Teachers Matter – Part Two

We’re several days into the Teacher’s strike or work stoppage or whatever you want to call it. I have so many words to say about the subject – most of them are cursey, yelly words directed at the State Senate. I’ve made my position on education quite clear over the years and it will never change. Education is incredibly important. Not all education comes from books or classrooms and right now, we are all getting a hell of a lesson in how government works and how easy it really is to shove a stone in the cogs and bring everything grinding to a halt.

I absolutely stand behind our teachers. WV has one of the lowest pay scales, is 45th in education, and currently has a teacher shortage in the hundreds. There are hundreds of vacant positions, hundreds of teachers who are desperately needed but no one will fill them. Why won’t teachers come to West Virginia? See that pesky pay scale thing. Why are teachers leaving in droves? Again, see that pesky pay scale thing. That is all before we throw in the insurance issue which is ultimately what this whole kerfluffle is about when you boil the numbers down. It’s so bad here, they’re discussing lowering the requirements for teachers. How can we compete nationally when we can’t get teachers in our classrooms?

The State Senate is holding every child, every parent, every teacher hostage and they will likely never suffer any consequence for it. It’s a game, a power play, and it isn’t fair. Not to the teachers, not to the kids, and not to the parents. We haven’t seen the end of this, not until the Committees have met, discussed, brought the right bill to the vote and actually passed it and the Governor has signed it. Then we’ll get back to normal. Then we can look to the future and hopefully start filling those vacancies and bringing up that 45 number.

There are a number of people where I’m at who are floating a petition so the kids don’t have to make up the time in June. I disagree with that personally. I think our kids deserve to learn those days worth of stuff. I’ve got a kid who needs to take his SATs and AP tests so we can start looking at colleges for him – maybe he doesn’t need those days, those lessons, those discussions, but maybe he does, maybe his friends do. Some people might think that’s punishing our kids, making them go into June but it isn’t. It’s investing in their future. There are plenty of places where kids are in school to mid-June. You want to keep your summer plans, call the Senators, call your Representatives and tell them. Get angry at the people who are really holding everyone hostage by dickering around and trying their level best to destabilize our public school system. It might not be perfect, it might need a lot of work, but it’s better than the alternative.

Teachers Matter

I live in a state that is currently in the middle of a teacher walkout. I have been incredibly fortunate to have had some wonderful teachers in my life and I believe they can make all the difference. These are the people who shape the leadership for generations. These are the people who help teach our kids to think, to act, to understand our history, our system. They teach our kids how to work together – something a whole lot of adults could stand to learn. They make learning exciting so they want to continue to learn for the rest of their lives. Or at least, the good ones do. Yes, as in every profession, there are the occasional people who are not as involved, not as excited but truly, teachers don’t make enough for people you don’t love the profession to do it.

Many years ago, I had a particular teacher who just made everything work. At the time I was in a special program so it wasn’t really run like your standard classes. I was in fourth grade, not dealing with the best situation at home, and Mrs. VanWert was the best thing I could ever have asked for that year. We did a project on Mesopotamia that year and part of it was giving a report in front of the class – this project was all the subjects in one – history, art, English, science. Maybe not math but I could have forgotten something. I was partnered with a girl named Sandy and we kicked butt to win the special cassette single of Walk Like An Egyptian (man, now I feel old). We built a sarcophagus out of cardboard, offering jars and totem statues from clay and paint, and instead of doing a report, we wrote a script… two hapless archaeologists one of whom, me, fell into the sarcophagus and totally freaked out at the skeleton inside. I really loved that school, that class. It gave me something to look forward to, when I wasn’t tumbling headlong into my books or fighting evil wizards with my weird white staff (not really a stick but the guts out of a drapery rod that I found on the beach).

In high school (six years and 3000 miles later), I learned that not all teachers are there to be supportive or kind but they can still be motivators. I might not have worked so hard at my writing if Mr. Nick hadn’t pretty well told me I would never succeed. Of course, he didn’t think very much of me to begin with but there’s no accounting for taste, is there? It was a good lesson to learn and one that thankfully would never be repeated even though that year was the last year I cared one whit about school (not any teacher’s fault but the loss of my mom, my depression, and the beginning of a pretty steep spiral that would end a few years later with severe panic attacks and not leaving my house for a year except with my husband).

Teachers matter. Even the bad ones. We should treat them better and pay them what they’re worth. They should make enough to entice more people to the profession. They shouldn’t be paying out of pocket for classroom supplies. They should be supported and celebrated not having to walk in the cold and the rain just to be treated OK, not even adequately, just OK. One of my teacher friends seems to be feeling a bit guilty and selfish for being out on the line and not in the classroom and that’s just not right. It’s not selfish to want to be able to at least survive on your salary after all those years preparing for your career. You shouldn’t set yourself on fire to keep other people warm.

In a completely unrelated bit – I’m catching up on Star Wars Rebels and a thing happened and I made a sound and maybe got a little weepy and my Alfred pup got up in my face with his silly grin, trying to lick my face and stop that. Silly, adorable punk. If you’re a Star Wars fan, Rebels is worth watching. The series format gives you a lot of room for mythology, story, and character growth. Plus, Jedi wolves. Seriously, amazing Jedi wolves.