I have watched dumbfounded as this country has right by right, inch by inch, state by state, taken away the rights of teachers who belong to strong unions with collective bargaining. Now, this has turned into name calling and bullying from the conservative right. If you know your history, you see that we are now living in some scary times.
Glenn Beck likes to compare everything to the Nazi's. Well, here we have a direct comparison to the National Socialist Movement and how the party operated. Hitler began by systematically purging all upper level military and government officials who did not agree with him. Then, he went after intellectuals and teachers. Why? because teachers make kids think which is forbidden in a closed society. Are you starting to see the parallels here?
Now, I knew that I would never make much money as a teacher. In fact according to the Hickory Daily Record, I make less than $50,000 a year. That is with a Master's Degree, 45 additional hours, and 25 years (at least) experience. For those of you who don't understand how teachers are paid, we are given an annual salary that can be divided over 10 or 12 months. We DO NOT get paid for being off in the summer ! Some of us just divide our paycheck over a longer period of time. This means that I bring home a little less each month so that I don't go those two months of summer without a paycheck.
This is where the attacks are being made - that we have salaries that are too high, that we have benefits that are too good. I don' t get it. We take care of your children 8 hours each day for FREE! I sit with them when they cry, I route for them at ball games and test time, I worry about how little Johnny is ever going to understand the court system, and I lose sleep at night when one of them is sick or injured - just like they are my own.
Thank goodness for our voice of sanity - Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. Bless you Jon!
Teacher Cribs
