Today in America, teachers are becoming less and less important. This statement seems odd when you think about how important their job really is. They are the backbone in educating America’s future generations. They provide a service to help students become well rounded and educated when they step out into the real world. The service teachers provide is really invaluable, you can’t put a price on an education. But now, you can. In most states, a teacher’s salary doesn’t reflect the work they put out. With the cost of living and inflation rising everywhere, the teaching position is often left behind when compared to other jobs. I recently saw a social media post where a general manager at Panda Express was earning more than some college professor positions. While raising pay in the fast food industry will help the quality of life for many people, the same idea should be used in teaching positions.
In 2011, in response to former Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker’s decision to cut the education budget, which included teacher wages and resources, thousands of teachers across all levels and other education officials flocked to Madison to protest. My family and I joined the protest in support of our teachers. The decision to cut education can lead to many catastrophic outcomes. Obviously, teacher wages would be cut. Teachers wouldn’t be able to buy as many supplies for their classrooms because they are forced to. They are forced to buy their own supplies because many schools don’t have the funding they require to provide teachers with everything they need. Without the supplies, school funding, and wages, many teachers have decided to leave the profession because the stress and burn out they face without the tools they need to successfully provide an education to their students
Today there are less and less teachers in the classroom because of the burnout they face. According to a study conducted by the National Council of Teachers of English, in 2014 schools are employing 250,000 fewer teachers than before 2008-2009 while enrollment has increased by 800,000. Many studies have concluded that a high class size can lead to a reduction in learning potential among students and an increase of stress for teachers because they have to teach to a wider variety of students who don’t learn at the same pace as others.
In response to these problems, we need to recognize how important our teachers are by giving them the resources they need to successfully educate our future generations to lead our country to a better place. We need to make sure that you can’t put a price on the education of our students and the service our teachers provide.
Works Cited
Why class size matters today. NCTE. (2014, April 1). Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://ncte.org/statement/why-class-size-matters/
