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Why Millenials Are Quitting Teaching

By Drew Nelles, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 9, 2009 12:53 PM CDT

(Newser) – Sarah Fine arrived to teach at an inner-city school 4 years ago, ready to “‘give back’ after spending 22 years in a suburban, Ivy League bubble,” she writes in the Washington Post. Now, like so many other young teachers, she’s leaving—not just because she’s burned out, but also because she’s frustrated with how her profession is seen. In today’s ambitious generation, “it's unfathomable that anyone with real talent would want to stay in the classroom for long.”

“We are not used to feeling consistently defeated and systemically undervalued,” Fine says of her fellow Millenials, and until society considers teachers on par with doctors and lawyers, it’s the students who will suffer. “A teacher with experience is not always a good teacher,” she writes, “but a good teacher is always better after a few years of experience.”

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

Students at KIPP DC KEY Academy in Washington are rewarded on Fridays for behaving well, doing their homework or making academic gains. Rewards include wearing jeans on Fridays. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Davon Holmes, second from right, raises his hand to answer a question during his Spanish class at the KIPP DC KEY Academy in Washington, Friday, May 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Davon Holmes, left, reads during his Spanish class at the KIPP DC KEY Academy in Washington, Friday, May 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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My generation does seem to care a lot about Important Stuff ... We volunteer like our hair is on fire. When it comes to teaching, however, this fire only burns for so long. - Sarah Fine

Teaching is a grueling job, and without the kind of social recognition that accompanies professions such as medicine and law, it is even harder for ambitious young people like me to stick with it. - Sarah Fine

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 12 comments

Snarfeh

Aug 10, 2009 10:21 AM CDT

Everything I said makes sense. I know you are pretending otherwise because I have called you out on your elitist, bullshit bullying of someone who does not meet your criteria for being allowed to post here. No, I don't have a clue why she types and/or writes like she does and I don't care. You are not so stupid as to be unaware the "perhaps" list was to make the point that you don't know why she types and/or writes as she does, either, therefore, you should just move on to the next comment. Personally, I had no problem understanding her point and have never had a problem following her gist in other posts. Don't read her comments if you cannot comprehend them.

youngblood

Aug 10, 2009 10:04 AM CDT

Hey shona anger you must be the grammar police here on Newser, isn't that right?! You just love correcting other people's grammar don't you? You not only came down on me for my grammar but i see now you've come down on other people here also. So does it make you feel superior Dude to all of us inferior creatures to you that you can correct our writings? I know what it is, since you teach English it gives you a high to correct other people's grammar, makes you feel superior. You're a rude dude and you just need to get in the last work and why, because you are so insecure dude.

riffran

Aug 10, 2009 5:44 AM CDT

offspringdude.....if I could thumbs up more than once I would give you twenty. Between crappy student attitudes, lack of good patenting, and the making of the education system into a political battlefront, without real regard for the actuall students themselves...it's no wonder our education system has become a worldwide laughing stock

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