This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Lay Off the Teachers...?

Teachers do a supremely thankless job for our society...why are we angry at them?

I work in education, so I feel a certain way about the topic. My thoughts on education are not solely my opinion, but also formed through hearing the voices of hundreds of teachers from around the state each year in my classes.

Our educational system is not perfect, and like any other profession, you are going to have those who sandbag their jobs because they lack work ethic or are otherwise disengaged. Don't you like how I put the fine print/disclosures right up front? :)

The question that has mystified me over the last six months is how teachers became these evil people unworthy of our praise and respect. Do we really lack respect for teachers  with such intensity that we are OK with paying them the least we can pay them; or where the pay is a living wage, we say they make too much?

Find out what's happening in Sussexwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Any failure of education starts at home with the parents. Yep, I said it. If you ar a parent reading this, and your child has poor academic outcomes -- you are the root cause. The root cause may be that your own educational attainment was limited for whatever reason, or it could be that you don't care to spend enough time investing in your child's education.

With that idea in mind, we have to consider how ill-equipped some parents are. The parents who do not enforce an attitude of respect for learning, a value for the educational process, or spend any time in their child’s academic world send their children to school with the rest of us.

Find out what's happening in Sussexwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

And guess who is responsible for reversing the mindset of these ill-equipped children in 6-7 hours a day? Teachers. When you totally fail as a parent, who picks up your slack? Teachers. When your kid is sick, and you send them to school anyway because you cannot afford to miss work, or you don’t feel like being bothered, who cares for your child? You get it by now.

Why we choose to pillory our public school teachers is my life’s great mystery. Are we that removed from personal responsibility that we readily shift blame to anyone who is conveniently culpable?

If you think your child is not getting a decent education, get involved. Sit in on the classes. Meet with the teacher. Get a free library card, go to the library and find free resources to supplement your child’s education.

But alas, its easier to blame the teacher.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Sussex