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No, I'm not being sarcastic. The teachers in my area are underpaid. They make nothing close to $100,000 dollars. My parents have given the best years of their lives to teaching. And they make nowhere near that salary. They do it because they love the kids and totally believe in the profession. They raised me to feel the same way.

In the '70s, teachers in my area were at the poverty level. My dad had to quit for four years and sell cars to make enough money for us to have enough to keep going. Salaries started going up in the '80s, and he couldn't take being away from it, so he came back. My mom and dad are the best teachers I have ever seen.

Most of you seem to believe the hype that our schools are absolute cesspools of lazy liberal teachers who hardly work. That's not what I grew up with.

My parents get up at 4:30 every morning and go in hours early to help kids before school. They come home, eat, and grade papers until 8 or 9. They go to bed and do it all over again. They grade all weekend so that the kids can get their assignments back on time. I grew up watching them earn their money. I work all year long, and I don't feel my work ethic even approaches theirs.

The media and the political pundits only focus on the flaws of educations, and that's fine. It makes education better. However, the flaws aren't the majority, just like any other profession. Yes, property taxes are too high. I believe property taxes should be eliminated. I also believe a lot of government spending should be eliminated. Perhaps education should be totally privatized. I would support that.

But as it stands, the teachers I know earned and fought for every penny they got. That's my take on the issue. And most of them aren't making even near $100,000. My parents certainly aren't, and they have more than 30 years in.