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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Teachers are not all the same. This year our teachers are so wonderful we would be willing to sacrifice over the moon for them to be retained, but there have been years when we were eager for our kids to move on from their class.[/quote]

All reasonable people know that teaching is an extremely difficult job. Many, perhaps most, teachers are overworked. No question.

The fact that people complain so often about bad teachers speaks to what important work teachers do. Most of us can point to one or two amazing teachers in our lives to had a lasting impact on us. Unfortunately, the same can also be true of really bad teachers. When our kids have bad teachers, that puts more stress on us, making us more impatient and judgmental of the entire profession than we should be. Any discussion of the teaching profession has to acknowledge that there are as many duds as stars, just like every other profession. If the discussion begins by characterizing every teacher as a selfless hero, pushback is inevitable. The same applies to other government employees, nurses, or other professions.

Also, I often wonder whether some DCUM posts defending teachers are from real people or trolls looking to cause problems. There is a vocal faction of posters who insist that the responsibility for a kid's education falls entirely on the parents. It doesn't matter what happens in school, whether there is any control in the classroom, how often the teacher is absent, whether they grade before the end of the marking period, answer emails, or provide feedback, etc. We should constantly assess and supplement to ensure our kids are progressing appropriately.

If that is true, we parents must manage our own jobs and do teachers' jobs every step of the way, subject to conditions we have no control over (and often, no information about). If parents are held to higher standards than those getting paid to teach their kids, it's a lot to ask. Maybe it's unfair, but I have definitely felt that way at times, crushed between my professional responsibilities and the consequences of less than desirable situations for my kids at school. [/quote]

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