Wanna know why there is high turnover in young teachers?

A.K.A. my problems with WA State Teacher Certification. My goal with this blog post is mostly to vent so when I do my final class this fall, I don't have to drink heavily to get through it, like I did with the initiating class ("pre-assessment seminar").

And before anyone gets on my case here, I do know there are some changes in the works, one of which will partially correct my #1 complaint (but I would have to almost start from scratch if I wait until those changes go through so it won't be fixed for me).

Complaint #1: The minimum of $3000 I will have spent for classes that are pretty much useless. The pre-assessment and culminating seminar run about $1500 a piece (the "bookend" classes). These classes teach me a) how to put together a portfolio and b)adjunct professors don't know the difference between MLA and APA formatting. Because I finished my masters at another school, I don't have to take any other classes, THANK GOD, but other people do, which means that teachers with less than 5-10 years experience (i.e. the lowest on the pay grid) are paying upwards of $5000 JUST TO KEEP THEIR JOB. Yes, you get credits which pushes you up the pay scale, but it would take almost 10 years to make back the money you paid. Your other option is to do the National Board Certificate, which also costs $3500 out of pocket, and you have no guarantee that you'll get it!

There is no other profession that pays you just above the poverty line, then expects you to pay out of pocket for college classes that are exactly the same information you JUST LEARNED to graduate with your B.A. which brings me to my next complaint....

Complaint #2: They do not require older teachers to re-certify. We all know teachers that are respirating in the classroom to pad their pensions, who reminisce of classroom management styles that utilize a paddle. The state also does not require that your portfolio be reviewed by someone who specializes in your subject area. This means that I, with a masters from Northwestern, a GREAT music school, am having my effectiveness measured by someone who potentially has never even been IN a music classroom, while there are people who can't even attach a file to their email allowed to continue teaching (at a much higher rate of pay, I might add).

So politicians want a quick-fix to ineffective teaching. But then they implement a system that only affects the newest teachers, meaning it will take THIRTY YEARS to see how this certification program really affects student learning. If you want to see real change, make it a blanket across-the-board requirement to re-certify as of your next license expiration date.

Complaint #3: If we have to do the stupid thing, could we at least make the information correct and/or relevant? I hate to be "THAT" person in the class, but when the instructor told us the state wants a certain kind of formatting (APA) then shows us an example that is clearly not that style, I had to speak up. Because I'm sure as hell not going to let my license lapse because some nimrod adjunct can't read a formatting manual. It would also be nice if we could cover some material that we didn't already do in our undergrad. See complaint #2. At one university which shall remain nameless (but has a Cougar for its mascot), there are actually new teachers who literally turn in THE SAME PAPERS AND PROJECTS THEY DID IN UNDERGRAD. How does that prove they are effective teachers? Also, what the HELL are we doing with a tri-fold posterboard? I'm not in 7th grade, thanks.

Complaint #4: You have to be employed to do the class. Who has to do this stupid re-certification process? New teachers. Who is most likely to be laid off during a budget crisis? New teachers. Can you do either the Pro-Cert program or the National Boards when you have no job? No. When I was laid off from Longview, the best response I got was "well, maybe you'll get a long-term sub position and you can get your evidence and documentation from that?" and that was from the state superintendent's office. I was also told I could not use documentation from college classes I was teaching. So basically, I could not get my license renewed, but I could teach college. WTF??! So what do we tell all these new teachers who had the misfortune of graduating during the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression? Sucks to be you? Here's an extension? Hope your loans don't go into default before your license expires?

OK that's about all I have energy for. But I will say this....even with all these problems, I still would not choose to go through Oregon's certification process. =)

What is WITH this weather???!

You know, I grew up in Oregon. Southern end of the Willamette Valley, even, where the clouds like to just hang out between mountain ranges and SIT THERE. I'm used to the gray, I'm used to allergies, I even know that the Native American name for that valley translates to something like "Valley of Sickness". I went to college in Seattle, another place where clouds like to hang out. You know, like ALL WINTER (October through April, for those of you not living here). I get it. It rains here. Duh. We're close to the ocean. But it's July and it's 55 degrees at 11 in the morning. This is RIDICULOUS. It rained for almost the entire month of May. We went halfway through June before we got our first day this year where it was over 80 degrees.

Some people believe that the week or so of nice weather we get in August makes up for the rest of the year (or those random sunny days we get between storms from June through September). But even when it's warm enough outside, you go to any river or lake and spend 5 minutes in that fresh snow melt (and yes, the snow in places is still melting in June and July), and you're too numb to swim. The damp, not-quite-cold-enough winters make for fantastic breeding grounds for mold, mildew, mosquitoes, and then it'll get just sunny enough for all the swamp weeds to produce copious amounts of pollen, then rain again.

I miss being in Chicago in the summer, where you can go out at 10 pm in July and not need a coat. I miss California (and I only spent one summer there!) where the 3 days of rain sent everyone into a frenzy, even though it was still 80 degrees out. Then we didn't see another cloud for 3 months. I would take that nasty sticky humidity any day over needing a sweatshirt in the middle of the day in July.

And yes, I realize I am complaining A LOT. It doesn't help that it's cloudy right now, and my garden is still struggling to grow, and I'm STILL catching huge amounts of slugs. It doesn't help that the stupid people who sold us this house painted it GRAY. It's depressing. But writing about it helps me get it out of my system so I can go out and enjoy the 5 minutes of sunshine we'll get today.