Introduction

Introduction

Teachers deserve the opportunity to be promoted to a new job title and to earn a salary that reflects their contribution and skills as they demonstrate quality and experience. Teachers should have a choice to pursue promotion or to remain at their current rank. Most professions have pathways of promotion to higher ranks, with each rank having a unique job title and increased salary. 

Ranked Promotion Examples

For example, in nursing, one can start at the rank of Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) ($33,000) or Licensed Practical Nurse ($51,000) and work to become a Registered Nurse (RN) ($74,000) followed by an Advanced Practical Nurse (APN) or Nurse Practitioner (NP) (averaging $105,000 - 173,000). Typical promotion ranks in software engineering are software engineer (L1), senior engineer (L2), staff engineer (L3), principal engineer (L4), and distinguished engineer (L5). University teachers also have the opportunity for promotion: instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, full professor, distinguished professor. 

Legacy of Non-Promotion for Early Childhood and K - 12 Classroom Teachers

Classroom teachers work in a legacy system in which they remain at the same job title rank indefinitely, as a lead or certified teacher, from initial hiring to retirement. They can influence their salary by moving to a different state or district, by pursuing advanced degrees beyond initial licensure and by accumulating years of experience, but they cannot receive a promotion that changes their job title and elevates them to a higher rank. 

As a result, the public generally values all teachers similarly and homogeneously because there is no other level beyond "teacher" to create distinction and identify higher value. If distinction and higher value could be identified and communicated to the public, the perception of teachers would shift from one of homogeneity to containing levels of distinction. The public, and employers, are willing to pay more for clearly identified levels or ranks of skill as shown in every other major profession. 

There are financial and psychological differences between working in a profession with a ranked promotion system versus a job that has no prospect of promotion, other than to change jobs. In a system without promotion 1) salaries are generally lower, 2) turnover rates are generally higher (causing a financial burden to constantly train and retrain new employees while also keeping quality low for customers), 3) employees feel undervalued, further contributing to low morale.

Jobs with no path for promotion are avoided by the most talented college students and by career change candidates. The most talented college students and prospects choose career paths that provide continuous opportunity for professional and financial growth and avoid career paths in which professional and financial growth stagnate.  

Result of Teacher Non-Promotion

Non-promotion in the teaching profession is likely related to these issues:

1.  An average salary 50% less than than the cost to support a family of four in the middle class

2. A teacher quitting rate of around 50% within the first five years 

3. Both lower quality and fewer applicants to teacher preparation programs

4. A national teacher shortage. 

For children, this means that the quality of their education is often vastly different from one year to the next. The quality of schools as a whole can change dramatically in just a few years because excellence is difficult to recruit in the first place and then very difficult to maintain over time. 

Solution

Meaningful promotion needs to be available to all lead and certified teachers within three years of starting employment, which most professionals in other major industries already experience.