This title is absolutely false, at least where I live. My wife and many of my friends and family are teachers. There is a ton of competition and all of them have had a hard time getting a stable job teaching something they don't hate. Most of them have either moved across the country, feigned religious practice, or accepted positions nobody else would take with little opportunity for advancement just to get their feet in the door.
My wife went the "positions nobody else would take with little opportunity for advancement" route and even amidst the so-called "shortages" she has been struggling and failing at finding a normal teaching position - both in her current district and nearby metro districts - even though she has a stunning reputation and 6 years of in-classroom teaching experience.
There is no shortage. Teaching is an overcrowded job market and has been for a while, despite the poor pay and miserable conditions. I blame the education system itself for giving would-be teachers such unrealistic expectations for occupational outlook and work environment. The author said "Everyone secretly thinks they can teach because they watched Mr. Holland’s Opus" and she's right, but one of my biggest frustrations is how the post-secondary education system does nothing to address that mentality.
But there's more to this than just the title, so let's take a look at the other headers.
> Almost nobody respects teachers.
Also false. The majority of people respect teachers. When my wife wears anything indicating she's a teacher outside of work, she often gets compliments on her position, words of encouragement, and general appreciation from random passerbys. I've never once heard anyone make a snide remark about teachers to her.
The difficulty my wife seems to have is with parents and admins. The admins love to micromanage and usually end up wasting time and making things worse. Most parents are fine (some are even great), but there's always a few that have unreasonable expectations and would rather blame teachers for their child's misbehavior than hold their child responsible. Those are the ones she talks about, but she admits they are a minority.
> Teachers are beyond burned out.
Absolutely.
> Americans think it’s “not about the money.”
Is that really true though? I've never met anyone who has outwardly expressed that. You have to have some passion for teaching to bear with it, but I think most Americans realize that money is pretty important for getting by in life and teachers are no exception.
> Teaching has become truly miserable.
Yup.
> It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I don't really understand this one. The author talks about how schools are accepting worse and worse teachers, but she doesn't really elaborate on how that is a "self-fulfilling prophecy".
> America doesn’t deserve its teachers.
Don't we, though? I think we deserve exactly what the monstrous system we've created has given us - both the good and bad.
I think there's a lot that can be done to fix the US education system. I think funding is part of it, but I also think starting there is a grave mistake. Putting more money into a bad system just produces more bad results. Fix the system, then invest more into it. I have lots of ideas on how to "fix" it, but this comment has gone on long enough.