Male Elementary Teachers...

This was another interesting snippet from NPR today at lunch (Talk of the Nation). It was the lack of male teachers (less than 10%) in elementary schools. My father was an elementary teacher (who later became a principal) as well as my maternal grandfather (same story).

The recent consensus was that men don't go into teaching at the elementary level due to the perceived lack of "respect" and financial gains. It's true that many men fear that going into that profession is possibly weaker than pursuits in more male mainstream professions such as medicine, engineering or construction. But what a waste of talent that is not being given the right opportunities to share their abilities as full-time teachers.

Many of the callers commented that they were single moms who wanted a male teacher for their children so that they may have a steady male role model available to them in their lives. It seems reasonable to me that this would be a great avenue for men to serve (indirectly, though).

One of the "roadblocks" as point of discussion was the perception of safety - as if a man who is interested in teaching at the elementary level would somehow be equated to a pedophile. Amazing that our lives have been shattered so grandly by so few to the point that men would rather just stay away than serve. The guest even commented that it was socially safer for a boy scout leader to take a bunch of kids into the woods for a weekend than it was to have a professional male educator in front of the classroom.

And I use the term "serve" very generously here - you don't go into teaching to become financially wealthy. Many men can make much more doing work that doesn't require the same level of training or education (or the BS involved). For example: the starting wages for a first year teacher in the Boise area is around $30k (or roughly $14.50/hr) and still requires at least a 4-yr degree and a strong push towards a masters. By contrast, an architectural drafter with a 2-yr degree from ITT can start at $14/HR and within two to three years be around $18/HR ($37k) and by 5-8 years be around $20-22/HR ($45k).

Plus, as added insult in this example, after 8 years in the State of Idaho, that drafter can sit to take the ARE (architectural registration exam) to become a licensed architect. A Project Architect can be making north of $80k with 15 year's experience. All on 2-YR's of official college education. A teacher with their masters and several credits past that would only be knocking on $40-50k/yr with infinite more headaches for the salary for the same amount of time in service.

As someone who is linked to so many outstanding people in this line of work - those that undertake this challenge of educating our youth are truly called to service not unlike being called to the clergy. It's a service whose rewards are not tied to monetary compensation, but to those experiences in investing directly into our youth. It is a sad commentary on our social values that we do not recognize the importance of this and set our priorities straight. God knows that no one in our current leadership (government, business, etc) got there without a quality education.