Hopefully the sign painters near Guilford, NC have gotten this tiny little spelling error fixed by now. Students are returning to class very soon. There really isn’t much to say. Go to school and learn to spell it. And if you learn to spell it, thank a teacher, even if Sarah Palin rolls her eyes at you.
I should not be surprised. Across the nation, it has suddenly become popular to disparage teachers in one way or another. Teaching is no longer considered an honorable profession, apparently. Last spring people cheered as all the teachers were fired from a Rhode Island school that was struggling with a high drop out rate. Governor Christie of New Jersey is a new folk hero after telling a teacher to get a different job if she doesn’t like the new way things are being run. Americans are moaning and groaning nationwide because of a jobs bill passed this week to help states with schools struggling to prevent teacher layoffs.
One can hear more signs of teacher disparity as pensions are discussed. Teachers make up a large part of many public employee pension funds. While fire fighters and cops are catching a little of the flack, teacher are certainly on the front lines. Those who criticize, including the NJ governor, seem to forget that very often teachers get pension benefits in the form of deferred compensation. I know this is true in the case of Virginia teachers and other public employees in the state who were given paid pension contributions rather than raises for several years back in the 80s.
In another era, in another time, teachers, firefighters and police officers were held in much higher esteem. Now a former governor of the last outpost state rolls her eyes over the profession. How sad. I guess there will be a fire sale for those signs that read:
Shoot, I can’t even find a bumper sticket to cut and paste here.
So this is what it has all come down to.
