Voters OK’d teacher raises

In response to recent letters criticizing teacher strike/pay issues, I offer the following in support. Disclosure: My wife is a 30-year teacher. The voters approved a COLA for teachers six years ago. The Legislature has thus far dismissed the will of the voters. That’s about a 12 percent dismissal. Result? Her take home pay has decreased each year since, due to health insurance premiums alone. How low shall we go?

About that “part-time job”? She works 9-10 hours a day at school. Then routinely spends another hour or two each night doing lesson plans, grading papers, phoning parents over grade/discipline issues, writing letters of recommendations.. She often takes products from the house to use for labs, brings clothing to kids in need, and travels to Seattle on her time and dime to get supplies and lab kits from her network of support so she can deliver state-of-the-art lessons and labs. Oh, yeah, don’t forget teachers must continue to take courses during their first years-on their dime and time.

Smaller classes? Is 150-180 kids a day a bit much? Thought so. This is what she does with her seven years of college. It’s her passion, and the voters apparently think such devotion was worth rewarding.

Teacher pay tied to performance? Tough when families have deserted their obligation to raise and be involved in a child’s life, and teachers have to raise and teach. Didn’t work out recently in Atlanta, where school staff provided answers for the testing, kids “excelled” and teachers got their bonus. Oops, they were caught, and all but one are in jail. ‘Bonus Gone Wild?”

I might suggest the complainers actually get educated. Spend a day in the classroom and see what it is all about. Just don’t try and keep up with the lessons, because you likely will fail. It’s not Romper Room, baby.

Any surprise there are teacher shortages? Lucky we still have people inspired to help prepare kids for life. My wife is representative, not an outlier.

Rob Dietz

Arlington

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Tuesday, March 19

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Students use a 3D model to demonstrate their groups traffic solutions at Hazelwood Elementary School on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Your choice, drivers; slow down or pay up

More traffic cameras will soon be in use in cities and highways, with steep penalties for violations.

Protect Affordable Care Act by rejecting Trump

The stakes are high in this year’s presidential election. If candidate Donald… Continue reading

Support candidates who support schools

I promised I would stop writing these letters because the gates of… Continue reading

Biden must stop supplying weapons to Israel, Ukraine

Bad foreign policy will come back to haunt us in the long… Continue reading

Comment: Flow of U.S. guns into Mexico is other border crisis

Guns, legal and illegal, are contributing to crime and instability in Mexico, driving many to seek asylum.

RGB version
Editorial cartoons for Monday, March 18

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Carson gets a chance to sound the horn in an Everett Fire Department engine with the help of captain Jason Brock during a surprise Make-A-Wish sendoff Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, at Thornton A. Sullivan Park in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Everett voters will set course for city finances

This fall and in coming years, they will be asked how to fund and support the services they use.

Devotees of TikTok, Mona Swain, center, and her sister, Rachel Swain, right, both of Atlanta, monitor voting at the Capitol in Washington, as the House passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app if its China-based owner doesn't sell, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Lawmakers contend the app's owner, ByteDance, is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok's consumers in the U.S. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Editorial: Forced sale of TikTok ignores network of problems

The removal of a Chinese company would still leave concerns for data privacy and the content on apps.

Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, watches the State of the State speech by Gov. Jay Inslee on the second day of the legislative session at the Washington state Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Editorial: Legislature has its own production of ‘The Holdovers’

What state lawmakers left behind in good ideas that should get more attention and passage next year.

Comment: Measles outbreaks show importance of MMR vaccinations

The highly contagious disease requires a 95 percent vaccination rate to limit the spread of outbreaks.

Harrop: Should ‘affordable’ come at cost of quality of living?

As states push their cities to ignore zoning rules, the YIMBYs are covering for developers.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.