Teachers are nothing but a bunch of liberals, who preach the DNC talking points. They deserve a pay cut not a raise!
Ah, one of our finer Trapperman teacher haters finally emerges from the dismal swamp and regurgitates the anti-teacher mantra.
We've been down this road before here on T-man, several times. Fellow trappers like RTS artfully summarize their points with the swill posted above. And by God teachers are all overpaid.
I've wasted my time on this subject here before, hence the "whip 'em, just whip 'em good."
But for old times' sake, I'll share a little bit again.
Went to college on the GI Bill from '75-'79. Graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology from UW-La Crosse, interned in Baraboo that spring semester, liked what I was doing, supervising teacher's father passed away in MN, and Benny took over the farm. I was willing to coach track and football and started fulltime teaching biology that next fall. Base salary was $9850, and if I recall correctly I was rewarded 4% of the base for each of the coaching duties.
I didn't ask what I'd be making, didn't want to know. Just wanted to teach biology. So my wife, daughter and I lived in a trailer out in the country and got along on that $9850.
I do recall a day when I was sitting in the teacher's lounge grading papers and I innocently asked some of the older teachers there if they thought we'd get a raise the next year. That was met with much laughter and negative comments on the members of the school board. But I vividly remember an elderly English teacher taking me aside towards the end of that period and telling me this . . . "Mike, don't worry about your salary. You'll make enough to live on, and if you enjoy teaching, you'll have a wonderful career for thirty-some years. And when it comes time to retire, you'll have a good health insurance package and pension, and people will appreciate what you've done all these years."
So when we got bumped to $10,500 the next year, I was ecstatic to say the least. So I went about business for the next thirty years and retired in 2010.
It was a wonderful career for thirty-one years . . . for teachers in my age group anyway. We got the health insurance bridge to 65, got the pension, and for the most part people appreciated what we had done with their children. The health insurance bridge is gone for many teachers here in WI now, the pension is solid, and do most people appreciate what teachers do with their children today? Good question.
I do know this: teacher turnover, especially in the younger generation, is accelerating. Teaching here in Wisconsin has become a "stepping stone" job. Can't find the job you're looking for? Get a teaching degree and "do that" for a couple of years until something turns up. Don't believe it? Research for yourself. I'd post links but I'd be accused of posting links to fake news and I've had a belly full of that interpretation.
For 31 years I taught in the "same" classroom, though a new lab was built on the other side of the building during my time. The fella I replaced, Benny, was there for only 19 years, and retired only because his father passed and the family farm issue came up. The fella he replaced was there for at least 35 years from what I remember. Three teachers over the course of 85 years.
Five years after I retired in 2010 my old classroom saw three different teachers. I haven't kept in contact with the chemistry teacher across the hall to see if the number has changed, but he's retiring soon and I'll find out at his get together.
These statistics aren't changing much. In the dead of winter I sub up and down the river in the small schools that line the Lower Wisconsin River valley. Same is true here, and as pointed out in a previous post, the number of qualified candidates to teach certain subject areas is getting smaller annually. With our governor's blessing, schools are now hiring teachers away from other schools, giving them pay raises and benefits to encourage them to "jump ship." This is leaving the smaller, less financed schools without qualified staff to do the job. What remains to do the job? As parents, you don't want to know, believe me.
It wasn't until I became a member of this trapping forum that I discovered there was true hatred for teachers. Oh, I knew there was some dislike out there, axes to grind, but never the deep, down hatred expressed by some of our more distinguished members here. It used to rile me up reading how all teachers are . . how did Rat Trapper Sr. put it? They're all a bunch of liberals, they preach DNC talking points, and they deserve a pay cut not a raise.
Fellas like RTS probably haven't been in a classroom since they were in high school. They wouldn't know what an IEP was if it bit 'em in the arse. More than likely, they envision what goes on inside the building similar to what was happening during their time. In other words, they haven't a clue as to what's changed.
Hang in there good teachers. Focus on why you got into teaching in the first place. Don't dwell too long on the ramblings of RTS and his ilk. They'll always be out there, hating you for your chosen occupation and the money/benefits you're making at the public's expense. And you'll have to deal with their kids, who come to school already brainwashed that you're not worth listening to in the first place. Seat them in the front row, maybe they'll learn something!
Now where was I . . . oh yea!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_QLzthSkfM"Just whip 'em, and whip 'em good!"
