Making “my child the teacher” as impressive as “my child the doctor”
When it comes to bragging rights, most parents would still prefer to announce, “My child the lawyer,” rather than, “My child the teacher.”
Would such attitudes change if the U.S. teaching corps became more selective?
The American Federation of Teachers is endorsing an entrance exam for new teachers similar to the bar exam that novice lawyers must pass and the medical boards that newly minted doctors must pass.
“It’s time to do away with a common rite of passage into the teaching profession — whereby newly minted teachers are tossed the keys to their classrooms, expected to figure things out, and left to see if they and their students sink or swim. This is unfair to both students and their teachers, who care so much but who want and need to feel competent and confident to teach from their first day on the job,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
The education debate in Georgia has skirted the question of improving teacher quality, focusing instead on offering escape routes from local public schools. When the topic even arises in the Legislature, the conversation is usually how to run off bad teachers rather than how to attract good ones.
Lawmakers pay little attention to the fact that the world’s highest-achieving education systems, including Finland and Singapore, improved their schools through concerted campaigns to entice the brightest high school graduates to teaching. And they invested in their training.
“The United States has for many years prized cheap teachers over good teachers,” wrote Marc Tucker, CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy, in his Education Week blog. “Whenever there is a shortage of teachers, we respond by lowering our already intolerably low standards. We are constantly assigning teachers trained in one subject to classes in a subject about which they know little or nothing. We not only invest very little in teacher training, but we have for a very long time expected our schools of education to produce budget surpluses for use in other parts of the university that we evidently care more about.”
In its new report, “Raising the Bar: Aligning and Elevating Teacher Preparation and the Teaching Profession,” the AFT calls for a “universal and rigorous bar that gauges mastery of subject-matter knowledge.”
“Teaching has always had a low bar and a wide gate,” said University of Pennsylvania researcher Richard Ingersoll, who studies teacher turnover, teacher shortages and the status of teaching as a profession.
“So, making this a less-easy line of work is all for the good. But it’s really only half the story,” he said in a telephone interview. “You also have to raise the reward.”
Ingersoll sees value in enhancing the stature of teaching because, he said, “The perception remains that anyone can teach, even dummies, which doesn’t make it an attractive choice for bright undergraduates.”
A sheen of selectivity will appeal to top college students, he said. “But those bright students are going to want to know that the rewards are there.”
Historically, raising the bar to enter teaching reduces the supply of teachers, especially males, said Ingersoll. “Everyone can do the calculus. If you make it harder, students are going to say, ‘I can go to law school and get a much higher salary than I can in teaching.”’
When Finland sought to improve the under-performance of its schools in the 1970s and 1980s, it not only upgraded standards and admissions for teacher candidates, it also raised salaries. It’s now more difficult to get into a teaching program than law or medicine.
After gaining its independence, Singapore resolved to produce the best-educated students in the world and began by elevating teaching into a highly paid, highly prestigious profession. Only top academic achievers are eligible for teacher education programs, and they earn salaries as they train, said Ingersoll.
Raising the salary scale in education posed less of a challenge in Finland and Singapore, where education is centralized, than it would in the United States, where nearly 15,000 school districts operate as independent fiefdoms and where local property taxes are a common — albeit inequitable — funding mechanism.
“Singapore could just decide that the whole nation was going to do it. Here, it is hard to have such systemic reform,” said Ingersoll. “You would have to go through one district at a time to raise the reward”
“Given the reward we offer now,” he said, “we actually get a higher quality teacher than we deserve.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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137 comments Add your comment
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
10:04 am
to emphasise the repeat description of current conditions:
We should be able to send the disruptive students to alternative schools WITHOUT PENALTY for the schools doing so, and make these students EARN the right to come back with the general population.
Some principals do this, but they are always removed for having too many “discipline problems.” How backwards is this?
8th Grade Math Teacher
December 23rd, 2012
10:14 am
You are right, Private Citizen.
We have to take back what is rightfully ours and shun those that try to destroy it.
Which is why I will continue to “grin and bear it” until I can get into administration and attempt to put things back on track. I might get fired somewhere along the way for not falling into line, but that is the price to pay for doing what is right.
I would love to see a superintendent somewhere refuse federal grants in order to run their county the way they know is right.
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
10:17 am
My experience of teacher internship in Georgia was teaching high school and doing an excellent job and then being harassed by a stodgy old black female ex-principal of an “historic black high school” who came in a wrote negative work reviews of me every single time and at the culmination gave me a resounding “F” for my review and put into writing holding my accountable for a lot of details that were not part of the teacher training program. It was outright harassment. Due to the F, I had to repeat and pay additional tuition for this section of my teacher training. Meanwhile I had nearly a 4.0 in the program. At the final meeting with this person, I met with this “review person?” and the department head and I produced documentation showing the difference between the review person’s demands and my training. I ended the meeting telling them that it is not normally my style but there is a limit and if they continued in this way I would put them in court. What happened next is that the incompetent review person was not ever used again for teacher review and the department head left the school and the state and went to work in a different university in another state. I guess, in retrospect, I should take some satisfaction that in effect I eliminated an extremely racist black female harassment artist, however it cost me a semester and additional hundreds of dollars in tuition. It was outright harassment and this person tried to drown me on the front end of my career. I have also been harassed in the workplace by another black female who, are you ready? Is another ex-principal from the same “historic black high school.” and meanwhile I have done absolutely nothing but autonomous good work on behalf of my students. At least in some urban school districts in Georgia, there is open racism toward non-black employees. I have seen these harassment artists come into a building and target people who are busy doing good work and doing their jobs as they should. They harassment artist comes into their classroom and perches like a bird and writes reports on the teacher while they are teaching. they do it now wirelessly with laptops via wi-fi.
Wilbur
December 23rd, 2012
10:33 am
Diversity of values and aspirations from parents killed pubic education. While we might value learning and support the teachers, my child is in a classroom with other children whose families do not. When you add to that mix teachers who do not see themselves in partnership with parents, more and more parents who value education will look for an escape route for their children.
Raising the status of the teacher will do nothing to fix the underlying issues that have killed public education in America.
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
10:35 am
They also did this same routine to a career teacher who was very good at their work, had transferred in from another state and was of the caliber that they had helped write the standards for their prior state. This person was an excellent teacher. When the black on non-black harassment started for them and continued to the point that the teacher was coming home and crying every day, their spouse went to the school and told them to copy over to their private attorney any and all forms or reviews to the teacher. After this action, the harassment immediately stopped and life was “back to normal” with demanding teaching on a good day.
If you’re a government schools teacher in Georgia and you work around capricious management, have a private attorney. If they were honest, they would teach this in Georgia teacher training programs and inform teachers that in Georgia there is no protection from abuse for them outside of a private attorney.
Georgia coach
December 23rd, 2012
10:38 am
Private citizen, the fact you didn’t pass is no surprise. You probably came across as you do now, as a needy attention getting know it all.
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
10:40 am
And this was also a third black female ex-principal going around intruding on principals and harassing teachers. This person had a new angle. They had retired and were receiving retirement pay and we hired back as “consultant” with a different pay scheme.
Hey thanks a lot state of Georgia for your excellent guardianship of funds and governance of school management. I sincerely hope you burn in Hell.
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
10:44 am
Georgia couch, I’ll withhold what I would like to say to you out in an open field in person. I have achieved a 100% pass rate for my students. And you better believe I am a little “active” daily in getting there. If you want to play it cool like a Georgia slob and withhold approval for good work, this certainly does not surprise me. Maybe you have something in common with my friend with the 25% pass rate for their students and a glowing work review to go with it. You seem real comfortable.
Tiffany
December 23rd, 2012
10:47 am
While I understand “8th Grade Math Teacher’s” objective of moving into administration to fix the problem, I think you will find the same frustrations at that level. As I said in my longer post, education decisions are not made by the only people qualified: teacher and administrators. It is sad to see good teachers leaving the classroom – even if it is for administration positions. Thank you for giving of yourself to make a better future for the education system. It is truly a ripple-effect career.
One note about removing disruptive students: I agree teachers need more authority in their classroom with students. I just have to wonder what we (as a society) do with them after we throw them out. I am by no means saying that “they have no where else to go,” is a reason to keep them in a classroom, ruining chances for other kids who need their teacher’s attention focused on instruction, rather than distractions. We just need an alternative for them and the chance to come back if/when they realize the error of the ways (though the chances are slim unless the alternative is so laborious, that they choose education). I just don’t want to see our jails flooded even more because these kids aren’t teachable at a given age. Any suggestions?
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
10:53 am
Coach, I do not claim to “know it all” but I know how to transfer content and get results and I have the background and training to do so. I wonder why you do not value this? I think you take a lot of things for granted, like where your doctors come, the medical ones, at the dentist and hospital. The ones I use are not from Georgia, they have to move here from somewhere else. Why this is apparent to me and some kind of joke to you is lost on me. Maybe you can answer that.
oldtimer
December 23rd, 2012
11:01 am
Teachers have been tested…GACE….PRAXSIS….GRE….
Also, every new idea we tried in my teacher years…New math, Whole Language, Social Stdies…not history and geography……feel good….no failures…all came from CA…none were any good. Seems like old math, phonics, handwriting, history’ geography….ocasional failures, all worked well….
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
11:10 am
H?ey coach, pardon my French, but my agenda is “how about if you leave me the hell alone and let me do my work?” That is pretty much the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, of my agenda in the workplace. That seems pretty reasonable to me. I have absolutely no concern what anyone else is doing, but if you come in and harass me, then yes, I am going to bite back. When I get to work, I want to do my work. When I go home, I want to go home. If I am producing results and that is not good enough for you and you want to come and smell my socks, I think you should buzz-off and I am right to say so.
8th Grade Math Teacher
December 23rd, 2012
11:17 am
With all that said, I need to add something: I hate negativity, and I apologize if I added in any way to the mass negativity in this comments section.
Teaching IS a great job…it’s incredibly rewarding and challenging. It sounds cliche, but there is no better feeling in the world than seeing a child suddenly “get it.” I have not been teaching for long, but already I have experienced this enough to know that it is worth getting up everyday and fighting for everyday.
For each behavior problem I complain about, there are 4 or 5 great kids. Unfortunately, it is very human to focus more on the bad than the good.
The money is okay (though I would obviously like for it to be better), and yes, getting summer off is nice. I think the teachers and students both deserve a break from each other after a long year.
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
11:26 am
Memo to teachers from Georgia Coach:
Dear Teachers, At all times you are expected to have the personality dimension +/- 2% of the counter worker in the perfume / jewelry department at Dillard’s department stores. Thank you.
Former Military, Current Teacher
December 23rd, 2012
11:31 am
@Pride and Joy:
FTR, I am from a family of cops, teachers, and military members. I was in the military and I am currently a teacher. I have friends who are lawyers, accountants, and doctors.
I have to address your statement, “Why does teaching merit a “prestigious as a doctor” reputation?
Why not police officers? They put their life on the line every day.”
I think the argument is that if it did merit more prestige, it would attract a better quality of student. I think you missed that point completely.
Police officers do not require college degrees, and, no offense to police officers nationwide, most DON’T put their lives on the line EVERYDAY. My family’s officers serve(d) their time in suburban communities. While there are dangers, it’s not daily. Cops, like other public servants, get their share of disdain from the “I’m a taxpayer; I pay your salary” bunch – I feel their pain for that. They get benefits and pension in most communities, and if they do work holidays, they get double or even triple time (my policeman uncle volunteered to work every Christmas for the pay). They can retire after twenty years in many places – teachers need to teach for thirty.
‘Why not the military? They put their life on the line every day and have to endure separations frm their families in foreign, desolate, hostile countries such as Afghanistan? Where is the prestige for them?”
I was in the military for three years, and my life was never in danger once. My brother was in for 12 years, and was never on the frontline, despite a war being waged. We were lucky. However, we were not alone. There are plenty of military members serving safely stateside, and they get the same accolades as any other in uniform when they get standing ovations and applause while walking through the airport. They get 30 days paid leave (remember, teacher’s time off is unpaid), and no one begrudges them that. They get discounts and special treatment, too.
“Teaching is less dangerous than all of the above-mentioned occupations AND the occupations mentioned above pay LESS than teaching and have far fewer benefits. Cops and the military don’t get three months off during the Summer, all holidays off and work daytime Monday through Friday hours.”
As far as the lack of danger goes, I’d say tell that to Victoria Soto. If you were to look at overall stats, I’m sure you would see that percentage-wise, teaching is safer. However, percentage-wise (according to the Bureau of Labor), fishing, logging, and and being a pilot are all more dangerous than any of those jobs you mentioned – although there is a prestige to being a pilot, where is your sympathy for them?
While I was in the military, I had fully paid healthcare, dental care, vision care, and life insurance. I also had my room and board provided (and if you married and moved off base, you got extra money to cover that). Military members get 30 days paid leave, as I mentioned, and many DO work Monday through Friday – unless I was on a field op, I did. We also got holidays off most of the time. Military members get compensated for being separated from their families and being in a combat area. Officers also get paid more than enlisted, and if you want a fair comparison to teachers’ salaries, you need to look their compensation since they need college degrees. Teachers get paid per diem. Holidays and breaks are unpaid – you have read this blog long enough to know that.
“If we are going to try to bring some fairness into the world of professions, let’s start with the most deserving ones.”
We weren’t talking fairness, we were talking prestige. All of those professions have something in common – you need to have a passion for them. Despite the dangers, perceived low prestige, low pay, people still pursue those jobs. Your post was a perfect illustration of what Maureen was talking about – what parent would want their child to be a teacher when the public thinks that about the profession?
teacher
December 23rd, 2012
11:32 am
Oldtimer, have you taken the praxis or gace? They are a joke. The fact that anyone fails them is hilarious. Not only should people who fail them never be allowed near a school again, but they should also have their college degrees rescinded. For those of you that haven’t taken these exams, think the driving test, but a bit easier.
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
11:33 am
Yes 8th Grade Math Teacher, Apologise profusely and without stopping. This is the “new way.” Even your grocer does it, giving you change, “I’m sorry, I should have given you two dimes and a nickel instead of a quarter.” Your waiter/waitress will interrupt your meal at least five times to apologise. This is also called “begging for money / tip.” You will note in countries where the tip is “compris” (included), waitstaff does not behave this way, as they do not consider themselves to be peasants. However, it is the American Standard now and in the USA there is more apologising during commerce than in the history of the all of the world combined.
Private Citizen
December 23rd, 2012
11:35 am
I hate negativity
Ha. Isn’t that an oxymoron? -Have a happy holidays.
KB
December 23rd, 2012
11:36 am
Improving teacher quality starts in the teacher’s education. When I earned my teaching certificate at Georgia State (already had a B.A.) twenty-five years ago, I spent two weeks in one high school and then student-taught for one quarter at another high school. That simply isn’t enough.
Georgia should find out how much time their education students are actually in a high school. The minimum should be one full school year being mentored by an experienced teacher (or three) who coach the student not only on the subject, but most importantly, on student management.
Better prepared teachers will make better teachers, period.
nick p
December 23rd, 2012
11:58 am
at our fulton county school, we are not even allowed to take away a kids’ cell-phone when not paying attention, but ill tell you as a teacher of 14 years, kids are kids, they have not changed much, there will awlays be disruptive kids, rude kids, etc…. to me what has changed is the parent at home or lack there of who is not going to take responsibility, and the kids know it, and the second problem has to do with watering down of discipline and enforcement of rules, administrators dont want to deal with it, and btw, as a struggling student due to discipline or lack of knowledge whats the point learning something the right way when you know most students get multiple chances to retake quizzes and tests which means why even prepare for the initial assignment, education is a complex and multiple variable problem, and when you always try to boil it down to teachers constantly, you only drive away good teachers which only deepens the problem. Public education is not a private sector business, and we cannot run it like one, especially when many of our students, so called customers, lack the maturity and understanding to take advantage of this moment in life to further advance themselves for the future
nick p
December 23rd, 2012
12:05 pm
since everyone always bashes education in this country, how about pointing to an era when ou elieve education in this country was great? i mean to do comparisons and see what has gone wrong, how about telling me when was it right? when a teacher stood in front of all different age groups and taught 20 different subjects? maybe the 60s? are you telling me there were no rude or disruptive students back then? whats changed is the force we called angry parents who were ready to deal with the problem, meaning their child, now a days the parents make the same lame excuses for their kids that the kids themselves make, thats what has changed!
bootney farnsworth
December 23rd, 2012
12:07 pm
@ Maureen,
can we please have some sort of ignore feature here?
bootney farnsworth
December 23rd, 2012
12:16 pm
despite all the venom in this blog, it still ends as a simple issue.
until this nation values education -which it doesn’t- my child the teacher will never have the same cachet as my child the (fill in your own noun).
and there’s little I see on the horizon which leads me to think this will change anytime soon
bootney farnsworth
December 23rd, 2012
12:20 pm
@ nickp
as far as I can tell, you have to go back to a time when education was voluntary, not mandatory
jess
December 23rd, 2012
12:28 pm
I would much rather have a reputation for impressive students than teachers. Several years ago I was transferred from a small town in the North Ga. mountains to Connecticut. Our son, who had very good grades was entering the seventh grade. A school counselor ask for a meeting with us and very nicely suggested our son would have a better chance of success if he were to enter the sixth grade. This was not based on his grades, but on the fact that he was coming from Georgia. As it turns out the small school he had attended in Ga. was a very good school, and after insisting he be placed in the seventh grade he made honor roll every quarter he attended school there.
The point is that it seems a focus on having impressive teachers is the wrong focus. Impressive students should be our goal. I haven’t had a child in school for quite a while, but it seems to me the focus of schools efforts are: #1 school board, #2 administration, #3 teachers, #4 students. If you have impressive students, You have an impressive system.
Dad of future teacher
December 23rd, 2012
1:01 pm
Beverly, the danger of using words like “only” is people can point out the flaws. Thank you for the insights to preparing her for teaching. My prayer is that she will be a steward of all the talents God has given her. Hopefully the current job economy has taught her that she should save no matter what she ends up doing.
AlreadySheared
December 23rd, 2012
1:53 pm
I recall that some years ago, the infamous “Stewart Avenue” in Atlanta was renamed “Metropolitan Parkway” in a vain attempt to remove some of its stigma. However, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, and likewise for less pleasant things.
Long hours, low pay, administrative disrespect and micromanagement, an education system rendered sclerotic by an accumulation of govenmental and legal mandates: if the armed forces of the United States were structured like the public schools, we’d all be learning to speak Russian right now. Public education will NEVER be fixed.
TGT
December 23rd, 2012
2:31 pm
I have been teaching in Juneau, Alaska for 13 years, but I was born and raised in Georgia. I have lived here for twenty years, and education and its funding is always a hot button issue. I think the article hits on some relevant issues like compensation, and all university education programs should strive to attract quality teachers. There is already the Praxxis exam in order to get certification as a teacher in the State of Alaska. If we really want high quality education for all students, we need to convince each state legislature to adequately fund schools so that class sizes don’t reach unreasonable levels. Right now, my class of third graders is at 27, and my wife’s fifth grade class is at 31. I think elementary should be capped at 20 in K-2 and 24 in 3-5. I think consideration should be taken with middle and high schools as well when it comes to class sizes. Here in Juneau everything has been cut. We have half time teachers, specialists, fewer instructional assistants, and most benefits and salary schedules have been either cut or frozen. Salaries here in Alaska aren’t great considering the cost of living, and in order for most people to travel here, it requires boat or air travel. I love it here, but my wife and I have considered changing occupations or moving because of the lack of respect and the lack of funding across the board.
Claudia Stucke
December 23rd, 2012
6:18 pm
I agree with the AFT that teachers should pass a rigorous exam. We used to have the PRAXIS in Georgia. I don’t know why we changed over to the GACE, but people who have taken both report that they found the GACE easier to pass. When I took the PRAXIS for secondary English in 2001, I was appalled at the number of test-takers who commented that they had failed it several times before and were taking it for the third or fourth time. It was not difficult; in fact, I think it may have been a little too easy. As for mentoring, I think it’s a great idea–not hand-holding, just some professional advice during the first year or two to steer the new professional in the right direction. And yes, new practitioners in some professions, such as medicine, are thrown into the deep end right away. Perhaps the physicians benefit from this practice, but do their patients? Would our students?
AlreadySheared
December 23rd, 2012
7:41 pm
@Claudia,
If you switch from Praxis to GACE, you can set your own passing scores without having to refer to a national benchmark.
Patricia Tomlinson
December 23rd, 2012
11:46 pm
What on earth is a “southern solution”? I mean really!!!
Teacher in DeKalb
December 24th, 2012
8:39 am
Teachers make good salaries and have good benefits and the best life/work balance of any profession in the world.
Teachers USED to “make good salaries and have good benefits and the best life/work balance of any profession in the world.” However, over the last 5-6 years, salaries have gone down, cost of benefits has gone up exponentially, and ‘life/work balance’ is a joke. With 28 2nd graders in a classroom and much higher in upper grades, there is no balance during the school year. I arrive at work at 6:30 and leave at 5 – and except for a 25 minute lunch break, I am working all those hours. Weekends usually involve lesson planning or research for ways to better address the needs of my students. If I had small children at home, I don’t know how I’d do it. I am not whining – I know what is expected, and I do it. Even with all the difficulties with the school district, I am committed to the little ones I teach every day. Those precious babes deserve a teacher who comes every day with the desire to do the 2nd most important job in the world. (The first is being a good parent.)
Mary Sue
December 24th, 2012
9:07 am
I scored a 1490 on my SAT. I double majored in English Literature and Political Science in college. After I decided that I wanted to teach middle school English/Language Arts, I had to go back to school to get my teaching certificate. Finished that at a highly-respected private university with a 4.0 average. The classes were a joke. Got perfect scores on both the English and the Social Studies Praxis exams – these tests were a joke. I am now in my 12th year of teaching. I am very good at what I do – not because of any teacher education classes I took. I haven’t gone back to graduate school to get a masters or better in education because the classes are ridiculous and have zero to do with REAL teaching. I know tons of people with masters, specialist, and doctoral degrees in education who are, frankly, crappy teachers. Teacher education programs need to change. There needs to be more content and less fluff. I don’t need a class on how to create bulletin boards and how to arrange my room. What is needed are solid classes in the subject the teacher will be teaching through that department (not the ED department), classes in classroom management and developmental psychology, and then a lot more time in the classroom getting training than what is required now.
Teacher Lady Ma'am
December 24th, 2012
11:17 am
I had to stop reading the comments because my blood pressure was rising. I have been teaching for 18 1/2 years, have my M.Ed. and my Ed.S. and I just finished my Math endorsement. I cannot think of the last time I had 2 months off for summer that did not include a second job to help pay bills or taking several classes to help me to be a better teacher. I come home from school after 6 (we had 30 minutes added to our day with no compensation) and work until bedtime correcting papers, coming up with interesting (hopefully) lessons that the children may pay attention.
I resent the attitude that teachers don’t matter. We spend more time with your children than you do. The county I teach in makes Clayton look outstanding in the midst of all their problems. We have no money for paper – computer or toilet – and our technology is a joke. The discipline problems have increased as we have been encouraged not to write discipline referrals. On top of this, we are supposed to teach (with no books) children whose parents fight us tooth and nail. And we want them to have a say in our evaluation? Children get mad at us for correcting them and they have a say?
I am proud to say I’m a teacher and do feel the pity in people’s faces when I say where. I still love ‘my kids’ and will continue to give them the pencils, paper, notebooks, etc. that they never have. I still give them hugs when they come in and when they leave. Maybe one day someone will ask us what they can do to HELP instead of criticize. My principal says instead of complaining, come with suggestions… What will you do?
Ole Guy
December 24th, 2012
12:49 pm
“my child the teacher” vs “my child the doctor”…absolutely no comparrison. When was the last time a doctor alloweed parental pressure or, for that matter, any outside influence at all, to enter into sound medical judgement? It would seem that educational judgement, on the other hand, is influenced by any-and-all non-educational entities. If teachers were able to/HAD THE GUTS TO practice their profession as they saw fit, kids would have to EARN passing grades; kids, on the HOPE scholarship would NOT have to take remedials in college and would ALL graduate. Those who couldn’t/wouldn’t get with the program would be left behind to provide a labor pool for the menial labor demand. Meanwhile, those who survived would become the movers and shakers; the leaders of a progressive economy and an equally progressive society…one in which I just migh be able to grow old an’gray in relative grace.
Both while in the military and in the civilian community, I have had the privilege of working with some pretty young folks…as well as a few fossils like myself. Those young folks, for the most part, all had one (among many other) common denominator…they were all SHARP; high school/college grads who, early on, knew what total dedication to the task at hand meant.
You kids had best start pulling it together. You’ve already got the lead weight, of a piss poor economy, straped to one ankle. NEVER DAMN MIND. It don’t matter what you do…doctor, teacher…Indian Chief…just do it to the best (or better) of your abilities. Stop fartin’ around, comin’ up with all sort of reasoning for your sub-par performances. GET that high school diploma (no GEDs…that’s simply fools’ gold…don’t kid yourselves) and then go make something of yourselves. PERIOD.
Merry Christmas
Pride and Joy
December 24th, 2012
2:43 pm
Mary Sue, I appreciate your comments and I agree with you!
So glad you are a teacher!
Tonya C.
December 24th, 2012
4:39 pm
While I think teaching is a noble profession (my husband is one) I will not in any way, shape, or form support any of my kids going into teaching or any public service profession that requires a degree. Sorry. Intrinsic rewards are great, but the power and gas companies don’t take that as payment for utilities. There are too many far more financially-rewarding options out there to encourage that. If they want to help the world, I will tell them to join Peace Corps or become a missionary.
I think teachers are the cornerstone of our society, as well as police officers, firefighters, and social workers. None of them are as valued as they should be, in terms of respect and/or financial compensation. I don’t think any less of the professions but that doesn’t mean I’ll beam if my kids select one as their career.