I am going out of Google Reader for this post mainly because it struck a nerve with me and I feel we all need to read this and pass it on to everyone we meet. Even strangers on the street if you have enough nerve!
A colleague of mine posted this article from a local paper. http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/530997/Get-off-the-backs-of-teachers.html?nav=5097 The author has no affiliation with unions, teachers, or politicians. This in and of itself make me value his opinion and sing his praises.
I thank him for finally saying what we already know. The responsibility to solve all of societies ills and raise the nation's youth has turned into "America's Teacher Hunt" similar to the Salem Witch Hunt. I may be exaggerating a bit, but I don't think I am too off the mark.
Has any policy maker ever asked a teacher if they would work all summer if they were asked to. I would, because then I wouldn't have to spend 6-8 weeks reviewing everything students forgot. But then administrators would have to realize that they would have to pay teachers for those months of work. Because WE all know that spreading our income over 12 months is different than being paid for those months.
Another beef I have is that everyone makes out teachers as these manipulative people that have wheeled and dealed these great salaries and benefit packages just to drain districts of their money. But in negotiations, doesn't it take two parties (the teachers and the administration to agree to something). Just an observation...
I am greatful for the medical benefits that I receive and realize how lucky I am. But I am not going to let politicians make teachers the source of all the ills that plague society. We are a noble profession and need to feel that way again.
YEAH for Andy Heller! It was nice to read an article where teachers were not cited as the cause of our nation’s problems. In my career, I had always been proud to be a teacher, and still am. However, I now feel the teaching profession is under attack and are becoming scapegoats for just about any problem. I think you are not far off the mark when you mentioned the Salem Witch Trials. I stumbled across this article in the past few weeks and thought the author had some valid points.
ReplyDeleteIn What Other Profession: http://www.examiner.com/k-12-in-topeka/in-what-other-profession
What a GREAT article! I read it before finishing your blog. It hits home to a lot of true points!
ReplyDeleteThe point that stuck out to me the most is how Andy points out that we children are sent to school without any reading experiences or very little.
As teachers we are seeing more pressure put on us to compete with other nations in the race for advancing technology and other fields.
I think as a society we need to start looking at the parents as part of the solution. They shouldn't sit on the side lines pointing their fingers at us, because in all honesty, most of us are pointing our fingers right back at them.