Reply to NY times op ed on the teacher crisis

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The difference is that if one of your clients became violent, you could call a security guard or the police to have them removed. If one of my students becomes violent, nobody comes. I’m told I am a bad teacher. I will finish up this year and you can take my place. I cannot work in a place where I do not feel safe. A student threw a spiral notebook at me a few weeks ago and the scratch on my face is still there. Nothing happened to that student but I was told not to place any demands on him. So he sleeps through a few classes and I hope to God nothing wakes him up again. [/quote]

And the other difference is that lawyers aren't in the courtroom in front of a judge 30 hours a week.  They get time to plan.  Even when they complain that it's not enough, they get more time to plan that most teachers.  My brother does corporate training, where he presents the same exact thing over and over again, using a scripted curriculum, to adults, none of whom are learning English and have IEPs, and he has a much higher ratio of planning time to instructional time than I do.

I've been hurt by students including a broken bone.  That's not what makes me consider leaving.  The thing that makes me consider leaving is that the workload is such that I can put in 80 hour weeks, and still feel like I am failing kids due to not having enough time.  And failing kids is what I can't tolerate.  But I'm a special educator, a position that has been hit particularly hard by this crisis.[/quote]

Sorry, more ignorance of the legal profession expressed here. You might be thinking of corporate lawyers? [b]Public defenders and prosecutors often spend most of every work day in the courtroom in routine hearings,[/b] and if it's rural America they may spend several hours each week traveling to and from various courthouses because maybe PDs cover multiple courts. Then have to spend more hours back in the office doing the casework. As a public defender and prosecutor my typical work week was 60 hours, and if I was in trial prep or trial, easily 70-90. And I barely had the ability to take my two weeks' vacation, I often didn't because coming back from a vacation would be such a nightmare of piled up work that it destroyed any positive benefit from taking time off. No such thing as two solid months off for mental health break.[/quote]

I've been in many of those courtrooms, and court stops all the time. As a teacher, people seem to think that I can get my work done during the 15 minutes when the kids are eating lunch.  I don't understand why lawyers can't  (OK, actually I do, but it's why it mindboggles me that I can understand that you can't just do intellectually demanding work standing in a hallway with distractions, and that you also need time in your office to work on cases, but you can't understand the same things about me)l

I don't get two months off for mental health.  I have two months during which I need to find another job, because I'm not getting paid.  [/quote]

Thank you! The “two months off” is actually two UNPAID months, during which I work a 2nd job and still spend many hours a week preparing for the next school year. I also have to take classes (on my dime) to maintain my certification.

Lawyer PP, 
I can see your job is challenging. I don’t understand why you can’t give teachers the same respect. I have 150 “clients” and I meet with them for over 30 hours each week. I’m directly responsible for meeting EACH ONE where they are and helping them progress forward, a task that is nearly impossible considering their different needs, backgrounds, experiences, preparation, etc. I also have 8 weekly meetings (in addition to 15 classes) that I have to be prepared for and lead. I am responsible for a mountain of paperwork and I can get on serious legal trouble if I screw it up.

And I get paid a fraction of what you do, even though we probably have similar educational credentials. (I have several degrees.)[/quote]

I have not been disrespectful to you or any other teachers, you seem to have a humongous chip on your shoulder that makes it impossible for you to look past your preconceptions about other people's workloads and salaries and everything else.

Until very recently, legal aid attorneys and public defenders and prosecutors made the same average salary as most teachers. You are clearly one of the ignorant Americans who think *all* lawyers make bank, when nothing could be further from the truth. Law school is also incredibly expensive and the majority of lawyers are carrying a much higher student debt burden than the majority of teachers, while lawyers have only recently become eligible for the same kind of loan forgiveness that has been standard for teachers for decades.

If a lawyer screws up in their job, they can face disbarment and permanent removal from the profession and means of making a living in their chosen profession into which they have invested years of education and training.

Educators have the lowest suicide rate of any profession tracked by the CDC, despite the apparent endless complaining about working conditions that you have very well schooled me on in this exchange. Lawyers by contrast have a suicide rate 3x that of educators. But sure, it's easy peasy being a lawyer and raking in the cash - so why don't you go to law school and get on easy street and stop b****ing about being a disrespected teacher?  :roll:  :roll:  :roll:  :roll:  :roll:

Thank you, truly, for letting me know in advance that the worst thing I'll encounter when I start teaching next year is not hungry kids who are being molested and beaten at home and struggle to focus on what I'm trying to teach them, but rather bitter teachers who feel they are the most put upon person in the entirety of the working world.
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