IN CASE YOU didn't know, the first week in May was Teacher Appreciation Week.
As corny as it sounds, I must admit that as an eight-year veteran of the teaching profession I was moved by the flowers, free lunches, and other tokens of appreciation that were provided to me and my colleagues by the administrative team of our school.
However, after the temporary luster of the week had worn off, I realized something. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, teacher appreciation wasn't confined to the first week in May. In fact, there was a time in American history when teachers were among the most appreciated, respected, and revered people in communities throughout this great country of ours.
Long before brand-new fathers were hanging miniature footballs on the mobiles that hung over their sons' cribs in the hopes that the toys would lead to million-dollar signing bonuses one day, most kids wanted to become teachers.
Long before thousands of untalented American young adults waited in line for days just so some British hack could tell them how horrible their voices were, most kids wanted to become teachers.
Long before college dropouts were running multimillion-dollar computer conglomerates and record companies, most kids wanted to become teachers.
Unfortunately, nowadays, it seems that, for whatever reason, public schoolteachers are tragically misrepresented as little more than glorified baby sitters, who have the unmitigated gall to whine about low pay despite the fact that they "get summers off" and have the daily privilege of dealing with the "angelic" students of the American public-school system.
After much soul searching, I've come to the conclusion that the decline in teacher appreciation hasn't been caused so much by what's going on inside our schools, as it has by the petty, destructive, and ridiculous societal forces that lurk outside of them.
As much as we hate to admit it, regardless of the NCLB Act, there is no amount of "every child can learn" Bush rhetoric that can refute one inexorable fact: Most Americans don't care about education unless it affects them directly. Unfortunately, in central Virginia, it appears that some of the biggest enemies of public education are the elderly, the media, and the working poor.
Whenever I talk to my retired or childless friends and acquaintances from Louisa, Orange, Madison, and Spotsylvania counties who complain incessantly about how "all these new schools and teacher raises are hikin' up our taxes," I cringe--because they are often the same people who complain about how the kids who work at the local McDonald's don't give them the proper change, or the high-school graduates whom they hire to work for them can't write or think critically.
These are the same people who can't seem to realize that competent, competitive students are usually the products of talented and passionate instructors.
Sadly, a large portion of the more talented and passionate members of the emerging American work force are averse to a career in teaching because they can make twice as much money, in their 10th year as a government or corporate employee, as they can make in their 30th year as a teacher.
Moreover, many of today's good young teachers who want to stay in public education, without facing the prospect of financial ruin, teach just long enough to be eligible for a graduate program at the nearest and cheapest college or university, attain their master's degree in educational leadership, and make the money as an administrator that they would never be able to make as a classroom teacher.
Good education costs money, and high taxes are a small price to pay for an educated society where "no child is left behind."
The media don't help the situation either. Every time I watch "MTV Cribs," a presidential press conference, or any one of the hideous "reality shows" that contaminate our airwaves, I realize just how far down education is on our list of national priorities.
As I sit in front of the "boob tube" and watch the NBA playoffs, I can't help but be a little sickened by the fact that a college graduate can pass the Praxis, serve as a student teacher, and barely make $32,000 a year--while a semiliterate high-school senior could easily make $32,000 a night for throwing a round ball into a hoop.
An ever-increasing number of today's students (minorities and poor in particular) see high school as little more than a necessary evil to endure before they are allowed to chase their pipe dream of having a career in professional sports or entertainment.
I'm also more than a little bit unnerved by "fair and balanced" news channels that remain conspicuously silent about the fact that the current leader of the free world is a Yale graduate who has occasional difficulty with subject-verb agreement, and after five years in office still hasn't learned to pronounce the word "nuclear."
Worst of all, I'm mortified by the fact that some of the same people who haven't read an entire book since high school probably rushed home to their TV sets to watch an "American idol" willing to divulge the lurid details of an affair he had with a washed-up celebrity judge in order to sell a few CDs.
However, as a teacher, the biggest disappointment to me--in my own personal search for appreciation--is the group of people I'm trying my hardest to help: the working poor. Over the past 11 years, I have either worked primarily with urban minority students from the D.C area or rural white students from central Virginia.
What has both hurt and amazed me most about my teaching career is the number of working-class families who don't seem to want their children to live better lives than they have lived. I have actually had parents from this area decline the opportunity for their children to take advanced courses because they don't see "where it's gonna do them any good" (i.e. "What immediate effect will my child's education have on my finances?").
I'm always perplexed by parents who have raised students who have received scholarships and aid from reputable colleges, but refuse to let them attend because the schools are "just too far away." These parents seem content to let their kids languish in whatever ghetto or one-horse town they had the misfortune to be forced to live in.
The unwillingness of some parents to allow their kids to pursue higher education makes me think that they are either jealous of their children's opportunities, or afraid that their kids will someday look down on them in some way.
However, many of my fellow educators aren't totally blameless in this matter. In a particular school system where I taught some years ago, many students were counseled to view trade school as a primary postsecondary option rather than as a viable alternative to college. Ironically, almost all of the counselors and educators in this particular school had either already earned advanced degrees or were pursuing them.
I guess what's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander.
In reality though, teachers, for the most part, are not the problem with public education. I know this because my colleagues and I spend countless hours in staff-development workshops, where we learn to incorporate a variety of student needs and learning styles into our instruction.
School systems throughout the country probably spend hundreds of thousands of dollars bringing in consultants and master teachers to help us create "fun" classroom activities that "actively engage" all students. Sometimes I feel more like a cruise director than a teacher.
Let me end by making several myth-busting statements about teachers:
(1) We are not in this just for the paycheck. We don't make enough money for that.
(2) Teachers can never make enough money. If people can justify spending their hard-earned money on trivialities like NASCAR, lottery tickets, cigarettes, and $200 sneakers, spending a few extra dollars in taxes to pay truly competitive salaries to people who help mold their children's minds won't kill them.
(3) There are very few teachers who dislike students. How can we dislike children when we spend more time with them than their own parents do?
(4) More education can always benefit you. If you don't believe me, check out the educational credentials of the person who signs your paycheck. I'm willing to bet, in most cases, that he or she went to college.
Attention, American citizens: Every time you fill out a job application, balance your checkbook, or simply read the song titles on the back of your favorite CD, you should get down on your knees and thank whatever God you believe in for the fact that he blessed you with teachers.
| EUGENE WILLIAMS, JR. is an English teacher/head JV football coach at Riverbend High School and the author of "I Am the Darker Brother" and "Reflections of a Confused Middle-Class Black Youth." |