America at its finest

Growing up, having two parents that were educators was never easy. Although it was a major factor that eased the transition from one grade to the next, no child wants to hear "well talk about this when we get home" from their teacher. Fortunately, the lessons i learned were appreciated with age, but it doesnt take away from the stress that i watched both parents go through. They worked long hours and dealt with the ridiculous complaints of parents that were very trivial in the total scheme of what was best for their child's education. Every parent has an idea of what is best for their child, but sometimes there judgement is clouded by emotion and by interfering they make it much more difficult for the teacher to teach and the student to learn. They were never praised for their accomplishments only ridiculed when test scores didn't met Texas standards.

Teacher compensation that is awarded to individuals who go above and beyond, as well as to teachers that work in at risk areas, is one of the best plans that Texas has come to offer. It somewhat mirrors what was offered when the Vietnam war was around and the government offered pardons to the draft if a teacher agreed to teach at an at risk school for a certain amount of time.

The people that teach our children should be valued and appreciated. These are the people that are molding the minds of the future doctors, lawyers, and possibly presidents. With the shortage of educators, there should be even more incentives for new teachers as well as better benefits for ten year and doctorate degrees.

It takes someone very selfless to teach and I'm very proud that the two people that i love more than anything were selfless enough to pass their teachings on to me.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/10/31/1031meritpay.html