More Coffee, Please

The more I see of traditional graduations the more I applaud the MC² model. Sitting through Keene State’s four hour long graduation was enough to kill anyone—even the bravest and most dedicated soul was feeling the heat.

Still, I like KSC graduations, if only because it gives me a chance to connect with my old teachers. I’m usually greeted by the same question, which is both nice and (in its own way) troubling:

“What are you doing? Working on your doctorate yet?”

Tough question. There’s no point, so the answer is always the same: “No.” There’s always a little surprise in the answer—most of my teachers assumed I’d be heading off to graduate school shortly after finishing my degree. I never bothered; it’s not worth spending the money for a degree when I know won’t matter teaching at the high school level. It’s much cheaper to improve my skills and my abilities one class at a time, and as much as I dislike math, I’m not completely fiscally irresponsible.¹

Of course, the flip side of all this is that if I did decide to improve my education, if I do decide to go for that Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric, then it would mean I was gone. I’d be off to teach in a college somewhere, and in six or so years (or less) nobody in the district would ever remember I was here.

And it happens all the time. Teachers with the best ability tend to leave², and why wouldn’t they? The simple fact is that there are kids who need help, there are students who need to be taught everywhere, and when it comes to teaching, every teacher has a few options—stay, or go elsewhere, serve people who need just as much help—but in a community willing to support education.

Which is why it’s so vital that the special election goes through, and the district votes for the teacher contracts. The standard refrain, “if teachers really love the kids, money shouldn’t matter” doesn’t hold water. There are always students who need help, always young men and women who need guidance and help.

So what makes a prospective teacher want to work in this district? They can go down the road and make an additional $4,000—why wouldn’t they? To a teacher with no connection with this district, who has no idea what makes the MRSD any different than Keene or Bellows Falls or Peterborough or Hinsdale, why would they choose to come here?

And then spin it around—why would a teacher choose to stay? How many years have to go by before they say, “this is crazy” and just move on? Two? Three? Four?

I’d say we’re there already. I love this town, I love this district, and I’ve no desire to help any kids other than those in this district. I grew up here, my parents live here, and I’ve no desire to go anywhere else—and yet there are other options.

If I’m thinking this, who else is?

1 My choice of profession makes it seem otherwise, I know… ↺

2 For the record, I test ridiculously well. ↺

Gregarious

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