= new reply since forum marked as read
...kpete. It is a bit ironic...
As a teacher, AND a person who values those who serve in the military, I always wonder why many Presidents 'hold up' the value and patriotism of our veterans and those currently serving our country in the military, but fail to do the same with our teaching veterans and those currently working as teachers.
It is the same to me. Teachers SERVE...often under difficult conditions and circumstances...to improve our country by providing a free, public education to our children. If the public genuinely understood that service, teacher-bashing would not be tolerated...any more than we would tolerate disrespect toward our troops. (We/our country did that once, after Viet Nam, and have hopefully learned to do better.)
I loved the way President Obama used the example of teamwork in the military to help Americans understand that we need to do the same as citizens to get our country back to being a world power...to make us stronger as a nation.
But teachers have been involved in that same work, every day in their classrooms, for YEARS. What about the value of perseverance? In the SOTU, President Obama said our choice was neither 'teacher bashing' nor the 'status quo'. That is right. The true choice in education is between fixing public education so it is stronger vs. giving up and privatizing it.
I'd like to see THAT held up as an example for the American people. 
