Reply #34: Thank you to you and all of the strikers for standing up for labor rights [View All]

[femmedem]

at such a high personal cost.

I was an adjunct faculty member of a small college in CT. Although I enjoyed teaching, I quit after two semesters for two reasons: first, I couldn't make ends meet. Second, I realized that my anger over low wages was tempting me to compromise the quality of my teaching. Wouldn't it be great, I found myself thinking, if I didn't have to read, grade and comment on 600 papers per class per semester, plus exams? Hey, maybe I could bring my salary up to minimum wage if I only assigned two short papers instead of five?

I couldn't be alone in this thinking. I'm sure that the low wages you're battling do a disservice not only to you, but also to students. Many good teachers leave. Many other good teachers stay, but change the way they teach in order to financially survive.

Before I taught, I was an exotic dancer. If asked which profession was more exploitive, I'd say teaching as adjunct faculty, hands down.