Much That Is Hidden

Thanks for sticking up for me........Happy Anniversary yourself cutie pie.
 

Jen sounds like a wonderful and dedicated teacher. We have some like that here, too. :)

We also have others who don't give a shit about the kids, are lousy at communicating the material and get to stay on their jobs as long as they please. Just as a parent rarely takes a teacher's side over their kid's, the administration rarely takes the kids' side over a teacher's.
 

Paula - Thank you for the kind word. I believe that the vast majority of teachers are wonderful and dedicated. But like anything else, the bad eggs garner more attention. Jen has provided her fair share of horrible co-worker stories (maybe you could balance your list with some of those, sweetie). Our education system definitely leaves much to be desired, so much so that even the good teachers like Jen get discouraged. But its asinine to say that teachers should be paid the same as every other public employee, a point that I am unabashedly biased on (and not for want of a bigger income for my family). If the playing field is to be leveled, perhaps we could start with the administrators, who I believe have a much higher percentage of "overpaid" members. And to put the salary/priorities thing in even clearer perspective, consider the football coaches who earn twice what the English teachers make because the parent booster club wants to retain their all-important expertise.

Joe - good points. Interestingly enough some senior citizens in this area are giving our state legislators (all Republicans) heck for what they see as not keeping their campaign promises. They want the state to basically eliminate the education property tax for seniors, saying "We've paid our fair share." The lawmakers have come to grips with the reality that cutting taxes in one spot means a greater burden for the rest of the tax base, and so came up with a pretty fair compromise.

To a degree I sympathize with the seniors, especially the lower fixed-income ones. But those leading the charge happen to be several well-to-do seniors with larger acreage plots. To their fair share cry I would remind them to think of who perhaps paid for their kids' education years ago when they were young renters.

Services cost money, and nothing is getting cheaper (gas prices are killing the schools). I am confident that our local school boards do as much as they can to cut costs. Beelers related a story to me about how he was sitting in on a board meeting where they were debating the cost of new door hardware at one school so they wouldn't have to chain lock the outside doors for security. A minor problem on the face of things, but throw it in with the mix of state and federal unfunded mandates and you may get a twinge of the headaches that local boards have to endure.

Top it off with whiny taxpayers and it becomes a job I would not wish upon most people, though it may do some good to walk in those shoes for a school year or two.
 

Joe pointed me in your direction. I agree with you - especially the last paragraph. It's the same here in NZ - all these whiny taxpayers. Usually those paying the least tax do the most whining.
 

First of all, Tim, I did not take issue with your wife as an educator or a person. And nobody said all teachers are bad. As for this:

"I did not initially reveal to her the source of a recent discussion (on a blog that shall remain unnamed) that resulted in me, and by association her, being accused of considering ourselves the only qualified people to comment on teacher salary/work load/the unbearable tax burden of the self-employed blue-collar cabinet makers to the stars."

You are being disingenuous, unfair and unnecessarily belligerent. Your very words were:

"The simple FACT is that if you are not a teacher, then you don't know DICK about how hard a job it is."

Your words, buddy.
 

BTW - When yer done being pissed off at shit I didn't say, stop by my place and leave some comments on my distinctly non-political posts of late. FFS, this is why I have all but given up blogging about politics. It isn't worth the bad blood that ensues.

And FYI, I'm not a cabinet maker, a Republican, nor am I rolling in dough. Just thought I'd clarify those things.

;o)>
 

Mark, you are the most unyielding person I have yet to meet in the blogosphere, and in a way I appreciate it because it keeps me on my toes.

Anyway, I'm now officially done being concerned about your misinterpretations of my interpretation of what you did or did not say. This thing has become a big rotting log, so I'm officially slamming the hatchet to the hilt. See you in the funny papers with the rest of us clowns...

=8:{ )>
 

hatchet's buried here also.
;o)> I'm sure your charming wife is a very good example of a teacher who more than earns her salary. We need more like her.

Peace.
 

My better half's a teacher too -- elementary special ed. I have immense respect for anyone in the profession. Yes, even the average teachers. While there are absolutely bad teachers out there -- just like there are bad doctors and bad cops and bad priests and bad social workers -- one thing is certain; none of them are doing it for money, glory or power. Government, parents, school boards and school administrations are the ones who have screwed up public school systems across the country, not the teachers. They believe so wholeheartedly in their purpose that they put in countless hours before and after the regular work day, they spend tons of their own money on teaching aids the district can't/won't pay for, and they have to hear the broken record refrain of "But you get your summers off" which, as any teacher will tell you, is so far from the actual case it's laughable. So I salute your wife and every other teacher out there.

I intended this to be a short comment. Sorry about the rant!