Let me just say, that when I was growing up, becoming a teacher was my dream! I played school all the time and for as long as I can remember my passion was to teach! When I found out I was pregnant I knew that I was going to take a leave of absence and most likely stay home if the Lord allowed. I plan on homeschooling my children. Having taught for the last 4 years has changed my view of what I thought being a teacher was going to be. Let me explain this further:
You see, I couldn't wait to do tons of hands-on activities, experiments, arts and crafts. Of course those are the things I did as a child and LOVED! Unfortunately, as the last 4 years have played out, there has been more and more pressure to drop the "fun" things and teach, teach, teach all those standards. Don't get me wrong, it's vital to teach the standards, but I was finding that I no longer had time to do all the "fun" things, even though they had an academic basis. Meaning they weren't just art activities, they were tied to the standards. Needless to say the amount of things to teach the children all while taking into consideration the differing abilities of the students, and fitting this into a school day where you are tied down to a 90 minute reading block, 50 minute math block, 30 minute intervention block, 30 minute exercise block (seriously..), etc, is nearly impossible. I say all this to say that I have noticed that every year we, as teachers, are expected to do more and more and be paid the same amount. Many of us work over 4o hours a week with no overtime pay and constantly being ridiculed by legislators and business people who insist on running our schools. We are told we are nothing more than babysitters and not professionals. Why do we put up with this and a meager salary? All because we care about the kids and love being with them! That's what's important.
Well, this week I found out that there is a new bill (see my title) that is in the process of being passed. If this bill passes it will not be a good thing. I had to teach 3 years and be observed frequently to earn a professional contract which I would now lose according to this bill. All teachers would be placed on a probationary contract for up to five years, at which time we could earn an annual contract. Except for teachers who are hired after July 2010, they would get an annual contract automatically. EVERY teacher, no matter if you've taught 1 year or 30, would start at the same salary. This means a pay cut for almost every single teacher employed. Then, to top it off, 50% of the salary would be dependent on how well your students perform on a test (that is yet to be created). We, as teachers, know that we do everything we can to make sure our kids succeed. However, we have absolutely NO control over the parental support. Parental support is vital to a child's success and those students who don't have it are not nearly as successful. That being said, if I just happened to get a class that was filled with a majority of students who are low in academics then my salary would most likely be affected by being lower. In addition, teachers who worked to get their masters or national board certification would lose their salary bonus. In other words, there is no incentive for getting a masters or board certification anymore. This bill, if passed, would be stressful on teachers (not like we're not stressed enough).
The teachers are at my school are ready to quit if this passes. These are teachers who are amazing and have been doing so for 15-30 years. What a loss to the students in our country! Personally, I will quit as well, although that was already an option I was seriously considering. It is sad to think that my salary would be dependent on my students. There are a few male teachers are my school who are feeling the stress of being the sole provider for their family on a teachers salary and now might have to deal with this new bill. Everyone I've talked to would rather get a job at an office and sit at a desk all day and get paid more to be under less stress and work less hours.
I say all this mainly to inform you all. This bill is being portrayed as a wonderful thing and the truth is, it's crazy. I am not worried about it as I know the Lord will provide for my family and we'll be okay. My concern is for the children in our country who go to public schools...and who's going to teach them if all the seasoned teachers quit? Just my thoughts...I'd love to hear yours!
