Careers
Patent Lawyer Who Became Schoolteacher Has New Frustrations
Posted Apr 27, 2009, 11:58 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A patent lawyer who decided to escape law firm life for more time with her family nearly gave up on her new profession as a schoolteacher.
Lisa Johnson, a 35-year-old Yale law graduate with four children, practiced for five years before making the career switch, the Washington Post reports in a story about inexperienced teachers. The newspaper found that Washington, D.C., area students in the poorest neighborhoods are nearly twice as likely to have a newer teacher as those in the wealthiest areas. Studies show inexperienced teachers tend to be less effective, the story says.
"I didn't have materials that I needed," Johnson told the Post. "I didn't have teacher manuals. I couldn't find paper. Almost every day, I said I was going to quit."
She decided to stick with the job after a principal assured her that every new teacher experiences the same problems.
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