Okay, I try to be a patient person. That's a great way to start a post, right? You know it will be a very positive message I deliver today with such a beginning. Anyway, the Minnesota Legislature is thinking about making it possible for people who have a bachelor's degree in something to take a 5 week course and become a teacher. It really is a simple job. Any person off the street really can do it. All we do is babysit and teach to a test. I am tired of the whole world thinking they know what it means to be a teacher because they once sat in a small desk.
Minnesota used to pride itself on having such highly qualified teachers and innovative schools. Now we lay off excellent teachers by the 100's and find our government thinking they can be replaced with anyone who has a BA and 5 spare weeks. Incidentally, I wonder where these "teachers" are planning on getting jobs? Real teachers are having problems. My fear is that these "teachers" are part of Pawlenty's plan. He says he wants to give more money to education through incentive pay, and I wonder if part of the incentive is to hire these partial teachers. I am really angry! Don't belittle my profession by insinuating that anyone with a degree can do what I do. I have worked hard, gone through years of education, studied the adolescent mind, and had to pass 3 really awful tests to do what I do. I have found joy in the crazy ramblings of 7th grade poetry. I have watched kids' eyes open wide to the mysteries of life, listened through their tears when some boy or girl broke their hearts, and cared about them even when they made it so hard to care. I teach children not just a subject.
I love what I do. I am proud of what I do. I wish the general population and our elected leaders were too.
