Posted on 12/02/2002 9:13:24 AM PST by geedee
After reading about the trials of Santa Monica (California) High School student Steve Miller, to say nothing of how many young minds are being poisoned every day, teachers themselves, seemed like a worthwhile educational topic.
Teachers Consider Themselves Victims
According to the National Education Association (NEA), the average salary of a U.S. public school teacher for the 2001-02 school year was $44,499. No doubt, this is much lower than other professions such as law and medicine, but one can't enter those with a 2.0 undergrad average from, say, Chico State, nor are there many emergency provisions to obtain employment in those fields without proper certification.
Unlike the other professions, teaching has the security of civil service, and there are almost unlimited opportunities to make considerably more money by simply hanging in, running extracurricular programs, and by becoming an administrator. It is not uncommon for a school administrator, in larger districts, to make well over $100,000.
The "victim" persona comes from them comparing their worthy occupation of instructing America's youth, and being involved in intellectual pursuits, to highly paid entertainers and athletes. To be fair, they also take way too much criticism for being the sole cause of our country getting continuously more stupid with every passing year. They are more aware than most that this failure is primarily the result of the destruction of the American family – especially amongst the Black population – but being toe-tag liberals, cannot say this. This makes them feel even more victimized.
If you're a victim, you're a leftie.
Teachers Consider Themselves To Be Intellectuals
Teachers work with books all day, and, at least, on the surface, are engaging in activities of the mind. They can take some comfort in this, when they compare themselves to athletes and others who seem to get a lot of money for merely physical attributes. Most intellectuals believe that they are superior to all other people, who, even if they must use their minds in their work, have sold out in some manner to achieve their economic success. What could be a more pure use of the intellect than instructing children, after all?
As intellectuals, they are only too ready to tell everyone else how to live, and to put that into practice requires an all-powerful government. Like most intellectuals, they seem to care little for the original functions of government, such as defense, police, and promoting commerce. And like most intellectuals, they enjoy embracing the most perverse ideas, just for the attention.
If you're an intellectual, as this term applies today, you're a leftie.
Teachers Belong To A Huge And Powerful Union
Stripped to its essentials, the NEA is about more money for the school districts, always and without limits of any kind, less accountability, and nearly every single left-wing cause you could possibly imagine. Oh yes, they talk about accountability, but inevitably refer to it as a complex issue that will require more study, so nothing ever seems to actually get done about it.
The NEA sends more voting delegates to the Democratic National Convention than does the State of California, yet the NEA enjoys tax-exempt status, claiming not to engage in political activities of any kind.
Perhaps the teachers would consider themselves less of a victim class if they made significantly more money, but the NEA – like most unions – does its best to determine that will never happen, by protecting bad performers, and fighting against the competition that would occur if vouchers were widely used. The NEA's animus against vouchers stems, of course, from its atheism, since a goodly portion of vouchers would be used to support parochial schools. I guess it's important to be able to choose to terminate a pregnancy, but not to choose where your kid goes to school.
If you're still a true believer in trade unions, you're a leftie.
Teachers Have No Self-Esteem
I know teachers talk about self-esteem all the time, but think of the frat boy who always talked about his sexual conquests, and then was unmasked to have none. For many of them, it's all they can do to lord it over a bunch of kids, and it is just in this kind of environment that Leftist politics flourishes. Why? Since none of the cockamamy ideas would ever stand up to debate, and can only be promulgated unchallenged. That's also why most teachers tend to hang out with other teachers. Despite all the air of superiority, they really do feel inferior. They can take comfort only with their own, and other downtrodden folks.
If you have no self-esteem, you're a leftie.
One or two of these factors would push many people over to the Left, but since most teachers have all four going full-blast, their present condition is easy to understand.
Yea... we had some whacko professors in college but not like today.
None of them had a political slant... other than being “different”.
Institutions all have their own dynamics. If you conform to those dynamics and work with them, you'll tend to prosper within the institution, and the inverse is true as well. The dynamics of the teaching trade -- no, it's not a profession -- emphasize authoritarianism, pseudo-intellectual pretensions, and an attitude of omniscience despite relatively slender real intellectual credentials and an even more slender record of tangible achievement.
You know, thinking about the above, if we hadn't already created the public school system, I'm sure the Left would have invented it.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com
My wife had first worked for many years in the private sector, before getting a job teaching. She was hard nosed and didn't take any cr*p from her students, and she was a "special ed" teacher (basically, all the problem behavioral students). She was so good she went on to win an award in the State for teacher of the year, or some such.
But the fact is, most teachers are exactly as the stereotypes portray them. Beevis and Butthead do an excellent parody, as does South Park.
I made my point, and he now knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm closely monitoring him.......and I am.
I had told him that I'm far too busy in my work to have to take a day out for such a thing....and that it should be unnecessary......but I was VERY prepared to do just that. I gave him concrete suggestions of things he should be teaching that are matters of historical fact and, therefore, not as subject to his interpretation.
The slightest hint of a relapse and I'm on 'im like white on rice. I've taken on his Principal and a couple of idiotic English "teachers" there before without blinking, and I think he knows it.
It's time to bust the National Education Association Union.
We've been surrounded by the "It ain't my fault" crowd Bill Clinton motivated and, through his refusal to ever accept any personal responsibility for his psychopathic foibles, allowed to dominate this nation's agenda and morals. We've lost the way taught us by our parents' generation. We've allowed the NEA to take over. We've allowed the stars like your wife to be overlooked and abused until their fiery drive eventually flickers and blinks out.
But we can take our schools back. We just need the courage to do it.
Very true. Now all we have to do is deal with the soccer-mom/useful idiots who will vote for anything if it's "for the children." These selfish, lazy, unthinking morons are the ones who help the marxists maintain their power and cash flow. The school districts know this and play to them come time for a new tax levy to go on the ballot. You can threaten to reduce administrators and staff and they don't even flinch...but threaten to cut Johnny's soccer team or (GASP) football program and they will vote away everything that they own, as well as everything of their neighbors. I have voted against every school levy since I reach age 18, and I'll vote against every school levy every time there is one on the ballot.
We live in one of the most affluent school districts in our state. Thankfully, both of our kids are now in college and do not seem to be too badly maladjusted. It was a struggle to keep them on the RIGHT path. When we went to PS functions (band concert, parent/teacher conference, etc), they all invariably featured a poverty speech. Jenny Mulhern, Michigan's next governor, has promised the MEA (Michigan Extortion Association) that she will work to overthrow the law that prohibits teachers striking.
One must recalculate the $44,499 to reflect the fact that teachers get over 3 months OFF.
We're out here...we just don't get much support. My main beef with conservatives is that they don't support each other. The liberal element sticks together like glue.
B-I-N-G-O! You got it 100% right. Control what children learn, think and know and you contol the masses. Teach them to be victims, to depend on the gubmint, to not think for themselves, to not judge right from wrong.
You whine because teachers get more time off than you. Become a teacher. You are not satisfied with the grade point averages and intellect of teachers. Become a teacher. It is not acceptable that teacher's unions have so much power. Become a teacher, and you can help to change these things.
I am a conservative.
I am a veteran of the armed forces.
I deplore the teacher's unions and their power.
My colleagues are not very bright.
My grade point average in undergrad was 3.8.
I have a Master's degree.
I owe $25k in student loans.
I make $45k per year.
I am a teacher.
...and I Freep.
Spellcheck says that's two words.
;-)
(Our daughter is 18 now, and we've homeschooled from the beginning.)
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