To the editor:
Teaching is one of the most scrutinized and minimized professions there is. To be clear, my wife is a teacher, but after reading last weeks “Viewpoints” I would have found myself writing this response anyway.
Here are the facts. A teacher cannot collect any full Maine State Retirement benefits until the age of 60, 62, or 65 depending on when they started teaching. Let us also remember, teachers have to use Maine State Retirement, and have no access to Social Security. Secondly, many have the impression that teachers’ salaries are outrageous. According to the Career One Stop (a website from the National Department of Labor), starting as well as ending salaries for teachers compared to other professions in our zip code and surrounding areas, is far less that those of nurses, computer programmers, accountants, and nearly every other profession that I researched. In most cases, the salaries comparison was almost doubled from a teacher’s salary. Now, please do not misunderstand me, all professions are important to society, but without education from our teachers how would we have professionals at all?
The issue of working extra days without pay must also be addressed. Many teachers already do this, take a look at the school parking lots on the weekends, early in the mornings, and well into the evenings on weekdays. Summer vacation? Please, give me a break. My wife and many other teachers, start planning for the school year within a week after the last bell rings in June. Then, once classrooms are cleaned, they spend most days (during their vacation) getting classrooms prepared and plans finalized for the upcoming year. The fact is, a lot of teachers already work many hours without extra pay.
Furthermore, at least $500 (most likely more) of my family budget goes to items for my wife’s students and her classroom. I also know that many teachers will help their students by obtaining items (like school supplies or snacks) that a family in need cannot always manage to afford. Sometimes, it is about principle and respect. Next time you say, “more for less” say it to a teacher’s face who has given a student a jacket to stay warm for the winter.
School budgets go up due to issues not related to teachers’ salaries. Instead, budget increases are more directly related to decreases in state funding. People often forget that the number-one reason why people choose to live in a community is the quality of the schools. We need to continue to invest in not only our schools/teachers, but the future of our community.
In conclusion, teachers are blamed when students don’t meet state assessments, have behavior problems, or fail a class. More importantly they are blamed for being teachers. The fact is, teachers only deserve thanks and support from their students. Well, I guess this means they deserve it from all of us, since we all were all students at some point in our lives.
I would like to personally thank all of my teachers, many who continue to teach 22 years after I graduated. I support any person making an argument, but next time, listen to your teacher and support an argument with facts.
Shane E. Theriault,
Caribou
