Hold on to your hats folks, because it's fixin' ta get ugly in here.  I have a lot to get off my chest about the unappreciation of the teaching profession.  Teachers are blamed for just about everything. I'm not here to defend the Mary Kay LeTourneaus of the world because that's just sick, but I'm here to defend the people who dedicate themselves daily to the most underappreciated, underpaid and over managed profession in America.

"Those who can't, teach"

This has to be the most erroneous statement I have ever heard. It further perpetuates the devaluation of the teaching profession. It says that Smith couldn't make it as a writer, so he decided to teach writing.  What people fail to realize is that just because you know a subject really well does not mean you will be able to teach it. THE ABILITY TO TEACH IS AN ACTUAL SKILL. Everybody can't do it because everyone doesn't have the ability to take a subject and relate it to people who probably know nothing about it. I know NASA employees who couldn't teach science because they don't know how to break the material down into an understandable form. I teach science to 5th graders. Imagine teaching elements, molecules, covalence and the difference between strong nuclear and weak nuclear force to people who are only interested in wrestling and Yugi-O.

"It must be nice to not have to work an entire year and still get paid in the summer"

It would be nice to get paid! The average American teacher makes $29,000 as an entering teacher. That's right -- $29,000!  The average american teacher also shells out about $300 - $500 of their own money to buy things like paper or extra school supplies for students who repeatedly come to school without them.  Money also comes out of the teacher's pocket for positive incentives to help children succeed in school.  As for getting paid in the summer, teachers have the option of getting their paychecks divided into 10 month or 12 month pay.  Most teachers work in the summer or have second jobs in addition to bringing a mountain of work home in the evenings and weekends. I work for my church's childcare program and I tutor. I have three jobs. I'm still broker than the Ten Commandments.

"Our children are not getting a quality education, they are unable to pass state required tests."

This is probably because there are TOO MANY DAMN STANDARDIZED TESTS! Does anyone over the age of 30 remember having to take 4 standardized test a year?  These tests are usually a poor indication of what a kid knows anyway. Most of the time teachers don't get a chance to actually teach, because they have to spend 2 or 3 weeks preparing kids to take a test. My dad trains engineers for FAA. He says there are so many coming in with high test scores and no practical experience. Its like a gigolo learning all of his sex techniques from books and then wondering why his clients aren't happy. 

Children are not taught to think anymore, they are taught to take tests to satisfy state requirements.  By the way, most of these requirements are put into place by people who are not educators. They have no clue about education or cognition. They are politicians.  Imagine constantly, and I do mean constantly having requirements and regulations at your job set by people who have never even performed your job?  Even McDonald's expects their managers to be previously employed at a McDonald's in non-managerial positions.  They had better know how to work the drive-thru and the fry machine.

"Kids have too much homework"

If you ever suspect your child of having too much homework ask them these questions:

• "Is this classwork that you didn't complete in class?"
• "When was this assignment given?"
• "How long have you known about this project?"

Ninety-five percent of the time these three questions will answer why your kid seems to be loaded down with homework.  Here's a tip. Teacher's in general do not like giving a lot of homework, because that makes more homework for us. Paperwork sucks.

"Our kids have too much time off. Their education is suffering because there are too many breaks!"

Teachers usually translate this statement as "What the hell am I supposed to do with this kid during the time they are off?"  The average kid spends  7 hours a day at school. This is 35 hours a week at school.  When they get home around 3 or 4 o'clock,  they spend an average of 2 hours on homework.  Assuming the child goes to bed at a decent hour, (between 9:00 or 10:00), that child spends an average of 5 hours of quality time a day with their parents, (not including weekends). I did not factor in those children with afterschool activities like scouts or sports and I did not factor in those children who have parents that work late. However, you get the picture. How much more time do you want us to spend with your child?

I have one student whose parents are extremely wealthy. The child's father is a child psychologist and his wife works in the office with him.  The child, "N" has severe ADHD and was thought to have delayed processing problems. He has a hard time understanding and interpreting directions and language.  The Spanish teacher once told me that he was very good in Spanish. I kinda just blew it off. One day, the she and I had to team up for a health class.  "N" was acting up as usual and the Spanish teacher began to reprimand him in Spanish.  He answered her in perfect, fluent Spanish! I was shocked! I was more shocked because he was able to answer her with more ease than he answers his teachers in English. (Remember I said he had a hard time interepreting what people are telling him.)  "N" is a white child of Austrian and German descent. I couldn't understand why he understood and spoke Spanish so well. He told me that he's had the same three nannies since he was a baby. Two are from Honduras and one is from Equador. Neither of them spoke much English.  The child basically has been raised by Spanish speaking women all of his life! I ran and told the director that I suspected that he didn't have a delayed processing problem per se, he was friggin ESL (English as a second language).  He spends so little time with his parents that he can barely process English!

MOST OF THE TIME, A CHILD'S DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS ARE THE RESULT OF A PARENT'S DISCIPLINE PROBLEM.

• You would be shocked at the number of parents who will call me or bring their child to ME because the child has been acting up at home.  Many of them say that their child will listen to me, but not to them.  Why is this happening?
• I had a parent come to my room crying.  Her child had missed 22 out of a 33 day 6 weeks. (I work at a private school and my director was reluctant to call a truant officer on the parent.) The parent told me that she could not make her 13 year old daughter come to school and is there anyway to prevent her daughter from failing.  ( I wanted to look in my drawer for my magic wand.)  

              "Why can you not get her to school?" I asked.

              "She just won't go." she cried.

              "What do you mean, she just won't go? Is she attacking you violently or      hurting her younger sisters?"

               "Oh no, nothing like that! She just won't get dressed for school and she refuses to even try to get up."

               "Ma'am, if she was my kid I'd pick her up by the straps and toss her into the car, but since you don't believe in that kind of discipline did you ever think to make her life so miserable at home that she would rather be at school anyway?"

                "No, I never thought of that."

Mom clearly had a problem! This is pretty much what I deal with all time.  I've known three teachers who have been physically attacked by students and I have had a wooden block thrown at me on purpose. All teachers can tell you stories about being verbally attacked by students and parents. I had one student call me a "fucking whore" I just laughed it off and said well, you can say it, but can you spell it? (He couldn't).  I've had to call child protective services on a few parents twice in my seven year career.

Teachers are underpaid, overworked, devalued and totally unappreciated. At the same time, we are expected to be miracle workers, social workers, therapists, and have the patience of Job.  We are constantly scrutinized, by people who know nothing about education and we have to be resposible for the self esteem and well being of children who for the most part don't even want to be in class. All this for $29 - $60k ($60k is the average maximum pay a teacher with a master's degree can recieve after 15 years of teaching) a year.  And you complain about teachers having too much time off???????????