Teacher Appreciation Week (Warning Explicit)

What a load of bull-shit.

Very few people in this community demonstrate any appreciation for their teachers. Here's how I can tell...

If they truly appreciate teachers, are they willing to stop loud-mouth legislators from talking about performance pay, or stop the talk about removing tenure, or stop the attacks on the unions (even if it is a bureaucratic quagmire), and stop the inevitable destruction of the profession we love so much by placing 100% of the blame for student failure on educators. If they truly appreciate teachers, stand with us, don't just spectate.

Many people think they appreciate their educators, if that's the case, then where's the public outcry? The only outcry is through the battle between public and charter schools or about states not getting Race to the Top funding. There are small victories in states like Florida, but what about nationwide? Where's the average Joe's input on how teachers are treated? I think people don't realize that the profession of teaching cannot be advocated solely through teachers. Without a dedicated public advocacy, the profession will go straight to hell.

I have come to accept that teachers are demonized in society. We're the group of lab rats that some entrepreneurs think they can revolutionize in spite of never understanding the difficulties of teaching a student how to grow academically and emotionally. We're not some failed social experiment so stop treating us like it!

Teacher appreciation? Appreciation means there's some gratitude for putting up with your fiscal incompetence, your inability to parent your children, your inability to own up to your personal responsibilities, and your inability to spare a meaningful moment from the video game or from your television to read a book to improve your comprehension of a language you claim you'll never need in life.

You can take your fake appreciation for me and my efforts and save it for when the attitude of education turns away from it's current consumer-model system.

Now I feel a little better.