Retirement came at a good time for me. Frustration over the cuts in funding making it more and more difficult to fund the mandates put in place by politicians that are so far out of touch with what our children need continues to put a stranglehold on public education.
With funding be siphoned off for charter schools that don’t have the same requirements as public education just doesn’t make sense to me. As new teachers graduate from college and go into the classroom, they quickly become disheartened by unrealistic expectations and little or no change in their income over the first few years. With cost of living increases, especially with insurance going up every year, many are making less now than they did several years ago.
This past week, teachers were able to make a very strong showing to politicians that they are tired of it and change needs to happen. I hope for the sake of our children and our country, that we quit wasting money on testing that isn’t valid, and doesn’t serve a purpose other than to line the pockets of the powers that be.
Politicians, CEOs and other people in power who continue to rule this country to take greedily to serve their own needs rather than the people they serve don’t deserve to continue in office. We have the power to change that by making sure that we’re informed before we vote so that we’re sure we’re voting for the person who will best meet the needs of our students.
I’ve seen this trend coming for years. It’s not going to be pretty if we don’t make a difference now. We push kids to learn some skills before the appropriate age to be ready to learn them. It’s time to let the teachers teach. They are professionals who went to school to learn about child psychology, methods for teaching, and content area mastery.
Quit treating teachers like they’re not capable of doing their jobs! It’s time we all work together to make learning something that kids want to do. Instead of pitting the administration and teachers against each other, work together to find solutions. Actually, I think they did a pretty good job of education us when I was a student back in the 60’s and 70’s. I know that was a very long time ago, but it worked then and it’ll work again.
RedforEd was a step in making positive change. Teachers standing up for the students they work with and the future of education. I wish you all the best and hope that we begin to see some results. If not, you won’t be able to find people who will be willing to teach. Then where will our country be headed? Just my 2 cents worth.
Where God Leads 