advertisement
-
mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
- read more
- mr. stinky feet - Profile | Pictures | Blog
-
I have heard more people bagging on teachers in the past two weeks since the stalemate in Wisconsin. It’s time to back off.
To hear some of the pundits and talk show hosts tell it, you’d think that teachers are money-hungry, fat-cat slackers who don’t deserve the meager salaries they currently get. And they and their uppity unions are surely going to be the downfall of our democracy, and their exorbitant salaries and benefits will be the difference between a balanced and unbalanced budget.
Seriously? Teachers? Even the premise of that is so completely absurd.
I’ve known scores of teachers in my life, and I can’t say I know one who went into it for the money. There are few who enter the profession thinking it’s going to be easy, and those who do bail after a year or two because they can’t hack it.
My second grade teacher, Mrs. Kellerman, drove an AMC Gremlin – which I thought was kind of cool at the time, but came to discover that it was one of the cheapest and most pathetic vehicles ever made (except for the Yugo, of course). It was probably all she could afford.
I’ve heard the arguments: Teachers only work until three o’clock every day. They get three months of vacation. They get all major holidays off. And they obviously aren’t smart enough to do anything else, since those who can’t do…teach.
Here’s the reality: Most teachers are at school before I’m out of bed in the morning. I personally know teachers who regularly work close to 50 hours a week – that includes working with students after school, grading papers at home, calling parents in the evening, prepping for tomorrow, and chaperoning off-hour school events. Most teachers teach because they love it.
I’ve heard utter outrage that teachers in Wisconsin make an average of $52,000 a year plus benefits. So what? Finally, a state where educators are paid nearly what they deserve. And that’s somehow a bad thing? Maybe that’s why Wisconsin has one of the best education systems in the country.
So, if I’m following the union-busting argument correctly… when the governor gets his way and strips the teachers (and other government employees: police officers, firefighters, etc.) of their collective bargaining power, then they can pay them what they really deserve (read: crappy wages) and finally balance the budget on the backs of the people who educate and protect their families. These are the same workers who are stalwarts of our ever-shrinking middle class. The teachers have already agreed to accept cuts in salary and benefits in exchange for bargaining rights that will keep them from getting hosed in the future. So far, no deal.
In the midst of this ridiculous debate, I heard a pundit on one “news” network actually make an argument that bankers were being unfairly vilified in the wake of the Wall Street collapse. This same network has been relentlessly pounding on teachers.
Are there ineffective and inefficient teachers? You bet. I’ve had a few. Just as in any industry, there are those who are incompetent. I don’t know anyone who is against weeding out bad teachers. But let’s not throw them all under the bus. On the other hand, I can think of a few corporate banking CEOs who scammed investors, destroyed their businesses, received tax-payer funded bail-outs, and walked away with huge bonuses and no prosecution. Where’s the outrage there?
Thank you, teachers, for all you do and for putting up with all of this disrespect. You are some of my favorite people on the planet!
Thank you! I have been following the deal in Wisconsin with the realization that it isn't going to stop here. This will set a precedent for other states and the people that need collective bargaining rights the most, public servants, won't have them. Firefighters, police officers put their lives on the line everyday. Teachers are expected to mold our children and this is how we treat them? I have collective bargaining rights and I work for the PO..and even they are worried that this will affect us eventually. I might be willing to forego a cost of living increase if I could keep my right to file a grievance if a manager does my job. I might be willing to pay a little more for my benefits if I have the no-lay off protection. Sorry, this is a hot topic for me. Thanks for sticking up for the teachers...I don't know a single person that is a teacher that does it for the money and I have a daughter who is planning on being a teacher who is well aware that it pays in hugs more than anything else!Perhaps if teachers were willing to police their own instead of getting testy when parents and school officials want bad teachers gone, seeing it as a threat to their entire profession, people might start thinking differently. If I could get rid of every lazy, incompetent, self-important secretary in the firm where I work, I'd do it in a heartbeat. As it sits, I have to take up the slack for them. I realize most teachers aren't in it for the money, but there are some who are. And then there are people like me--I'd love to go back into teaching, but since I teach history and can't coach something, nobody wants me. Maybe more emphasis should be placed on actual academics and a little less on sports. I have no problem with the grievances teachers have, with the exception of the money issue because I have to tell you I don't make anywhere close to $52k, but teachers should be more willing to help weed out their ineffective colleagues. As should doctors, lawyers, etc. And it's hard to be supportive when a teacher looks your kid in the eye and tells him he's not welcome in her class. Just sayin'.You're welcome! I had to have this discussion with my students. I don't get paid very much, but I love my job. We don't get much respect, either, and often are seen as babysitters. Moosbane, I have to completely disagree. I have never met a teacher who's in it for the money. What money? Most teachers do it for two reasons: 1. They love teaching and care about education, 2. They got out of college and didn't know what else to do and thought teaching would be easy. Those are usually the ones that don't make it. And it isn't up to the teachers to weed out the bad teachers. Our first priority is to our students. Picking off the bad teachers is administration's job. Education in this country would be better if more money was given to education, period. Without bargaining rights, teachers are going to lose out, big time. Thank you, Jim, for this blog!!Veng, I figured there would be teachers who disagree with me. I agree that teachers don't get the respect they deserve, and I have several theories as to why that is the case. However, I still think there are far too many teachers out there who shouldn't be teaching, and their colleagues see it and say nothing. I was guilty of it myself, although in fairness to me, I was in my very first year of teaching, so when the "math" teacher across the hall from me insisted on "teaching" Civil War history instead of math (and getting a lot of it wrong, I might add--being a Civil War reenactor apparently doesn't make you an expert), it was frustrating for me but I didn't dare say anything because the rest of the world thought he walked on water. As for "what money?", again, my kids' teachers make a hell of a lot more than I do.Thank you for another well-written blog! Teachers are, on average, grossly underpaid for what they do. Don't believe it? Shadow them for a day, and ask yourself if you'd do all that for that pay.Moose, with all due respect, your kids' teachers may get paid more than what you get paid, but they certainly don't get paid nearly what they deserve. When you become a teacher, you don't just go to a job and go home. Your entire life is about teaching. You give up your lunch breaks to plan lessons or speak with parents/students. You spend your weekends designing worksheets. You spend your evenings grading papers. Your conversations when you're with you're friends are about teaching. When you're a teacher, you're a teacher down to your soul. It is NOT a job, it's a way of life. And yes, there are bad teachers out there. Guess what? There are people who are bad at their jobs EVERYWHERE! But you don't go asking their coworkers to tattle on them! The point of the unions is not to keep bad teachers from getting fired, it's to give teachers due process so they're not just firing anyone for any reason. As for me, I teach adult ed. I'm one of the lowest rungs on the ladder, next to preschool teachers who also get no pay and no respect. We worry about paying our mortgage every month. You think I'm in it for the money? Nope. I'm in it because I care about whether or not my students reach their goals.Vengholm, with all due respect, I KNOW all that about teaching. I WAS a teacher. I get that teachers don't earn enough for what they do. But most people who work on the public dime don't make much, and it often shows in their work. Don't believe me? Look at, for instance, public defenders. Don't you think if they earned more, fewer poor people would go to prison for minor infractions? It's ALL about money--the world turns on it. Like I said, I have great respect for teachers, but I'm tired of hearing them gripe about money. We ALL want more money. We ALL work hard and feel like we deserve more. The states are practically broke and teachers want more more more--as does everyone else, I admit. I don't know. Personally, I think teacher training should be overhauled (I will probably craft a blog about that) but the way I would do it would not be cost-effective, I'm sure. As for not being asked to "tattle" ("Tattle"? Really?) on co-workers--not true. If I know a co-worker is doing or not doing something that complicates MY job, you bet your teacher's certificate that I'm going to say something to the powers that be. Laziness, lack of knowledge of one's job, etc. should never be excuses for someone else to take up the slack. And of course in my diatribes I'm not talking about ALL teachers, just the bad apples, and you're right, those people populate every line of work. But if the upper echelons are not made aware of, say, the math teacher eschewing math and choosing instead to mis-teach history, how can they correct that problem? And how will they know if no one tells them? That's what I mean by policing their own. Other professions do it; I can't imagine why teachers don't. I wish a teacher had told the principal about what that damn science teacher said to my son; according to him, plenty of people heard it but no one did anything about it. I submit that a teacher who tells a child basically to get lost should not be teaching. But who's going to know it was said if a credible colleague doesn't speak up? It might be heard through the kids' gossip vine, but will anyone believe it? And if confronted with that, will the teacher admit it? I know teachers do a lot on their own time and I know they give up evenings and weekends ad nauseam--remember, I did it myself. But you know going into it that those things are expected of you, and you're not willing to do it without complaint, then find another line of work. That's all I'm saying. As for the unions, well, unions are there to protect workers' rights, not their bad behavior, but it doesn't always work out that way.Thank you. People don't seem to realize that tenure is to protect teachers from being fired for doing their jobs. Coaches get fired when they don't play the right kids (the board members kid) or when a student fails a class==because they didn't do the work etc. Your job should not be cut due to someone's grudge or whim. Sure, some people are not cut out to be teachers. They don't last long. And even those people deserve help. Teachers are human. Beginning teachers in our district make about 31,00, with a bachelor's degree. i know one time I took our paychecks to the bank and the teller was appalled that the two of us teaching made so little. We don't do it for the money. I did it for the hugs and knowing I taught someone, many someones, how to read.
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagslove (5)
travel (4)
jiggle jam (3)
memories (3)
music (3)
tragedy (3)
violence (3)
balance (2)
baseball (2)
books (2)
budget (2)
cancer (2)
dolls (2)
drama (2)
fear (2)
food (2)
halloween (2)
health insurance (2)
holidays (2)
kansas city (2)
marriage (2)
parenting (2)
reading (2)
respect (2)
road trips (2)
small business (2)
thanksgiving (2)
vegetarian (2)
volunteering (2)
aging (1)
allowance (1)
anniversaries (1)
arts (1)
attitude (1)
bacon (1)
baking (1)
baskets (1)
beauty and the beast (1)
being wrong (1)
big sisters (1)
bongo barry (1)
brady bunch (1)
bullies (1)
bullying (1)
bus (1)
challenges (1)
change (1)
childlike spirit (1)
christmas (1)
co-dependency (1)
concerts (1)
consumerism (1)
costume (1)
creativity (1)
cuddling (1)
curious george (1)
dads (1)
dancing (1)
decorations (1)
diapers (1)
diet (1)
discipline (1)
disney (1)
don harman (1)
donations (1)
dreams (1)
drums (1)
easter (1)
education (1)
emotions (1)
expectations (1)
family attractions (1)
family business (1)
family festival (1)
family fun (1)
family meals (1)
fatherhood (1)
fruit (1)
grace (1)
gratitude (1)
greatest day (1)
grief (1)
hallmark (1)
happy bottoms (1)
health care (1)
healthy choices (1)
healthy meals (1)
home (1)
home school (1)
hospital (1)
humbug (1)
imagination (1)
inspiration (1)
judgement (1)
kansas (1)
kauffman center arts (1)
kids music (1)
laughter (1)
mayans (1)
miracles (1)
moderation (1)
money saving (1)
neighbors (1)
new job (1)
normal family (1)
nutrition (1)
older parents (1)
one direction (1)
parenthood (1)
paul mccartney (1)
peace (1)
phases (1)
picky eaters (1)
playground (1)
pop culture (1)
poverty (1)
pride (1)
promises (1)
quiet time (1)
relationships (1)
resolutions (1)
rest (1)
rituals (1)
road trip (1)
sanity (1)
saving (1)
school lunch (1)
self image (1)
service (1)
sharing (1)
shopping (1)
simplify (1)
sleeping (1)
snow day (1)
social media (1)
social norms (1)
solitude (1)
souvenir (1)
souvenirs (1)
special needs (1)
spring (1)
spring break (1)
springtime (1)
stress (1)
suffrage (1)
sugar (1)
super heroes (1)
sweets (1)
taking risks (1)
teachers (1)
television (1)
tolerance (1)
toy story (1)
truth (1)
tsunami (1)
tv (1)
vacation (1)
voting (1)
work life balance (1)
worry (1)