Education in Indiana in the 21st Century is not the satisfying profession it was 25 years ago according to Dennis Norman, the Area 1 Director of the Indiana Retired Teachers Association. Norman visits with retired and current teachers and administrators as he travels throughout his nine county area and he tells us what they’ve been telling him about what they’re feeling today.
“The ones that I’m talking to and those that I have some frequent contact with are totally frustrated,” said Norman. “They love teaching and they love kids, but the red tape that is going with it is tremendously onerous.”
Because of the frustration, Norman finds a reluctance of many high school students to consider the profession as an attractive career.
“I think that’s something that concerns a lot of us. In fact, the number of kids going into teaching dropped precipitously in Indiana this year. That’s a concern and a red flag to me. I think we need to look and reevaluate it and what we expect of teachers, realistically, rather than just numbers on a page. I think we have to make teaching a profession that you take pride in. I felt privileged to teach, I loved the kids I taught and a number of them come back and say hi and tell me how I helped them. Those are the rewards.”
