|
Teachers Are a Gift
By Penny Owen, Winsted
Hired by the Shafeek Nader Trust for the Community Interest to use the arts to help build a sense of community in Winsted, I moved here in late September. During the past three months I have been a guest teacher in Winsted’s elementary schools. I have read the letters in The Voice about the public schools and have decided that I need to participate in this dialogue on public school teaching.
There is an illusion that elementary school teaching is an easy job. I have worked a variety of jobs. I have acted, directed, taught in higher education, worked with incarcerated and troubled youth, worked retail sales, and wrote and administered grants. I have never worked harder than I have while teaching in public elementary schools. Being a good teacher to twenty young students takes energy, concentration, alertness, respect for young people, and a certain charisma.
Teaching is exhilarating, but it is also exhausting and financially unrewarding. On the October 2, 2000 cover of Newsweek the following question was asked: "Who will teach our kids?" The lead story claimed that by 2010 half of all teachers currently teaching will quit or retire. The Newsweek article also claimed that newly certified teachers are likely to quit the profession within the first five years of teaching. Kantrowitz and Wingert, the writers, claim that during the economic boom of the 1990s teaching salaries increased less than any career field. Teachers’ salaries increased by 11% while salaries in business administration increased by 30%. Teachers with masters degrees (and 56% hold advanced degrees) earn an average of $25,000 less than professionals in other fields with equivalent degrees. After a teacher reaches forty years old, s/he will earn less than half the salary of her professional counterpart in other fields. On June 13, 2001, Jodi Wilgoren reported in The New York Times that teachers in the United States earn less relative to the national average income than in other member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development:
"Total government spending on educational institutions in the United States slipped to 4.8 percent of gross domestic product in 1998, falling under the international average—5 percent—for the first time … Because teachers in the United States have a heavier classroom load—teaching almost a third more hours than their counterparts abroad—their salary per hour of actual teaching is $35, less than the international average of $41 (Denmark, Spain and Germany pay more than $50 per teaching hour, South Korea $77)."
Based on the lack of financial motivation, there would appear to be little to motivate teachers to work unstintingly to help students learn. And yet, in my experience in the Winsted elementary schools, I have been struck by the dedication of its teachers, administrators and staff. I have worked in many school districts and have rarely witnessed the commitment I have seen in these schools.
On the front wall of Batcheller School is a framed mission statement that reads:
"We, the Batcheller School community seek to develop well-educated children for and with the families of Winchester by facilitating the development of children socially and intellectually; educating them in a safe, organized, appealing environment; inspiring them to learn; empowering them with a lifelong appreciation for learning; using developmentally appropriate curriculum; and respecting individual needs. Skills will be fostered that enable children to formulate goals; pursue visions; become productive, responsible adults; and be able to contribute to and enhance society."
I personally find this a beautiful vision of education, and this is the commitment to education that I find among the teachers in Winsted.
I believe that before people comment on the public schools and the teachers who serve in those schools, they might consider spending some time learning about the effort that goes into the profession of teaching. To allow the public a look inside the schools, I plan to submit an upcoming series of articles to The Voice. Hopefully, it will help others learn what I have: Good teachers are a blessing to this community for which we should be very thankful.
| 
