“Although most ag teachers enter the profession because of their passion for agriculture and teaching-their passion gets put to the test amid long hours, student projects, contest and events.” (Kick) The fact that young adults have started to pick and choose their career based on the amount of money they will be making in the future, has created the shortage of agriculture teachers. When one chooses a career make sure one has a passion for it and aren’t just in it for the money. The shortage for agriculture teachers has been an ongoing problem for our schools in the United States for years. The reasons for the shortage are; requirements for this career are high and salary is too low. But where is the problem and how can we fix it? Would hearing
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But according to Chris Kick of Farm and Dairy, “15 percent of ag education positions have not yet been filled for the current school year, and 56 percent of the teachers who have been hired are new to the profession.” The real question still remains; why doesn’t anyone want to go into the field of education? Well, AgriNews states that, “average starting salaries for ag teachers range from $32,000 to $35,000.” (Schools Face Shortage) The problem with that is when young college kids see that, they think well that isn’t near enough money for myself to live off let alone raise a family on. College students have now started choosing their careers off how much money they will make in the future. But also if you do the research on an Agriculture teacher, you realize that a lot of time and work goes into this career including long weekends away from home on FFA trips, early and late practices, and school plans. Some people have decided to take this path so they could have summers off to work with livestock and be involved in the livestock industry. Yet, I figured a lot of students would be interested in having summers off, but it doesn’t seem to draw them …show more content…
“Illinois currently has 322 high school agriculture programs instructing more than 29,200 students statewide. More than 390 teachers teach agriculture and serve as FFA advisers to 17,640 FFA members. Over the past five years, the state has averaged 48 teacher vacancies annually.” (Fargo) In Ohio they are struggling just as much, according to the Farm and Dairy, “15 percent of agriculture education positions have not been filled for the current school year, and 56 percent of the teachers who have been hired are new to the profession.” (Teachers and Students) Indiana on the other hand is struggling to keep programs going because of the shortage, until more students step up this will remain a big problem in Indiana. But how can we fix it other than putting all the pressure on college students?
Well, there is only a couple solutions to this issue. One, would be to revamp the state teaching testing and licensing. Another option is to increase the salary, Anderson said in the Farm and Dairy article that, “ag graduates are finding starting jobs that pay as much as 20-25 percent more than teaching jobs.” (Teachers and Students) And the last thing that we can do is tell a story about how important agriculture education is to the future and youth of our
But according to Chris Kick of Farm and Dairy, “15 percent of ag education positions have not yet been filled for the current school year, and 56 percent of the teachers who have been hired are new to the profession.” The real question still remains; why doesn’t anyone want to go into the field of education? Well, AgriNews states that, “average starting salaries for ag teachers range from $32,000 to $35,000.” (Schools Face Shortage) The problem with that is when young college kids see that, they think well that isn’t near enough money for myself to live off let alone raise a family on. College students have now started choosing their careers off how much money they will make in the future. But also if you do the research on an Agriculture teacher, you realize that a lot of time and work goes into this career including long weekends away from home on FFA trips, early and late practices, and school plans. Some people have decided to take this path so they could have summers off to work with livestock and be involved in the livestock industry. Yet, I figured a lot of students would be interested in having summers off, but it doesn’t seem to draw them …show more content…
“Illinois currently has 322 high school agriculture programs instructing more than 29,200 students statewide. More than 390 teachers teach agriculture and serve as FFA advisers to 17,640 FFA members. Over the past five years, the state has averaged 48 teacher vacancies annually.” (Fargo) In Ohio they are struggling just as much, according to the Farm and Dairy, “15 percent of agriculture education positions have not been filled for the current school year, and 56 percent of the teachers who have been hired are new to the profession.” (Teachers and Students) Indiana on the other hand is struggling to keep programs going because of the shortage, until more students step up this will remain a big problem in Indiana. But how can we fix it other than putting all the pressure on college students?
Well, there is only a couple solutions to this issue. One, would be to revamp the state teaching testing and licensing. Another option is to increase the salary, Anderson said in the Farm and Dairy article that, “ag graduates are finding starting jobs that pay as much as 20-25 percent more than teaching jobs.” (Teachers and Students) And the last thing that we can do is tell a story about how important agriculture education is to the future and youth of our