Those outside the education profession don't understand that teachers spend their own time taking coursework for professional development credits in order to be able to renew their certificate. They also fail to understand that teachers spend many hours at home planning and grading. We also must arrange for conferences after school, go to PTA meetings on our own time, etc. Then these people complain about us getting the summer "off," which isn't entirely true either. I have taught summer school the last two years, and worked on my masters this summer. I am not complaining, but I feel that teachers earn their pay and then some.
The sad part is that even if we disagree with the curriculum, we have to do what our supervisors tell us, as does any employee. Most teachers that I know are conservative. College professors are a different story.
Those outside the education profession don't understand that teachers spend their own time taking coursework for professional development credits in order to be able to renew their certificate. They also fail to understand that teachers spend many hours at home planning and grading. We also must arrange for conferences after school, go to PTA meetings on our own time, etc. Then these people complain about us getting the summer "off," which isn't entirely true either. I have taught summer school the last two years, and worked on my masters this summer. I am not complaining, but I feel that teachers earn their pay and then some.
The sad part is that even if we disagree with the curriculum, we have to do what our supervisors tell us, as does any employee. Most teachers that I know are conservative. College professors are a different story. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What you say is very true in most cases. I get about a week off during summer (we are year-round), but that and my breaks are often spent doing things for my job. There are about 5 teachers in my school who get only 2 weeks off the whole year and most others substitute or work 2nd jobs on breaks. We do need to realize that many, many people work hard in their various professions, INCLUDING many teachers. We should respect those who do. There are many days where I'll come home at 8 PM after leaving getting to work at 7 AM, and I STILL have several hours of grading and such. I don't have my own secretary (or even a teacher's aide) like some people do. I do it all on my own.
There is NO such thing as teacher tenure in my area. If one little thing happens, it can be all over. My uncle got falsely accused of molesting a girl and it cost him his teaching job and he had to do a lot to restore his reputation too.
My father and mother taught me to respect teachers. Even when I had some bad ones, they still expected me to behave myself, do my work, and to actually learn SOMETHING. They expected all of us kids to do so. I will say that some teachers don't realize the consequences of their actions. Some people are just out there to pounce on any negative thing a teacher does and use it to lambast them and the profession. The liberals do that with the military. I hope that we take time to recognize those teachers who do make a difference such as yourself. I make sure to tell any parent when I hear a good comment about his/her child and any teacher when a parent says a good comment about him/her. There's too much negativity in the world today.
I too, separate college and other education. I don't have much to do with college professors and thus, don't lump them in the same category as other educators. I think you are right in that they are more liberal.