Teachers were being retired "left right and center" because funding was being cut. They wanted younger people in those positions because they cost less. Trouble is, most of those people haven't stayed in education. And you can't just "bring the older folks back" because they don't want to come back at first-year salaries, which our current system would require.
I work in a suburban district. There are about two dozen elementary schools in my district - each of them has MULTIPLE vacancies that they can't even get anyone to apply for, let alone fill. My kid's school in another district has a vacant second grade position and has for two months. High schools in my district have had vacancies since the first day of school - and urban districts nearby do too.
Now back to the first part of your post:
You're taking the point of view of ONE person from ONE college and applying it to people across the board. There are jerks everywhere in the world. That doesn't make everyone in the world a jerk. But if we take and accept your point, that means those young men and women being trained by those types of college directors don't seek out rural or middle school jobs because they don't see potential there.
Unfortunately I have to agree.
When was the last time an ATSSB-qualifying (C, CC, A, AA, AAA, AAAA) school got its director elected to state office in TMEA? How often is the band chair a middle school director? Until we provide an opportunity for advancement and recognition and until we visibly respect the people doing the job that aren't at the "big time" programs then people will be more inclined to work for those big time programs.
Also, the kids that go into music education - are they coming from second and third ensembles, or are they the first chair top band kids? Those kids don't even KNOW the Grade 1 list to teach it to a band. They've likely never played a piece off of it. They've only had one semester of methods, maybe two, on an instrument not their primary. They're not qualified to teach a one-man-show gig. Let 'em get some experience first.
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