It’s a shame that teachers have had to take to the picket line to make their voices heard around this country. Teachers are among the lowest paid employees in this country. They receive the blame if test scores are down. They receive the blame if kids don’t learn. They receive the blame if taxes have to be raised to pay for schools, textbooks, and even a cost of living raise.
Seemingly, it’s all right for other people to make big salaries, but not teachers. They’re just the people we entrust our kids to every day, who not only teach them academics, but life-learning skills that prepare them to live and work in this world.
In early March, thousands of public school teachers in West Virginia went out on strike to protest low wages and rising health care costs. Following on the heels of that walk-out, educators in Arizona, Kentucky, and Oklahoma have taken to the picket line. In Oklahoma, where teachers are among the lowest paid in the country, budget cuts have forced some schools to function only four days a week.
Teachers in Arizona wore red to school in a spontaneous, grassroots-organized event to raise awareness over low pay. Educators there are also considering a strike to push for higher wages and benefits.
Meanwhile, teachers in eight Kentucky counties walked out last week to show opposition to cutting teacher retirement benefits to support the state’s ailing pension fund.
It’s a shame that teachers have to walk the picket line to bring attention to low-teacher pay, the need for more funds to pay for classroom needs such as textbooks, and for more funds for schools. We certainly need to pay teachers better. But we also need to have a better understanding and appreciation of what they do. Someone was overheard recently at a local county commission meeting saying: “Work year is only eight months, summer and holidays off, plus snow days. Not a bad salary and great benefits!” The remark may have been made in jest, but there are some people who actually believe that.
The reality of course, is that teachers work 10 months in class. Add in time spent at school after class and then preparation at night and on weekends, continuing education, etc. You get the idea, or maybe you don’t.
It’s not just about the hours teachers work, it’s about the intensity of that time and how it must be juggled among students, some of whom need extra help. All children are not alike. They come from varied backgrounds, often with very different strengths and weaknesses, and each with a distinct set of educational needs.
Good teachers recognize this, and they learn through experience what works best. They teach not only academics, but also thinking skills. They teach children how to figure things out on their own, solve problems, and become lifelong learners.
We ask teachers to be great educators for each child in their classes — not only the smartest or the hardest working or best behaved, but for every child in that class. Teachers must work to find that spark that will ignite a desire for learning in each student.
This is an awesome responsibility.
A teacher’s value cannot be measured with standardized tests and statistics. We are fortunate that we have some of the best teachers in the state employed by the Carter County and Elizabethton School Systems, and we need to be working to retain them.
We can’t pretend there are great teachers waiting in line to work in our schools. We need to make the job more appealing by paying teachers more and demanding great work.
We will not have great teachers in our schools if we don’t encourage them, thank them, and, yes, pay them well.