According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, most children begin to read by the time they reach the third grade. The basic ability to write is often established even sooner. With so much riding on a child's first few years of education, one might expect that the teachers at these grade levels are among the most highly compensated workers in any state. Unfortunately for the teachers, this is not the case.

A report developed by the Foundation for Child Development and two other organizations has shown that low pay and few benefits are forcing college students, in particular early childhood education majors, to shy away from early education jobs.

The report, published by the foundation, the Economic Policy Institute and the Keystone Research Center, is based on census data from 1983 to 2004.

The result is that standards and qualifications for instructors across America are being lowered in an attempt to fill teaching positions.

According to recent census data, the percentage of Wisconsin child-care center educators with four-year degrees was 18 percent in 2000, down from 32 percent in 1980.

According to the Foundation for Child Development report, the average hourly wage for a child-care center instructor in Wisconsin in 2000 was $8.22, nearly seven dollars lower than the $14.71 made for all Wisconsin workers. 2000 was the earliest year for which data was available.

But Glen Burk, principal at Wisconsin Avenue Elementary School, 2708 W. Wisconsin Ave., is not willing to attribute the shift away from early education strictly to monetary issues.

"It don't think that's the case," he said, choosing to instead credit the movement to a "variety of reasons," including the desire of students to pursue more "meaty" subjects than childhood education.

While Marquette does not offer a specific program for early child education, the area of teaching most affected by the report, 400 education majors are enrolled here, according to the School of Education.

Some education majors are fighting against this new trend and pursuing early education positions, despite the low pay and poor benefits.

Seth Leasure, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences studying elementary education, chose his major in the spring of his freshman year. He said he has not thought about switching.

Ideally, he said, his career would involve "getting a job at an elementary school, somewhere in third to fifth grade."

Leasure agreed with the Foundation for Child Development report in some respects, saying that he has seen "a lot of talented (teachers) turned away because of the low amount of money" in elementary education.

He attributed it to the fact that teaching is "a government job," but said he believes that, "If they had the money to support all the teachers, I'm sure (the government) would."

Cara Gorman, a sophomore elementary education major in the College of Arts & Sciences, said she thinks that money is not really the issue when it comes to selecting a career in teaching.

"If you're going to become a teacher, you automatically know you're not going into the profession to make money," she said. "I think that most teachers go into the profession because they're passionate about teaching or affecting people's lives. If you've decided to be a teacher strictly to make money, I think you're going to get a rude awakening."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 29, 2005.