Teacher troubles

United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has announced his resignation this morning, effective Sept. 17. The NY Times has a story, and not surprisingly the blogosphere is abuzz with people leaping in to declare their opinions on Gonzo ("it's about time", "a good man hurt by a hyperpartisan atmosphere"), potential successors, who not to confirm, will there be a recess appointment. or maybe a long list of nominations who are expected to fail confirmation, thus keeping a "temporary" replacement in the position for the rest of the Bush term, and so on.

I'd provide links, but they aren't hard to find. You can't wander anywhere through political blogs today without tripping on something about this story, a state likely to remain true for the next few days as well.

However, there was another article in the Times today I found more interesting, and ultimately far more significant than the resignation of a man who seemed fortunate if he remembered to tie his shoes in the morning, and was the living embodiment of the Peter Principle.

It's not news there is a dearth of capable teachers in this country for the "hard" classes - things like, say, engineering, science and math (rather than cloth). It's also not a surprise this lack hits hardest in areas where qualified teachers are most needed - struggling schools in poor areas, such as inner cities.

However, I at least wasn't aware of exactly how bad the situation has become. The article talks about how school districts are spending as much as $7 billion trying to recruit candidates from across the nation. It mentions $10,000 bonuses for teachers signing on to teach Algebra, money to help with house down payments, of districts being short hundreds of teachers as schools open for the fall, of schools without any certified math teachers.

Apparently two factors are combining to create the problem:

1. A large number of teachers from the "baby boomer" generation approaching (or already having reached) retirement.

2. New teachers leaving teaching at unprecedented rates.

The article cites a study (full study results available here) finding nearly a third of all new teachers are gone after three years, nearly half gone after five years. Unsurprisingly, the turnover is worst at low-income schools. New teachers come in full of ideals and hope, are chewed up by the meat-grinder of reality, and spit back out disillusioned and dissatisfied, looking for new careers. Preferably ones that actually pay salaries commiserate with the amount of work they do ... and anyone who thinks "hey, they work normal weeks and get summers off" has no clue as to how much work good teachers have to put in on evenings and weekends.

In the back of my mind I've hoped to be in a position by my mid-50's where I could afford to leave industry and work as a math or computer science teacher, preferably at some inner-city school ... apparently, not having gone through the grinder yet, I still have some ideals. I may have to take the leap sooner.

A museum for everyone

The creation museum has opened in Petersburg, KY, and has been placed at the very top of my "things to do" list the next time I find myself in the area.

The museum cost $27 million to build, and features animatronic dinosaurs amongst a host of other exhibits. Apparently, our forefathers used saddles to ride triceratops, something I most definitely did not know before seeing this picture (other pictures of the museum can be found here). The pictures come accompanied with this description of a visit to the place.

How could anyone pass this up? For die-hard, conservative Christians and committed Creationists, it would seem this is a must-see for the purported "educational" value. For others such as myself, it's must-see for the heights of unintentional comedy it scales. (I easily reach Serious Funny, bordering on Wicked Funny).