Is it true that the more things change, the more they stay the same?
In devising the themes for this year’s The State of Teaching Project, our team did a lot of thinking about how the profession has changed. We thought about how a job once considered relatively flexible (remember summer vacations?) feels a lot less so these days (teaching has no remote work days). But we also considered what hasn’t changed as much in education policy and practice over time: Efforts to improve teacher quality. Freakouts over politics in classrooms. And, of course, the reading and math wars—which have been playing out for decades.
And we thought about our journalism. It turns out some of the biggest education stories that feel outdated now (like asbestos removal) actually presaged new environmental challenges with implications for human health.
So we came up with this interactive timeline to let you trace the arc of your own career amid the stories that have shaped K-12 education. Here’s how to use the timeline. Enter the year you began teaching, from 1981 to 2025. (If you don’t fit in that timespan—congrats, you’ve either had a remarkably long, productive career, or you’re just getting started.)
You’ll get a look at about how long you’ve been teaching, what your salary was when you started, and a top education story from the year you began—and how it reverberates today.
