[Note: Links and materials referenced in an archived posting may have expired.]

The Male Teacher: Endangered Species?

WASHINGTON, D.C. -  Johnny Ledbetter strikes a formidable pose among the fifth-graders who are his charges at Belair Elementary School in Dale City, Virginia.  He's been at Belair for 16 years, and his stature conveys a teaching veteran.  Students crave his attention and beg for his praise.  But despite his cachet in the classroom, Ledbetter is a vanishing species.  Like other male teachers, Ledbetter has joined the ranks of the blue whale and snow leopard on the road to extinction.

National Education Association President Reg Weaver says National Teacher Day, celebrated annually on the Tuesday of the first full week in May (May 4), is an ideal opportunity to highlight the nation's shortage of male teachers and encourage more men to sign up to teach the next generation.  

"The sad reality is that a young boy could go through his entire education without ever having a teacher who looks like me," said Weaver.  "This is not a reflection of the world or our communities, and it's certainly not a reflection of how we want our kids to see the world."

An NEA survey shows that the number of male public school teachers now stands at a 40-year low.  After two decades of decline, just 21 percent of the nation's 3 million teachers are men.  Male elementary school teachers are even more scarce.  According to NEA's research report, Status of the American Public School Teacher, the percentage of male elementary teachers has fallen from an all-time high of 18 percent in 1981 to an all-time low of 9 percent today.  And while men represented half of secondary teachers in 1986, today they make up 35 percent.

For minority males, the statistics are as troubling.  Teachers of color make up 16 percent of the teaching population, and some 42 percent of public schools have no minority teacher at all.

What makes male teachers an increasingly endangered species in classrooms?  The shortage can be traced to a variety of factors.  In part, gender stereotypes play a role.  Despite decades of struggle to banish distinctions between "men's work" and "women's work," dated notions prevail that women are better at nurturing young children.  For this reason, more male teachers are drawn to secondary schools.

Economics also plays a role in the gender split. Low salaries relative to other white-collar professions undermine efforts to recruit males to teaching because many men don't believe teaching pays enough to support families.  Among teachers who do not plan to teach until retirement, more than one-third blame low pay for their decision to quit teaching.  The percentages are even higher for male teachers (43 percent) and minority teachers (50 percent).

"National Teacher Day serves to spotlight these important areas that we must address in order to create great public schools for every child," Weaver said.  "Men can be healthy role models for boys and girls alike, and can be very effective with some students who may respond to a male presence."

In a stepped up effort to woo more men into classrooms, NEA and its affiliates are working with other organizations to support "grow your own" recruitment programs that target potential teachers early and often; middle and high school programs that capture the imagination of students when they are open and impressionable; college programs that offer scholarships, tuition, and mentoring; and paraeducator-to-teacher programs that ease the way for teachers' aides and classroom assistants to get their teaching credentials.

According to Weaver, "These programs offer great promise for enticing males and minorities to our public schools where they are desperately needed."

This year's National Teacher Day theme, "We are the NEA - Together Making Great Public Schools for Every Child," focuses on the contributions teachers make to help children succeed in school and in life.  In partnership with the National PTA, NEA has celebrated National Teacher Day since 1985.  It is the signature event of Teacher Appreciation Week, designated as the first full week in May.

  NEA media release