The Teacher Issue

The headlines for the past year have been dominated by stories about a group that often doesn’t dominate the news cycle: teachers. We read (and continue to read) pieces about teachers striking all over the country. There were stories about teachers-turned-activists and teachers running for — and winning — political office. Many stories focused on teachers struggling to make ends meet, and polls about American parents who don’t want their children to become teachers for just that reason. Teacher shortages, teacher unions, teacher diversity, teachers armed — the list was nearly endless.

This issue of Ed. continues some of those headlines as we focus our feature stories and many of our shorter pieces on the group that we know is the most important factor in students doing well: our teachers.

Professionalizing Preschool
Early childhood education is critical, yet pre-K teachers are often thought of as babysitters, not professionals. What would it take to tranform the profession?

The Middle of Somewhere
A look at why more teachers should consider working in rural America.

Not Just Here for #1
Ten teachers in this year’s master’s programs answered a question that Dean Bridget Terry Long had posed to them several times this year: Who are you here for?

Pay Matters
When it comes to what we pay our public school teachers, in many parts of the country, the pay is not what it should be.