Colonial Heights schools has pushed forward their 2016-17
budget that includes a whopping 2 percent raise for teachers.
Oh wow!
In past years, before my stint as a high school teacher, I
might have scoffed at giving teachers a raise. I mean, after all, they don’t
even work during the summer, right? But I can tell you from experience, they
work in the summer, too. Teaching is one of those professions that never goes
away.
I know because I was one.
Also, my wife is one. So how does that work? It’s simple, whenever we go anywhere, a trip,
a funeral, a wedding, a bar mitzvah – no matter. If we are out and about, my
wife is constantly looking for something to benefit her students. Haha, you say, why would you do that?
Well, sitting today in my cush job driving a desk, I don’t
have to think or worry about the stuff my students don’t get because the
Schools can’t or won’t help provide it.
In industry, it’s called staff augmentation. In schools it’s called making ends meet.
Teaching is one of the most difficult jobs I ever had. The
demands on teachers are extraordinary, and the environment borders on hostile,
even in “good” schools. In most jobs,
you can at least develop an us against them sort of mentality and rally to get
the job done. In the words of Pink
Floyd, “We all pull together like a team.”
In school systems it is much different. It’s more, us
against them, and them, and them. And then, the most gross amount of under
paying you can imagine.
Oh, who are the them and them and them? How about: students, parents, and administrators. It’s a delicate balance, but one that can
turn just as quickly as a crack in the San Andreas fault. And, you don’t get
any no fault insurance either. Teachers
have to worry about the Standards of Learning (SOLs) and yet all the while be
aware of the CYA-all y'all know that acronym.
I’m sure that’s not the way it is in all schools. But if
you teach for any amount of time, I am certain you have witnessed that equation
in action. It often leads to teachers leaving
the practice, or even getting relieved.
Some people think of teaching as baby sitting. Can you imagine trying to teach a concept to
a group of kids when less than half of whom have even the slightest interest in
the topic? And then, when you issue grades,
all of a sudden it isn’t the student’s fault for not paying attention or for
acting up in class, it’s the teacher’s fault that Johnny or Cathy didn’t do
well.
Bleh, SMH!
Isn’t it just so obvious that bad teaching is behind it all?
And yet, it’s not always so.
And I am sure there are a few bad teachers. But shouldn’t we pull teachers’ salaries up
where they really ought to be? Aren’t the
good ones worth keeping? My experience
has been that the ones that are not so good typically weed themselves out of
the system.
In one simple statement, it’s easy to see why teachers
deserve more money. When school is in
session, their work week is typically 60 hours or more. Most teachers I know go in early and stay
late. And, if they are any good at all, they spend additional hours at home
working on everything from lesson plans to grading papers to developing ideas
to employ in their classes.
We are talking about professional, college educated, and
fully certified teachers. There is value
in that. Why is it that teacher salaries
always seem to be add-ons in a budget? And why are they hauled to the top of
the mountain of sacrifice when budget cuts come?
I know of teachers who have gone eight years without a
raise. Not even a cost of living allowance. Meanwhile, the insurance industry
seems to pump up their cost volume annually. It seems every year, some school
panel has to review a variety of different insurance programs to see what is
“affordable.” And, with a new decision
made, teachers end up either paying more for insurance or having higher co-pays
and deductibles.
But wait! That applies to every industry, now doesn’t it?
It just seems to me that, having been a teacher, I
understand what they are really being paid.
If there is any “industry” that is grossly undervalued, it’s teaching.
It’s getting any more where a teaching career sort of
resembles a career in the arts.
My advice: quit if
you can.
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