Declining education degrees compound problems in the classroom

A nose-dive in education degrees is compounding issues for schools already facing a teacher shortage and struggling to recover from pandemic-era woes among students. 

Education majors used to rank as the No. 1 spot for conferred bachelor’s degrees in the 1970s, but they have been falling in the decades since, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. From 2011 to 2012, the major was ranked fifth nationally. In the latest update from 2020 to 2021, it is down to No. 10. 

The combination of low pay, culture wars in the classroom and struggles with student discipline that has plagued educators in their careers, according to experts, is also stopping young Americans from entering the field.

“It’s not surprising because the working conditions for teachers have not improved. And who best to recruit people into the profession, if not for the people working in the profession. And so because we have not improved or focused on improving teacher working conditions. … We don’t have those same people who are teachers to become our best recruits,” said Travis Bristol, associate professor at the Berkeley School of Education. 

One key factor in a drop in education majors is pay because as the cost of college goes up and teacher salary is largely stagnant, it is difficult for young people to justify a degree that will be onerous to repay. 

A report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) last year showed the average weekly wages of teachers went up only $29 from 1996 to 2021. 

“We need to pay teachers like they are … handling life’s most precious gifts,” Bristol said, calling salary the biggest part of the problem.  

Meanwhile, teachers are being asked to do more to help bridge the pandemic learning loss seen in students, even amid reports of a labor shortage in the field.

Quantifying the teacher shortage has been a difficult task, says Denisha Jones, the Art of Teaching director at Sarah Lawrence College, though she adds many educators have complained about a lack of staff. 

“Even though quantitative data on teacher shortages might not indicate that we are in the midst of one, we know from the anecdotal reports of school districts — have proof that there is a crisis in teaching and teaching staff. There’s just not enough people in a lot of places. Not every place, but in a lot of places.” Jones said.

Teachers have been struggling under the increasingly polarized political climate and difficulties managing their classrooms, woes that do not go unnoticed by college students choosing their majors.

Dozens of states have recently implemented laws that made headlines about what type of books can be used in classrooms and changing curriculum standards.

“What we really have is a lack of people willing to go into this profession for that level of money and that amount of disrespect, right?” Jones said.

And students’ educations are suffering.

Globally, one study showed students lost about 35 percent “of a school year’s worth of learning” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scores released from the Nation’s Report Card in June showed average mathematics scores in the United States for 13-year-olds have fallen to levels not seen since 1990. In reading, average scores for 13-year-olds dropped to 2004 numbers. 

Beyond that, teachers have seen an increase in behavioral issues since returning to in-person classes but have very little resources or guidance on how to handle them. 

In an EdWeek Research Center survey, 70 percent of teachers, principals and district leaders said students are misbehaving more now than in 2019. That is also up from December 2021, when educators said 66 percent were behaving worse than in 2019. 

“I do think it probably needs to be somewhat of a campaign to young people stressing what that job is going to be like for them and what it means and what impact they can have. You need to tell them, or a former teacher needs to tell them what impact they can have,” said Colin Sharkey, executive director of the Association of American Educators.

Experts say it is important to be encouraging but honest with young people about the difficulties of going into education because being prepared is the best way for them to stay in the field once they enter it. 

“The students that I’ve worked with over 20 years who go in understanding what’s happening in the field are more likely to persist than those who are just given that narrative that, you know, ‘Follow the curriculum. It’s all good. Don’t really rock the boat, don’t question anything, just teach,'” Jones said. “So I think we have to have a concerted effort to be honest with these young people about what they’re facing, what the realities are, but also why it’s super important.”