Stories from those unfortunate enough to live inside of the republican policy petri dish (Kansas)...

Public schools deserve better

Guest column
By Carla Wolfe
Published:
Thursday, February 12, 2015 10:01 AM CST


I am a public school teacher in Kansas, and I am tired.

I am tired of working in a profession that is constantly belittled by politicians and pundits across the country. I am tired of constantly struggling to meet ever-expanding demands with ever-shrinking budgets. I am tired of being paid less than other workers with similar education and qualifications, simply because I chose to be a teacher.

Most of all, I am tired of feeling like my colleagues and I are the only ones who care about public education in Kansas. I am tired.

And as the 2015 legislative session marches onward, I am growing discouraged. Teachers were stripped of our due process rights in the last legislative session, placing many of us in a difficult position where we now hesitate to advocate strongly for our students because we fear losing our jobs.

In this legislative session, bills have been introduced to significantly limit the collective bargaining rights of teachers and to allow criminal prosecution of teachers for presenting material deemed “harmful to minors.” Add in Kansas’ ongoing budget problems that have already cut K-12 budgets back to levels not seen since the early 1990s and a governor who wants to raid public employee retirement funds to balance the budget and I am discouraged.

So why, you may ask, do I remain a teacher? I do have other skills. I worked in another field for a dozen years before I became a teacher. What keeps me hanging on?

I’ll tell you — I hang on because of my students. Because of that student who comes back three years after graduation and gives me a big hug and thanks me for what I did for him. Because of the current student who has struggled and struggled and finally “gets it.”

Because my Drama Club kids and my forensics kids are MY kids and I don’t want to walk away and let them down. Because of that kid who stops by my room just to talk so that she can feel like somebody cares. Because teaching is the most rewarding and mentally challenging job I’ve ever held. Because what I do as a teacher, both in and out of the classroom, makes a difference in the lives of my students.

But the future for public education looks grim. My colleagues and I cannot continue this fight all alone. Legislators are tired of hearing from us; they are tired of seeing us in our red shirts raising our hands for public education.

So we need your help, right now. Game on for Kansas Schools, a grassroots, nonpartisan group based in Prairie Village, has suggested that we bury the state office buildings in Topeka in a flood of valentines, each one asking legislators to stand up and support public education.

Please, borrow one of those leftover valentines from your elementary student or grab a piece of paper and cut out a heart or just write a note. Whatever form your valentine takes, place it in an envelope and send it off to Topeka today. The men and women who hold the future of public education in Kansas in their hands need to know that everyone — parents, grandparents, merchants, farmers, professionals — in Kansas cares about public education.

They need to know that you support the teachers in your schools and want the best for them. And they need to know that cutting education funds to balance a state budget wrecked by an irresponsible and unsustainable tax policy is not an option.

Carla Wolfe teaches English, forensics and drama at Marysville High School

- See more at:
http://www.marysvilleonline.net/articles/2015/02/12/opinion/doc54dbbc485b524113416116.txt#sthash.a66mwcDy.dpuf