By Dr. Rahesha Amon, CEO of City Teaching Alliance

With October right around the corner, the end of September marks the true beginning of the school year. The back-to-school excitement has settled, routines are forming, and teachers are deep in the daily work of guiding students. But even as classrooms find their rhythm, the profession itself remains under siege. Teaching is the profession that makes all others possible; yet, too many of our brightest potential educators never even consider it, discouraged by how society talks about and treats teachers.

I know this not only as the CEO of City Teaching Alliance, but as a teacher and superintendent who has lived it. My career began in the 1990s as a middle school English teacher in New York City. The greatest joy of my early years was watching students who had never before seen themselves in literature suddenly find their reflection in a story. That joy fueled my fourteen years as a principal and then as a district superintendent, responsible for 1,600 schools and more than 1.1 million students. From the classroom to the superintendent’s office, I’ve had a front-row seat to both the extraordinary dedication of teachers and the mounting pressures that have made teaching one of the most emotionally draining professions in America.

The statistics are consistent with what I’ve witnessed. In 1969, 75% of parents said they’d want their child to become a teacher; today, only 37% say the same. Teacher job satisfaction has dropped 26% in the past decade. Only 19% of current teachers consider the profession sustainable, and just 16% would recommend it to others.

The pandemic accelerated these trends. Teachers were lauded as heroes in the spring of 2020, yet by Summer 2021, the narrative had flipped. Headlines demanding that schools “get back to normal” reduced teachers’ sacrifices to caricature, painting them as obstacles rather than professionals shouldering unprecedented responsibilities. The message was clear: teachers were expendable, even when they were holding communities together.

As a teacher, I felt that sting. As a superintendent, I watched it drain morale across entire districts. And as a leader of an organization that partners with schools, I see every day how this erosion of respect drives away the very people our classrooms need most.

But there is another story, one of possibility. 

At City Teaching Alliance, I see daily what happens when we treat teaching as the rigorous, respected profession it is meant to be. For more than a decade, we’ve built a model rooted in what I knew I needed as a young teacher and what I worked to provide as a superintendent: strong preparation, sustained support, and real respect. Our program combines a year-long residency, dual certification, a master’s degree, and four years of coaching. This is not a quick fix. It’s an investment in career educators who stay in classrooms and school communities.

And our results speak for themselves:

• 91% of our program completers remain in the classroom
• 96% of principals report satisfaction with our teachers
• We have trained over 2,700 educators across more than 500 schools in Baltimore, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., reaching 400,000+ students

I know from experience that when teachers are prepared, supported, and treated as professionals, they don’t just survive in the classroom, they thrive. They stay. And when they stay, entire communities benefit.

As a teacher, a superintendent, and now a CEO, I know what it feels like to shoulder the weight of a classroom and the responsibility of a district. There’s a tangible difference that real support can make in whether teachers stay or leave. I know, because I’ve seen it firsthand at City Teaching Alliance, that when we choose to do what works, teachers choose to stay.

This work matters for every district leader, every policymaker, and every family. The question is not whether we can find enough teachers to fill classrooms. The question is whether we will create conditions compelling enough to attract and retain the exceptional educators who will shape the future.

The path forward is not lowering the bar for entry into teaching; it is raising our commitment to preparation, professional development, competitive compensation, and above all, respect. That’s how we attract and retain the educators our students deserve.

Dr. Rahesha Amon is the Chief Executive Officer of City Teaching Alliance, a national nonprofit that has prepared and supported more than 2,700 educators across 500 schools serving 400,000 students in Baltimore & Central Maryland, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Greater D.C. Metro. A former Teacher of the Year, principal, and district superintendent in New York City Public Schools, she has spent her career coaching, mentoring, and elevating thousands of educators at every level from early childhood through higher education teacher preparation.

References:

• EdWorkingPaper – The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction Over the Last Half Century
• Educators for Excellence – New Survey Reveals a Teaching Profession in Crisis, as Outlook Remains at an All-Time Low
• University of Cambridge – “Get back to school” headlines eroded teacher wellbeing during the pandemic
• Education Week – Has the Public Turned on Teachers?
• The Educational Forum – “From Heroes to Scapegoats”: Teacher Perceptions of the Media and Public’s Portrayal of Teachers during COVID-19
• National Council of Teacher Residencies – Recruitment and Retention of Black Educators