An Apple for the Teacher

Every time I help my daughter with homework I am reminded of one thing:  why on Earth would anyone begrudge teachers their salaries??? 

Quite simply, teachers have one of the most underpaid and underappreciated jobs in America.  I could write about policeman, firemen, nurses, etc...  but since the Patch talk has been focused so much on teachers and their pay/union/whatever...  let me digress.

Year after year we drop our kids off at school and expect nothing but the best:  SAT scores and grades have to be impeccable.  Every kid has to be in the running for an Ivy league school.  Who is responsible for all this?  Surely not the parents who fly in at night and struggle to fill in the blanks at homework time.

We consistently speak out of both sides of our mouths.  $70 grand a year?  That is a bargain as far as I am concerned. 

Think of all the folks who get on the Midtown Direct every day.  How many of them are making FAR more for doing far less?  Wall Street bonuses and golden parachutes are a bit more alarming, no?   Last I checked we are not in financial ruin because teachers make a nice living.  The banking industry has consistently brutalized our Nation with ZERO repercussions.

Why do we value that type of work more than the folks entrusted to mold our young minds? 

And I get the NJEA union argument, believe me.  Is it too strong?  Maybe.  Should teachers have more accountability and not be guaranteed tenure?  Probably.

We can be supportive and constructive with our criticisms.  Blanket statements condemning the lot of them  as greedy and selfish monsters do not qualify.  Teachers are vital cogs in an education system that, more than ever, needs our help.

With other developed countries taking the lead in techonology and manufacturing, the more we alienate our teachers and the less likely we will be able to keep pace.

So, before you moan about how Mr. X gets $75Kk a year to have summers off...  I ask you to try substitute teaching for a day or so.  And after you come home exhausted with head spinning, I bet you rethink your position.

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