EDITORIAL
Texas teachers get a raise and here
are just a few of the reasons why
Texas teachers are getting a well-deserved raise this year and the reaction has been universal. Good for them. Why do they deserve a raise, and much more? Nobody should really have to ask that question but if you have to, here’s a few of about a million reasons defining a teacher. A teacher is:
• A person who knows they aren’t teaching a subject, they are teaching a student.
• Someone who often takes their “free” time to talk with a parent of a child who needs a pat on the back after a poor performance, or praise after a good one.
• That person whose vehicle you see parked by a school in the summer, weeks before the students show up, preparing for classes.
• Someone who stays awake until 1 a.m. not only grading papers, but also writing comments on them in hopes something will be said to help the student do better next time.
• A person who can take criticism, sometimes undeserved, and unfair remarks, without becoming confrontational because they know that wouldn’t do the student any good.
• Someone who can hear a parent say “my child wouldn’t do that!” without bursting into laughter.
• That person who takes a handful of perfect strangers in the summer, molds them into a cohesive classroom, grows to care for them deeply, then abruptly gives them up forever in the spring.
• For some children, unfortunately, the rock in their lives, the one who is constant and always there when they need an “aways there.”
• The one who makes your kid light up and call a name when he or she sees them in the dog food aisle at Walmart.
• That person whose face suddenly appears in your memory 40 years after you’ve left school when you realize you’ve just overcome some obstacle in your life because that teacher inspired you when you were sitting in a classroom in a building that’s not even there any more.
Teachers deserve their pay increase. Let’s hope it’s sustainable in future years.
Teachers also deserve our thanks.
But let’s face it. Our thanks doesn’t make a car payment.—M.B.
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