K-12 Confidential
Even before the pandemic lock-downs, American teachers from sea to shining sea reported a critical shortage of teachers within their ranks, and have watched in horror at the crippling levels of greed, arrogance, apathy, and ignorance at every level of K-12 educational governance. While embattled teachers have continued to try in vain to draw attention to the issues, our leaders have failed to acknowledge the problems at all. But since covid, the nation’s teachers have borne witness to a break neck hastening pace of this downward spiral–and a total avoidance of a conversation from our leaders.
This a-political podcast, created and produced exclusively by teachers, gets into the nitty gritty details of why teachers are leaving the profession in droves, and uncovers huge contributing structural problems baked into the teaching profession which are not discussed or understood even within the K-12 educational world, which also explain why so much of what is done in K-12 is ineffective. These desperate, passionate, highly qualified teachers use this podcast series to insert teachers forcefully into the national conversation about the critical issues plaguing K-12 education, because no one else was letting them in–a fact which belies a central thesis about the roots of the problems discussed throughout the episodes. Listeners will be gripped by the reality that without substantial reforms which empower teachers to lead the work, the inevitable result is a collapse of our very ability to effectively self-govern–a process which they argue is already well underway.
Listen as they describe the problems in teacher pay, teacher preparation requirements, special education, climate and culture, reading instruction, the false promise of existing DEI based frameworks in K-12, and the problems inherent in outsourced canned curriculums. Become a part of the solution as they outline a framework to authentically fix these problems, which require all hands on deck from both inside and outside of K-12 education.
K-12 Confidential
Episode 10. The Teacher Pay Mess: An Interview with an Expert
This episode of K-12 Confidential features an interview with Dr. Paul Bruno, a distinguished assistant professor of education policy. The discussion focuses on the complexities of teacher compensation, highlighting evidence that higher salaries significantly impact teacher recruitment and retention. The speakers emphasize the need for differential teacher pay and challenges the outdated step and column salary structures. Throughout, it advocates for the formation of a national K-12 educator governing board to address these systemic issues and empower teachers to lead their profession from within. The episode also covers the broader socio-economic challenges teachers face, including high living costs and the inadequate social safety net.
00:00 Introduction to K-12 Confidential
00:31 Meet Dr. Paul Bruno
01:36 The Teacher Pay Mess
01:44 Challenges in K-12 Education
02:17 Teacher Shortages and Pay Disparities
03:53 The Complexity of Teacher Compensation
11:58 Differential Pay and Teacher Assignments
14:03 The Role of Veteran Teachers
46:43 Impact of Housing Costs on Teacher Retention
53:06 The Broken Social Contract
54:27 Introduction and Welcome
00:31 Introducing Dr. Paul Bruno
01:36 The Teacher Pay Mess
03:53 Challenges in Teacher Compensation
11:53 Differential Pay and Teacher Incentives
46:43 The Impact of Housing Costs on Teacher Pay
54:20 Conclusion and Call to Action
We need more teacher voices to this this justice! Visit us at k-12confidential.com to request to speak on the podcast.
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