USF Shuts Down College of Education

[TheUpperHand]

8 hours ago, zarnozdabull said:

Admins are blaming a "decline in enrollment due to a decline in the desire in education as a career path," well WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS? Maybe instead of closing down the College, figure out what you are doing wrong as managers by asking students, faculty, etc. what you can do the prevent running into the ground like you did. "Oh well, let's just close it. Who cares if 37% of Pasco County teachers earned their degree from this program anyways. Who cares."

I don't see what USF or the CoE can do about the fact that teaching is a brutal profession. You can have a top-tier college of education, but if people don't want to teach, no one is going to enroll in it. That's a problem where the finger needs to be pointed at the Bay Area school districts, or the state, or the Department of Education. The district is getting downright dictatorial with the lack of flexibility teachers get with their curriculum, standardized testing is the only thing that matters, teachers have very little authority to maintain any sense of order in their classroom, they have to spend 100s of dollars out of their own pockets every year for school supplies, they have long hours, the pay sucks. My wife has been a teacher for 10 years and the job has gotten downright unbearable. She's consistently one of the highest rated teachers in her school but when it comes time for a raise or bonus, the district 'loses' the money. With the supposed pay increase for new teachers, she'll make $500 more as a top-tier veteran teacher than a brand new employee. Sure, there was a 'We ❤ Teachers' phase when the pandemic started, but that was largely lip-service and things are back to normal or arguably worse. The superintendent is 'reallocating' jobs so that 'specials' teachers (physical education, art, music) have to support more than one school or no longer have any planning time during their day and class sizes are going to grow from 16 - 18 to 18 - 22 (and still expecting social distancing, at that).

It's a snowball effect: As teachers are less able or motivated to make an impact on their students' lives, the fewer students there will be that say "this is something I want to do, too" which in turn droves down enrollment in the CoE, forcing them to shut their doors as they are not generating enough tuition revenue to pay for the program. This leads to less qualified teachers and a further worsening of the school environment.

Don't get me wrong, I hate to see it. My wife has a B.A. in Primary Education from USF, I have a Master's Degree in Secondary Education from USF. We're devastated at the loss of the CoE. I think it's going to hurt the academic profile of the university overall. It's never a good thing to close a major college like that. It's going to have a devastating impact on the quality of teachers that we send out to our schools and IMO will have a ripple effect on the economy of the Tampa Bay Area.

52 minutes ago, Roaming Bull said:

But should it be? I think we’ll have a new found appreciation for teachers after the pandemic 

I'm not seeing it -- memories are short. From a teaching perspective, things are back to where they were before the virus, if not worse. People have other problems to worry about now other than teachers having a hard job. We were 'saluting essential workers' 6 months ago but now that people are getting numb to the virus, no one cares about grocery store workers, or teachers, front-line medical professionals. No one cares about employees of the restaurant/tourism/hospitality/entertainment industries that are out of work. The 'haves' are getting on with their lives and wearing their masks under their noses while the 'have nots' are trying to figure out how to make ends meet.

Edited October 17, 2020 by TheUpperHand

[Roaming Bull]

25 minutes ago, TheUpperHand said:

I don't see what USF or the CoE can do about the fact that teaching is a brutal profession. You can have a top-tier college of education, but if people don't want to teach, no one is going to enroll in it. That's a problem where the finger needs to be pointed at the Bay Area school districts, or the state, or the Department of Education. The district is getting downright dictatorial with the lack of flexibility teachers get with their curriculum, standardized testing is the only thing that matters, teachers have very little authority to maintain any sense of order in their classroom, they have to spend 100s of dollars out of their own pockets every year for school supplies, they have long hours, the pay sucks. My wife has been a teacher for 10 years and the job has gotten downright unbearable. She's consistently one of the highest rated teachers in her school but when it comes time for a raise or bonus, the district 'loses' the money. With the supposed pay increase for new teachers, she'll make $500 more as a top-tier veteran teacher than a brand new employee. Sure, there was a 'We ❤ Teachers' phase when the pandemic started, but that was largely lip-service and things are back to normal or arguably worse. The superintendent is 'reallocating' jobs so that 'specials' teachers (physical education, art, music) have to support more than one school or no longer have any planning time during their day and class sizes are going to grow from 16 - 18 to 18 - 22 (and still expecting social distancing, at that).

It's a snowball effect: As teachers are less able or motivated to make an impact on their students' lives, the fewer students there will be that say "this is something I want to do, too" which in turn droves down enrollment in the CoE, forcing them to shut their doors as they are not generating enough tuition revenue to pay for the program. This leads to less qualified teachers and a further worsening of the school environment.

Don't get me wrong, I hate to see it. My wife has a B.A. in Primary Education from USF, I have a Master's Degree in Secondary Education from USF. We're devastated at the loss of the CoE. I think it's going to hurt the academic profile of the university overall. It's never a good thing to close a major college like that. It's going to have a devastating impact on the quality of teachers that we send out to our schools and IMO will have a ripple effect on the economy of the Tampa Bay Area.

I'm not seeing it -- memories are short. From a teaching perspective, things are back to where they were before the virus, if not worse. People have other problems to worry about now other than teachers having a hard job. We were 'saluting essential workers' 6 months ago but now that people are getting numb to the virus, no one cares about grocery store workers, or teachers, front-line medical professionals. No one cares about employees of the restaurant/tourism/hospitality/entertainment industries that are out of work. The 'haves' are getting on with their lives and wearing their masks under their noses while the 'have nots' are trying to figure out how to make ends meet.

Brutal, but on point. Vilifying the profession doesn’t help. I still think their important and deserve more than lip service. Office folks that are getting paid higher salaries then folks in the classroom that struggle means something is upside down.

[Outlaw]

On 10/15/2020 at 7:34 PM, Rex Havoc said:

I’ve been teaching for the past 13 years and have seen the number of interns drastically decrease. I enjoy teaching, but see why people don’t want to get into the profession. The number of disruptive and rude student is increasing, and pay is pretty stagnant. 

You forgot that society doesn't value teachers anymore

[Educabull]

As a College of Ed. grad ('94) this makes me sad.  I've been teaching for 25 years and these are truly unprecedented times.  From my perspective, the kids are pretty much the same.  It's the societal perception of teachers that has changed.  We're suspect in a society that lacks respect and support for one of the most humble, underappreciated, and underpayed professions in the country.  In other countries teachers are regarded as heroes.  We do what we do for the love of the profession and kids.  It's hard to get kids that have just come out of this system to decide to go right back into it.  THAT's the irony.  

[bullsfan27]

The COE has been seeing declining enrollment for decades so it’s not that shocking to see it closing down. Students have realized there is no money in education anymore and have gone into fields where they can make money once they graduate and enjoy their life. Not to mention the fact that teachers have no control of their classroom as they can be forced to change rules by administration at anytime and cannot discipline students anymore without administration overruling them along with students that can get them fired at any moment for a salary of around $35k per year compared to going into private industry and making nearly double that early in their career without dealing with students, parents, and administration. Worse than that though is adjunct teaching at colleges where you have to get a masters degree to make around $15-20k per year with no benefits or any chance of a raise or getting promoted to full time at the same school 

[ZeroBullChip]

From what I heard, from insider folks.  The program will feature 5th year master degree and focus on research.  This is in line with other AAU schools.  I'm not sure how that relates to reduced headcounts though.

[ZeroBullChip]

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[smazza]

this is shocking

dont we always need teachers?
i dont understand this

chapel makes good points

[bullsfan27]

USF has reversed course and will keep the undergrad program. 

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