No matter what the circumstances are, when it comes to school budgets, there are those who consistently come out pointing their fingers at the teachers. After that, their next step is cutting the sports programs, and of course, comes the idea to cut the so called “frills,” such as the visual arts and music.
All of the above are essentials to a quality education: one that can offer many options for the students to choose from, while hoping to provide them with a well-balanced background for their future.
I recently read an editorial that was bashing teacher contracts, retirements and health care, making for an old storyline. I was an educator for 38 years, starting in 1968, and I knew how important it was for me to be secure in my role and in my job, not only financially, but professionally.
My starting salary back then was $6,200 and with coaching two sports, it brought it up to $6,700. During that time, all probationary teachers were under the gun to pursue graduate courses because the state required all new teachers to get at least 30 hours of graduate level course work, in education, before the end of their first five years of teaching.
New teachers must now earn a master’s degree. During my first five years as a teacher I taught, coached, took grad courses and used most of my summers picking up as many classes as I could. Finally I ended up with 42 hours. My wife, for example, has her master’s degree in addition to 42 hours of graduate work.
By comparison in the late ’60s, a chemical, mechanical, or analytical engineer, without a master’s degree, started with a salary between $32,000 and $45,000. After grad work, teachers were rewarded approximately $1,500 more per year for their extra hours and, or master’s degree.
Now there are those who want to cut sports from the curriculum. Yes, athletics are part of the educational structure because sports help develop better citizens. Interscholastic athletics are challenges on the field, or in the gym, and are one of the most educational experiences a student can have— it’s a preparation for the competition they might face in their lives. If you take that away, watch what happens to those idle students who take to the streets in search for something to do! How risky will that be?
Taking all of that into account, these programs are one of the best investments for our tax dollars. The qualified people who have been trained to administer these choices and help these young Americans see what opportunities they have as students is probably the most important piece of the puzzle in our society.
So, if cuts are made to the necessary tools of education, what’s the next step? In the recruitment of quality teaching candidates who might have an interest in making a lifetime career out of teaching, why would school districts cut the incentives that will entice these star candidates to consider a career in the teaching profession?
In the corporate world, incentives to hire qualified people for industry are the offerings of good salaries and benefits. The teaching profession has benefited all Americans, especially for many of us who are products of public education.
There are so many stories of success out there for what teachers and coaches have done for their students. We have a government that doesn’t seem to understand the equity of public education and, historically, how important it has been to our nation’s growth. Maybe these political leaders never used the opportunities provided by public education in their own lives, or in their children’s lives, because they are products of private schools.
That’s OK, but can they be out of touch with us who have benefited from our public schools? I know what public education did for me and in recent years, for my children. Our nation has been nurtured by these public institutions and we need to make the effort to attract and keep qualified teachers in our schools, as well as the programs and curriculum.
Teachers, and those who can coach, are still the answer to the future of America. Public education is an investment of our tax dollars that pays in dividends. Since the birth of public education, its purpose and meaning has been designed as an equal opportunity for all Americans.
