HAS A TEACHER STRIKE EVER CHANGED ANYTHING?

HAS A TEACHER STRIKE EVER CHANGED ANYTHING?

Somebody has to tell it like it is and I accept the challenge! About a quarter of a million teachers in the Los Angeles school system are on strike. The primary reasons, as always, are the call for better pay and reduced class sizes. These two demands have been at the heart of just about every school strike or potential strike that has happened in the history of public schooling. Nothing ever changes with regard to the demands. What has really changed is the nature of the job and the teacher’s place in society. 

In the days of Little House on the Prairie, the teacher was a respected and valued member of the community and the school’s primary role was to teach the three Rs. Well, not any longer! Many teachers today are often treated with disrespect and many parents seem to believe that their child’s teacher works for and is employed directly by them. Parent’s can make any demand they wish and the teacher is the parent’s servant. 

Teaching is a tremendously difficult job. Consider trying to teach a class of thirty students that would typically include the following characteristics:

• a mixture of at least five or six different ethnic groups and cultures
• numerous students reading below grade level
• several non-English speaking children 
• many children of single parent homes or mixed marriages
• children on welfare or living in families with low incomes
• children who either do not eat or have breakfast or lunch at home
• abused or neglected children
• boys and girls who are refugees from war torn countries
• children with social, emotional or mental problems
• children with ADHD or OCD
• children who receive no support with their learning at home
• a child with a severe physical handicap, often immobile
• student’s requiring a full time assistant to sit with them in class
• students lacking motivation or any interest in school
• average and above average students who receive little teacher attention because of the above demands on teacher time.

Of course, this in only a partial list of some of the issues that must be dealt with by a teacher on a regular day-to-day basis, relative to students. But the teacher’s responsibilities do not stop there. They must complete endless government forms to maintain special funding and develop personal learning plans for each child. They must supervise kids at recess and noon, monitor school buses, attend staff meetings, prepare report cards, attend interviews and endlessly counsel students with all types of problems that occur daily. Lesson preparation, for the United Nations of students in the class, and marking, generally are done on the teacher’s own time at home. On top of the “regular” duties the teacher must appear willing and eager to respond to every parental request for extra help or more patience or please accept the late assignment or can you find Billy’s mitts. Thirty students, thirty parents, everyday!

The perpetual plea for more pay has made little progress at all, relative to the cost of living. Perhaps it is time that the schools provide parents with more demands to address some of the learning diversity that exist in schools. If parents can make demands of teachers: teachers can also expect parental support and participation in helping all students become more successful. For example:

• All children should know their alphabet letters and sounds before enrolling in school.
• Children must be provided home prepared lunches each day 
• Homework and nightly reading must be supervised by parents.
• Children will memorize basic number facts at home until proficient with them
• All children should sleep for at least 8 hours nightly
• Children should all be toilet trained and manner trained at home
• Children shall attend language acquisition school if necessary before enrolling in the regular public system in order to more successfully function
• Special programs for severely dysfunctional students must be available.
• Failure to comply with the above, will result in non acceptance into classrooms in our schools.

Well, so much for my dream fantasy. It has the same chance of flying as Trump apologizing for his ‘7000 and counting’ lies. But it feels good to get it off of my chest. Since the issues teachers face are so multifaceted, there is little chance of most of them being resolved. Instead, teachers will do what they have always done. They will assume the role of parent and provide hot breakfasts, a loving hug, extra tutoring, warm clothing, rides home for students, as well as teach them about sex, HIV, First Aid, provide for inoculations and eye tests, deal with First Nations history, LGBT issues and on and on and on.

Teachers will again work harder than anyone gives them credit for and continue to fight for a decent wage and a little more respect than they often get.  When the LA teachers eventually go back to work, they will have suffered financial losses, more negative societal sentiment and they might have one less student in class next year, but don’t count on it. Nothing significant will really change and in twenty years you will again be reading about teachers striking for better wages and smaller class size. Qua sera, sera! Sad, but true!