Respect

The real problem with teaching is not money but respect. Kids, their parents, and school administrators often treat teachers without the common courtesy and respect that they would give their doctor or other professional person, like an airline pilot or banker.

Students lie to their teachers, cut class, and whine about their homework and grades. Parents bully teachers into doing things against their better judgment. School administrators criticize teachers in private and in staff meetings, and call endless “conferences” to discuss what could be more efficiently handled by memos.

As a Los Angeles junior high and high school teacher (first in public, now in private schools), I’ve been forced to change grades against my will, make degrading apologies, and listen to endless abuse from people who think they know more about my job than I do.

I feel that 20 years of teaching, with the vast majority of my former students having good memories of the time spent with me, are my best references for my qualifications as a professional instructor. You don’t call your dentist a fool, you trust his judgment. I am rarely asked for my honest opinion about anything important regarding my job. I have never been asked by an administrator what I don’t like about the school’s treatment of me.

I don’t work for money, have never participated in a strike, and I spend hours after school every day helping kids for no extra pay. I still love teaching and do it for the kids, not for their parents or my bosses. And if I ever got a little respect once in a while, I might remain a teacher for the rest of my life!

BARRY KRAUSE

Santa Monica