Office Hours: American Teacher’s Shortage, Why You Shouldn’t Have a Side Hustle, and What to Do if Your Employer Wants to Defer Your Pay

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1:09Welcome to the PropG Pod's Office Hours. This is the part of the show where we answer your questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehours at propgmedia.com. First question. Thanks for taking my question. I'm a new listener, and I love this podcast. I'm a school administrator from Southern Illinois, and I know very little when you discuss business and entrepreneurship. but I love your social and political perspectives. Here's my question. We are facing a K-12 teacher shortage in many states.

1:40In Illinois, we've passed a minimum salary for teachers and loosened up some barriers to getting a teaching license. We're not seeing any effects from those things just yet, but what do you think will get people wanting to teach in public schools or even go into the public sector in general? Thanks again. Thanks, Anonymous from Southern Illinois, and thanks for your good work. So teacher shortages are getting worse, and there are more underqualified teachers in classrooms than in previous years. According to research by educators at Kansas State, there are at least 55 ,000 vacant positions and 270 ,000 underqualified positions in the U.S.

2:19According to Title II data, enrollment in teacher preparation programs is now 30 percent lower than it was a decade ago. And a September survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics revealed that two-thirds of public schools say their biggest challenge in hiring was teachers or a lack of qualified candidates to be teachers. Evidence suggests that more teachers are leaving the profession. Teacher turnover rose to an all-time high of 14 percent last year, so one in seven teachers leaves. The education news outlet Chalkbeat found that in eight states, turnover rates reach their highest level in five years.

2:51What's being done? Some states are now sending people to college for free to fight against teacher shortages. In addition, nine states this year have increased teacher pay to attract and retain more teachers. So, look, the honest answer is I'm not entirely sure. I can speculate. I think it's a few things. One, I think that the wealthiest people in America are increasingly sending their kids to private school. And also the second thing is parental engagement. That's supposedly the key to a school is parental engagement. And unfortunately, when you lose the wealthiest households, you lose households that have the spare time and the resources to be engaged in the school.

3:27So I think a lot of times these public schools have a lot of kids from single parent homes where the parent can't be engaged. They're dealing with things they weren't paid to deal with. They're dealing with mental health problems. They're dealing with hunger problems. They're dealing with kids who are homeless. You're basically asking someone in their 20s who's making just a marginal salary to become a mental health counselor, you know, an adolescent psychologist dealing with problems at home. Some of these teachers have to come out of pocket. So I think a lot of it just basically comes down to resources.

4:03And a lot of people will say, well, actually, some of the most well-resourced school districts, that doesn't solve the problem. I don't know if it's parental involvement, but it strikes me that we just need to pay people more. I also specifically think there need to be specific programs to try and attract more males into schools. I think that the primary school system in America is highly biased against boys, and there's evidence around this. A boy who is called into the principal's office is twice as likely to be suspended for the same behavior as a girl. A black boy, five times as likely. Why?

4:37Men are not going into these professions. Now, why do we care? I think boys need male role models from a very early stage. And with more single-parent households, meaning there is no male role model at home, I think more boys need to see more men at school and relate to them. Also, it creates a bias towards girls. Think about the outcome. Think about what elementary, junior high school and high school want kids to behave? What is the behavior they want them to model? Sit still, be a pleaser, raise your hand, be organized, color code, put out the study guide. When I describe that person, who is it?

5:16Nine times out of 10, that's a little girl. Also, if you're a teacher, who are you going to take a personal interest in? You're going to take a personal interest in yourself. In other words, you're going to find that little boy or little girl that reminds you of you, that you can relate to, and that's who you're going to champion. And the reality is we have more girls who more teachers relate to. In the next five years, we're going to have twice as many female college graduates as male college graduates. And this has all sorts of knock-on effects. So what do we need to do? Well, okay, it's pretty obvious.

5:47We need to increase compensation and resources allocated to these universities. I also think we need more male teachers. And we also need to think of ways to think of ways that say we value young men and boys and also make accommodations for the different types of behaviors that we see in boys. And also the simplest, most elegant solution, in my view, to make teaching easier and better for everybody would be to start boys a year later. The development of their prefrontal cortex is 18 months behind girls. But in sum, in sum, we need to start valuing teachers more. And everybody talks about this, but I see very little funds being allocated to it.

6:23I went back to my old high school, the university high school last year for my show on CNN plus. And I met the head of the LAUSD school district. And he was saying, we just don't have the resources. They pitched me on giving them, I think they needed$300 ,000 to host their afterschool programs, things like drumline and drill team. They just don't have the funding for these things after school. And for a lot of these kids, that's really their only outlet to socialize. That's their only outlet to meet other kids. That's kind of their only fun. And then the question is, where do you take resources from?

6:58I think we need to raise taxes. I think we need, or even at a minimum, to close loopholes and provide more resources to our great public schools. I also think we should tax anyone, a per head tax, or anyone who takes their kid out of the public school system and sends them to private school. Because what you're losing is not only a student, you're losing parental involvement from folks who have the most resources to help out teachers and get involved in the school. I can't imagine how difficult it is to teach at a public school right now. Anyways, thanks for the question. And if it sounds like I don't have a silver bullet solution, trust your instincts.

7:30And I want to finish where I started. Thanks for your good work. Next question. Hey, Scott, Ryan from Philadelphia here. Love the podcast. Spotify told me I was in the top 2 % of your listeners. So objectively, I'm one of your biggest fans. Here's the question. I'm working at a large consulting firm in cybersecurity for the past 10 plus years, while also leading and running multiple tech startups, some of them more successful than others, but obviously they're still a side hustle. As I apply to new roles within my organization and even outside, I'm torn whether I highlight those experiences in startups or not.

8:02Will it hurt me? Will it make my chances stronger? Thanks. Ryan from Philadelphia. 2 % bitch, commit. Why are you in the top 1 %? To resist this futile, give in to the dog. That's right, be a 1 %er. So that's a scary thought. Anyways, thanks for your listenership. Let's talk a little bit about Philadelphia. I had never really spent any time in Philadelphia, and then I went on the board of Urban Outfitters, a very interesting. Two of the top brands, according to millennials, are Urban Outfitters and Free People, both owned by Urban Outfitters. Think about that. One company owns two of the townhouse brands among millennials.

8:41Also, they have the coolest HQ of any company I've ever been to. They took over the Navy Yard, or they have their HQ at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. So you'll be in a conference room talking about quarterly financials, and you'll see this old aircraft carrier bobbing up and down. Anyway, smart people really enjoyed my four years there. I would not describe Philadelphia as kind of the old navy of cities, sort of 60 or 80 percent of New York for 40 to 60 percent of the price. Seemed like a good quality of life at a lower cost of living. Anyways, Philadelphia, there you go. So, okay, what was your question?

9:12Oh, whether or not you, when applying for internal roles, talk about your side hustles. This is situational. I can only tell you how I would respond. And that is, as your boss, I don't think I'd respond well. And I'd be like, Ryan, if you want a promotion, here's an idea. Focus on this fucking job, boss. So I can tell you that I get having side hustles. Actually, I don't get having side hustles. Let me cut to the chase, Ryan. I think your side hustle needs to be your main hustle. I think you need to have one hustle. So do the hustle, but do one fucking hustle. And that is, if you want economic security, find something that satisfies you to the extent that you don't feel the need to do a side hustle and go all in on it.

9:57And I mean, the idea, I think the reason I'm, well, one of the reasons I'm economically secure, probably the primary reason I'm economically secure is I was born in the right place at the right time. But in terms of my economic security coming from my professional success, it was focus. And that is I went all in, Ryan. I went all in. I was in the office on weekends returning emails immediately. If you're at a small organization or a place where people are looking to develop economic security, the way you develop economic security is by garnering an unfair share of that market and getting more economic currency than your peer group, right?

10:34I mean, the average wage globally is, I think, about$18 ,000 a year. So if you want more than that, you've got to be in an economy and you've got to bring more productivity. And part of that is just pure elbow grease and focus. So I've never understood the idea of a side hustle. I get it if you're at a big company and they're paying you well and you want to stay there. But OK, if you're going to have a side hustle, have it for a while. And then it either takes off and you go all in on it or give it up and go all in on your company. Because my guess is the fastest blue line path to economic security, your current job would be to be great at it or specifically greater, as in focus more on it.

11:10So my advice to anybody who has a side hustle is if it's put a time limit on it. And if the side hustle begins to grow, then quit your current job and go all in on your side hustle. But the way to economic security, the way to success, the way to professional currency, in my view, is 110 % focus on one thing. Thanks for the question. We have one quick break before our final question. Stay with us. What do walking 10 ,000 steps every day, eating five servings of fruits and veggies, and getting eight hours of sleep have in common? They're all healthy choices. But do all healthier choices really pay off?

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12:47Welcome back, question number three. This next question comes from a listener who would like to remain anonymous. Hey, Scott. I just wanted to share a question to see if you could provide some guidance here for a young professional who has joined a real estate group that is building hotels. They've built a few already and are planning to build more, but they're a little tight on cash. They've been a small mom and pop operation for a few years now, and they have not had many corporate team members on payroll, and I'm one of the first ones. They're trying to work with their cash flow to manage it as they're continuing to build other properties, and what they've asked me to do is be able to kind of defer some of my salary until the second half of the year.

13:28Wanted to see if this is something that's pretty common when it comes to young companies or companies who are just getting started, and especially in real estate. Just wanted to get your thoughts on that to see if you think that's appropriate for an employer to be delaying some of your salary or payroll to a later date to try to accommodate the current company's needs. All right, thanks. Hello, Anonymous. So, look, a company that has, you know, more promise than cash flow is not unusual. But what is not cool about this is them asking you to take all the risk without rewarding you for that risk.

14:03And that is it sounds like your job, the market compensation for your job is X and they want to pay you 0.7X and give you, you know, 0.3 of it later in the year. Well, that's fine. If you can afford to do that and you're willing to do it, okay, but you should be compensated for it in the form of some additional upside or equity ownership in the project. And I would talk to a real estate attorney or someone senior in the company saying, effectively, what they're asking you to do is they're asking you to invest in the company. Because even if they give you all that money back, when you're taking risks, there's a chance that this company goes out of business or they just don't have the money or they come up with new reasons to defer more and you never get that money.

14:43So you're taking some risk. You are putting your capital at risk. In addition, even if you get it back, you're losing the time value of money. With inflation, you know, a dollar a day is worth more than a dollar in six months. So, OK, fine. If you're willing to do it, I would say to them, look, I am willing to do this. I'm willing to forego or defer some salary. But I would expect, as is entirely reasonable, some additional compensation or upside. And that can be additional capital or it can be a success fee or some sort of equity participation in the projects you're working on. In other words, it's a personal decision.

15:20Do you have the money to invest in this company, which is effectively what they're asking you to do? And if the answer is yes, then they need to treat you like an investor and offer you upside beyond just paying you back. You're not a bank. You're not a bank, for God's sakes. And quite frankly, if they don't see the merit in that and they just want to defer your salary and they kind of wave off the conversation, I would start looking for another job. Because what you're talking about is a company that is not financially strong, nor do they really appreciate that you, like them, are taking risks with your own capital.

15:53Thanks for the question. That's all for this episode. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehours at propgmedia.com. Again, that's officehours at propgmedia.com.

16:14This episode was produced by Caroline Shagrin. Jennifer Sanchez is our associate producer and Drew Burrows is our technical director. Thank you for listening to the Prop G Pod from the Vox Media Podcast Network. We will catch you on Saturday for No Mercy, No Malice, as read by George Hahn, and on Monday with our weekly market show.

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