Personnel Development

Greetings!   My name is Brian Miller. I am in my eighteenth year with San Luis Obispo High School, instructing in the social sciences and mathematics. I am ecstatic that the Master Plan is addressing the issue of career ladders for veteran teachers. I see burnout all around me, and I feel the peripheral effects of teaching in one place too long. I need a new challenge, but I risk not being able to provide for my son should I choose to transfer outside the district. I spend 10-12 hours per day ensuring that I am the best teacher I can be. I cannot squeeze night school into my schedule to attain an advanced degree, nor can I afford the cost. Furthermore, I cannot be an effective instructor by day and an effective student by night, all the while providing for my son. 
     A sabbatical is what I need. Paid in full with no loss on the salary schedule. I could then focus a full year or two on completing a program in counseling and guidance. It is where my career should move. It will regenerate me. When I return to the classroom I will be recharged with a new determination, good for at least five years. Then I will wait for a counseling position to open up. 
     I shudder to think of how many burned out teachers are resting on tenure and clocking time toward retirement. How many have lost the passion? Few professions create career paralysis like education. Once you reach 10 years in a district you cannot move without a reduction in salary. 
     What if a teaching career was not DESIGNED to be 30 years, but reinvented to be 10-15 year spurts with options for vertical and horizontal movement within the system? What if young teachers were encouraged to diversify early in their careers to avoid burnout later? What if school districts actively sought veteran teachers by recruitment, offering them a raise in their district instead of a pay cut? To say we cannot afford these ideas is sheltered, myopic thought. Where there is a will, there will be a way. Any changes in education will only be successful if those on the front lines are passionate in their belief that the system is TAKING CARE OF THEM. Otherwise the bureaucrats and educational theorists will have to come to the classroom and implement the changes themselves. I believe we can take care of our teachers AND not impact the budget of a school district. What thinketh you?