Caution: It's going to get political.

I clipped this from the SL Tribune. I found it extremely relevant--especially since I have been pondering his comments since the convention.

John McCain makes this teacher cry.

"When, exactly, did I become the enemy? How did I become a failure? After McCain's acceptance speech, I couldn't sleep. I'm still trying to figure out how I turned into the loser in my own story.

McCain, as well as George W. Bush and our own (Utah) state political leaders, has a perspective on public education that I just don't understand. McCain wants to "put our students first." Like that's a new idea. For 32 years I have taught English in Utah public schools. Excuse me, John, but what exactly do you think I've been doing this whole time? Who do you think I've been putting first?

McCain said he was going to answer to parents, not to teacher unions. Who do you think the teacher unions are? People like me, people who have dedicated their lives to putting students first. So are teachers the enemy? Teacher unions are trying to make sure I make a decent living, have health insurance, am safe in my work environment and am treated fairly, ensuring that we continue to have people who will accept the calling to be teachers. Is that wrong?

McCain said he was going to get bad teachers out of the classroom. I certainly agree with that one. The problem is, who are the bad teachers? In 32 years I have only come across one. And she left teaching after two years. I have known teachers I did not want my own children to have, but those same teachers have ardent supporters in other parents. So who gets to decide?

Finally, McCain decries a failing system. Have we really failed? Public schools are doing everything McCain asks of us with inadequate funding, facilities, textbooks and technology. Sitting in public school classrooms are students with autism, Down syndrome, ADHD, dyslexia and a host of physical and mental challenges. There are abused children, drug addicts, pregnant girls, clinically depressed adolescents, gang members and students with myriad social and emotional issues. There are students from families facing economic hardships, students who are putting in 40-hour work weeks and then falling asleep in high school classrooms, students who are trying to raise younger siblings, students who are undocumented immigrants, students living out of cars and students who don't speak English and don't understand what we are saying to them. We teach them all.

As our country faces each new crisis, the solution always seems to be to dump that one in the public schools. We are now teaching kids to balance their checkbooks, understand interest rates and avoid bankruptcy. We are teaching kids to drive and to fill out job applications. We are teaching them about sexual abstinence (although not how to protect themselves if abstinence is not their choice). We are feeding them free breakfast and lunch. We are providing students with advisory teachers, so they have a caring adult they can turn to. We are refusing to let them buy junk from vending machines. Every Utah teacher received a booklet this summer (at what cost to taxpayers?) that told us we were to teach ethics in our classrooms. Didn't these things used to be done by parents? Yet, we are to make sure every student functions on grade level. It doesn't matter if the students come to us four grade levels behind, if they do not attend class, if they are low-level learners, if their parents are illiterate, if they have no interest in learning, if their parents do not value education. If the student fails, the school fails. No one wants to leave children behind. Certainly not me. But what do I do with the student who doesn't want to learn or the parents who don't care? Does John McCain even know those people exist?

McCain said that we need to make it easier for qualified people to become teachers. Who are these people? People out in the business world making $100K a year? Do you honestly think they are going to leave their expense accounts, their paid vacations, their ability to call in sick without preparing for the day anyway, their ability to go to the bathroom whenever they want, to face public school challenges for $40,000 a year? Seriously? McCain needs a dose of reality.

Then he concluded with a cry for people to serve, to become teachers. Why would anyone become a teacher, knowing that teacher is going to be blamed for the ills of a nation? It's hard to be told I'm a failure because I am not 100% perfect with 100% of students whose attitudes and situations I do not control. It's a standard I strive for, but simply can't live up to. It's hard to be told that I, as a member of a teacher union, am the enemy to students and parents. It's hard to be told that I am not appreciated, and my work is not valued.

You call for support of the troops, John. How about support for the teachers in the trenches? I feel like those Vietnam War soldiers must have felt when America wasn't supporting them. You have made me cry, you have given me a headache. After your speech, I tried to get an hour or two of sleep before I showed up in my classroom the next morning, ready once again to put students first."

Just a side note, this woman teaches/has taught in the Davis School District, in junior high and high schools, every grade from 7-12, to Advanced Placement, remedial, regular and honors students.

I appreciate her comments because I don't think John McCain has a clue about the public school system. You can't just make a call to hire and fire the best/worst teachers. The system is not going to be "solved" by taking power away from teacher unions. How about getting our troops out of Iraq and using some of the gazillion $$ we are currently spending to increase teacher salaries? If salaries were adequate you could actually select the best teachers for jobs rather than hiring inadequate faculty because you had to take those who would work for that amount! Or how about allowing a teacher to move to a different school without losing 10 years on her pay scale? I've actually met teachers in their mid-seventies who were still trying to reach retirement. Yeah, it's really great to have teachers who remember LIVING through the Great Depression--give me a break! Let's have some options for teachers who are seeking early retirement before they get so burned out that they couldn't have a new idea if it bit them in the ___.

One of the things I appreciate about Obama is that he has worked as a community organizer-yup, in an actual community where people live. He understands the importance of programs such as the Boys and Girls Club. These are great places to teach finance, ethics, hygiene, and yes, sexual education that includes abstinence! People can say that these things should be taught at home, but WAKE up because they aren't and if we want a society that values these things then they need to be taught somewhere! And while I think that they should be taught at school, (by a specific faculty member who has been trained to teach these topics--and paid accordingly--no more high school wrestling coaches who also teach Social Science [Lord, help us]). They (these programs) should also be supported and funded in after-school programs where they can be community driven! Do I think that tax payers should help pay for this- Hell, yes. Absolutely. In fact, dare I say it, I wish so badly that people could understand that community-driven programs are less likely to have a bloated administration, a more dedicated staff and greater lasting effect.

The bottom line is this--there is always money for things that people value whether its in the public or private sector. People will spend their dollars on what is most important to them. If having an educated society is important to you then you won't have a problem dedicating some of your tax dollars and/or discretionary funding to spend on it. Yeah, I know. I've read the book, "Nickeled and Dimed: On Getting By in America". It is a fabulous text. There are people who don't have money for education--that's why we need to help each other (and raise the minimum wage to an actual living wage (sorry, side note)). So if you don't think you have enough money, turn off your cable and get your priorities in order.

I work with teachers every day who are just as dedicated to their profession as this woman, they all have the same struggles and disappointments. They deserve to have a president who offers them some new options--although, I suppose if you still need to vote for McSame, it really couldn't get any worse. And frankly, in my opinion, it isn't going to really change until we start to speak with what really matters...our wallets.