They racked up credit card debt, borrowed money from relatives, and ate frozen dinners.

Now, after , the Education Department has begun sending payments to soon-to-be-teachers who were counting on the money to cover living expenses over the summer while they trained to enter the city’s public schools.

Members of the NYC Teaching Fellows expected to be paid up to $4,500 in installments during the summer program, which quickly trains career changers and recent college graduates to fill hard-to-staff positions in the city’s public schools. Nearly 1,000 people participated this year, about double the number compared with last year, as the city races to comply with a state class size mandate that will require than usual every year.

Education officials initially indicated that participants would be paid periodically during the seven-week program to help offset living expenses, according to a recording of a webinar obtained by Chalkbeat. But when the program wound down during the last week of July, the payments still hadn’t arrived.

Several fellows complained about the delays, and the Education Department responded with vague messages that did little to clarify the timeline. City officials eventually told fellows they would begin issuing checks on Aug 1., meaning participants would not receive them until after they completed their training.

“They just kept saying, ‘Expect an update,’” said Kimba Williams, a 44-year-old former case manager for a foster care agency who participated in the program this summer. “They waited until the whole program was over.”

, the Teaching Fellows program has long been a key pipeline for attracting educators into high-need schools and is also designed to help diversify the teaching force. About were hired through the program, which offers a faster track into city classrooms that skirts the traditional certification process.

Williams, who is slated to teach at a Bronx middle school this fall, joined the fellows program because he wanted to be a positive role model for Black boys. Research students of color have better outcomes when they are in classrooms with teachers who look like them.

As the weeks ticked by without any sign of a paycheck, he maxed out his credit cards, took on $2,500 in debt, and canceled a trip to visit his daughter in North Carolina because he couldn’t afford the travel. He was expecting a stipend of about $3,700.

“It makes it hard to live a normal life,” Williams said. “At times you may not know where your next meal is coming from and that’s not fair to put anyone through.”

The training experience — which involves learning how to devise lessons, manage classrooms, and teach summer school students under close supervision — was positive except for the lack of payment, Williams said.

A check finally arrived on Aug. 11, more than a week after the program ended. Williams plans to use some of the money to drive his daughter to college.

City officials eventually blamed the delays on a “transition to a new payment structure that was required for us to remain in compliance with tax regulations,” according to an email some teaching fellows received at the end of July.

“While the Office of Teacher Recruitment and Quality has been working tirelessly to issue this payment as soon as possible, we deeply apologize for the delay caused by this transition and appreciate your patience and understanding,” the message continued.

After this story was published, Education Department spokesperson Chyann Tull wrote in an email that “all payments have been issued” and noted that the city would “quickly identify and resolve any outstanding issues to ensure every Fellow is paid in full.”

Some fellows, however, said they are still waiting to be paid.

One participant, who previously worked as an accountant, said he borrowed $6,500 from relatives to pay for rent and groceries this summer. The delays have strained some of those relationships.

“They’re asking, ‘When are you going to be able to pay?’” said the fellow, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “I can’t tell them because I haven’t received it.”

City officials warned fellows in a late July message that lost checks could take months to reissue.

Some experts that starting a new career in debt could mean they wind up leaving the public school system sooner, as teachers often make less than peers with similar experience and credentials. The former accountant said the experience has made him second guess his decision to change careers.

“People are not going to want to stay in a profession if you’re not going to be treated with respect,” he said.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Equally concerning is the recent steep rise in kids missing too much school. of students missed 10% or more of the school year—the threshold for chronic absenteeism—in 2022-2023, the latest year for which we have nationwide data. 

As hard as teachers are working, school feels irrelevant for many kids. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When kids can see the connection between what they’re being taught and what the future holds, they learn.

It’s clear that our assignment as adults is this: Make sure our schools engage all kids, no matter their background or where they live. Every school can be a place for connection, rigorous learning, even joy. And when kids are prepared for the future, our country is, too.

It’s a good first step that schools are facing chronic absenteeism head on. A bipartisan coalition has declared curbing chronic absenteeism “school’s top priority” this year. In that spirit, rural, urban, and suburban districts are applying to boost attendance.

These are important short-term efforts and can be a down payment toward a better education system. At the same time, we need a wider lens that holistically improves students’ experiences at school and how prepared they feel for future success.

In my 26 years working alongside many others to drive change for K–12 education, I’ve seen reform efforts tinker with discrete parts of the system. It’s not that we don’t know what kids need to succeed; we’ve got to get better at expanding these efforts and putting them in place across the board, so all kids have access. And we must take a collective approach, with students, educators, families, and other stakeholders working together. 

We can do three things we can to accomplish that.

First, we must renew our focus, at every level of government and in every school system, on improving measurable student achievement in reading and math. We have plenty of evidence that ensuring students and by fourth and eighth sets them up for success. For example, research shows that taking Algebra I by eighth grade is the strongest indicator of college readiness and graduating college within four years. Yet too many students .

By leaning into the science of , we can make these subjects relevant and accessible for every student. As of this month, have passed legislation or put policies in place that promote evidence-based reading instruction. We can also fund and support promising new models, policies, and practices that ensure all students, regardless of their backgrounds, have an equal chance to excel.

And schools must be able to more easily find new ways to boost student engagement and learning. To that end, states could give districts more flexibility on requirements like seat-time, length of the school day, and grade-level grouping, all while ensuring a high level of academic rigor.

Second, let’s reimagine the role of the teacher—in every school district. One teacher in front of one classroom is how I learned, how my kids have learned, and how most students learn today. But it’s not the best recipe in our dynamic 21st century world for quality teaching or student learning.

The —which includes the organization I lead, Teach For America—believes that modernizing teaching is key to ensuring all students realize their unique potential. Let’s give educators more flexibility to meet the high bar we set for them, change how we staff schools so teachers and students are more supported, boost teacher pay, and give educators the tools to help every child grow and achieve.

Already, districts from Arizona to Kansas City to Washington, D.C., are using team-based teaching, and helping kids succeed with tutoring, such as Teach For America’s virtual tutoring program. But we need to do more of these things, in more school districts.

Finally, we must truly prepare kids for life after their K–12 schooling—which would make classwork feel more relevant for many students. High-quality programs that ensure students have options after high school—whether they choose college or career—can be a part of every child’s education.

The Rooted School, founded by Teach For America alumnus Jonathan Johnson, provides for how this can be done. The school’s four locations—New Orleans, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and Vancouver, Wash.—integrate early college experience with a strong school culture and give students “a voice and choice” in what they’re learning. Work-based learning starts freshman year with Friday internships. The school day includes counseling, career planning and jobs skills education. All students leave with “a job offer in one hand and a college acceptance letter in the other.”These three key steps to transforming American education go hand in hand with other goals, such as ensuring students have safe and welcoming schools and that they’re building important life skills such as empathy, self-regulation, and critical thinking. Working together, we can build a better kind of education—one that meets every child’s needs and aspirations and prepares them to go out into the world and realize their dreams.

You won’t get rich, but teachers earn more money than you might think. Plus, you’ll have a much easier time landing (and keeping) a job than many of your peers. 

This might sound like counterintuitive career advice given the current of the teaching profession. But here are two reasons more young people should consider a career in education: 

Teachers have an easy time finding good jobs 

This year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published an looking at the labor market outcomes of recent college graduates. Among the 74 majors included on the list, elementary education had the sixth-lowest unemployment rate, at 1.5%. To put that in perspective, industrial engineering came in first, at 0.2%, and art history came in last, at 8%. 

Education majors also did well on the rate of underemployment. Essentially, were college graduates working in jobs that required a degree? On this measure, special education teachers came in second overall, just behind nursing. Elementary education, early childhood education and general education majors all landed in the top 10. 

The data from the Federal Reserve represent just a snapshot in time, but the economic advantages of becoming a teacher have persisted for decades. The National Center for Education has run regular surveys of recent college graduates, and it has that education majors regularly report higher early-career employment rates than graduates in other fields. They are also more likely to work in a job closely related to what they studied in college. As a result, new college graduates with an education major are less likely to be looking to change jobs than peers in other fields. 

Now, it’s true that teaching doesn’t pay as well as some professions. This has been the case for years, though, and the NCES data shows that the early-career gap hasn’t changed much over time. Again, it’s all relative, because beginning teachers consistently make more money than early-career psychology or humanities majors, for example. 

Teachers are satisfied with their jobs 

A recent looked at whether better information could nudge more young people to consider teaching. The researchers asked freshmen at the University of Michigan to guess how much teachers and non-teachers earned and how satisfied they were with their jobs. 

About two-thirds of the students underestimated how much the average teacher earns. But almost all the students — 99% — guessed that teacher satisfaction was lower than it had been historically. 

Using a large sample of data from the , the authors looked at data from 2010-19 and found that 91% of teachers reported being satisfied with their jobs (compared with 88% of non-teachers). Moreover, 97% of teachers were satisfied with their job’s contribution to society, compared with 88% of non-teachers. 

After being presented with more accurate information about teacher pay and satisfaction, the college students become more interested in pursuing a career in education. Males were particularly responsive to the new, accurate data about the profession. (In a test of other types of messages, female and Black students were more influenced by statements supporting the importance of diversity and the way teachers can serve as role models for youngsters.)

The last couple of years have been a particularly good time for job hunters in the education sector. With widespread shortage areas, particularly in urban and rural schools and in subjects like math and special education, new teachers have had their pick of where to work.

With federal COVID relief funds expiring this fall, the balance is likely to shift back somewhat toward employers. But for candidates worried about their job prospects, a specialization in math, science or special education would strongly enhance their resumes. 

And anyone considering a teaching career should take solace in the fact that, historically speaking, students who earn education degrees have an easier time landing a full-time job than those who pursue other, riskier careers.