South Dakota teachers are the lowest paid in the nation.
But I would say that they are among the most dedicated. We have two sons. The older is a scholar-athlete with prior experience in a really good private school. The younger is autistic and needs special ed.
Both of them have grown and developed wonderfully here in South Dakota, and a big part of that has been the public school teachers who have invested real caring, encouragement and effort in both young men. They have received as much if not more here than they did in much better funded schools in other states.
Please pray for teachers, especially over the coming break. Pray for our schools and give thanks for those who invest in our children - and encourage our lawmakers to invest in our teachers.
3 comments:
Amen. My mother taught first grade in the Sioux Falls public schools for almost 30 years. She often bemoaned the low pay, but she did it truly as a labor of love and a divine vocation.
Since I've been gloating too often about the far better weather here in Virginia (about 60 degrees today), let me make amends by freely confessing that some of the school systems here can't begin to compare with what I experienced growing up in Sioux Falls. A friend of mine teaches in an elementary school in Petersburg, a largely black city with a terrible economic base. She has 17 students this year, only one of which comes from a home with an intact marriage. That's scary.
So hats off to SD teachers! But also to the parental involvement in their kids' education that is probably much more common there than it seems to be in the poorer parts of VA.
Some may want to make use of the neglected prayer "For Schools and Colleges" (#31, BCP, p. 824) as a guide in praying for teachers and school administrators.
Simple solution here but nobody seems to be able to solve it.
I was a public school teacher for 15 years and finally realized that if I was going to earn what I wanted, then I would have to leave the profession.
Whether or not I paid union dues had nothing to do with my pay. I didn't belong to the union, but I had to accept the pay negotiated by the teachers union anyway. When this finally hit me, I got out.
Get rid of union-negotiated contracts, and the teachers will get paid exactly what they want and what they deserve because they will either get it or get out. In short, the market will then drive the pay. People against this idea always say that poor negotiators would be stuck in the same boat, yet look at today's professional sports athletes. They hire contract negotiators and they pretty-much get EVERYTHING they want...IF...they are good.
I have been, and continue to believe that the union is in bed with most of the school districts now anyway. Many of the union presidents end up becoming public school administrators when they leave their role at the union...and this is a fact in Sioux Falls.
In addition, it is very difficult to be a conservative and remain in teaching due to the constant barrage against your beliefs and standards from all quarters.
It is very similar to being an orthodox priest on today's Episcopal Church.
I miss the kids to this day...but virtually nothing else that goes along with that profession. Certainly not having to be associated with that corrupt teachers union.
Funding follows policy so many schools that are well funded are also centers for indoctrinating chldren in liberal social policy. This is not education.
While I feel sad about the low pay of South Dakota teachers, I'm glad that they at least have jobs.
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