Why Most Teachers Are Leftists

Toogood Reports ^ | 12/2/2002 | Michael D. Shaw

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Right on! Tell them. I am so frustrated these days...they flame me for pointing out that the students by and large don't want to do their work, BUT it's true. They don't want to do it. We need support from parents to get the working again. Then, they're hireable. Then, employers will not have a leg to stand on when they hire illegal aliens. Do SOMETHING to take the system back, folks, something instead of just complaining or bashing.

[ovrtaxt]

Most who teach (in higher education, anyway) are experts in their field, as education goes. But they're not tough enough to duke it out in the marketplace, so they retreat into the safety of a union job. Hence most are lefties.

The grade school teachers, in my experience, are motivated by noble intentions, and most that Ive met are salt-of-the-earth types.
Really two classes of people here.

[NEWwoman]

Good post and so enlightening.

I'm so glad you are a teacher. Undoubtly, you will make a difference in many lives and be responsible for many successes.

[A CA Guy]

God bless your honored service to our country and your hard work to get a Masters with a high GPA. You are NOT the majority at schools as you yourself know.

My sister is a teacher at a private school where learning actually occurs.

The issue that evades the NATIONAL DISCUSSION in this country is the fact that it is not the need for more or substantially better teachers... the issue is that THE PARENTS NO LONGER BRING THEIR CHILDREN TO CLASS PREPARED TO LEARN.

As long as mommy and daddy put their kids at #8 in their true priorities and don't work with their kids 2-4 hours a day at home after school, no change from the current situation will occur.
We also have a problem in that the people who are the poorest manage to breed the most. They tend to put the most stress on the school system IMO!

The Teacher's Union know the problem is the parent's lack of work to bring a prepared child to school, yet they play the problem to grow their ranks and power much like a cancer.

What needs to be done is to change the national debate from teachers in any way, to parents responsibilities for their kids. The parents need to already have their children prepared to learn when they come to school is the real unspoken issue. If that changed, you could have classes of any size and learning would occur.

My question to you is, how do we snag the national debate away from the Teacher's Union and focus it on the need for parents to bring a child prepared to learn to school?

The parents bringing a prepared child to school is the whole issue in a nutshell.

[Semper911]

Will you move to my town and enroll your kids in my school?

You really get it. And that is one debate that will never happen, because it involves personal freaking responsibility. Not a trend in this country that I can see.

But I will still fight the good fight... one middle schooler at a time.

[A CA Guy]

The debate will have to happen....eventually there can be no other excuse for what is happening.

Home schooling brings this issue to the public as they make people ask how somebody at home with little or no funds could outperform the professionals.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

You make some good points. I would like to point out that everyone can do something to make a difference. Be a mentor.

Not to be a jerk, but what was your undergrad degree in? 3.8 is good, but it is more impressive in some subjects than others. Also, 45k a year is almost twice the national average wage. More importantly, is this 45k a year include working during the summer or not? 45k with good health care, good retirement...it could be a lot worse!

[knews_hound]

I thought about your post for a few minutes before responding because I wanted to make sure my thoughts were clear.

I am 44, and have worked in the High Tech sector since I got out of the Army in 80.

With the ups and downs of the economy, I have found myself out of a job on several occasions, and have been working for a School District of 50,000 students for 10 years.

I manage a huge Telecom Network. I attend planning sessions, do Infrastructure design, and manage a multi milliom dollar budget.

And what do I get paid for this you ask?

About $60K a year. What I made in a bad year as a contractor.

In return, I get a lot of days off and job security.

I would LOVE to become a teacher. I am great with kids, and actually was an Instructor in the Army in Electronics and loved it.

I enquired to the possibility of becoming a teacher and found the dirty little secret of the teaching profession.

You must have a Teaching Certificate in order to become fully qualified. I could of course have gone back to school and recieved a Degree then a Teching Certificate, after about 8 or 9 years of course.

The fact that I actually DO the craft has apparantly nothing to do with it.

The recent trend in education is to do away with all education in "the trades", such as Carpentry, Automotive and Electronics in favor of a strictly college bound track.

So I ask you, what should be done to open up the system to people like myself ?

I ask all the time, to those of whom will listen anyway, where will the next set of Mechanics, Carpenters and Electricians come from ?

Certainly not from the pencil necked geek crowd who think the world lives and dies on degrees. frankly, I think the majority of the "Certificated Employees" I work with, would all tend to agree. They all make at least my salary or better, all for 2 months a year more off and better benefits.

Please don’t take any of this as a personal attack, far from it.

I sympathize with you and would love to join you in the teaching profession, but the deck seems stacked against it.

The fact is, for most Government jobs that involve any sort of education requirement, you nearly always get paid less.

This is not always a bad thing.

I am personally willing to trade a more lucrative lifestyle for security and free time.

It all depends on what you are looking for...

Cheers,

knews hound

[A CA Guy]

I know quite a few teaching in higher learning circles. The ones I know are highly successful outside of class (millionaires). They can-do as well as teach, at least in the business departments. LOL

[A CA Guy]

Depending on where you live in the US, $45,000 is not average money for a household. In California, that would be a family struggling real hard to pay the bills in most cases.

[Semper911]

Not to be a jerk, but what was your undergrad degree in?
I had a double major - History and International Relations, with a minor in secondary ed.

3.8 is good, but it is more impressive in some subjects than others.
I wasn't trying to impress anyone. All that means to me is that I did what I was asked to do in college. (...and I still mourn over those few Bs I got.)

Also, 45k a year is almost twice the national average wage.
It is hardly the national average for Americans with a graduate degree.

More importantly, is this 45k a year include working during the summer or not?
Okay add on a few k for my after school and summer teaching gigs.

45k with good health care, good retirement...it could be a lot worse!
Make no mistake, I am grateful every day for the career I have. Some days I can't believe I am where I am. I would do it for free. I never meant to complain, just to make the point to those who are constantly bashing all teachers in general, and making no attempt to support the good ones and root out the bad ones.

[kstewskis]

ping-ing my dear, humble, and obedient to the North!

[Semper911]

Depending on your state, there are alternative routes to certification. And there are technical high schools who would benefit from your experience and knowledge.

It wouldn't take you "8 or 9 years" to get certified. No way. You would just have to work your ass off, jump through the regulation hoops, and do whatever it takes.

However, (and please don't take this personally) please don't become a teacher for the "security and free time". We already have a myriad of teachers who teach because they get the Summers off and are guaranteed their job just for showing up most of the time.

You need to have a fire burning that compels you to spend your days with kids, make a difference in their lives, and make a valuable contribution to them that will be with them always.

You will know if you are a teacher if you must pursue the profession, no matter what it takes.

[Zeroisanumber]

Say it with me class.

Teachers are not all lefties...

And?

People who generalize are automatically going to be wrong...

And?

If you think that it's so damn easy, you come and try it for a semester.

Thank you class.

[RightOnline]

I will not become a teacher in public schools.

A) I couldn't stand the horrific pay cut;

B) I couldn't stand working with such drooling idiots (the teachers and administrators) all day,

C) Been homeschooling probably longer than you've been teaching......and I'm the dad of seven,

D) I've already given one small example of what I've done to deal with public schools. We homeschool our kids up to high school, so I wind up dealing with public high schools only.

I wish you well in your chosen career....but many of us choose to change the "system" in other ways that are every bit as effective.

[A CA Guy]

Be proud, their success in life will be based on the foundation of the tools and love your family has provided.

Your time is well spent. God Bless You.

[A CA Guy]

That isn't happening by accident.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

45k and you have two months off every summer? How long have you been teaching? I hate to tell you this, but I know plenty of people with Graduate degrees who make about this much. I also know people with Chemical Engineering degrees who are having a hard time finding a job. I also know plenty of people who make a little more than you, but are constantly worried about being laid off.