What made long time teacher leave the profession?

• Scott LaMar
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  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.
  
  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
  
  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
  
  In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar has moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
  
  LaMar often emcees or moderates local events and has gone as far as California to emcee a national event.
  
  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
  
  LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
  
  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

 Matt Slocum / AP Photo

In this Thursday, March 11, 2021 file photo, desks are arranged in a classroom at an elementary school in Nesquehoning, Pa.

Airdate: August 16, 2022

When Jake Miller quit teaching last March, he was teaching eighth grade history in the Cumberland Valley School District. Over his 15-year career, Miller taught several subjects in 6^th to 12^th grade classrooms. But it wasn’t just the 50 percent increase in salary he got when he left teaching, there were several other reasons. And these are issues teachers are facing everyday.

Miller appeared on Tuesday’s Smart Talk. He said he loved teaching and being a teacher is all he wanted to be.

Miller cited several previous Smart Talk programs that addressed topics he said led him to quit,”Philadelphia students were scared about gun violence. And, you talked with the Secretary of Education, Haggerty, about the the dearth of teachers. Politics was a huge part of the issue. Right before I left, I did a lesson on slavery and race during the Civil War, because that’s why the Civil War was fought and that is not up for debate. And that went to a state representative accusing me of teaching critical race theory. So, there is a lot going on with that. But most of all, the biggest reason that I left Scott is because I stopped having fun.”

Miller said college students are not pursuing teaching degrees because they see all the challenges teachers are facing. He added young people want to make salaries that are higher than most teachers earn and want more flexibility.

What would he recommend to improve conditions for teachers? “I love that you pulled me on because often times when it comes to the media, they want to talk to the elite individuals in education. So, they want to talk to people with PhDs behind their name or they’re directors of something or a superintendent. I think teachers need to be given the microphone more. They’re the ones who are invested on the front lines, and they were the front line people all throughout COVID when we were keeping schools open and doing our best to educate kids. Truly not in a in a perfect way, but in the best way we could. Oftentimes, the microphone was passed to others. And if we want to solve the next generation crisis as to why young people aren’t going into education, we need to talk to them, too. And we also need to make student teaching a more valuable commodity. When I student taught, I taught for negative pay, I paid college tuition and I worked on that for 16 weeks as a beyond full time job. I’m putting in like 60 hours a week not getting paid.”