I AM A TEACHER

Being a teacher is not something that I do for a living-it is who I am. In the last few years teaching and education has become a VERY popular institution to attack. Since almost everyone attended school, the masses are quick to comment and criticize.

There are days it seems like very ill of society is supposed to be fixed inside the walls of a school. Children who live in poverty, move every 4-5 months, have a parent in prison, and live under daily stress are expected to perform as well as the kids in the "Burbs" who have every advantage imaginable. Of course when these children do not perform as well as their suburban neighbors-it's the teacher's fault. To make things even crazier-the very districts that seek to educate , feed and cloth these children, are then punished by having more funding taken away because the children are struggling. I equate this to throwing a drowning man a brick.

Suddenly doctors, lawyers, and insurance salesman who all make well over 100,000, think the average pay of a Michigan teacher at 48,000 dollars, is paying too much! I am especially hurt when listening to people I thought were friends, paint teachers (through their unions) as greedy saying it is all about money. Perhaps they have a way of paying their bills without money-but my mortgage company, and the bills I need to pay, require money.

These very same people do not have to purchase out of their take home pay the materials they need to even do their jobs. For the past few years my husband has refused to deduct all the money I spent on my classroom for taxes because it is too high a percent of my take home pay. Many people in the teachers lounge are hearing the same thing from their tax specialists. Costs have simply risen much faster that the dollars available for education. Teachers have picked up the difference by digging into their dwindling take home pay.

There is so much misinformation about teaching that the general public seems to believe. First of all being a tenured teacher does not mean you can't be fired. It does mean that in order to be fired the administration must have document why they are letting a teacher go. Trust me I have seen plenty of tenured teachers fired. Administrators that say it is hard to get rid of a tenured teacher are really saying that they do not want to stop in the class observe, and record their reasons. I once saw a principal try to fire a teacher because he was having an affair with her teachers aid, and when his wife found out he thought the teacher was the one who told. It turned out it was another person, but if not for tenure the real facts would never have come out. In this case the teacher was allowed to transfer-and nothing happened to the administrator who was having the affair.

Another piece of information that is incorrect is that teachers are paid in the summer and get all this time off. First of all we are only paid for 60 hours every 2 weeks even though the required hours in our buildings are 40 hours per week. They subtract the 30 minute lunch and the two 15 minutes a day. This is very misleading because I have yet to meet a single elementary teacher who ever got two 15 minutes breaks a day. Lunch time is usually spent problem solving issues that students have and returning parent phone calls. Then like many professions we have work to take home. The difference is -these work hours are not billable. There are no year end bonuses and God help you if you ever miss a message or don't return a parent phone call within a 24 hour period. Gosh I wait weeks for test results from my doctors, lawyers call back when they feel like it, and then I have to pay them extra for the phone call and for reading the tests.

As for summers-hey I would work them if the schools were open. I did not set up the summers off system. However I will tell you I attend lots of classes, inservices, and specialized training at my own personal cost during this time.

I am tired of being attacked and I am no longer going to apologize for the 50,000 dollars a year I make. I know I am worth it. Education is worth it. If you think education is too expensive and teachers are over paid-just watch what is going to happen in the next few years. Take a look at the low test scores and huge turn over in the Right to Work States.

Colleges are seeing many talented students leave teaching programs. No one wants to work in a profession that is not respected, under funded, and the brunt of all societies problems. We need these young people. I do understand the cost/benefit ratio. They cannot graduate with these huge student loans, and take a job that will require them 10 years to pay off their loans. I am worried that we under fund education at the peril of our children.

I love teaching, I love my kids, and I love my profession. It is time more of us speak up. Let's face it if we do not it is the kids who will suffer.

I am a teacher-I am proud of it-and I am worthy of respect and adequate compensation for my skills and expertize!