45And I will keep doing that for as long as I'm teaching.
01:11:48And if I find I can't do that anymore, I'll probably stop teaching.
01:12:06My son just graduated from college this year, and he's making way more selling cell phones for Verizon than he
01:12:11ever could as a teacher.
01:12:13And while I'm glad he's not in my pocket anymore, I mean, something's wrong when selling cell phones is more
01:12:19important to our society than being a teacher.
01:12:22It doesn't seem fair.
01:12:24You know, I have a college degree, and yet I'm working two jobs to make ends meet, to pay my
01:12:29obligations.
01:12:31It'd be nice if they could come up with a way, you know, where I didn't have to work that
01:12:35much.
01:12:36But I don't want to see myself ever leaving teaching just because it's what I know, it's what I love.
01:12:40I feel like that's where I fit.
01:12:57Democracy depends on an educated citizenry, and today more than ever, we depend on an educated workforce, and educated to
01:13:06levels that we have never seen before, even in the elite.
01:13:10So, we have a compelling public interest to have better schools than what we've got now.
01:13:15At Seth Boyden, I worked long hours, took work home, but I couldn't afford to pay my rent in the
01:13:23summer because we weren't paid from June, middle of June to middle of September.
01:13:26I have two masters degrees, like, I worked really hard, you know, when I was making $45,000 a year.
01:13:33It was like, in New Jersey, which is an expensive place to live.
01:13:39So, now I work really hard, but I can afford takeout when I get home and I'm too tired to
01:13:44cook.
01:13:54If we want a nation that is going to be a learning nation, that is going to be able to
01:13:59succeed in the global knowledge-based economy that exists, we need a profession full of experts, dedicated, supported, experienced teachers,
01:14:12who are going to raise up the youth of the nation.
01:14:16I mean, and I think that's a lot. We have four leads that were...
01:14:20Four hot, hard leads, not just names and names.
01:14:23No, no, no, people who have expressed interest to buy.
01:14:38Today, I must have been asked, like, three or four times, like, do you miss teaching?
01:14:41And, yeah, I do.
01:14:43It's nothing better than working with a bunch of young people and having, being around their discovery.
01:14:48They would say, look at what you made me do, but, you know, they did it.
01:14:51And, like, there was ownership in that, and kids, like, turning stuff in that they're proud of, like, let me
01:14:58tell you what I did.
01:14:58Before I give you this, let me tell you what I did.
01:15:01You know, those moments.
01:15:03You don't get that anywhere else. You only get that working in a classroom.
01:15:06It's the best job in the world, no comparison.
01:15:39But you always keep sittin'.
01:15:41You know what I'm thinking?
01:15:44There's no one way odds and there's no being able to find a place to be, it's a way that
01:15:47we're possibly ===
01:15:48Would you have done some wasted great days?
01:15:48Yes, I have just loved it.
01:15:49If you were able to feel and learn like,
01:15:49Don't I want to let someone really know for you.
01:15:51If you would, oh god damn if you wanted it, you would
01:15:57I would not ask anymore, I cannot ask anymore
01:16:28I would love you like this now, you can recognize it later
01:16:32I would love you like this now, you can recognize it later
01:16:37But I would never blame you if you would never stay here
01:16:54Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
01:16:58Oh, oh, oh, oh
01:17:02Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
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