Motivation for Teachers: Part 2 of a Series

What motivates teachers? Teachers in general tend to be individuals who care deeply about kids. For a good working environment, teachers need a community that supports them in the hard work that goes into producing educated students ready for success in the real world. Teachers also need supportive administration willing to help them work through any difficult issues that arise. Our salaries are a motivating factor also, and in the real world a very important one. Teachers are professionals who deserve to be treated as such, and that includes pay.

This is a second email I received at work from another teacher concerning the financial state of the Mehlville School District. For those of you who are unaware, our district is facing a serious financial crisis. The district has chosen to make cuts and balance the budget by freezing teacher salaries. Obviously, moral is now low, and teachers are questioning whether or not the community supports us at all. Here is an email response of one OHS teacher to his union president who urged us to vote for having our salaries frozen.

"Thank you Christine for keeping us informed.

Of the many things in the email that struck me, I only wanted to comment on one. XXX(union president) stated, " The majority has learned something from the threats Dr. Ricker made which got us nowhere except farther behind. " As a teacher and a parent, I have learned that threats are a useless tool if they are not followed with action. If I tell my child that if he jumps on the bed one more time, he will have to sit in the corner, and then if he jumps, and I do not make him sit, he will lose respect for me, and more importantly, he will learn that he can get away with anything. As a parent in this district, I have learned not to believe what the district states it will cut because of its idle threats made in the past. As a teacher in the district, I have learned not to believe the promise that better packages may come along in the future because after over seven years teaching in the district, my salary is still one of the lowest in the county. The 6 percent raise I received last year did not make up the dropped step a few years ago. If this package is accepted, is the district going to make sure that I will get my lost step in the future?

My children go to school in the district, and I want the best for them, and I am tired of great staff leaving because of better pay and benefits in another district. We have a great staff, and I want them to stay here and not have the exodus like we had when I first arrived where we lost seven English teachers to different districts in three years.

I voted no because I don't feel that teachers salaries should be the first thing cut in a financial crisis. Not only does that hurt in the short term with staff moral, but also in the long term as staff leave, and as a single parent and a teacher, I want the best for my kids and the best for my students. I was told that we have the board and the administration on our side. Is my union? "

As you can see, there is much frustration in our teaching staff. We love working here, but the pay is so horrible, people leave after they learn the ropes, and so our investment into young teachers is lost as they move to other districts with higher pay (9 -10,000 dollars more on average). I'll post another issue tomorrow.
Fortunately, summer is almost here. I've started listening to audiobooks when working. If you have an ipod, check out the audiobooks site:

Summer Listening. Audiobooks for your iPod. Download now on iTunes.