Re: Howard Voss' Testimony

["Daniel L. MacIsaac" <Dan.MacIsaac@NAU.EDU>]

> No doubt that low salaries KEEP many out of the teaching profession, but for
> those who enter but stay only a few years, I suspect that the money isn't
> the primary reason they leave since they did know the pay structure before
> entering the profession (as did we ;-).
>
> Rick
Problem is, people get married, have children, fall ill, and other
circumstances change (like they have a sanity attack for instance)
and long-term financial martyrdom loses its appeal.  Or one's spouse
wises one up.   Charity might not be sustainable in the long term,
no matter how initially well-intentioned.  This has happened to two of my
better graduates who taught physics for one year each and left for $$ after
changes in lifestyle like marriage.  Most of my newly graduated teachers
are undergoing major changes of this sort (marriage, children, home buying)
in their lives at exactly the same time they enter the profession.  I'm
impressed as many stick with it as do.

I'm not saying there aren't other problems attracting and retaining people
in the profession of science teaching.  However, low salaries are a VERY
GREAT problem which must be addressed before we have any hope of reversing
the trends we are now encountering.

Dan M

Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
danmac@nau.edu          http://purcell.phy.nau.edu         PHYS-L list owner