Seventeen thousand educators in Illinois have been pink slipped. It's simply awful. So I, along with much of my district staff, will be wearing pink on Friday, March 19th as a show of support.
If you live in Illinois, you've been hearing a lot of news about Governor Quinn trying to raise taxes for education; if more taxes aren't levied, there "will be massive cuts." Well the State already owes every district millions of dollars. The massive cuts are already taking place. It's hard to fathom more cuts.
I'm proud of The Batavia Education Association, our union. Earlier this month we voted to make a financial sacrifice to keep all our teachers employed. That will work for this coming school year, but what about the next?
We do not know.
This is not only an issue for Illinois. Friends across the nation are reporting the same for the schools in their states.
Many people think teaching is a cush job, too often I hear "nine months of work for twelve months pay" or that teachers are the second income for their households. I work in my classroom for eleven months of the year. I tutor to earn extra income twelve months a year. I take classes in the summer. During the school year I come home exhausted because I love my job, and I put my all into it. Truthfully, I have peers who work even harder than I do. Their "all" is amazing--seemingly ten times the size of mine. I am in awe of the people I work side-by-side with. Many are the breadwinners for their families.
We say as a nation we value education and we value teachers, but in truth do we?
Do you?
I see posts on facebook and various blogs about the health care debate, but it's rare I see anyone post a concern about education.
Be concerned for education.
5 comments:
i agree with you, el. just watch the movie precious and tell me educators don't make a difference and education isn't important (although i really don't think people really think this way, but sometimes their actions reflect this). when my kids were in school both my husband and i were really involved… volunteering, teaching junior achievement, substituting… i loved being in our schools.
Thank you for posting this! My husband and I are both school teachers in Arizona. Being a teacher is a HUGE commitment. Hats off to all the teachers out there! It takes a lot of gumption to teach, care for, and counsel other people's children, then come home and do the same for your own family!
Until the US puts an emphasis on proper EDUCATION and not just SCHOOLING, we will continue to fail as a nation. EDUCATION means educating the whole child--socially, emotionally, intellectually. SCHOOLING is throwing standards at a problem while cutting funding and firing good, CARING teachers! We can't just rewrite standards and think we are "fixing education". Kids are lacking in skills because they are lacking in social and emotional skills. Parents on average spend less than 10 minutes per day in conversation with their child...and they schools are going to "fix" that by saying they need to learn to read/add sooner. I don't think so!
Thank you for posting this. It needed to be said!
Dear boyandgirl2,
I tried to Email you but could not. So I will say here, you are welcome and thank YOU!
I wish I could write more about my job, about my kids. I adore them, I spend time with them, I smile for their successes and cry for them more than they know, and then I let them go. And I worry about some of them some times...
More and more is being placed upon us as requirements, and the job has changed a great deal in ten years. I am blessed by my job, and I hope God uses me through it to bless others. I wouldn't give it up, and I cannot imagine being forced to.
I am proud of you all for taking a pay cut to help others keep their jobs.
I would do the same.
Bless you.
Laura,
Not really a pay cut, more of a pay stay. However the decision was an easy one for so many reasons.
Thank you!
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