Firing Teachers?

Something on the Nightly News got me thinking (yes I am a religious watcher of the NBC nightly news along with my strange addiction to the TODAY show) and I just don't understand it.

I am not going to say that I know what is going on, or that I have researched this before I write my rant here on this blog so if you choose to tear me apart do so nicely and let me know where you are coming from. Please!

I understand that teachers don't really get paid that much, and that the other side of the argument is that they don't work for 3 months out of the year (summer vacation) but I don't understand why Madison WI would fire all their teachers and then hire the ones back that they "need".

Now before I say what I am going to say please know that this blog is for me to get my words out. I don't always use proper grammar or punctuation in the places that it should be-I am not a teacher, but I do have a degree (BS in Agriculture Business Marketing if you were wondering). I am not coming at this from a political stance (I am a registered democrat if you were wondering, but I think that I am slightly liberal and was a green party member when I registered at 18) and I don't even really care what political party is fighting this battle. I just think that it is wrong.

I went to a very very small school when I was younger. From K-8 my school had 140 students max...Yes I grew up in the boonies, and yes my school was really K-8 (even Preschool if you are counting) there were only 14 kids in my 8th grade graduating class. I was valedictorian if you wanted to know that small fact also. But I had a great education. I think that I probably learned more in K-8 than I did in high school. Actually, I know that I did.

Okay enough about me...Why is my question? Why? Are teachers really that idespensible that you can just fire everyone of them due to budget cuts or costs? Do your kids not need to learn? I don't understand how a whole city (or board or whoever decided this) can vote on firing teachers and then hire back the ones that they "need". Isn't all learning considered a need, isn't there a child out there who probably needs that teacher? I realize that the budget crisis in this country needs assistance. I realize that spending money is a big problem, but can't we think of other areas that we could cut? Is firing a teacher really the answer? Are union's for teachers really costing that much money? Shouldn't a teacher have the right to unionize and have support from a union?

My point is that I think all kids deserve to learn, and they deserve good teachers. I am not saying that all teachers are good, or that all are bad. But I know that when we have kids, I sure hope that they get a great education. I hope that there are teachers for them who care, ones who know my kids name and are not over worked and tired. Ones who don't have over 40 kids in their classroom. I secretly want my kids to go to school where I went (but only if they can live with you mom) or be taught by my friend Sarah G. I want my kids to have a teacher who cares. So why can cities and governments not care about the teachers? Is this acceptable? I think that it isn't!

Now I am going to go cook dinner, and thank the teachers that I had and that I know. I am going to picture my future children's education and think about how much it could cost me to pay someone else to  *homeschool* or teach my child. Because I am worried. I am worried about the fact that teachers seem under appreciated and underpaid in this country, and that it only seems to be getting worse and I don't even have kids yet. I don't even want to think about how much money it is going to cost to send my kids to college in the future, I should be more worried that my daddy said "nope" to the gas cards that I requested......


Happy Sunday Everyone. And please if you have a thought or comment for me-be nice. I realize that I didn't do a lot of research about this, but these are just my opinions and my feelings. I am open to other peoples feelings and opinions.