Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Teachers should be praised, not bashed

There has been much criticism levied against schoolteachers lately. The future of our country rests upon the efforts they make in their classrooms, yet they are paid paltry salaries relative to their responsibilities and they are denigrated for every dollar they earn and every benefit they receive.

No one addresses the elephant in the room: Private schools can and do cherry-pick their students, but public schools must accept every student who comes to their door. Although teachers are expected to teach the grade-level students in their class who are ready to learn and advance, they must also challenge the students who are mentally exceptional. Additionally, many classrooms have a large percentage of physically handicapped, mentally handicapped, behaviorally challenged, and non-English speaking students.

Teachers may also have students from homes in which there is drug abuse or spousal or child abuse. They have children from single-parent homes or homes where both parents must work, sometimes two jobs, to put food on the table and therefore don’t have the time to meet the children’s emotional, educational and disciplinary needs.

In the seven or eight hours that teachers have the students, they are expected to correct all of our societal ills.

Meanwhile, let’s forget the voucher system. That will herald the demise of public education. It is also the ultimate example of taxation without representation.

Let’s just solve the problem, so teachers can actually have time to teach our children.

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