comment: >
  
  Tax everybody! Pay your educators and purchase supplies needed to teach properly
context: Know what's worse than teaching in a dysfunctional environment? Teaching in a dysfunctional environment without adequate training or experience. >
  
  Yup. It takes a lot of training to work with students of all backgrounds. I've had students living in the back of a car, kids whose only meals are the school breakfast and lunch, students who have been abused at home. I've had to make DHS calls with the principal, I've had to make calls to rehab facilities to have kids detox off drugs. The things I've seen are unbelievable. 
  ​
  Yet, Desantis, Stitt, and these other governors seem to think teaching and education is easy, or that kids are easy to manage. Kids are human, with amazingly complex needs and great sapience to boot. They are smart, and they can pick up on the bullshit as well. They know this is not normal, but when bringing in any rando off the street is the standard that gets accepted, they just accept it as adults unwilling to care about them. >
  
  They don’t think that, their supporters in their faux populism and transactionalism do, a la the “I got through K-12, so I clearly know what it’s all about!” type pablum.
  And when you add in apathy, nay hostility, to critical thinking in general, no one should be surprised that this is treated as dogma among the “school choice/parental rights!” groups… >
  
  I was thinking about how many awful words there are always thrown about to people who value intellectual pursuits—nerd, geek, egghead, poindexter, etc.
  ​
  For some reason, our culture really devalues intellectual pursuits and learning. They think it's a bad thing to love to learn and progress.
  ​
  They seem to think things were better "Way back then", as if they way they did things was always so perfect, with no problems of any kind. Yet, their Arcadian time was still dystopian for a host of groups. That's the crazy part to me. How anyone could look back with great fondness, it's beyond me. >
  
  I really really hate the show "Young Sheldon" because I mostly lived that life back in the late 80s. What the show skips is the constant bullying and teacher-sanctioned violence I had to deal with. The culture here has ALWAYS been one of crushing the difference out of children; the higher degree of difference, the greater degree of crushing. >
  
  I also hate that show because being autistic as a girl is a completely fucking alien experience to that.   No one treats you like you are smart,  even if you are. I thought I could be friends with boys who were interested in science like me, but I learned very quickly about gatekeeping. One of the first things said to me in an after school science program(that you had to grade into) was a boy my age(who is now diagnosed) "you're not really smart. You're just here because the teacher let you."
  Autistic girls don't get diagnosed and aren't supported.  I found out when I was 31. 
  I am still grieving the teacher sanctioned abuse I lived through. I have developed C-PTSD from living as a disabled person my whole childhood and most of my adult life without support.  
  The higher degree of crushing tracks. >
  
  My three year-old daughter seems like she got hit somewhat moderately by the Autism Stick. If it makes you feel any better, we live in a world today where what you went through will absolutely not happen to a young girl much like you.
  A game I've been playing with her is "Sometimes Things Aren't Perfect." She likes to sort toys by size or shape in a straight line (kinda a big sign). I'll move one thing out of line and teach her to find something else that is perfect to focus on, like books on a shelf in perfect descending size order. I'm trying to teach her to lessen the uncomfort she feels when something isn't "right" as her mind sees right as.
  If I parent right, she'll have a large chest of tools with which to handle her neuro-divergency. >
  
  I mean, it is unfortunately still happening. Especially to kids of color, especially Black girls. 
  It may not happen as often but the most current information most people in the education system(especially in poorer areas)have on autism is dated to begin with, and based on white boys between 3-10. Girls are still diagnosed at a far lower rate and thus have less support. The most "effective" medical "treatment" for autism is still ABA, which uses the same kind if operant conditioning conversion therapy does. It was literally developed for training animals.  
  Your girl won't need to learn how to "handle" her autism. That's masking, and augmented behavior therapy uses elements of "desensitization" while encouraging masking. She'll need to learn how to understand why other people can't handle her. And that's the grief. 
   I can't tell you how many times I've thought people were my friends or liked me,  because I can't read social cues and I can only look at people I interact with in good faith. It's always hard finding out people you genuinely try to look at with compassion only consider you a calculation. 
  I get that you are trying to be nice and make me feel better, and I appreciate that. My grief is that I'll never get to redo the childhood I lost and there are still very few accommodations for people like me that mask at a high level because, well, being socialized as a girl, I've had to.
  Thankfully, I have a really excellent trauma therapist that does EMDR. It's not cheap, though, and I feel like I shouldn't be paying literal hundreds of dollars a month for something not my fault. I don't exactly have other options. 
  I am glad you are accepting of your kid and I encourage checking out the book "neurotribes". It's a great primer on the history of the diagnosis and I think it would help most parents of spectrum kids a lot. I certainly don't embrace every aspect of the neurodiversity movement(more that I have disaste for a subset of certain individuals within it than anything) but I think it's a really good step in the right direction for public acceptance. >
  
  Why would anyone want to be a teacher? Low pay, constant demonization, threats of violence. Crazy parents. This is how public education dies. Replaced by private indoctrination. >
  
  That's what there is a teacher exodus happening right now. No one cared to value teachers whatsoever. Ever since I quit, I have found my stress levels go down significantly, and I don't have headaches like I used to. I actually have lost weight as well, and I'm in better shape than ever before. It's incredible. >
  
  What do you do now? >
  
  Right now, I'm still searching for a job. I've done a bit of tutoring of some families I know, and I've written articles for different publications for cash. However, I've been looking to find work. I'm putting in for different locales. So far, nothing. 
  ​
  I'm contemplating putting in for a teaching abroad jobs for the moment. If I have to leave the nation, so be it. >
  
  Teaching abroad is, generally speaking, fantastic.  This is country 4 for me and I'm dreading the move back to the US next year (wife's job is relocating her).  Manageable class sizes, well behaved kids and parents, admin who actually are kind of useful, etc.  
  And if you go the Asia route, you can actually save a good bit of money. >
  
  What country do you recommend? >
  
  Depends what you're looking for.  I tried Argentina because I speak enough Spanish but I absolutely hated it - the food (outside of steak and ice cream and wine) is awful, restaurants don't open until 8 PM (with a baby, that was hard), and every restaurant has the same 3-4 bland things.  Now I'm in Malaysia which I absolutely adore and am sad to leave.  Everyone speaks English, but if you can get a gig in one of the international schools, you'll be paid well (extremely well for the local cost of living, which is super low) and can live well and save bundles.  I know China is always hiring and pays really well for the cost of living, but it is China and there are associated issues there.  I had a friend who adored Cameroon when she taught there and it allowed her to pay off her 30k credit card debt in a year.    
  It just depends on what's important to you.  If you haven't lived abroad, though, you'll probably only get offers from places like China or South Korea.  Once you prove that you can live abroad, more places become possibilities. >
  
  Wow. I will have to look into that. >
  
  
  Since Florida opened teaching roles to veterans without a bachelor’s degree last August, the initiative has only netted the state 11 new teachers, according to the state’s education department, raising the question of whether lowering standards is an effective solution to the shortages. 
  Department of Education data shows 47 states have reported teacher shortages this school year with the problem being most acute in urban and rural areas. Meanwhile, desperate state legislatures are passing laws making it easier to become a public schoolteacher by lowering or eliminating certain qualifications.  
  The National Council On Teacher Quality told CNN that over the last two years, 23 states have lowered teacher qualification requirements for beginning teachers. That includes lowering or removing assessment tests designed to determine whether teachers have a firm grasp on the subject they will teach and creating emergency teaching certificates to expedite candidates into the classroom without a teaching degree. 
  Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma have created new pathways for people without a bachelor’s degree to teach in classrooms. 
  “Making it easier to become a teacher is an overly broad, short-term solution to staffing challenges that amounts to saying we just need ‘warm bodies’ in classrooms. It’s harmful to students and insulting to the teaching profession,” said Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington, DC, think tank that researches and evaluates teacher quality nationwide.
  
  ​
  ​
  I anticipate if the right-wing education fascism continues in states like Florida and Oklahoma, kids will just drop out altogether at greater rates than ever. I wouldn't be surprised. Classes with no teacher in them? What is up with that?
  ​
  Lowering the education standards at large not only leads to more unqualified people who tend to quit earlier than professionals, but it also sends the message to students that no adults really wants to be there for them. It shows kids that America doesn't care about education. In turn, the kids end up saying "Why should I?"
  ​
  Of course lowering the education professional standards wouldn't lead to more teachers in school. It basically shows how education has not a scintilla of value in America.
  Welcome to idiocracy, America! >
  
  In Seminole County Florida, they are talking about moving to in-person virtual classes. That means that one teacher will telecast to another classroom where there is no teacher. Seriously. >
  
  We have had multiple classes being taught this way in the school I work at since the beginning of this school year. We are short 15+ teachers, so it's a constant shuffle to cover classes every day with county admin coming in to help and the actual faculty having to sub the empty spots. The problem is the terrible pay because this is a very HCOL region. >
  
  Yup. My former school was like this as well, and talking with some of my friends still in school, almost all the schools are like this now. My former school was short some days of 15 teachers, then when the RSV and Covid outbreak hit, we were out half the staff and had to be out for 2 whole weeks.
  ​
  They still made me go to school in person, which was ridiculous. Considering the kids were out of school, why was I going to school? >
  
  Because petty tyrants flourish in school administration.
  Heck, it’s probably on the job application… >
  
  In Japan teachers are considered honored people.  In the US they are considered cheap child care.  They are treated with contempt. 
  Nurses only a little better. >
  
  Just watching YT videos of them making school lunches is like, what the fuck am I eating over here, rubber? >
  
  Damn who would have thought that the GQP plan to defund education, villainize teachers, keep schools open shooting ranges, and promote idiotic cultural BS over actual knowledge and education would lead to qualified teachers saying "f*** it, I'm out". Especially in a climate where jobs are plentiful >
  
  
  plan to defend education
  
  I think you mean defund. Republicans definitely don't care to defend education; only the private charter-school corporations. >
  
  Lol, yeah you right. I definitely meant "defund" >
  
  The only thing Republicans defend when it comes to education is the money going to corporations like ClassWallet and other private school megacorporations tied to the Koch Brothers. >
  
  Well that and their "right" to impose their values and ideals on others...no matter how unconstitutional that is they defend the shit out of it. >
  
  Just a slightly modified version of their “republic not a democracy!” banalities.
  Wonder why they are so afraid to say what they really mean, via “my vote should count more than yours!” >
  
  Eh, I think it's more that those that know what they mean are smart enough to not say it...and the rest are too stupid to realize that's what they are saying. These are the sort of people that would probably agree to almost ANY Progressive measure if you framed it in stupid "patriotic" terms. >
  
  Higher pay.   Smaller classes.   Better classrooms.  What a concept. >
  
  I don't even care about higher pay. Just stop making our class sizes huge. Once you go beyond 20 kids per grade (especially in elementary), EVERYONE suffers.
  NYC is capping K-3 classes at 20 students, yet my district is fine putting 32 KINDERGARTENERS in one room. >
  
  You may not but teachers care about class size, pay, working conditions, attacks by right wing nuts with guns and government.
  If  you want to attract people to a job, you pay more and create good working conditions. >
  
  I'm in NJ, our teacher pay isn't too terrible, but the burnout rate is super high because our class sizes suck.
  We would be less stressed, have better working conditions, less parents/grades, etc if we simply had more manageable class sizes. Would more pay be appreciated? Sure, but if there is ONE thing that I believe instantly improves the lives of teachers/students it would be class size. 
  An extra $5-10k doesn't mean much if your mental health is regularly affected from dealing with 30 crazy kids all day. >
  
  I took a position paying 10k less because it had better teaching conditions.  It even has less funding but was still worth it because of mental health. >
  
  That's what happens when society doesn't value education and sees public schools as just daycare. Why would anyone work in a role society actively seems to detest? It's not worth any amount of money really. If we don't care about education, then not surprisingly there won't be much educating going on. >
  
  It's all according to Betsy Devos' plan. Keep kids poor, uneducated, and subject to Christian nationalism. >
  
  The pandemic taught us that many people view schools as childcare centers that allow for parents to get to work. Many don’t care about the quality of the school. How long will it be before most classrooms will just have a teacher on a video screen? That trend has already started in some places. There was a Washington Post article about that in Mississippi. Instead of in-person lessons, one teacher can provide pre-recorded lessons for a million kids. Then the CEO of the well-connected company that makes the videos can pocket all the money that would have been spent on teacher salaries. 
  The war on public education is real. If we want it to survive, it’s going to take a massive grassroots effort. >
  
  Hot Take: Issues in schools are representative of society as a whole, and there is no way to fix schools without addressing systemic issues surrounding poverty, childcare, and healthcare. 
  Free and reduced lunch doesn’t fix that the family has no food at home. Extending the school day doesn’t fix that the parents are exhausted from working all of the time and have little to no time to recuperate. Providing clothing to students through Teach for America-run programs doesn’t address that millions of children don’t have access to weather appropriate clothing. 
  If you want to fix schools you need to increase the support families receive outside of the schooldays, so schools can go back to educating instead of serving as unofficial community resource centers. Teachers are burnt out from acting as teachers, psychologists, parents, nurses, and a million other things that money won’t fix. 
  Source: Former teacher and current education PhD student. >
  
  Fellow teacher here: completely agree. Yes we need to better fund education, but that’s only one part of the MASSIVE problem >
  
  Teachers will continue to be the scapegoat for the unraveling family and quality of life brought about by the low wage hyper grind / dual income system.  
  We can't blame screens, we can't blame ourselves; we're never there.   "It's the teachers fault"  
  If we're going to continue to place the bulk of child rearing upon teachers; then support them. >
  
  next they'll start proposing that instead of stamping license plates, prison inmates can teach grade school classes for free virtually. >
  
  On the track the worlds going, those inmates will be hired by PMCs like Wagner and they'll be the ones privately 'teaching' your children. >
  
  Teachers started leaving after the classrooms curriculum became a required word for word reading of the states lessons ....     And even worse after teachers could be sued for saying something the state doesn't like or if parents think they say something they dont like. 
  The entire profession has become one giant hostile work environment >
  
  
  And even worse after teachers could be sued for saying something the state doesn't like or if parents think they say something they dont like.
  
  That's why it's important to join your local union, membership provides you with professional liability insurance. >
  
  I did not know teachers had personal liability insurance through unions ....   The fact that's even a thing is terrible to me. >
  
  The only reason i haven’t joined a union where i live is because the dues are like $900 a year.  
  If the school board wants to fire you i promise they can fire you even if you have Eugene Debbs as your local leader lol >
  
  You should definitely get yourself the liability insurance through AAE at least, it's like $16 a month and will save you massively if some parent ever decides to sue you. >
  
  The teachers aren’t forcing the school to do anything. 
  The school district is 100% responsible for this. They seem completely perplexed as to why teachers are leaving. Because they are paid a fraction of what they are worth and receive 0 backing from administration. 
  Want to retain teachers? Pay. Them. More. Money. >
  
  My school district had three props on the ballot in Nov. All were to address overcrowding and teacher pay. All voted down. The general public doesn’t want to spend more on education. >
  
  That genuinely makes me sad. I would gladly pay more taxes if it meant that education would be prioritized. >
  
  Teachers:  You have options.  There are states that value education and need teachers. >
  
  If their whole family can up and leave, maybe so. >
  
  There's still some room for debate on qualifications though
  As someone in a blue state who recently went through a certification program, most of our professors were basically like "most of this information would probably be way more useful to someone who had already completed their student teaching and maybe even had a year or two of experience in the classroom" as well as that a lot of theoretical stuff just isn't going to be realistically implemented in even a well funded classroom
  There could maybe be merit to the idea of teaching prep as more of an apprenticeship sort of thing vs a more academic sort of thing. Maybe still have academic requirements but have more in the way of coursework taken after someone is already in the classroom in a big way. Of course that sort of thing could if anything require more funds (especially if done along the lines of a true apprenticeship, which tends to be paid, rather than stuff like student teaching where the student pays to get to be there) >
  
  I remember my good old days of attending a shitty 60+ year old school under construction, no computers despite being the late 90's, and crazy teacher shortages. The same classes my brother enjoyed taking were closed, and for the first month they couldn't fit me into certain classes that were required. Finally, one relented and let me into a foreign language class, which was a portable, and already had 40 students (I think the actual "legal" limit or whatever was 32). Being a month behind right from the start, I immediately began failing.
  Science class gas lines were cut and capped off, so we had no actual science-y shit to do. Biology was no better. No electives were available, so when capacity was full in everything, they shuffled the rest into Chorus.
  Of course the football team was thriving and was given first priority in everything. >
  
  Yeah. My high school was like this. Our textbooks were decades old, and we couldn't afford anything for our academic team that went to nationals and our choir that was national champs, but the football got a multi-million dollar practice facility to go 5-5 with. >
  
  This happened at a charter school. When it failed, they could turn to the public school. This is the issue with school choice. If you defund the public school and private and charter schools fail what will kids do then? >
  
  The kids will be S.O.L. >
  
  The company that runs this school got an extra 1.75 million in taxpayer money a year ago. Wonder where that went. >
  
  It didn't vanish, that's for sure. >
  
  Who would’ve thought that there would be a shortage of people signing up to be treated like human garbage? >
  
  If pedo DeSantis continues to want to track underage girls menstrual cycles, I'd get out of the education business too. At least in Florida. >
  
  Raise the pay, limit classroom sizes, and have admins support their teachers. On top of this, cut all the unnecessary bs that teachers have to deal with. >
  
  Teachers know how hard it is to teach children, even children who are “behind”. No teacher expects the classroom experience to be a walk in the park. What teachers don’t expect is how unsupportive administration is, how abusive parents are, and how crippling ed code and state/federal laws can be. Neither money nor training can fix these obstacles. >
  
  Three of my wife’s family whom I met over the holiday are teachers. One of them have been teaching at the same school for over 40 years. I overheard them discussing pay —- I make more than all 3 of them combined… I’m not flexing; I’m just kinda sad. >
  
  It’s like they ask “Besides paying people correctly, what can we do to keep them?” They know what will work but they don’t wanna do that >
  
  Pay them more and more will come >
  
  My stepfather is a teacher, he has a masters degree and makes $67k per year, which is the most anyone in his county can be paid.
  Why would anyone do that job? >
  
  50k in Florida with a Masters, I know you all are jealous. >
  
  Maybe stop treating teachers like garbage….
  Fund the schools….
  Fund the teachers…. Hmmm if only there was a clear way to fix the problems like maybe tax the multi multi multi billionaires to I don’t know make sure we can run society…. >
  
  Literally no one wants to try the opposite thing that will actually work. Triple the salary and double the required qualifications. Teaching should be a sought-after profession. >
  
  All part of the plan... >
  
  The reason I'm not a teacher isn't because I couldn't get the education, it's because I don't want to be one. It's not a job just anyone can do. >
  
  I'm old, so I remember the days when McCain said that US did not need educated teachers, we can have people with experience is some fields just talk of their experience.    So you are going to hire a Wall Street trader to teach math?   etc. >
  
  Hold on there, let me give you first hand experience:
  Thought my college career, including grad school, I was privileged to have former industry individuals as professors.
  It was insanely helpful.
  Those that strictly came from academia were also helpful in that they knew how to really hone in on the concepts, but the industry people were incomparable when it came to practical application and balancing theory with application, knowledge with practice.
  I don't know how or why, but I was in the final class for countless professors. I am super grateful for it. It's important to note that some were formally educated and some had training on the job and then a career in a specific area (such as metallurgy and then into teaching it).
  Formal education or not, those who had a successful career in a specific industry were PHENOMENAL professors. They also were wonderful at understanding when us students had to put work first and miss a class or assignment. That's not to say that it was routinely ok, but they were more understanding than those who were purely academic.
   
  I'm not saying that just ANYONE could be a teacher or would be a decent one, but those that I've come across, as both their student and then their colleague, who came from industry but not formal education, were actually amazing teachers.
  So, regardless of how people read what McCain said, regardless of what he meant (I wouldn't know), I'd happily hire someone successful in industry over someone purely from academia.
  Anyone can get a teaching credential (trust me, I had to deal with incompetent instructors all the time as their colleague), not just anyone can actually teach or teach with experience to back it. >
  
  I’d agree if this thread was about academia. High-school and before high school just isn’t academia. There’s no extra value to be had by having Stephen Hawking teach 6th grade math and science. A teacher who worked in the sciences, lets say a marine biologist, wouldn’t have many opportunities to work that in high school. While the stories of his work done from Japan to Egypt are better to have then not have, they surely are interesting and insightful, the full value of them is a bit wasted. Plus there’s not a chance in hell anyway with the pay difference. 
  For my Journalism minor all my teachers were at one point journalists. My photography teacher actively was and he was my favorite from that set. Generally, their firsthand experience correlated directly with what they were teaching. For my major though all my teachers were just academics. Philosophy and all. There must of been something worth it for the journalists to cut the journalism down to teach. I don’t think that thing, whatever it was for the each of them, would have been there in primary education. >
  
  There is a very simple way to get high quality qualified teachers who will give your children a quality education and give them a better chance at a good life. Know what it is? Fucking pay them good money!!!!!! Seriously, teachers should be at the very least just below engineeres in terms of pay. It should be considered a noble and well payed profession. Instead we pay them like untrained baby sitters. So of course that's what we're going to get. >
  
  Teachers fleeing the profession and the impending national teacher shortage is one of, if not the biggest, crisis the US will face in the next decade. And no one is talking about it!
  Teachers are quitting but also teaching programs in universities have low enrollment so there is no one to fill those positions for years to come. Lower teacher quality will impact student learning, leading to a less educated populace with less economic potential. 
  It’s no coincidence that there is almost a direct relationship between states with the highest education levels and the states with the highest GDP per capita. >
  
  Desantis and abbot just want to privatize education. Period, end of story. This is their end game and it’s super ugly for America. >
  
  Despite what the Florida Department of Education says,  Florida is short 5,300 teachers.
  Florida is so amazingly fucking backwards. It's a complete dump and a huge waste of federal tax dollars. The federal government should cut their loses and just give the entire state to China as punishment for the balloon. >
  
  It's about to go up with Desantis & Christopher Rufo basically in power. >
  
  Just a sign of the times: recently the /r/teachers subreddit re-directed all posts about resigning to a new subreddit, because they were dominating the feed >
  
  Yeah. I'm on r/teachers * r/TeachersInTransition. There was a new post almost every day from America. The teacher exodus is real. >
  
  Teaching is hard, and I only know this because of my wife.
  She gets paid a shitty salary, on top of which she has to regularly spend bits of that salary to buy materials for her classroom.
  Since she has begun her career, her school and district have been facing massive attrition in actual teaching staff, and it shows no signs of slowing down. 
  I think if people could see what an average classroom was like over the course of a month, they would be more comfortable paying a bit more in taxes if they knew it would go to the people actually teaching, and not more administrators nagging about the ridiculous amount of paperwork that often accompanies an average educators workload outside of creating lesson plans, doing the actual teaching, grading assignments, often dealing with and meeting parents, and general derision from so much of the public body that is under the impression that teachers are just brainwashing their children, not giving their child enough individualized attention, or are excessively involved in trying to tell the teacher what they should be doing for their child. That's just what I can think of off the top of my head.
  The educational system in the US is largely abysmal, and it's going to be bad if we do not as a population take steps to reverse course in a dramatic and profound way.
  Edit: I forgot to add that at least as far as my wife and her colleagues are concerned, they are often working anywhere from 55-65hrs/week, but only getting paid for 40, since much of what has to be done, both for planning as well as the incessant paperwork, must be attended outside of when they are at school doing the actual teaching.
  It's fucking insane. >
  
  Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma have created new pathways for people without a bachelor’s degree to teach in classrooms.
  JFC. >
  
  Super grateful that I couldn’t afford kids. >
  
  I don't understand why anyone would want to teach. I give credit to the ones that do. Teachers are so important but shit on constantly. >
  
  So we take away their power over their teaching material, their power over disaplining kids, their pay, their safety, etc. No wonder we cant find teachers. >
  
  Try raising salaries, supporting classroom facilities, keeping class size below 20, and protecting teachers from assholes in politics and school boards who are hell bent on ruining education. >
  
  Disrespect, micromanagement, low pay, inadequate supplies to work with.  What's not to like? >
  
  Arizona is mentioned as one of the states with a severe shortage of teachers. The average starting salary for a public school teacher in Arizona, according to Google, is $41,800. The average cost of an apartment in Phoenix is $1580/month. Literally half your salary would go to rent. Good luck. >
  
  When I got my starting salary going for My Masters with a bachelor already in hand, my starting salary was $29,000 due to being a teacher's apprentice. When I passed my three tests to become SPED certified, I went up to $40,500. When I completed my Masters Degree, my salary went up to $41,000. So, in a span of 2 years after completing a Masters, I went up literally $500 in salary after becoming a certified SPED teacher in Oklahoma. You can't afford crap in Oklahoma on $41K. >
  
  Yeah, this is a topic that I've got a lot of thoughts about - particularly since I'm a veteran that fully intended to teach after leaving the military.  Between all the hoops, the gate keeping, and the toxic parents (both liberal and conservative), at the end of the day the only enjoyable part of it was the limited amount of time spent actually teaching kids in a classroom.  All the other factors made it such an unpleasant experience I ended up leaving with my GI Bill funded Master in Education but without a teaching credential. >
  
  The problem has a very simple solution: RAISE PAY!
  This isn't complicated, teachers are leaving for better paying jobs. Typically in better paying school districts, but also in completely different careers. >
  
  Pay is a major issue but it's far from the only issue. One thing I don't see anyone talking about, as someone who is currently student teaching, is how difficult it is financially to become a licensed teacher. When student teaching you are expected to work what is basically a 45-50+ hour a week job for zero pay for 3 months while still needing to pay tuition. I've known people who gave up on teaching because student teaching wasn't financially viable for them. Hell, I can only do it because I'm currently living with my parents rent free. If I had to pay rent I'd give up on teaching. >
  
  I mean... that's a different facet of the same issue. 
  This hidden requirement of zero pay work in training is a pay issue! >
  
  It is a pay issue but it's a different type of pay issue I don't see people talking about. Simply raising teachers pay (which we do need to do) wouldn't fix this problem.