David Z. Hambrick of Michigan State University concludes his piece with an appeal to common sense:
As a society, we have decided that it’s fine to pay a heart surgeon more than an electrician. We didn’t need to run a regression analysis to decide this — it’s important to keep the lights on, but only if there’s someone to keep them on for — and we don’t need to run a regression analysis to decide that we don’t pay teachers enough. A little arithmetic will do. In Michigan, where I live, the average starting salary for a teacher is about $35,000 for nine months. That works out to about $20 an hour. A bartender can make double that. Which job do you think is more important?
The Daily News has an op-ed that asks, “Does a corporate chief deserve to make in a day what our educators make in a year?”
I’d like to begin by thanking my teachers in the fifth, sixth and seventh grades, Mrs. Pulaski, Mr. Burke and Miss Elmer. They taught us percentages and showed us how to “round down,” which I am doing now. The U.S. population is 312,624,000, and we have 3,198,000 public school teachers, which computes to 1%.
But this is not the 1% composed of Wall Street fat cats, professional athletes, entertainers and other rich people. I guarantee there’s no overlap between the two groups. The average teacher today earns about $55,000. At least 75 CEOs earn that much in one day, every day, 365 days a year. According to the AFL-CIO’s “Executive PayWatch,” the CEO who ranked No. 75, David Cote of Honeywell, was paid $20,154,012, for a daily rate of $55,216.47.
Whether posting a memory to Facebook (@storycorps), thanking them on Twitter (@storycorps, #thankateacher), taping a tribute on YouTube or sending a ‘thank you’ card, the 2011 National Day of Listening will send a powerful and necessary message to teachers across the nation: they matter, and we as a nation are grateful for the impact they have on our lives.
You can also record a face-to-face interview with a teacher—or anyone else you’d like to honor for the National Day of Listening—using the the tools on this page.
Once you have participated, tell us about it on our Wall of Listening.
In case you missed it, the Times last week published a op-ed column by Charles M. Blow entitled “In Honor of Teachers.”
UFT President Michael Mulgrew, in an email to members, called it a “powerful piece” that “shows just how harmful and senseless an effect the rhetoric and contempt of so-called reformers is having on our children and profession. It will make you proud to be an educator who makes a difference every day. There truly are people out there who understand and support our work inside the classroom.”
[Editor's note: José Luis Vilson is a math teacher, coach, and data analyst for a middle school in Manhattan. He blogs at The Jose Vilson where this post first appeared.]
You’ve got to be wondering what a teacher like me is doing marching against the “reform” trends. For those of you unfamiliar with my background, I graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Syracuse University. A year later, after 6-8 months of unemployment and a stint as a data entry person at an educational database firm, I went into the NYC Teaching Fellows program, an offshoot of Michelle Rhee’s New Teacher Project. On the surface, I’m a perfect candidate to follow the corporatist thinking about education, and should be easily molded into the dominant thinking from elites who ostensibly believe they’re going into education for the common good. All it takes is the right amount of fear, the right amount of frustration, the right amount of ignorance, and the right amount of failure to tip people into the hands of those who wish to rotate our profession backwards.
Fortunately for me, I lucked out. And if you’re reading this, I’m thinking the same goes for you.
You see, I teach at a school that, somewhere along the line, decided to value veteran leadership and collaboration. They fostered a culture of discussion and unity that stems from decades of hardship from a neighborhood and administration standpoint. As leaders changed and gangs ran the block, teachers fortified the brick walls of the edifice. When I first came to that school, that legacy was indoctrinated in me in ways the teachers who mentored me probably didn’t realize. That first year, ideologies and trends changed so often, the only resort for me was to seek stability. I found that in the most experienced teachers in my building. More »
[Editor's note: Lisa Wilde is an English teacher at John V. Lindsay Wildcat Academy, a second-chance charter high school in Lower Manhattan. "Yo, Miss" is a graphic memoir she is writing and drawing about her experiences at the school. From time to time Edwize will post images from her forthcoming book, which tracks the eponymous Miss and eight of her (fictionalized) students over the course of a school year. Click on the image for a larger version.]
Are you ready for this? Be seated , because the news you are about to receive will be jarring. OK? Here goes:
Researchers at the University of Houston suspect that the stress that teachers undergo in the classroom may actually not be healthy for them, mentally or physically. A $1.6 million federal grant will fund an inquiry into how chronic stress impacts the classroom.
This investigation, reported recently in the Houston Chronicle, is undergone in good faith but if the outcome is not a foregone conclusion, then the sun has commenced to set in the east.
The stress of teaching surpasses that of practically any other career activity. The pressures are many-layered and often intractable. The rewards can be commensurate, which amount to a very rewarding professional life indeed, so certainly there’s a trade-off. But anyone who has actually worked “in the trenches,” knows that the wear and tear on the body and psyche can be momentous. More »
The UFT is collecting the stories and reflections of its members. If you would like to share your experiences on 9/11 or the days that followed, please email bgibbons@uft.org by June 17. Your comments may be part of a special project to honor the contributions of educators on that fateful day.
Each and every one of us has a story about 9/11 and its aftermath. Stories not just of loss and heartache, but also of courage and heroism, hope and inspiration.
New Yorkers came together that day like never before. Among them were the educators who helped rush students to safety and the schools that opened their doors for the displaced and distraught.
In the weeks following the disaster, teachers were there to help console students and colleagues who had lost so much, while also searching for ways to explain to their students what had happened and why.
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the country will pause to reflect on the events of that tragic day and the many, many indelible stories of bravery and compassion that came out of that dark time. We want to hear yours.
[Editor's note: Lisa Wilde is an English teacher at John V. Lindsay Wildcat Academy, a second-chance charter high school in Lower Manhattan. "Yo, Miss" is a graphic memoir she is writing and drawing about her experiences at the school. From time to time Edwize will post images from her forthcoming book, which tracks the eponymous Miss and eight of her (fictionalized) students over the course of a school year. Click on the image for a larger version.]
In an April 2 article in the sports pages of the New York Post, Brian Lewis writes, speaking of the New York Knicks star player Amar’e Stoudemire, “Stoudemire has appeared to wear down of late, after… logging the most minutes he has in his career. He’s averaging a career-high 37 minutes, well over his lifetime norm of 34, and it has taken a toll…. That’s why [Coach] D’Antoni acknowledged some rest… would serve his All-Star big man well.”
Just three minutes can make so much difference? Yes, of course. Because of the intense concentration of energy and all-consuming nature of the work.
Educators are in many respects like athletes. Not in terms of calories burned per paid hour on the job but in terms of emotional and psychic expenditure. The wear and tear on the total self is unsurpassed by any other demanding line of work. More »
[Editor's note: Lisa Wilde is an English teacher at John V. Lindsay Wildcat Academy, a second-chance charter high school in Lower Manhattan. "Yo, Miss" is a graphic memoir she is writing and drawing about her experiences at the school. From time to time Edwize will post images from her forthcoming book, which tracks the eponymous Miss and eight of her (fictionalized) students over the course of a school year. Click on the image for a larger version.]
The city’s third annual Thank a Teacher Campaign gives public school students, parents, and alumni a chance to thank their teachers for the impact they have had on their lives. The UFT and the DOE are asking current students and graduates to write up to 200 words about a special teacher and submit the short essay online. A photograph, drawing or painting of the teacher can be submitted along with the short essay. Responses will be posted on the DOE’s website and teachers who are “thanked” will receive certificates honoring their contribution.
Teachers at PS 114 in Brooklyn are speaking out about their school. In just a few weeks, the Panel for Education Policy will decide whether or not to close the building. As you will see, the staff makes a compelling case about why closure is absolutely the wrong thing to do.
The UFT profiles Brooklyn’s PS 226, the latest in our new video series about New York City’s incredible public schools. With its richly diverse student population (16 different languages are spoken by students) and its deeply collaborative staff, PS 226 is a thriving school community.
New York City is known as the capital of the world, of art, ideas, culture and learning — but for many of its children, their teacher is the only one who’s going to take them there.
In an 
