Teachers leave because we don't let them teach

"Imagine seeing a 200-pound student chase down one of your teachers and punch her in the face and break her glasses and continue to punch her."

"'Standardized Test Scores.' Those three words head the list of reasons teachers like me give up their dream. ... Crushing paperwork, time crunches, absurd curricula and unrealistic expectations only accelerate the resulting exodus of high-quality teachers."

These are the words of South Carolina teachers. No wonder many cannot wait to leave.

Recent statistics illustrate the exodus from South Carolina public school classrooms. Twenty-two percent of new teachers hired in 2016 left after one year. Thirty-eight percent of teachers left their jobs within their first five years. And South Carolina colleges graduate about one-third fewer teachers than they did just a few years ago.

Many politicians focus on teacher salaries as a solution. I agree that many teachers should earn more, but parents also tell me that some should leave the classroom altogether.

Teachers I talk to would like a higher salary. But they are concerned about the mind-numbing regulation and red tape, the physically sickening gantlet of assessments and the real prospect of violence that renders their jobs nearly impossible.

The state Department of Education recently reported a statewide critical shortage of middle-level teachers in the core subjects of social studies, math, English and science. Clearly, higher salaries and incentives have failed to solve the problem.

I believe in school choice and tax credits to support it. I authored the Exceptional Needs scholarship program, and I want to see it expanded for every child in South Carolina. School choice and successful public schools are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are complementary.

The dozens of funding formulas, reams of regulation, destructive systems of assessment, all mandated by Columbia and Washington, have turned public schools into Orwellian stages where individuals of talent either lose their heart or succumb to the paradox of the classroom as an assembly line - and then leave.

Columbia and Washington must stop micromanaging the classroom, and we must eliminate the Education Oversight Committee and its ruinous testing and reporting regime. The mindless coloring of bubbles wastes precious time and money, and the crushing tension and anxiety that begins weeks before the onslaught destroys the joy of learning for everyone, adults and children alike. No teacher or principal that I know assigns any value to the EOC. It must go away.

Many leave the profession, especially from the challenging schools, because they have no ability to enforce rules and discipline. Teachers and principals should be given the freedom to control their classrooms.

Also, we must grant local control in security preparedness. One of the last bills I sponsored as a state senator codifies the freedom of local districts to arm people besides active-duty police to keep kids safe. Examples might include school personnel, retired police or active National Guardsmen.

Paperwork, testing mania and chaotic classrooms leave teachers with no space, time or energy to teach. And too often, they are focused on raising the test scores of struggling students or keeping unruly students from disrupting the classroom. Teachers spend little time actually teaching, especially to those who want to learn.

We can discuss teacher salaries, but for the really good teachers, no amount of money will keep them on a road to ruin with a bubble test at the end.

Kevin L. Bryant is lieutenant governor of South Carolina. He can be reached at Ltgov@scstatehouse.gov.