Still Thankful After Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Day has come and gone.  Leftovers are eaten and/or frozen.  Football games have been played.  Some of our teams won and some others lost.  (Some teams were destroyed- go Terps) The kids and the teachers are back at school.  The countdown to Christmas and the winter break begins.

The next few weeks will be tough for students and teachers.  Activity levels will rise and teachers’ patience will be tested.  Perhaps, parents will be more thankful than usual for teachers.

We should be thankful for teachers.  They do important and meaningful work.  And they put up with our kids, all the while teaching them very useful skills and knowledge.  For many children, their teachers are the people who save them from anonymity.  They are the people who really see them.   Good teachers not only teach they listen.   They guide.  And sometimes they get children the help and resources they need.  Teachers have been known to truly love some kids.   Indeed, some teachers love some children more than the parents do. 

Unfortunately, all of our teachers are not created equally.   A significant minority of our teachers should not even be in the classroom.   Yet they are and they are paid very well. And they get a very nice increase and great benefits every year.   Some teachers are mean and/or sarcastic to children.   Some teachers show blatant favoritism.  Some teachers are bigoted.  Some teachers lack the basic skills of teaching, let alone knowing how to teach more challenged learners.  People with these traits have no business in a classroom where they can harm innocent children.   Some teachers are flat out lousy at their jobs and don’t even like students all that much.  These people are not only an embarrassment to their profession, the besmirch the reputation of the wonderful teachers who are truly making a difference.  They need to be out of the classroom.

We need to be thankful, support and embrace the teachers who are doing a remarkable job under difficult circumstances.  Just as we embrace the wonderful teachers, so we need to remove the ones who are not meeting expected standards.

Over 50% of local tax dollars go toward education.  This investment is proper and important.  But it should not be wasteful. Teachers' unions earn their keep by getting better benefits and salary for all teachers, including the ones who have no place in a classroom.  Teachers' unions will tell you that teachers need to be protected from unfair evaluations.    My view is that children need to be protected from bad teachers and uncaring unions.  We need to take care of the students; let the adults take care of themselves.   Let’s get rid of the bottom of the teacher barrel.  Now that will be something for which to be thankful.