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There seems to be a lot of knee-jerk reaction here.

I personally feel that the NEA does not serve the teachers well. I feel that administration is an issue that must be looked at seperately.

I am a substitute teacher and, therefore, am actually in some of theclassrooms and get to see it from that angle. I am also the mother of two elementary students. I also volunteer in different capacities around the school.

Driving time does not count and in Hawaii the commute is easily an hour. Schools start at different times. Here in Hawaii the first bell rings at 7:45 and the last bell rings at 2:00 (except on Wednesday, then it is at 1:10). The teachers arrive early and stay late. Some teachers arrive earlier and stay later depending on what is happening. As a sub, I need to stay until 2:45. Sometimes there are faculty meetings (quite frequently as a matter of fact), which last longer. Sometimes there are evening programs. There is yard duty that is rotated and sometimes kids lose their recess and the teacher has them in the classroom. Lunch is only 30 minutes. There are papers and tests to grade and lessons to prep. I use the recess and extra lunch time (I eat too fast) to review the teacher's lesson plans so that I am prepared.

School here lets out on 6/6. The teachers need to prep their rooms for either a move to another classroom and deep cleaning. They had the following Monday to do that. You don't know how much that work that entails if you haven't been in a classroom lately.

School will start again on 7/25 here. Wait, Meet the teacher day (at my boys' school) is the 24th and the parents will be bringing in school supplies (including paper towels, napkins, soap, etc.) So, the teacher also need to get the room ready in advance, is prepping lessons and materials.

I just wrote a letter of commendation for one of my boys' teachers. She always had time to talk to me; she tried to challenge my son when school was boring; she pulled in gifted resource people and lobbied to have him incorporated into the school program even if he was 2 grades lower than when it usually started.

I have been lucky. My sons teachers have gone the extra mile and have let me work with them. There are many good teachers out there--generally, I can tell when I sub what the teacher is like. There are some bad teachers out there. Overall, I feel they deserve higher pay.

The classes here are crowed. I had to speak with the school superintendant's regional rep to get extra teachers in my sons' grade two years ago. Teaching 27 kindergarteners is ridiculous.

The infrastructure is too old. Most of the schools in Hawaii are not air conditioned. The classes easily reach above 80 and the noise of planes, lawn mowers and traffic makes it difficult for me to hear students.

The schools have many challenges. Personally, I feel that the money should be spent wisely in that area. Unfortunately, the unions and the government tend to siphon money off and grease palms.