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Great Cities for Young Teachers in 2012

Brian Childs — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:34:03 +0000

Photos by Tulane Publications

Any individual has to consider many factors when moving to a new city, ranging from professional opportunities to quality of life. For a teacher, those facts might include job prospects, salary, school quality and any number of personal factors having to do with culture, landscape and taste. The great cities for young teachers listed in this article offer competitive salaries, good job prospects and also take into account other important factors that are often overlooked.

Due to the recent state of the economy, teacher layoffs have become very common, and it is difficult to finds a state or even a school district where some layoffs have not occurred in the last few years. And in most of the nation’s school districts, layoffs are determined by seniority, meaning that young teachers — regardless of passion and talent — are the first to go. While it is obvious that veteran teachers deserve respect, admiration and job security, a number of compelling arguments have been made against these rules. The cities listed in this article have all either managed to avoid the recent spate of layoffs and/or include factors other than seniority in their decision-making process.

1. Fort Worth, TX
Full time first-year teacher salaries begin at $45,405 in Fort Worth, with higher salaries offered to teachers in high-need areas. Texas has a particular demand for teachers of ESL, foreign languages, science, math and special education. And while many of the nation’s school districts have been forced to lay off teachers to meet budgetary needs, Fort Worth has recently managed to avoid making any cuts by offering a retirement incentive program.

2. Phoenix, AZ
The average teacher salary in Arizona is $46,378, according to the National Education Association. Arizona has a particular need for ESL and math teachers, with shortages in some other areas as well. And Arizona is one of eight states that have legislated against first in, last out layoff decisions, providing effective young teachers with a degree of job security.

3. Washington, D.C.
Washington D.C. teachers average higher salaries than teachers in any of the 50 states, with an average of $62,557, according to the NEA. The District’s controversial IMPACT program rewards highly effective teachers with bonuses as large as $25,000 and yearly salary increases as high as $20,000. While those numbers are attractive, they come at the expense of a certain degree of job security as teachers rated as ineffective risk quickly losing their jobs.

4. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
According to the NEA, the average teacher salary in Oklahoma is $43,846, which may not sound impressive. But Oklahoma also has one of the lowest cost-of-living indices in the nation. When adjusted for cost-of-living, Oklahoma teachers make more money than most U.S. professionals. The city is also home to one Newsweek’s most highly rated high schools in the nation, Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. Oklahoma has a particular need for teachers in the areas of business, math, science, English, foreign languages, music and special education. Oklahoma has also passed legislation prohibiting layoff decisions from being made solely on the basis of seniority.

5. Colorado Springs, Colorado
The average teacher salary in Colorado Springs is $46,000. Colorado teacher shortage areas include foreign languages, math, natural sciences, music and special education. Colorado prohibits school districts from making first in, last out layoff decisions, and Colorado Springs ranks 15th on Parenting.com’s 2011 list of the best cities for families.

6. Toledo, Ohio
The average teacher salary in Ohio is $50,314. With a graduation rate of 86.7 percent, is it any wonder Toledo is one of Parenting.com’s top ten cities for education? Ohio teacher shortages exist in the areas of art, English, foreign languages, math, science, social studies and special education. And Ohio has banned first in, last out layoffs, so when layoffs do occur, effective young teachers will have a degree of security.

7. Boise, Idaho
The average teacher salary in Idaho is $45,178, according to the NEA. Boise even makes Dailyfinance.com’s list of the the ten best U.S. cities for raising a family, due in part to generous education funding. According to that website, 92.8 percent of Boise’s adults hold high school diplomas, ranking it eighth in the nation for high school graduation. Idaho has teacher shortages in many areas including art, English, economics, literacy, math, health and music. Like most of the other states on this list, Idaho has banned first in, last out layoffs to protect the jobs of effective beginning teachers.

Year-Round School Pros and Cons

Catie Watson — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:16:00 +0000

Photo by Brent Danley

Many school districts are faced with the problem of a growing student population coupled with a shortage of school facilities and limited funds for new facilities. In response, some districts are adopting or looking into year-round education (YRE). In addition to maximizing the use of existing schools for larger numbers of students, some education experts claim that year-round school improves student learning.

With YRE, students attend school for the same number of days each year (180 days, according to the U.S. Department of Education), but school breaks are arranged differently. A popular YRE calendar uses a 60-20 plan, with students attending school for 60 days and then going on break for 20. Other popular plans include 45-15 and 80-40. The common element with YRE calendars is that students attend school throughout the year and, instead of the three-month summer break, have several smaller breaks interspersed.

Most schools that need to maximize facility usage implement a “multitrack” YRE calendar that assigns different breaks to different groups of students and teachers. At any given time, there is always at least one group on break. According to the California Department of Education, using a multitrack year-round calendar can allow a school to enroll up to 50 percent more students. Schools that use a “single track” YRE calendar (with all students taking the same breaks) usually have done so to eliminate the long summer break.

There are advantages and disadvantages to year-round school. Here is a breakdown of the pros and cons of year-round school as presented by education experts.

Pros to Year Round Education:

- For schools with facility shortages, a multitrack year-round calendar increases school capacity.

- Year-round schools support continuous learning. Educators have long noted that student retention suffers during the long summer break and many believe that shortening school breaks will improve student achievement.

- Year-round school can replace summer school, which many districts have cancelled due to budget cuts. For students who traditionally attend summer school because they need remediation, year-round school allows remediation to be addressed throughout the year.

- With a traditional calendar, most teachers spend several weeks at the beginning of the school year reviewing the previous year’s work. Shorter breaks allow this review time to be reduced.

- Teacher and student stress is reduced by the frequent breaks provided by a year-round calendar.

- Many families appreciate the opportunity to take vacations throughout the year.

- Children from disadvantaged families who may be at risk during long summer breaks with unscheduled time on their hands benefit from shorter breaks.

Cons to Year Round Education:

- Multitrack year-round calendars eliminate the idea of a single class using a single classroom. More storage space is usually required for students and teachers.

- Multitrack year-round calendars place additional demands on school support staff and on cafeteria, custodial and maintenance services.

- Special accommodations must be made for annual school events like graduation and parent conferences.

- Teachers who traditionally continue their own education during the summer break need to find alternative forms of education and training.

- Working parents may find it harder to find childcare for shorter breaks during the year than for the long summer break, when summer camp and other full-time activities are available.

- Families with children in different schools or districts may be faced with conflicting school break schedules.

- Many adults, both parents and non-parents, believe that children learn valuable life lessons by attending summer camp or working during long summer breaks.

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According to the National Association for Year-Round Education (NAYRE), more than 2 million students attended a year-round school in the 2006-07 school year (that last year for which figures are available). Despite anecdotal evidence from teacher and parents about the academic benefits of year-round schools, the evidence is inconclusive. Until there is more research on the benefits of YRE, school districts will have to weigh the year-round school pros and cons when deciding if it’s time to make the switch.

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Top 10 Movies for Teachers

David Winters — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:08:47 +0000

Photo by Indri Rizal

If you are an education student looking for a pick-me-up, a teacher looking to learn something in your off hours or just looking for a good flick, these 10 movies about teaching will keep you riveted. Ranging from Hollywood dramas to inner-city documentaries, they all tell stories you aren’t likely to forget. These aren’t just melodramas about heroic teachers or documentaries about the failure of American schools, these are exceptional films inspired by the stories of extraordinary teachers and administrators in a less than perfect system. By the time you’re finished with these 10 films, you might just be so inspired you will want to become a teacher yourself.

1. Stand and Deliver
Ramon Menendez’s 1988 film tells the true story of East L.A. high school teacher Jaime Escalante, who struggled to channel his students’ attention away from the streets and into calculus. Edward James Olmos received an Oscar for best actor for his career-defining performance in the film, while Estelle Harris and Mark Phelan are riveting in supporting roles. Escalante’s story and teaching methods are a perfect illustration of why American students need more great teachers.

2. Mad Hot Ballroom
Marilyn Agrelo’s 2005 documentary about a ballroom dance competition for fifth grade public school students in New York City combines skillful film-making with children’s magnetism to remarkable effect. While teachers and education students will have little difficulty picking out the places in most movies on this list where the filmmakers took a little poetic license, this documentary is able to tell a stunningly moving story without a single actor.

3. The Dead Poets’ Society
Peter Weir’s 1989 period drama (set in 1959) was nominated for four academy awards, one of which Tom Schulman’s screenplay won. Robin Williams gives a virtuoso performance in one of his first serious roles, as an English teacher who engages his students by challenging educational orthodoxy. Schulman’s script drew heavily on his experiences as a teacher, and his success as a writer should be an inspiration to any teacher who feels that they have a story to tell.

4. Waiting for “Superman”
The most current and controversial entry on this list of movies about teachers, Davis Guggenheim’s 2010 documentary is unflinching examination of the challenges facing the U.S. public education system. The film offers Geoffrey Canada and his Harlem Children’s Zone as one model of a solution to those challenges, which have been successful in increasing the academic performance of students in a high-need area. While this movie about teaching makes an important contribution to the education reform debate, some critics have faulted it for failing to explore all aspects of the situation.

5. The Lottery
Madeleine Sackler’s 2010 documentary follows four children in Harlem and the Bronx who have been entered in a lottery to gain admission to charter schools, which offer a lucky few much better education than other public schools. By examining the perspective of unionized teachers, this movie about teachers offers an important counterpoint to Waiting for “Superman”.

6. Lean on Me
John G Avildsen’s 1989 film about real-life principal Joe Clark stars the electrifying Morgan Freeman in his first leading role. Freeman’s character is charged with turning around a failing public high school in danger of being shut down by the state of New Jersey, a feat which he accomplishes through controversial and arguably authoritarian methods. Though perhaps heavy-handed in its message, the movie serves as an important reminder that setting clear behavioral boundaries is a necessary part of creating a safe learning environment.

7. Blackboard Jungle
Richard Brooks’s film may be the originator of a genre casting teachers in high-need schools as heroes. Though the film’s portrayal of education in an urban environment may seem tame or dated by today’s standards, it made quite an impact in 1955. Richard Dadier’s (Glenn Ford) effort to educate unruly students, including Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier) and Artie West (Vic Morrow), provoked teenagers to dance in the aisles. It also popularized Bill Haley and the Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock”, one of the first rock n’ roll songs to achieve commercial success by reaching a white audience.

8. The Miracle Worker
Arthur Penn’s 1962 film about Helen Keller’s education is refreshing in that it wonderfully narrates a dramatic true story about a teacher changing a pupil’s life outside of the “heroic teacher in inner-city school” genre. Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, who also starred in the stage version of “The Miracle Worker,” were lauded by critics for the emotional power of their performances. While this is not a traditional classroom teacher story, the central messages are universal: Students will learn when educators challenge themselves to engage emotionally, and all young people can overcome even the most serious obstacles to achievement.

9. The Great Debaters
Denzel Washington directed and starred in this period drama about Melvin B. Tolson, a significant modernist poet, English professor and debate-team coach at a small college in Texas during the 1930s. The film highlights Tolson’s successful effort to turn the debate team into national contenders, while attempting to keep them out of his underground civil rights activism.

10. The First Year
Davis Guggenheim’s 2001 PBS documentary, which follows five teachers through the struggles and triumphs of their first year, should be required viewing for students of education. Without the drama or cinematic flair of Hollywood movies about teaching, the stories of these five teachers in L.A.’s challenging school system capture the viewer’s attention through their humanity. The film particularly explores how and why people choose to become teachers, and may leave you wondering how to become a teacher yourself.

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