Biden says teachers deserve 'a raise, not just praise'
Source: AP
By COLLIN BINKLEY
Speaking to the nations largest teachers union, President Joe Biden said Friday that the pandemic has given Americas parents the ultimate education on the challenges of the teaching profession. But even more, he said, the last year has proved that teachers across the U.S. deserve higher pay.
You deserve a raise, not just praise, Biden said in remarks at the National Education Associations annual meeting in Washington. Every parent in this country who spent the last year educating their children at home understands that you deserve a raise.
Biden made the case while selling his proposed legislative priorities and budget for next year, which includes $20 billion in new funding that aims to spur states to increase teacher pay. A close ally of teachers unions, the president went on to describe educators as the single most important component of Americas future.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden gave remarks at a mostly empty Washington Convention Center while union members watched virtually. Biden is the first president in recent history to address the labor group, whose 3 million members include his wife, a longtime community college professor.
President Joe Biden speaks at the National Education Association's annual meeting at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, Friday, July 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-health-coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-government-and-politics-26589e3916e0cbe101740fa81789f261
NH Ethylene
(30,810 posts)How about we stop the teacher bashing in this country?
AZLD4Candidate
(5,688 posts)we are failures, our schools are garbage, we come from the bottom of the barrel, and are the cause of every social and economic ill since the beginning of time.
And, personally, I love being told what I teach means nothing because STEM is all that matters. Social studies is just teaching facts and nothing more, all the while having states like mine (Arizona) muzzle us and threaten fines and de-certification is we dare to teach what actually happened with legit perspective and fact.
BTW, massive sarcasm here.
cstanleytech
(26,290 posts)lack of funding.
NH Ethylene
(30,810 posts)It used to be that I could shut out the world and enjoy being in the classroom. That's impossible now. And the constant demeaning of our work and our profession has only been amplified by the pandemic.
I've never worked as hard as I did over the past year, and never seen such depth of societal scorn for teachers over this same time period. And that's not even to mention the complete lack of appreciation from school administrators who didn't seem to realize we were inventing all-new ways of teaching - on the fly - and working all hours to do so.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,688 posts)NH Ethylene
(30,810 posts)I wound up presenting as though they were all just riveted when actually many were probably not even in the room!
AZLD4Candidate
(5,688 posts)She never accepted "I have no idea, I can't see them."
CRK7376
(2,199 posts)and rural NC doesn't offer very good internet in my part of the state, if it rains or snows I loose connectivity.....
AZLD4Candidate
(5,688 posts)CRK7376
(2,199 posts)agrees completely with your assessment. Plus our school system introduced us to Canvas as the new learning platform and gave us 3 weeks to learn the system before classes started. It was a nightmare year for students, their families and we the teachers/support staff/administrators etc....this upcoming year doesn't look much better.
AZLD4Candidate
(5,688 posts)learning vocabulary than what the state requires.
Response to NH Ethylene (Reply #7)
CRK7376 This message was self-deleted by its author.
cstanleytech
(26,290 posts)continuing to screw over the American people.
BigmanPigman
(51,590 posts)hiring more teachers and support staff (schools have a nurse, librarian, psychologist, etc only once a week) and making class size smaller. They had been slowly creeping up, creating more work for crappy pay and no respect. Maybe now that kids are heading back to school parents will stop thinking of teachers as glorified baby sitters.
NH Ethylene
(30,810 posts)Nearly every email from a parent I received was prefaced with 'thank-you for all you are doing'.
BigmanPigman
(51,590 posts)I'm glad to see a changing attitude toward teachers' work since Covid. Now I wonder how long it will last and if the changes are permanent.
no_hypocrisy
(46,088 posts)In New Jersey, the majority of funding public education comes from municipal taxes. And we're tapped out.
I'm a teacher and would like more money in my salary too, but with a lot of properties being mandated to pay $16,000 annually, I can't imagine where the extra funds are going to come from.
IronLionZion
(45,433 posts)adapting their lesson plans, which is tricky for many subjects that require hands on lab work and exercises. It's been a challenging year and half for both teachers and students.