The American Teacher

I recently viewed the documentary called "The American Teacher". and/or talked about throughout the film. I just wanted to start off with a side note. I wanted to say that I think this is a terrible movie to show college Education students. I think that it might make some students want to change their major and that it might frighten some of them away from the position. I don't see the positives of Education students viewing this film. Aside from that, I was very shocked and upset by much of the statistics, percentages, and stories that were shared

Some of the stats that disturbed me are as follows:
-over 90% of teachers spend their own money on teaching supplies (one teacher in the film spent over $3,0000 on her classroom her first full year of teaching)
-An average teacher works 65 hours per week
-"almost all teachers work at least one weekend day and some work 2"
-31% of teachers have a second job, and if you include tutoring/coaching/advising into the stat, 62% of teachers have a second job
-20% of teachers in urban school districts quit every year
-46% of teachers in America quit before their fifth year

There are also several stories that were shared throughout the film that upset me. One teacher worked two jobs and coached, then, due to never being home and working all of the time trying to support his family, he lost his marriage, then later he quit coaching (even though he loved it) so that he could spend more time with his children. He said "it seemed like the most logical decision" since he got paid more to work his second job than he did coaching. The movie ended with a quote from another male teacher. This teacher had to quit teaching due to the low salary and he moved into real estate. Although he had to leave teaching, the movie ends with him saying "teaching is the best job in the world, there is no comparison". there are countless other stories throughout this film that showed teachers who had to quit teaching due to the low salary even though they all loved teaching. I think that it is absolutely terrible that so many teachers have to quit and get new jobs, all because the schools and government won’t pay them more.

The quote that stuck out to me the most from the film was said by one of the teachers. She said "You’re not going into this to be a missionary. You’re not going into this to live a life of poverty. You are going into this because you feel like you really can do something to make the world a better place by giving kids the chance that they need and deserve in order to succeed, but combined with that, you have to be able to feed your own family". I think that this quote really nails what the author of the documentary is trying to get across. I think that teachers should get paid more for their work, especially those who are excellent at what they do. No one in the high paying jobs in America would get hired there if they didn't at least have a high school diploma. Therefore, without teachers, no one would be making more than teachers, so teachers should get paid a lot more since they are responsible for providing people with the knowledge to do these higher paying jobs.