My Two (or three) Cents

image via LIFE

I would like to keep this space as politically neutral as possible. However, I feel it is necessary to write a few words about an issue that concerns me...Education.


Over the last few weeks I've watched the teachers in Wisconsin and listened to the talking heads from the various news networks. What concerns me most is not that teachers (nation-wide) are being asked to sacrifice. I'm concerned most about (one) the way teachers are being portrayed and (two) the idea of privatization of the public school system.


When did it become appropriate to vilify teachers? The teachers I know (colleagues, family and friends) are not the bad guys. The teachers I know do not leave school at 2:45 to go shopping at Loehmann's (Fox News?).  The teachers I know not only stay at school for hours after their students leave, they bring home piles of papers to grade or lessons to plan or books to research. Yes, teachers do "work" ten months of the year. But, guess what? Teachers aren't paid for those two months off. And, guess what else? Many teachers spend those two months (the same two months they're not being paid) working to prepare for the next school year. Some teachers spend days or weeks preparing their classrooms. Others spend days or weeks at conferences or creating new lessons. Are there lazy teachers? Of course. Are there lazy bankers? Of course. Are there lazy doctors? Of course. You see, these are the exceptions. 


It has been said before, but it deserves to be said again...teaching is not easy and most teachers did not become teachers for the time off. The teachers I know became teachers because they loved to learn and sincerely wanted to make a difference. It horrifies me to hear otherwise.


Now, on to this idea that the public school system is so damaged it needs to be privatized. As any other person, I would agree that there are some (ok, many) problems with public education today. I don't know what the answers are, but I do know that privatization is not one of them. Public education is essential to our democracy. In the United States, a student (regardless of gender, race, religion, language or citizenship) may walk into a public school classroom and learn. Without this equal access, we lose a fundamental component to our democratic process...the educated voter. Public school cannot be privatized. In doing so, we take away a big part of what makes this country so great.


Obviously, there is more to be said about this issue. I'll stop before I get carried away. My hope is that teachers and students will not lose their voices during these difficult economic and political times. Times in which many of us are too quick to find suitable scapegoats for our problems.