TEACHER RETENTION

By James M. "Jim" Curtin

"Public education will fail to meet its goals unless qualified teachers are retained and recruited"

The culprit of this dilemma is a combination of teacher burnout and under payment for services rendered. Teachers currently are working an average of a 60 to 80 hour week to cope with the demands of a high student load. A high pay structure is not required. Moreover, most teachers profess that that their sole reason for teaching is the love of the profession and the ability to impart knowledge to a child. Yet, the majority of teachers simply can not support a family or purchase a house in California on their current earnings. This has resulted in an exodus of qualified teachers along with a prime reason for young people to turn away from a teaching profession. Overcrowding of classrooms continues unabated and higher numbers of students will be left behind.

To reverse this trend, I would propose to increase the earning power of teachers and establish a dynamic recruiting program to obtain the most qualified new teachers. Several actions are suggested:

 Facilitate the availability of low interest loans for mortgages and low down payments for houses similar to those offered by VA

 Provide free day care at school for teachers and teacher's aides with young children

 Pay teachers a full pay per diem rate for after hour programs, meetings, special training and student affairs

 Increased representation at university job fairs to attract students from both the teaching and non-teaching curriculums

 Accreditation of related skills of non-teaching graduates toward achieving a teaching certification

 Recruit and train qualified teacher aides to assist a crowded classroom. Aides would be particularly warranted in the implementation of new educational methodologies essential to meet the needs all students.