Utah teachers for hire

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It is always a proud moment for me to see graduates of our programs at Weber State. In particular, I'm proud of those students who suffer through my own courses in physics or science teaching, often going on to graduate school in one discipline or another, or medical school or other professional endeavors. Most of all, I'm proud of those students who have diversified their training so far as to have educated themselves in the sciences and in education, culminating the experience with student teaching.

I'm confident that the future of our society is in the hands of these graduates who elect to enter the classrooms of our public schools.

At the end of student teaching experiences, I am fortunate enough to get to sit down with students and talk about what they've learned and where they're going. It's always striking to me and others how much these students "grow up" through their experiences at Weber State, and especially in their experiences as student teachers. There's a transformation that takes place; and as I see us training more and better science teachers, I see more and more what an impact they make in the lives of their students.

But what particularly struck me the other day as I was interviewing six of our graduates was not so much that they all either had jobs or job prospects for the following fall, but that two of these six had accepted jobs in Texas. Yeah, Texas. One of the students explained this to me as he sported his Utah Jazz jersey, an avid and loyal fan, getting ready to pack his bags for a Houston suburb. He didn't go into job interviews even for a moment thinking of the possibility of something outside Utah, not to mention Texas. But then there was the offer: An affordable standard of living with reasonable house prices, a $40,000 salary to start, and a $3,000 signing bonus that would allow him the means to transplant his family to a new home.

For a moment he started to apologize, but I stopped him. How could I blame him? But I will blame us, the citizens and the taxpayers and the voters and the legislators. Out of this small sample of students, one-third of them are taking their state of Utah-funded educations and their talents, and exporting them across state lines. We read in the papers and see with our own eyes the tremendous growth of our population, the building of new schools, and the need for more qualified teachers. Nowhere is this need greater than in the sciences.

And yet, not only are we barely keeping even with the education of science teachers for our state, we are training them (very well, I should add) so that they will be highly qualified and recruitable in the state of Texas. I used to just worry about the lure of Nevada and Wyoming, and a little bit about California. They all send representatives to our state's job fairs and offer big bonuses -- up to $17,000 of recruitment incentives were offered by a Los Angeles School District announcement for math and science teachers. Now, not only do I worry about the attraction of additional states like Texas, I see it firsthand; and I see Florida, New York, Connecticut, and others battling for our best and brightest as well.

Currently, a starting teacher salary in Utah is around $27,000 per year. Maybe this is fine, and maybe you can justify this given the benefits of the job. Based on the fact that half of Utah's teachers don't last in the profession for more than five years, I'd argue that the job isn't as appealing as it may sound, no matter the ideals, skills and passion of the teachers I see entering the classrooms of our state.

I could tell you that our teachers deserve higher salaries and that their job is the most important in our society and that the hours and effort they put into educating our children is the most crucial piece of our societal puzzle. You may or may not believe this. However, what you need to believe is that our teachers -- our very best teachers that you've paid to educate -- are already educating the very grateful children of the state of Texas. And, you can't blame them.

So, to the voter and citizen of Utah, I'll ask: What are you going to do about it? Our children's and state's futures hinge upon your answer.

Johnston is an associate professor of physics at Weber State, where he advises science teaching students and conducts research in science education.

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