My partner is a teacher.

[MinneapolisMatt]

My partner has been a teacher in some of the worst parts of Minneapolis since god knows when.

Unless people deal with people from poverty, the simply can't understand what he has to go through to get kids to learn, and he's a music teacher!

He's been shuffled from school to school, sometimes working three different schools in one day to stay full-time. Parents pawn the instruments for drugs, so he has to go file police reports, hunt down the instruments, etc.

He went to VHI Behind the Music and actually won 250K for his school to buy new instruments (which is HEROIC in my opinion). He's constantly writing grants, putting on his concerts, buying reeds for his kids who can't afford them, and even taking kids to and from their concerts because their parents don't have cars or are passed-out on the couch.

So it makes my blood when I hear about teachers being the problem. He is a freaking BABYSITTER half of them time, taking care of the children's needs that they don't get at home. He definitely isn't "lazy" and sure as hell works more than forty hours a week.

Oh, and the district has broken down with the union, so he hasn't had a pay raise in two years, that supposedly he'll be retro-payed for, but our Governor REPUBLICAN Tim Pawlenty keeps slashing the budgets so they just keep stalling. By the way, the superintendent got a nice fat raise, naturally.

Imagine if YOUR boss said, "Oh I'll just retro-pay you later"?! How would you feel about that? This is money he is OWED. Lord knows how much it is, but we could really use it right about now. It has to be a few thousand dollars.

Anyway, I know not every situation is like ours. But I love and live with a teacher, and I know several of them. They are SAINTS for all they do for these kids. And I'm not even going to get into NCLB and these wastes of tests that do absolutely nothing.

Matt

[w8liftinglady]

1. our partners could be twins-mine teaches for Dallas ISD-with identical issues

thank you so much for this.You are SO right!

[blondeatlast]

2. Indeed. My blood boils when I read "hourly" breakdowns of teacher's salaries.

In my state, teachers are required to get Master's Degrees--and when their salaries are broken down, and their own financial investments into their students gets factored in, some aren't even making the minimum wage.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. There is no doubt in my mind that the attack on teachers is part of the RW plot to keep people

ignorant...since an educated and informed public would NEVER vote for the repukes that are around today.
An extra added bonus of course, is that the attacks also include unions.

They are doing the same thing to higher education...college teachers, etc.

The more educated you are and the more exposure to the REAL world, the more likely you are to stand and point your finger at the repukes and laugh your ass off. REALLY..Can you actually listen to the barracuda and the mini-me barracuda, and not want to laugh until you puke? Of course, part of the puking motivation is the realization that there are those out there who are in awe of those empty-headed, publicity whores.

[Raster]

4. Matt, thank you for coming forward and sharing your story. The problems with education in the US

are NOT the fault of the teachers!

The BIG problem is simplistic thinking that seeks to lay the blame for years of mismanagement at the feet of teachers. Scapegoats, anyone?

The second biggest problem is the lack of adequate funding and the disparity between rich school districts and poor school districts.

The third biggest problem is the interference from outside factions--religious and political to name the two worst-who have specific self-serving agendas which are almost never in the bests interests of children and education.

And the fourth biggest problem is the lack of responsibility. Lack of responsibility on the part of the parents, the community and local, state and federal governments.

Don't blame the teachers. Many times they are only trying to deal with a bad situation as best as they can. Instead of trying to find ways to vilify teachers, we should be trying to find ways to support teachers and their efforts.

[Warpy]

5. Exactly, you can't do anything about it until you address where these

kids are coming from and the issues they have to face outside school. Once you do that, you begin to see that the inner city schools have the best and brightest teachers out there, not the failures that the stupid and misguided people at the top think they must be since their students so often fail.

Teaching those kids the basics of reading and arithmetic is nothing short of heroic. Expecting those kids to do it at the same pace as kids in the moneyed suburbs is crazy. To pretend that the cultures those kids are from doesn't affect their school work is crazy. To pretend that things like poor nutrition, substance abuse in the family, chronic unemployment, and hopelessness doesn't have an effect is crazy. Thinking a teacher who sees the kid only a few hours a day can overcome all that and fast track all poor kids to Harvard is really crazy.

I know inner city teachers and I'm in awe of them for accepting such a massive challenge and being able to do anything at all about it. To blame them for the problems caused at and by the top is stupid, cruel, and short sighted.

[YvonneCa]

6. Thank you for this post. n/t