I have been proudly teaching for 20 years in Tennessee. While it has never been an easy job, I have generally felt appreciated. In return, I have tried to earn that appreciation. Professionally and personally, I need to say that I did my best to help my students, who now number more than 3,000 kids over my career. I am not alone; Tennessee is blessed with many teachers who truly take pride in what they do.
I know that those teachers must truly care for their students, because in recent years, they have had to put up with Tennessee legislators who have taken steps to “improve” education that have been nothing but masked animosity for teachers. The two most recent steps taken by state Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman concerning teacher salary continue this antipathy.
When I completed my master’s degree, it was one of the most important professional revitalization actions I could have ever taken. After my years in the classroom, I felt I needed to “stir my brain.” Graduate school was just what I needed. In my cohort at Middle Tennessee State University, we all worked toward toward our administration certification so we could help other teachers grow. I brought back new knowledge and insight to my classroom and I KNOW that it was a benefit to my students. I could see it in their improved performance.
The bump in pay for earning my master’s helped me pay for my degree, since I received no help from Metro to get it. It also gives me the chance to go after other professional opportunities that will enable me to help even more kids than the ones in my classroom, like being a principal.
This past spring, I filled in for my assistant principal while she was on maternity leave. I loved nearly all aspects of the job; I tried my best to be helpful to the entire school. I also am a member of my school’s leadership team. Because I now have more professional knowledge, more is expected of me. I embrace that.
The raises that teachers currently earn for advanced degrees enable them to be better professionals. That’s a small price for any school system to pay.
For Commissioner Huffman to cite studies showing no benefit from teachers earning advanced degrees is disingenuous. There are just as many studies that find the opposite. Furthermore, he sends the message that education is not valued. Is that what Tennessee stands for?
As for limiting the number of step increases a teacher receives, that’s just ridiculous. About half of all new teachers quit within the first three years — just as Huffman did when he was a teacher. Those first three years are where you really learn how to be a teacher. When teachers have taught as many years as I have, that experience pays off in student growth.
One of the few benefits that I had earlier in my career is the step increase. I knew that for the first 18 years, I would get a small bump each year. This helped with cost of living, and I always felt it was a reward for doing a good job.
Like many of my colleagues, I still seek to be the best teacher every year; I don’t sit on my laurels. I’ve topped out my salary schedule: no more raises until I hit 25 years. I’m not complaining; I knew the deal when I entered teaching. Yes, I could try for another degree, but it’d cost me family time and money to get it. And if I hope to get a bonus based on my students’ achievement, I am out of luck: There is no achievement test for my subject. That applies to about 60 percent of Tennessee teachers.
If I were a younger teacher, I would seriously consider teaching elsewhere. Why teach here when you can earn more money, and more respect, for doing the same job in a neighboring state?
Teachers are not driven by money. They know the salary when they start. But like you, they feel that their hard work and effort should be rewarded. If advanced degrees and salary scales aren’t honored in Tennessee, it will only be harder to find and hold on to teachers who will add to schools.
Chuck Cardona is the chairman of foreign languages at Nashville School of the Arts, Metro’s only magnet school dedicated to the integration of arts and academics.
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