I know there are some wacko teachers out there who want to come out as lesbians and indoctrinate entire schools with the backing of their unions. Don't tell me they don't exist. They do. But I'm embarrassed and appalled as an American at some of the anti-teacher comments that have been hurled about. Gravy train is over? Do you think teaching 30 students to a test all year and having to deal with drama from parents and administrators is a "gravy train?" Gravy train implies close to zero work and get over it if you don't have the same benefits, but these teachers work hard.
The issue at hand is collective bargaining rights. I've never liked this idea of unions, and I especially don't like this idea of forcing teachers to be in a union in some states. How can you be in "union" with someone by force? And some of the retirement and medical benefit rates and that sort of thing probably need amending. Unions strike me as plain un-American, but then again, I never worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Sometimes there is a reason things are the way they are. That doesn't mean they need to stay that way.
I think teachers in public schools have tremendously hard jobs. Sure, they want to earn a living. But many of them would not put up with the crap they do if they didn't care about the kids, too. Some of the hateful comments I've been reading are pretty uncalled for.
Go read the teacher blogs sometime, friends, about what really goes on in schools and see if summers off and a good retirement plan would be worth it to you. I'm not saying that things shouldn't change, but I am saying that sometimes we should just say "thank you" to our teachers for what they're trying to do whether we have kids in school or not.
Ok. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.
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Look Out, Dad!!
My father is the purple dot above the blue weather station. He's juuust outside Milton's evacuation zone. Well! My brother and I jus...
You make some very good points. There are some teachers out there who do live and breathe for the kids they teach. They are amazing people who do deserve our thanks and much credit for their hard work.
ReplyDeleteI like the 'live and let live' as far as the gay/lesbian thing goes. It's not a matter of acceptance of that lifestyle to me, it's a matter of in this day and age it's so publicized that kids will learn/hear about it and I want my kids to be tolerant as am I, but not brainwashed or impressed by it. I think middle schoolers are very impressionable, and at an age of wanting acceptance from their peers, struggling with their own hormonal fluctuations and then meeting a teacher they might like on a friend level and having them talk frankly about something so personal without parental permission is wrong. I don't see how any kid in public school needs to know whether their teacher goes home to a traditional family or a pile of people that are of the same sex. How is that conversation for a class room?
It's so funny you bring this up. Sydney has had the same therapist for the last 5 years, since her OCD diagnosis. The therapist is a lovely woman who always seemed 'tomboy-ish'. But she and Sydney got along famously. She was like a friend of the family. We LOVED her. LOVED! I went to her Dad's calling hours a little over a year ago and that is when I found out for sure and for certain that she was a lesbian. Fine. That didn't effect her therapy with Sydney, she was the same dynamic force who wanted to see our girl do well. Until this fall. When I shared with her that Mr. Blondee's doctor was suggesting he could definitely have sensory processing disorder, not just OCD. She *in front of Sydney* said that I should consider leaving him, taking Gavyn and Sydney and be open to parenting without him to hold them and myself back!!!!
That was the first time I felt her trying to push her agenda of 'if I can't have a normal family, then neither should you'. She also told me I was special and cute and she would help me find a place downtown to stay....near her. Ummmmm, gee...thanks.
We left and haven't been back.
Have a great weekend yourself, and if it's you wishing the snow on us...I've had plenty. Please keep it. :D
Jenn
Yep! Some fantastic teachers out there who deal with some really heavy stuff.
ReplyDeleteYou got my wheels turning, Mrs. C. Thanks! [smile]
~Luke
I understand what you are saying, but having worked in the school system for a short time, unfortunately, I have heard too many teachers talk just as much crap about the children they are supposed to be encouraging to learn and parents behind doors of those union protected jobs in our government schools. I do not think if I were a teacher that I would wish to be considered "collectively," but then I think unions are past their time here in the U.S. and are just a power-play, money-making, lobbying scheme at this point.
ReplyDeleteTeachers! Why those %$&*)#@ bums. Just kidding. It is a rough job, but it does have its rewards. Lately I've been trying to avoid those staff members who are founts of negativity. And I'm still pushing my agenda. Obviously things do need to change. It would be great if we had fewer kids with absent fathers, but I can't change that, so I'm pushing for curriculum changes.
ReplyDeleteI do think teaching is a tough job. I taught for one year at a private school before I got married and about a semester into it I decided that teaching other people's children would not be my profession! As much as the kids drove me crazy, the parents were worse!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I also think that teachers are overpaid in some places.....Southern California to be sure! LAUSD has an enormously high drop-out rate--one of the highest, if not the highest, in the country! And we pay teachers crazy amounts of money, plus free health care and retirement. Since when do we give people raises for doing a bad job? I heard on the radio yesterday that the AVERAGE starting pay for a teacher in Orange County was about $75,000. That's not a tenured teacher, that's a starting salary! And for administrators, it's worse! Up to $120,000!!!! And that doesn't include their free healthcare and pentions.
Yes, their jobs are tough(!), but they certainly get paid well to do it. I think a lot of them should stop their whining. Seriously.
The whole country is cutting back and is in a recession, why shouldn't teachers and administrators pay reflect that, just like every other profession. Why the protected class? The unions are bankrupting my state.
(I'm grumpy about it at the moment. I'm doing my taxes.)