“You can’t survive in this economy with making $40,000, especially if you have children, a car note, rent, things of that nature.”

Jeffrey “Bo” Dean

Today’s guest is Jeffrey “Bo” Dean, Assistant Principal and Founder at Starting 60’s Initiative. Jeffrey sat down with Staci to discuss the impact of technology and virtual learning, fighting for a living starting wage for teachers, and the role of educators beyond teaching.

• K-12 education
  • Jeffrey grew up in North County, going to Flynn Park Elementary School, Lawson Elementary School, and Hazelwood West for middle school and high school.
  • He went to Harris-Stowe State University for his undergraduate degree and University of Missouri St. Louis for his master’s, and he’s back at UMSL for his doctorate in Educational Leadership.
  • He comes from a family of educators – his grandma, auntie, and cousin were all educators. 
  • He has also always had a passion for reading and literature which translated into writing music.
    
• How did your primary education in public schools impact your career as an educator?
  • Being in public school, he saw everything. He wasn’t sheltered like some private school students.
  • He was able to be around a wide variety of people, make friends from different groups, and he wouldn’t trade that experience.
  • Jeffrey has been an educator for 12 years.
    
• What are some of the changes that you’ve seen in education in your tenure as an educator?
  • Technology has been the biggest change that Jeffrey has seen, and that change happened during Covid when everyone went virtual.
  • To him, this advancement was an improvement, because schools are better equipped to handle things like snow days and AMI days.
  • AMI (Alternative Methods of Instruction) days are virtual school days
    
• A lot of parents and teachers have been against virtual learning – can you elaborate on how you believe it has been a help?
  • Some kids feel more comfortable doing online learning. 
  • During Covid, a lot of kids were going through depression because they were isolated from everybody. That’s one of the main concerns parents had.
  • When the students came back to school, there were a lot of kids that still wanted to stay home. And a lot of parents who wanted them to stay home as well.
  • “Once Covid died down, you still had your handful of students that felt more comfortable learning virtually.” 
  • It’s a double-edged sword.
    
• What is Starting 60’s?
  • It’s an organization that helps teachers who make below $60k. It aims to have teachers have a starting salary of $60k. 
  • The average starting salary for a teacher is $40k. 
  • “You can’t survive in this economy with making $40,000, especially if you have children, a car note, rent, things of that nature.” 
  • A lot of teachers have second jobs, and for how high in demand teachers are, they shouldn’t have to do that.
  • Starting 60’s is still in the beginning stages, doing research, and craft a good argument to present to Congress when they decide to go full force with it.
    
• How has teaching changed your perspective of the world?
  • Teaching made him appreciate his parents more.
  • “We’re not just teachers, we’re therapists, we’re parents to these children.” 
  • Teaching makes him count his blessings.
    
• What is one of the most common misconceptions of teaching?
  • Teaching is not just glorified babysitting.
  • The better the relationship with the students, the easier your job is.
  • Jeffrey had a great relationship with these kids, so his job was fun. 
  • The students would refer to the suburban schools as “smarter” and he’d always have to remind them that’s not true and not to doubt themselves.
  • People have a lot of misconceptions about these urban schools – there’s a lot of bright talent there.
    
• Has the shift in responsibility from teaching to being an assistant principal impacted your Starting 60’s plans?
  • Jeffrey wanted to become a principal because he’s been a student, teacher, support staff, so he knows what things need to be changed in the school system. And he felt that he could impact the system in a higher position.
  • He has the utmost respect for teachers and firmly believes they deserve to be making $60k+. 
  • The teachers that deserve the most pay are those in elementary school. Just with how they’re able to keep those children’s attention all day.
    
• What are some external challenges that are impacting public education?
  • Funding, depending on the school district you work for.
  • The infrastructure of the building could be better. 
  • Having resources for parents – it’s hard to get parents involved when the parents are working. They’re working 2-3 jobs, so having better resources for parents.
  • Getting the community more involved and external stakeholders to help these students grow.
  • We need more community support all around.
    
• What is the role of public education and public schools in our society today?
  • It’s supposed to prepare our children for the future. 
  • For the most part, the teachers do a good job of preparing our children, but that has its ups and downs.
    
• What are some of the things parents can do to better support classroom learning (understanding that they’re busy)?
  • Although parents may be busy, they’re involved. They’ll answer and show up to important things like parent teacher conferences. If students weren’t doing the best in the classroom, parents were easy to get in contact with.
  • Keeping the lines of communication open is the most important.
    
• What should parents be looking for in a school?
  • They should be looking for a safe environment, and teachers who want the best for their students.