Does Anyone Care?

This is a little something I wrote in hopes to send to important people to get this concern out there. It is a complement of the previous post... enjoy! 

 Does Anyone Care?

Lately there has been a lot of hype in the education world about giving our children a future. What does that really mean? Last week’s article in the Journal about the young lady with three kids trying to make ends meet while getting her GED, showcases how we as a society continue to dry wash the idea that getting an education means a better future. It’s hard to argue that when most people with a Master’s degree earn at least $50,000. That is, unless, you are teacher. I am a single mom of two children, and in giving them a good example to follow, I went back to school after my divorce and earned my Master’s in Education and became a teacher. Unfortunately, I don’t earn $50,000 for earning my Master’s degree. I earn a humble $30,002 before taxes, so I roughly bring home $25,002. APS gives starting teachers $2 more a year for earning that Master’s degree! Yeah, $2!  With that low of income I had no choice but to get on food stamps ($132 a month, about a week’s worth of groceries) and Medicaid for my children. I had to find “other income” by selling goods or coaching after school (time away from my kids and my classroom) to just have enough by the end of the month. If other expenses came up, like new tires for the car, then I had to make tough decisions. Needless to say, I am not trying to throw myself a pity party here, I have done well and learned to live without. Without cable, Internet, smartphones, fancy cars and brand name clothing. I learned to live humbly and overall the experience has taught me a lot about what is really important. However, I am on my way to Level 2 with a whopping $10,000 raise! But it did take a lot of time (3 years) and a lot of money, $320 to be exact, (which I didn’t have) to make it to Level 2. Even with that pay raise I still have student loans to pay off, and it puts me in a higher tax bracket while loosing my state benefits…  so am I really better off?

The reason I say all of this is because you have to understand the irony behind this. I am an educator instilling the idea that education is the key to breaking poverty, yet according to the statistics I am living in poverty (although in most countries I would be considered rich). I find it so shameful that I have to ask for donations of school supplies for my own two children because I cannot afford them, and I am teacher! Where is my dignity?  How can I as an educator continue to teach my students to score well on standardized tests, and perform well academically so that they can go to college and get a better future for themselves if that isn’t true in my own life?  Am I technically lying to my students?

But what I want to know is if there is anyone who cares that this is happening to our teachers? I know I am not the only one. Instead we continue to disrespect and bash our teachers and judge them harshly for not doing more and better! Of course I am not talking about those teachers who abuse the system and their students, those people should be out of the classroom! But what about the hardworking teachers who really do struggle to make it work? What more can we do? What more do you want from us? We have to feed and provide for our own family too, and according to you, we are to suck it up and do better with no concern of our own. If that doesn’t seem upsetting to anyone then…  Does education really mean a better future? Maybe we should say it’s about the profession you go into, not the education. Maybe we should say that it’s about the high paying job that matters, not the one that makes a difference in the world … but then again…

Does anyone care?