You know what? I am sick and tired to hear criticism about teachers and the state of education. And some of the comments and articles I am reading about the latest events in Wisconsin really make me mad. So here comes my two cents.

First of all, let’s get something clear. The vast majority of teachers work their tails off to give the best possible education in a system that is constantly sabotaged by their governments. Yes, sabotaged!

It is very easy to criticize people who called in sick to make a point. Ok, maybe they were not really sick but they attracted enough attention so that now, people are hearing about the problem. Did they have another way to do it? No! Teachers are paid peanuts! They can’t afford to take unpaid leave to go and protest about some legislation that is going to make their job even tougher than it already is!
You know what response I get from about 99% of the people I meet when I tell them that I am a teacher? “Oh I could never do it! I don’t know how you do it!” Right on! No one wants to be a teacher but everybody is right there to criticize them!

Oh and of course, God forbid that teachers would use their right to strike! Well, no, they can’t because as Ohio Gov.-elect John Kasich quite clearly put it a few weeks ago: “If they want to strike, they should be fired!” That’s right! I would love to see ALL TEACHERS in Ohio actually go on strike and all be fired! Well thought, Mr. Kasich, you could kill two birds with one stone and solve all the education and budget problems all at once!

Strangely enough, teachers in Wisconsin chose to call in sick…Well, sorry, teachers may be passionate people who stick to their job for the love of the kids despite the pathetic money and deteriorating conditions, but they are not completely dumb!

So people, get your head out of your backend and look at what is going on! Everywhere in the country, public education budgets are cut every year. Class sizes are getting larger and needed positions are not being filled. Learning becomes drilling kids to pass standardized tests that keep showing the very same results: schools with more money in more affluent areas do better than poorer schools… ooooooh, really? I would never have guessed!

And while real education cannot take place because teachers are too busy juggling discipline in their overcrowded classrooms with grading, planning and actually teaching every now and then, some clueless politician comes up with a legislature that will not only keep making all this even worse but shut teachers’ right to speak up!

Well, that would make me SICK too and I don’t think I would be lying if I did actually take one of my contractual sick days!

And given what is going on at the moment all over the Middle East, maybe some of those politicians may want to look at what happens when you stifle people.

You need money in the education budget? How about you start by cutting all politicians salaries? They’ll still make way more than a teacher can ever dream of and still live a pretty good life AND it would already fill a large hole in the budget!

Oh, and just remember, every now and then, that you owe where you are now largely to your teachers!

Author's Bio: 

Florence Bernard's vision is to see all kids enjoy and succeed at school. "Building Leadership & Success in Children First" is the key to a thriving world.

Founder of http://www.betteratschool.com, she's been a teacher for 20 years in 5 different countries on 3 continents. She witnessed the same issues with school work, underachievement, lack of organization, poor study skills, etc. Over the years, she has developed ways to tackle these issues and help parents get their kids back on track and ensure success at school. She also authored a book on this topic.

Kids are facing a changing world where education is at a different level. They can easily lose track of where they are going. Character education, developing the right mindset is what keeps them on track. They can be happy at school and grow into successful and fulfilled adults.