[K.B.]

I've been a teacher for 30+ years. Finally could afford a fixerupper P-car a couple of years ago. Still fixing it up when I have time. Teaching doesn't really give as much free time as people think. I enjoy teaching and would do the same thing if I were to do it over again. The pay could be better and the respect could be higher in cases, but I still bump into somebody every now and then who I barely recognize from 20+ years ago who remembers every minute they spent in my classes. That makes it worth it.

Politics has done more to ruin education than anything else. NCLB has cost the schools more in time and paperwork than anything. Complete waste of time and effort. The second worst thing for education is the lack of respect some people have for the educational system and teachers. They are out to blame somebody for all of americas ills. Some parents don't really care if their kid is in the right or wrong they will lie to get them thru the system.

Sure we have some teachers who aren't as good as other ones. That is true in every field. Every job has its over and underachievers. We also have some teachers who spend all their effort on self marketing. They are well respected by many but they don't produce much in real results that I can see. But who am I to say. Different teachers have a different effect on different kids. There is no way to determine what kind of job any teacher is doing. Sure, it is great if the kids do well on the national or state tests, but what are the most valuable lessons of life? What real things will my students carry with them forever? You can't legislate that, you can't pay for it with money, you only hope colleges only let good people get teaching degrees.

There are a lot of things I would change about our educational system, I'm trying as hard as I can. Many others are too.