Having trouble with the 'scape-goating teachers' worry that...

[YvonneCa]

...so many teachers express here? This opinion essay was written by a local teacher in my area. Her story could apply to any public school level...elementary, middle or high school...or any district in the country. It's about dedication, working conditions, and lack of administrative support:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/30/teacher-appreciation-in-the-grossmont-district/

An excerpt...

Teacher appreciation week was earlier this month. Since I work for the Grossmont Union High School District, teaching at West Hills in Santee, this appreciation is manifested to me with a 10 percent pay cut while the district fattens up its already sizable reserve.

In the coming days, East County parents will see Grossmont teachers picketing and wearing red shirts to protest. But parents (and other East County residents) should understand what these actions truly mean.

Teachers, counselors, psychologists, speech therapists and librarians are protesting ever-increasing class sizes. I personally started this school year with 197 students in my care. Now I have 188. I teach five periods per day, 52 minutes in each period. If you do the math, it adds up to a whopping 1 minute and 38 seconds per student per day. I don’t teach math – I teach English – so 188 students means 188 essays, 188 pieces of homework, 188 of everything they turn in. At least math teachers have definite answers. But they, too, have to check the students’ processes, so they, too, have too little time to explain things to too many students.

[msongs]

1. thank you for caring, you are an asset to your students :-) nt

[YvonneCa]

3. I truly believe that if people REALLY understood what teachers do...

...they'd be in the streets supporting us. Misperceptions and spin are killing us. :hi:

[scentopine]

2. Obama's plan with Duncan is to wear you down - make it so humiliating

to do your job that you quit. And then they will say that only Fortune 500 is "effective" enough to run our school system. Then they will pay minimum wage or outsource whatever they can to low cost unregulated and unskilled labor markets. The profit from this enterprise will line their own pockets.

Social security is on the chopping block as well.

The same system that educated the engineers and scientists who put men on the moon, built f-15 fighters, Manhattan project, nations electrical infrastructure, water systems, highway systems, on and on.

As CEO salaries increase exponentially, worker salaries are in decline. This is about the democratic party and republican parties utopia of a Fortune 500 nation where we are not citizens, we are employees.

[teacher gal]

19. Well said.

Thank you.

[MadHound]

4. Teacher appreciation week is just more of those polite mouthings that people use

Yet don't really mean. Just like the polite mouthing that education is one of the most important aspects of our society.

The fact of the matter is that teachers and education matter little to people in this country. If they did, they would fund it like they mean it. They would pay teachers the salary they deserve.

Japan and Finland have the two best education systems in the world, and guess what, they pay for it. Teachers are given the same money, and respect in their societies that doctors are given in ours. Facilities are top flight, classrooms are small, children are cared for, schools are well staffed.

But here, we want to do education on the cheap. Worse yet, we have the misguided idea that education funding, and the direction that education takes, are matters that the public in general should have a lot of input on. Thus, it takes a super majority of the voters to gin up the money that schools need, frequently a fruitless task. Worse, we allow anybody, no matter their political agenda, to have administrative power in a school district. Would we run any other critical field in this country like we do education? No, we wouldn't and we don't.

Education is an afterthought in this country, a country that doesn't value intelligence or education.

[YvonneCa]

7. "Education is an afterthought in this country...

... a country that doesn't value intelligence or education." Your words are sadly true. I DO think the PTB have finally realized its importance...but they are listening to the wrong people (politicians) about how to fix it. JMHO.

[Imajika]

8. Wait, what?

"Worse yet, we have the misguided idea that education funding, and the direction that education takes, are matters that the public in general should have a lot of input on."

Are you joking?

Education spending, mostly coming from local and state revenue, is like the most expensive thing citizens pay for with their taxes. And you don't think the public should have a lot of "input"? Sounds extremely elitist to me. Who do you think should have "input"? Maybe just teachers and their unions can decide how to spend almost a trillion dollars a year?

This is exactly the kind of thinking that has alienated so many people and made them less sympathetic to public employees in general. This notion that public sector jobs are these untouchable fiefdoms where a downturn in the economy shouldn't effect them. I get the feeling a lot of people think these government jobs should be shielded from cuts and layoffs, maybe because they are union jobs or something. Sorry, but if the private sector is suffering, then the public sector will need to be curtailed. When the economy is bad the majority of Americans who work for private businesses just won't have as much to spend on government services. I just don't see how this is so complicated to people.

Not only should the public have input, I wish they'd take the time to get even more involved. Maybe if they did, people would start helping teachers by participating in the education process by having their kids rested, fed and ready to learn. Perhaps if people were paying attention they'd value the profession more and stop thinking of teachers as glorified babysitters and realize they are professional educators worthy of respect they deserve.

[YvonneCa]

10. There's the problem in a nutshell. The general public...

...doesn't get what teachers do. Some DO see teachers as 'glorified babysitters.' And then they want to set policy???

You said, "Sorry, but if the private sector is suffering, then the public sector will need to be curtailed. When the economy is bad the majority of Americans who work for private businesses just won't have as much to spend on government services. I just don't see how this is so complicated to people."

I take from that that you think we should just cut teachers because the private sector is cutting people. And what? No teachers...so just close down schools?? Maybe we should do that...then those who see us as 'glorified babysitters' would really get a dose of reality.

Is that what you are saying?

Heaven knows, we need parents involved, aware and participating to make public education work...but maybe the first hurdle is to realize the real consequences of NOT having public schools. It might wake people up...

[Imajika]

11. Well, yes, that is exactly what I think...

"I take from that that you think we should just cut teachers because the private sector is cutting people. And what? No teachers...so just close down schools??"

Err, surely you realize that if the private sector tanks that the public sector would crumble too right? I mean, public sector jobs exist only because the private sector funds them with tax money. Every single teachers job is dependent on the private sector coughing up tax money.

So yeah, if the private sector has less money to spend then there will have to be public sector cuts and layoffs. This isn't some threat or vindictive statement, it is just the way a government job is paid for. Tax payers give consent to give some of their money to the government in exchange for labor or services that fill a collective need. When tax payers have less money they will consent to give less.

Ofcourse, we'd probably both agree that many of these cuts would not be necessary if the wealthiest in society paid their fair share. Simply making the tax code far more progressive and taxing the highest income people at a more sensible rate would solve a lot of these problems. But, alas, if our fellow citizens will not agree to do that, then yes, public sector jobs such as teaching and nursing will obviously have to be cut.

"but maybe the first hurdle is to realize the real consequences of NOT having public schools. It might wake people up"

I agree. Still doesn't get around the point, if the money is not there it is not there. We have to make tough decisions. We can't keep racking up debt spending on everything because we can't agree on priorities. The public sector really exists at the pleasure of tax payers and government employees need to drop this attitude that they should be immune from cuts or layoffs during bad economic times.

[YvonneCa]

18. What will we do with all the children in the schools...

...with no teachers? Just let them run themselves? Your argument that the public sector cuts are justified when there are private sector cuts (and therefore less tax money) is correct. But it's not news. You seem to think people don't understand that link. But we do.

The question is...IF there are not enpugh teachers, what then? Close schools? Keep all the kids home? Abandon public education? What?

As to the school district in the article, I understand that money is scarce. It's scarce in every state...but especially in California. No matter what happens in this particulare district, I posted the essay because that teacher provides great insight into what teachers deal with...and why working conditions are already challenging...and become more so when layoffs are threatened. If it were up to me, I'd say teachers should just walk...but then I remember Reagan and the air traffic controllers. :7

[MadHound]

12. Tell you what, can we subject your job and career to the following conditions?

First your pay scale is determined by a vote of the people. Worse yet, in many areas your pay scale has to be determined by a super majority of the people, as are determinations about quality of facilities, amount of supplies, the quantity, and quality of your work load all determined by a super majority of the voting public.

Not to mention the fact that since your job is in the public sector, it becomes a political football, to be kicked around by every yahoo out there on the political landscape. Which leads to the fact that the actual leaders of this three ring circus are people who care about having a say so in how all our children are raised.

This has lead to a concerted effort by the religious right to take over school boards around the country over the past thirty years. The Texas State School Board History Massacre didn't occur in a political vacumn, the fundie right has been building up to this, and more. Do you think you could handle the fundie right interfering with your career?

Oh, and let's not forget, every once in awhile you job comes under the scrutiny of the national government. On these occasions things generally turn out poorly, especially over the past ten years. One president wanted you to perform at 100% perfection by an arbitrary date without giving you the tools or money to even begin to fulfill this pie in the sky mandate. The next president comes along and decides to step up this national attack on your profession even more.

And the worse part about this whole SNAFU of your profession is that most of these people in charge of your profession don't know either what they're talking about or doing, having neither the education or experience to make informed opinions about these decisions they're making. Rather, they're simply playing a game of political football, interjecting their own ideologies and biases.

Do you think you could work under those kind of conditions in your career?

Welcome to education.

It isn't that I don't believe in public input, but rather the amount of public input and quality of public input. Putting people in charge of your education system who don't have a clue about actually educating people is, well, stupid. We wouldn't consider promoting a rookie cop to police chief, nor a rookie firefighter to the top spot, so why is this practice followed in education?

Nor do we require a supermajority to decide funding issues in any other public or private sector areas. Yet we follow this practice in regards to education. Again, why?

Oh, one other thing for you to think about. Over the past thirty years, education and social services have been the first items that hit the budget cutting floor. We have money for wars, we have money for tax cut after goddamn tax cut, we have money to keep up the failing War on Drugs, where cops get any goddman electronic gadget that they want while teachers are going out and spending their own money buying supplies for their classrooms. Education, teaching, our public school system has taken a beating over the past thirty years.

The politicians and the public love to say that education is one of the most important things that we as a society have to take care of. But when it comes to funding education, and providing for a sane and sensible leadership for education, we fail miserably. Again, the evidence for this is in Japan and Finland, and those other twenty two developed nations that rank higher than us. They pay the bill for education, not so much for war and other crap. And they provide skilled leadership, not letting just anybody take the reins. Yes, there is public representation in the school systems there, but education isn't the political football it is here.

[Imajika]

13. Sounds like you should change jobs right?

I mean, if the job is that terrible, then why not considering leaving?

If your a certified teacher you could probably find a better district, or perhaps a private school, or maybe in a teaching program overseas.

By the way, private sector workers deal with their own list of grievances and complaints. They weigh the bad with the good and make a decision whether to stay in that particular position or to maybe find a better place to work. If all the good teachers are flocking out to go teach in a private schools for more money, the people would end up realizing they will need to consent to be taxed higher to pay more money to the higher quality teachers.

I just get this sense that many people have no actual clue that the private sector is what actually funds the public sector. It is almost as if some of these folks think the entire US economy could completely collapse, and they'd still have their union backed job with no repercussions till maybe the next union contract renegotiation.

[MadHound]

14. It isn't that people don't realize that the private sector funds the public sector,

It is the decisions that are made with that money, how it is collected, how it is spent, that are the problem. We've got trillions for war, yet relatively nothing for education? C'mon, even you know there's something fucked up about that.

Oh, and teachers don't get paid more in the private sector, they get paid less. So much for that option.

As far as your demonization of the unions, sorry, but I don't buy it. Teacher's unions have been portrayed as these evil organizations, when the fact of the matter is that they're one of the weakest bargaining tools in the country. Hell, teacher's unions don't have the legal option to strike.

Oh, and for your information, the job itself, the teaching part, is wonderful. It is dealing with all the idiots who get in the way of me performing that job, that's the problem.

Oh, and as far as your whole private vs. public sector debate, it goes both ways. Governments provide infrastructure and regulation that the private sector couldn't do without. This whole business of private business being the holy of holies, sorry, but that's bullshit

[Imajika]

15. No, governments don't provide anything...

"Governments provide infrastructure and regulation that the private sector couldn't do without."

See, that is where your missing the point. That infrastructure is collectively paid for by and large from people in the private sector. Private sector workers (the overwhelming vast majority) consent to be taxed to buy some thing or service from the government. The government doesn't dictate what they will build or which services will be offered, the tax payers do - and those tax payers come from....you got it, the private sector. The government answers to the people, therefore government workers serve at the pleasure of the people.

"We've got trillions for war, yet relatively nothing for education?"

Relatively nothing for education'? Are you kidding? Most education spending is done on a state and local level with a little federal money thrown in for good measure. I believe the total yearly price tag for education spending is around 900 billion to upwards of 1 trillion dollars. While I agree too much is wasted on defense, its funding is derived almost entirely from the federal government and its budget is around 700 billion per year. Education spending is one of the tax payers single biggest, if not THE single biggest, expense.

[MadHound]

17. Well tell you what,

You want to go to a private sector paradise? A place with no government? Try Somalia, they haven't had a government for eighteen years, and look where that has gotten them.

As far as war goes, umm over half of our annual federal budget is spent on defense, somewhere between one trillion and 1.2 trillion.

Meanwhile, on a federal level, we spend 63 billion on education, and a bit over a half a trillion on education on a state and local level. Sorry, but defense is far and away the largest item in our budget.

Tells you something about our priorities, nothing good.

And again, if you want good education in this country, you need to pay for it. Yes, there is waste in education, much the same as any other bureaucracy. But the fact of the matter is that our teachers are poorly paid, many education facilities are substandard, and education is in decline. You want good teachers, then start paying for them. Do you honestly think that after putting in more education dollars than other undergrad students, with a commiserate student debt, that a graduate is going to want to go into education as a profession, at thirty thousand a year? Doubtful. The days of teaching being one of the few professional outlets for women is gone, thus the talent pool for teachers has radically shrunk. Again, the top ranked nations in education pay their teachers, six figures and more.

You've adequately demonstrated your hatred of all things government, and your hatred of education. It is because of people like you, who vote down school funding time and again, that our education system is in shambles. Congratulations on being part of the problem, not part of the solution.

[Davis_X_Machina]

5. The numbers are shocking. Best practice would cap....

...her student load at about 80 kids. It's impossible to have any notion of them as people with numbers that large. You should know their favorite TV show, whether they have a boyfriend, or even want one, what their part-time job is, for every kid you have.

[YvonneCa]

6. I agree about best practices. But everyone in education knows...

...and I do mean EVERYONE (whether they would admit it, or not)...best practices are not the current reality. This teacher is one of many. Her district is 'regular order'...to use a Senate term.:7

[Scuba]

9. More aircraft carriers! More submarines! More prisons! Fewer teachers!

[w4rma]

16. Screw Obama's and Duncan's anti-teacher BS. (nt)

[demtenjeep]

20. I teach SS I have 2 x the number of students than any of my math/english counterparts

when I grade, I grade x 2 and if we are 6 traiting an essay (ARG) it all that times 6


and 1/2 the time in the classroom for each student

[demtenjeep]

21. what teacher's make

The dinner guests were sitting around the table
discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain
the problem with education. He argued:
"What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided
his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests that it's true
what they say about teachers: "Those who can...do.
Those who can't ... teach."

To corroborate, he said to another guest: "You're a
teacher, Susan," he said. "Be honest. What do you
make?"

Susan, who had a reputation of honesty and frankness,
replied, "You want to know what I make?"

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they
could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal
of Honor and an A- feel like a slap in the face if the
student did not do his or her very best."

"I can make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence."

"I can make parents tremble in fear when I call home"

"You want to know what I make?"

"I make kids wonder."

"I make them question."

"I make them criticize."

"I make them apologize and mean it."

"I make them write."

"I make them read, read, read."

"I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful, and definitely beautiful over and over and
over again, until they will never misspell either one
of those words again."

"I make them show all their work in math and hide it
all on their final drafts in English."

"I make them understand that if you have the brains,
then follow your heart...and if someone ever tries to
judge you by what you make, you pay them no
attention!"

"You want to know what I make?"

"I make a difference."

"And you? What do you make?"

[Catshrink]

23. I've always loved that one...

[WinkyDink]

27. OMG, I remember those 6 Traits! And each one on a scale! PLUS adding comments!

The teachers without student writing have NO IDEA.

[demtenjeep]

28. exactly

no idea at all!

[demtenjeep]

22. Lets pay teacher's like they are...babysitters

Teahcers Get Paid TOO Much!


Teachers get paid TOO much...I'm fed up with teachers and their hefty
salary schedules. WHat we need here is a little perspective.


If I had my way, I'd pay these teachers myself-I'd pay them babysitting
wages. That's right-instead of paying these outragous taxes, I'd give them
$3 an hour out of my own pocket. And I'm only going to pay them for five
hours, not coffee breaks. That would be $15 a day. Each parent should pay
$15 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their child. Even if they have
more than one child, it's still a lot cheaper than private day care.


Now, how many children do they teach every day-maybe 20? THat's
$15x20=$300 a day. But remember, they only work 180 days a year! I am
not going to pay them for all those vacations! $300x180=$54,000. (Just a
minute, I think my claculator needs new batteries.)


I know now you teachers will say-what about those who have 10 years
experience and a mster's degree? Well, maybe (to be fair) they could get
the minimum wage, and instead of just baby-sitting, they could read the
kids a story. We could round that off to aobut $5 an hour, times five
hours, times 20 children. That's $500 a day times 180 days. THat's
$90,000...HUH?!?


Wait a minute, let's get a little perspective here. Baby-sitting wages are
too good for these teachers. Did anyone see a salary schedule around here?
(Argus, Jan. '96, Ark Valley UniServ)

[YvonneCa]

24. I like that one...

...too. :)

[demtenjeep]

25. me too I teach 158 students

That would be great for me!

[WinkyDink]

26. BT, DT, with the essays. Hence, retired early, age 52. NEVER, EVER looked back.