While I was browsing my Facebook newsfeed the other day, someone I know posted a particularly ignorant statement regarding the teachers job action. This status update was something along the lines of "quit complaining and do your job".
Annoyed, I looked to see a comment that someone else had written in support of this uninformed statement and I was further dismayed. The gist of the comment was that if teachers really cared about the kids they wouldn't go on strike and wouldn't affect their students who really just want to learn. It went on to say that job action or strikes by teachers hurt children and families because many people can't afford daycare.
Aside from the obvious fact that teachers are not babysitters, I truly do not understand why we do not value the teachers of our children. In the wake of any contract negotiation (using the word lightly since the current government seems to be more interested in union busting than negotiating), letters to the editor abound about how horrible the teachers are for asking for smaller classroom sizes, more classroom support for high-needs children and, of course, more money.
Are teachers supposed to work for free? Should the love of the job be the only thing that supports our teachers while they have the care of our children for most of the day? It seems silly to me that it is considered boorish for teachers to ask for a fair wage when everyone else in the working world wants more money too. I wouldn't say no to a raise, would you?
If you ask a teacher what the most common question they are asked is when they meet someone for the first time, they will most likely say: "You're a teacher? How much money do you make?" When I tell people I'm an administrative assistant, I am not asked how much money I make. People don't care about what I make but somehow the public believes that they own teachers and their salaries. If teachers ask for more money, the public cries "you get the summers off! How dare you, greedy teachers!" Teachers do not get the summers off, they don't get paid in the summer because they are not working.
To become a teacher these days you need two bachelor's degrees which normally amounts to around six years of university. If you went to UNBC and your fees remained static (not likely) your bachelor of arts degree would cost you in the neighbourhood of $24,000 for tuition and fees and your bachelor of education degree around half that number. All of that money paid and time invested to be not guaranteed a job. That takes commitment and a love of the job and the students.
believe that teachers need to be paid like doctors and valued the same. Where doctors take care of our bodies, teachers nurture and grow the minds of our children who become the doctors and teachers of the future. Isn't that worth paying teachers more?
For anyone who thinks that teachers are overpaid, please volunteer your time in a classroom to see the amount of work they do to keep the curriculum fresh and interesting. Ask a teacher how much of their own money they spend on classroom materials because it is not provided by the district. Don't ask a teacher what they get paid, ask them why they love their job.
