Ya know, at one time this was a country that really respected education, knowledge, and the research of scientists. There was a time – no kidding – when Albert Einstein was a rock star, a figure of learning and insight that inspired thousands to try to follow in his footsteps.
These days? I’m appalled.
On Tuesday a large crowd outside the [West Virginia] state Senate chamber loudly chanted slogans — including “United we stand!” and “Where is justice?” — and waved homemade posters as a walkout that began last Thursday escalated.
“We are fed up. Enough is enough,” said Jamie Heflin, 38, a single mother who teaches at Lenore K-8 School in Williamson. “We’re tired of the disrespect.” …
“We can’t be doing our jobs for less and less and less money,” said Carmen Soltesz, 37, a middle school social studies teacher in Williamson who has been on the job for a decade.
The strike began a day after Gov. Jim Justice signed legislation giving teachers and some other state employees a 4 percent raise over three years. They would receive a 2 percent raise starting in July, followed by a 1 percent increase in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, according to a news release.
That legislation has been sharply criticized by teachers’ unions and their members, who say the pay increases are too stingy. The raises, they say, would not cover cost-of-living spikes and the rising cost of health care.
“The proposed raise … doesn’t even keep us up with other states,” said Dale Lee, the president of the West Virginia Education Association.” [NBC News]
I think the treatment of teachers in this country is reflective of the general American attitude towards knowledge and learning, and I fear it’s just another step down the path to banana-hood. Against the challenges of tomorrow, how are we going to solve them if our children, by and large, are not getting a good education because we won’t pay our teachers enough?
For some of these legislators and school board members, it’s being parsimonious, although I’d call it penny-wise, pound foolish. The same can also be seen, to some extent, in the rising tuitions and falling share that taxpayers pay for the privilege of having people with college degrees in society – although in previous discussions on college tuition I’ve acknowledged other factors in rising tuitions.
People may complain about the cost of education, but perhaps they should concentrate on the price of having adults with no education in society.
And now, for a peep of sanity … in the above, I don’t necessarily get upset over West Virginia being ranking 48th in teacher pay, although it stirs the hackles a bit – some State has to be last, because it’s a relative metric. But when you hear that teachers have to take a second job on top of an already exhausting first job, that’s when the red lights flash – because that’s a fairly good proxy for an absolute metric. The wrong metric can raise the blood pressure unnecessarily, y’see. But it’s OK to be upset when you hear their raises don’t even keep up with the cost of living.
That’s just stupid disrespect. Education brings prosperity, ignorance brings poverty. Don’t these yahoos in the Legislature know how to think?
