Seventh in a series.
Re: “Mielke Swings Back at Vergara’s Motives”
Having devoted their working lives to public education, David Mielke said that the Baby Boomer generation of teachers “soon will be checking out” for three reasons:
• “The pay is poor.
• “The work is hard.
• “And there has been this ongoing campaign that holds ‘Johnny can’t read, and it is the fault of Johnny’s teacher.’”
Is there any question about the No. 1 complaint, historically and contemporarily?
Mr. Mielke, president of the Teachers Union, said that when he started teaching in the last century, “the culture said: ‘We know we don’t pay you what you are worth. But thank God you are in there every day doing your best for our kids. We love you.’”
Somehow in the intervening 37 years, said Mr. Mielke, “the narrative changed.
“Now, it is ‘those darned teachers. They get all of that time off. They have permanency. They sit around, and their unions protect them. They are the problem.’”
Mr. Mielke wrinkled his face.
“Who would want to sign up,” and he chuckled, “for a very hard job that the culture has decided not to value anymore?”
(To be continued)
I wonder if Mr Mielke’s complaints about the on-going status of teachers are being said in a national context, about California in general, or whether these complaints were specifically targeted at our local community.
After receiving my BA, I spent an extra year struggling through a credential program and student teaching, hoping to fulfill an almost-lifelong quest to teach. Made it two years – paid barely enough to afford LA rents, worked harder than I’ve worked since (late nights, weekends), and scrounging for summer jobs to stay afloat waiting for the next school year. Hardest job I ever had – teachers deserve our respect, healthy compensation, and job security.