LETTER: Teachers need respect, deserve to be kept

To the editor:

Teacher turnover through resignation or retirement is at an all-time high in most Wisconsin school districts. Traditionally, about one-half of new teachers seek another career in the first five years in the profession. Many find teaching more difficult than originally anticipated, and with society’s harsh criticism and lack of public support, other professions become more attractive.

The proclamation that teacher turnover is good because new, inexperienced teachers bring energy and enthusiasm to the profession and that the district can save money by paying entry-level salaries is without merit. Energy and enthusiasm are only a small part of being a good teacher. A good teacher is a professional who has mastered the subject matter to be taught, but equally important, the art of teaching. The exit of senior professional teachers denies new teachers the opportunity to grow by sharing in their cumulative knowledge of educational best practices.

Classroom management, individualized instruction, discipline, motivational techniques, teaching at a level that reaches all children, effective parent contact, grading, dealing with administrative expectations, good peer relationships are skills largely learned from senior teachers. That exchange is critical to new teachers’ success.

The question needs to be asked — Would you engage the services of a law firm or medical institution where most of the employees are recent graduates from a training institution and there is little senior staff to share judgment and experience?

With the demise of the American family and the coarsening of our culture, children present themselves to the school with a host of needs that must be addressed. Sometimes the children must be cleaned and soiled clothes replaced. Nutrition and medical attention are critical. Counseling to handle the issues of abuse, parent abandonment and neighborhood conflict must be dealt with before instruction can take place.

The dedicated Wisconsin teachers, who daily face the abandonment and neglect of our children, deserve our admiration and respect.

Herbert J. Grover, Gresham

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