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Hey Katiebelle- everything of importance in my life I taught myself. My teachers were too busy paying attenion to the popular kids, and trying to figure out how to get me to be as dumb as the other kids. They never had to explain how a child with IQ of 110( now 135) was being sent for special ed classes, could it be they could not keep up? They did not care about what that would do to my life, just what it would do for theirs. I then went on to place out of college in the 98%. I was reading when I started school, and love reading.. now spelling and typing are not my strong suits.( I was educated with whole lanuage in the public schools, and have spent many years trying to undo the damage.)

Anyway, I don't think all teachers are bad, and neither does anyone here. We do hate the NEA ,and we are sick of hearing about the strife of the teachers. Who else complains so much about jobs and pay?

You don't believe me about the neighbors I have? You are calling me a liar? I will give you my address and you can see for yourself. Are they wealthy? I happen to know they will not ever put money away for kid's college. They think it is the kid's job to that if they want to go, besides they can get loans and never pay them back. Just more entitlement. You can say I am lying all you want. However, other people have similar stories... we can't all be lying.

They never had to explain how a child with IQ of 110( now 135) was being sent for special ed classes, could it be they could not keep up?

Not all special education students are mentally retarded. Some have physical disabilities, some have learning disabilities such as dyslexia, and some have behavior problems that interfere with learning.

I agree with you. Most of my education was spent delving into my father's extensive collection of historical accounts and such. If my father was not so self-absorbed he would have been a wonderful homeschooling teacher. I feel like in the last 10 years the self study has really boosted me beyond anything I attained in my required 12 years of school.
And that's not to say that I did not run across fine teachers, but most were like you said, especially in high school. I had one high school teacher, an english/literature teacher, who would not let me be a flunky. She refused to ignore me and made sure I knew about it. She knew there were alternative learning styles and was not afraid to utilize that alternative if need be. BTW, she was this kind of excellent teacher back when teachers really were underpaid--now how did that happen *gasp*.

I sure hope to still find her so open-minded. I just got ahold of her present email address and in the course of the conversation, I'm sure homeschooling my children will come up. I'll let you know how it goes.

Many special education students who fall under the catagory "learning disabled" have average to above average IQ's--even up to the genius range.

I teach LD children at the middle school level. Every year I end up with one or sometimes two students who are brilliant in one area (such as math) but who read very poorly.

Why can't they read? The reasons are as varied as the kids--I have one who has a visual perception problem that manifests itself by making letters blurry, faded, or uneven. This is sometimes corrected with color overlays. Sometimes.

As far as my salary goes, I have no complaints. My salary spread out over a typical 260 day year is about $17 an hour. For my 196 day year, it's about $23 an hour. I figure, I sign the contract, I take what comes with it, good and bad. When the job is too hard, I can vote with my feet and choose another career.

And I am not a member of the NEA, I am a member of the AAE, a conservative group which provides insurance liability, advice, ect. at a much lower price.

Fellow teachers, check out http://www.aaeteachers.org