Let's get real

I got some pushback on Facebook about my assertion that teachers would be happy to work more, assuming they'd get paid for it.

And it's true: not all teachers want to work more.

But I'm tired of teachers getting accused of that like there's something wrong with them.

YES, we want people to go into teaching because they love kids and want to educate them. But who chooses a job in a vacuum? If you have any choice of career in your life, you consider all the aspects:

What kind of work do I want to do?

How much money will I make?

What kind of benefits will I get?

What is the schedule?

All of those things (and others as well) go into someone's work decision. And that's part of the reason teachers are so angry at Chris Christie. He's trying to change all the rules, and that's really stressful when you're talking about someone's job. It can also be a deal breaker, depending on why you went into teaching in the first place.

When Hopper started teaching (this is his 9th year) the deal was:

Fairly low salary, offset by incredible job security (tenure), great benefits, very good time off (in which to supplement low income) and a secure pension.

Christie has already lowered the pay, reduced the benefits and threatened the pension. He's changed the rating system and dearly wants to end tenure. Now he's after the time off. So yeah, I can see why some teachers would give up the job, not because they don't love teaching, but because the deal has changed to the point where they feel they can't do the job anymore.

That doesn't make them bad people.

Also, there was a time when teachers were respected by the general population. Now, they're public target #1.

Stop acting like teachers should take whatever is dished out because they love their jobs. They deserve to be treated like professionals and paid like professionals.