When "Reformers" Think With Their Pocketbooks

They say most new teachers don't last five years.  They say most old teachers are waiting to retire.  Many pulled out last June.  A mid-career teacher once told me she had it the worst.  She was too far in to get out and retirement too far away--given all the changes to her profession.  She was trapped.   

What does this say about the future of teaching?  There may be ed. companies who will step in, happily thrust the remaining humans aside and move their technologies center stage.  These people know little to nothing about education.  They think with their pocketbooks.

There may be people who would glady replace experienced teachers by a cheaper, pensionless, rotating bottom.  There may be people who think any teacher can succeed if fed a strict diet of scripts.  They may forget that teaching requires unpredictable interactions with young audiences.  They may forget that experience cannot be manufactured out of thin air.  They may forget that creativity, with a gentle hand and an active mind, counts for something.  These people who would say good riddance to teachers are not educators.  They think largely with their pocketbooks.  They make money as they deplete humanity.