When I graduated from college 15 years ago teaching jobs were
hard to come by and then two years later the need for
teachers jumped dramatically. I never worried about finding
a job for ten years. Now I am competing with others with no
experience and losing. I started out in a union state where
I never went without a raise and never was told I HAD to
participate in overtime anything if I didn't want to do so.
As the years went by I have noticed that the new things just
kept coming mostly when there was a change in administration.
Everytime some politician with some get elected or reelected
agenda came along the paper work increased. It seemed as if
I had to constantly prove that I was doing my job.
The amount of progress a students made became more about test
scores than actually daily classroom performance. The parent-
teacher relationship has become increasingly stressed.
Parents think teachers make too much for what they do without
knowing ALL of the details of what teachers do on a DAILY
basis and teachers have been blaming parents for not doing
their jobs as parents. My opinion is this...if you are a
public school teacher then you don't get to choose the public
you serve. The kids come from different backgrounds and have
different attitudes about school. You can't change the
background but you can work on the attitude. Children can be
different than their environment. It is difficult but for
those 6-7 hours a day that a teacher has with a child can be
the best 6-7 hours that kid has and a time that he/she can
look forward to. I have heard many snide comments from
teachers about the "kids from the trailer park" way too many
times. Where a kid lives does not mean that this child and
his family deserve to be judged about their committment to
education-that is pure economics.

On 10/30/09, Iam Wondering wrote:
> Hello Veteran Teachers,
>
> Have you ever experienced a time like this in the past
> during your teaching career? A time where teacher pay was
> cut or furlough days were given? What are your feelings
> for the future of education and teaching? Overall, looking
> at the big picture, has teaching or education become better
> or worse? Thanks for your advice!

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