Florida teachers are among lowest paid in country. So much for Teacher Appreciation | Opinion
Driving by my granddaughter’s school the other day, I noticed the grounds dotted with colorful signs that carried a heartfelt message: Teachers are awesome. Show them your appreciation.
The placards were likely pounded in place to commemorate the celebration of educators. For one week every May, we fete classroom workers with special lunches, cute gifts and sentimental cards. The annual honor is observed just as the school year is winding down and summer beckons.
The signs I spotted should’ve made me smile. They should’ve warmed my heart for the rest of the day. Instead, I white-knuckled it home, angry at the hypocrisy of the words. When it comes to education, and teachers in particular, society doesn’t walk the talk. Not. Even. Close.
Teacher Appreciation Week, when we pay lip service to an underappreciated and underpaid group of professional workers, has long past, but the problems we have in attracting and retaining talent remain. Actually, those problems are festering into a slow-motion crisis that will affect us all, not just children.
It should come as no surprise that teachers are walking away, burnt out, fed up and brokenhearted. Consider some of these recent headlines from around the country:
Ohio teachers quitting: Resignations nearly quadruple in 2021
The mental health crisis causing teachers to quit
Why NC teachers are quitting mid-year and leaving schools
Teachers leave Texas classrooms in record numbers
Great teacher shortage: Many teachers changing careers
Florida teachers are quitting their job in droves.
Numbers prove it. In a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the paper found that the number of people quitting work in “educational services“ had grown faster than in any other industry.
I don’t blame them for walking away from a career I’m sure they began with hope and passion and desire to do good. They’re expected to do so much with so little and often in such fraught circumstances that I’m amazed they want to face other people’s kids for 180 days a year. After all, have you seen the news reports of parents bullying and attacking teachers? Do you know how little they earn for work that requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree?
Florida teachers are among lowest paid in U.S.
My home state of Florida, for example, ranks almost last in the country in school teacher pay. A new National Education Association report revealed that the average Florida public school teacher makes only about $51,000, which puts the Sunshine State 48th in teacher compensation nationwide. We do a little better for beginning teachers (16th in the country), but that’s small comfort when we want to keep veteran educators in the classroom.
It’s not just low pay that keeps teachers away. Working conditions — lack of parental and administrative support, anemic benefits, long hours — are right up there too. The strain of pandemic teaching was the final coup de grâce for many.
Two teacher friends quit at the end of last school year, after decades of tireless commitment to a career they loved. One of them wasn’t even near retirement.
Just last week I found out that the daughter of a friend will leave teaching for a corporate job. “She loved the kids,” the friend said, “but she couldn’t make the rent.”
How we spend our money is irrefutable proof of what we value. Words (and lawn signs) aren’t enough. They’re certainly no substitute for real, measurable action. If educating the future generation is one of the most important jobs a society undertakes, shouldn’t we properly reward those who do it?
Ana Veciana-Suarez writes about family and social issues. Email her at avecianasuarez@gmail.com or visit her website anavecianasuarez.com. Follow @AnaVeciana
