New Teachers Need Help to Survive in Jobs

“A Writer Turns to Teaching,” the three-part series by Erika Hayasaki (Dec. 19-21) about a first-year teacher, was insightful and powerful. I’ve taught for seven years and am far removed from the nightmares of my first year. Why stick it out? For me it was the kids. But for some that’s not enough. I think Ricardo Acuna made the right decision. No one deserves to have his life ruined by a job.

Like Acuna, I have a dream. A dream where parents care more about their kids than teachers do, where all the cable TV stations go off the air from 3 to 11 p.m., where all the video game systems break down and where kids read and write instead of e-mailing and text messaging.

Chris Sorenson

Seal Beach

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I wish I could have been one of Acuna’s high school students. As his college roommate, though, I feel similarly privileged. My respect for his attempt to reach impulsive youths often leaves me shaking my head in disbelief and suppressing laughter. The Gusto he could have influenced today and those who were to come will never know how close they came to such a bright and caring person. Shame on the lack of support system and on parents for looking upon a school as a day care center.

Juan Carlos Bernal

Montebello

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I am one of the 68% of teachers who are still in the classroom after five years. The main reason is I was never too embarrassed to ask for help from other teachers at John Marshall High.

G.M. Diaz

Spanish teacher

Los Angeles

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By framing the issue in human terms, Hayasaki’s reportage provides the definitive rebuttal to the specious claim made by critics of public education that highly qualified teachers alone can close the daunting achievement gap. Despite Acuna’s sterling academic credentials, high expectations, strict discipline and saintly dedication, he was unable to overcome the huge deficits in socialization, motivation and intellectual development that his students brought to class through no fault of their own. In the end, idealism was no match for reality. What Acuna’s experience underscores is that teachers are not miracle workers. Neither Socrates, Montessori nor Mann would fare any better than Acuna with his students. It’s time to disabuse ourselves of the fantasy that pervades our thinking about the way to improve education for students most in need.

Walt Gardner

Los Angeles

Gardner taught for 28 years in the LAUSD.

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I too was a district intern, and received my teaching credential three years ago. During that time, I taught (and still do) fifth grade in a classroom filled with children who struggled with the language, appropriate behavior and the constant violence and tedium of poverty and familial functional illiteracy. I too suffered panic attacks so severe that my doctor prescribed medication.

Many times I wondered why I had left a comfortable corporate job with every perk to work in a Third World setting replete with roaches, lockdowns and filth.

Several people in my intern class languished and dropped out, but lots stayed and have made a positive difference. New teachers cannot possibly make it alone. Asking for support and answers to classroom management is crucial, and Acuna seemed unwilling to do that. Experienced teachers could have told him that it may seem as if you make no difference at the time, but later on, something you did or said takes root. Teacher burnout in the Los Angeles Unified School District is sadly common, but it’s important that new teachers feel encouraged to ask for help.

Jane De Haven

Montrose

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As an English teacher in the LAUSD for 30 years, I was particularly interested in the series on “rookie” teacher Acuna. Many of the good ones leave because of the kind of frustrations he felt. Perhaps he is meant to be a writer, and I wish him well. However, perhaps he could have been both writer and teacher with some help from a district that professes an interest in teacher education. The director of the district’s intern program wants new teachers to let that office know when they are having problems. Here’s a news flash: All new teachers have problems and need constant support. No money? Not enough personnel? Then say goodbye to more outstanding rookies like Acuna who quit because they cannot figure out how to make teaching work for them.

Mike Levin

Long Beach