I Teach: Voices of Public School Teachers
The 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment ranks the United States 17 in reading, 21 in science and 26 in mathematics. U.S. scores remained flat while other countries improved, placing us 36 out of 65 countries. Meanwhile, teacher turnover increased 50% in the last 20 years, 33% of new teachers leave within 3 years and 46% leave within 5 years. The cost of this revolving door exceeds $7.3 billion a year. To improve public schools we must have teachers, the people on the front line, define issues impacting the quality of education and teacher retention. I TEACH focuses on nine teachers, with almost 200 years of collective teaching experience. With their assistance we can develop plans to improve our schools.