Hey, Politicians — Get informed!

Happy Labor Day, Politicians —?

This is the time of year when we, as Americans, honor the contributions, achievements, and sacrifices of the workforce. Accordingly, I believe it is fitting for us to express our gratitude to teachers. Despite the fact that 300,000 of their colleagues have left the profession in the last two years, many teachers have stood fast and should be thanked for their commitment.

According to a NEA poll, 55% of teachers expressed an intent to leave the profession in the coming years. Sadly, we have placed a strain on our teaching force due to low wages, insufficient resources, toxic politics, a lack of support, and a lack of access to professional development — all of which policymakers should focus their attention on. Unfortunately, policymakers are floating ideas about reducing teacher certification requirements which have spread like wildfire.

To clearly state! Flooding classrooms with uncertified, inexperienced teachers who lack foundational content knowledge and adequate educational training will undoubtedly harm students' learning outcomes and jeopardize our national security. For this reason, I propose an alternative solution on behalf of all teachers across the nation — study?teachers' working conditions in order to understand their satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels.??

To accomplish this, I would like to draw your attention to Frederick Irving Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory. According to Herzberg, humans are motivated by two factors: motivators and hygiene factors (Depicted in the figure below). Hygiene factors are related to teachers' extrinsic needs, and improving hygiene factors will help to reduce their dissatisfaction level. Motivating factors, on the other hand, are related to the intrinsic needs of teachers and will help to increase job satisfaction.?

While we understand some politicians' "knee-jerk" reaction to the teacher shortage crisis, I would encourage policymakers to consult with their research institutions to get a better understanding of teachers' work conditions. Employing inexperienced, uncertified teachers may end up doing more harm than good. You will be better informed on the issue if you get to the root cause as to why teachers who have spent years in school preparing to teach the hearts and minds of our youth are leaving the profession earlier than they had planned.

P.S. — Just my two cents!