I recently bought my first house with my mother-in-law’s assistance. It’s not that I am irresponsible; I have a master’s in history and I am on a trajectory to receive a Ph.D.
In fact, the only way my wife and I could scrape up enough money to afford the payment was due to the pause in student loans, coupled with a generous family member.
Yet, the true hardship is dictated by my financial projection. My wife — who is an emergency room nurse — and I could barely save enough at the end of the month to bolster a savings account. It was with that bleak realization that we needed to make a change.
In January 2022, I sat with Mr. Dustin Cady, Manitou Springs Middle School principal and informed him that I would be stepping down as the sixth-grade social studies teacher. I explained that my wife had taken a job as a traveling nurse, and that we simply could not start a family with my teaching salary.
At this time, teaching has shifted from a solid profession to one wherein educators take out obligated debt to take a job where wages have stagnated for years, all while inflation and rent has risen around us.
Yes, it was with a heavy heart and some tears that I am leaving the profession. No, it was not the administration that was guilty.
The question of whether I feel supported by my administration at the middle school: absolutely. Principal Cady has been the most effective leader I have ever worked under in my 20 years of professional work.
In fact, this sentiment has extended way beyond me. Often, my co-workers will quip about our appreciation of Mr. Cady, or how many of us believe he is the best leader in El Paso education.
He is a dedicated professional who truly gives himself to the community, and is one of the few leaders I have ever witnessed who solicits feedback from his teachers and commits to improvement.
I am not the only MSMS educator in a similar situation.
Among the teachers who are leaving MSMS, they often point out that financial strain is leading to their movement out of education. Our sixth-grade science teacher has indicated that he is moving on for that reason, and the only factor that may have kept him was the support he received from Mr. Cady.
Other teachers are leaving to buy houses out of state, or to try to find a way out of debt —and they’ve all indicated that they are going to miss the MSMS culture and environment.
This is not to complain, this is to give a rationale for why educators are leaving the profession. In fact, through conversations in the hallways, younger teachers are feeling the pressures of an increasing debt load, and an understanding that if they continue to teach, they may never get out from under that burden.
The stark reality is that, if wages remain far outpaced by inflation, understaffed schools will become the norm.
In a previous guest editorial, the tactics outlined were simply outside speculation. I hope I provided a realistic perspective from inside the halls of one of the schools that is being debated.
The reality is the institution of teaching in the state of Colorado has fundamental flaws, and our administration is creating a terrific work environment despite these obstacles.