Fury

I am just furious. I shouldn't be. I should be used to this kind of thing, as a matter of fact. People trash teachers, apparently all the time & randomly. I am on a yahoo list, budgethomemaking, and normally, I really like it, even though many of the women on there are just too happy about cooking & ironing. The past couple of days, though, it has just made me furious. It all started with a lady complaining about a teachers in her school district requiring home visits. It turns out, in her case, there is more to the story. The teacher in question appears to be a gossip whose behavior should be addressed. However, the outpouring of fury about schools and teachers from the members of the list just astounds me. The last post that went through, and as nearly as I can tell, this was after the moderator asked the topic to be dropped was along the lines of "for every good teacher, there is a bad one" and essentially that people who choose to teach should just be prepared to have to defend themselves in public constantly. This makes me very angry.

My kids have had lousy teachers, just like anyone else. Walker's first grade teacher seemed as though she disliked him for pretty much the whole first semester. Meleah's third grade teacher was incompetent. One of her fifth grade teachers just disliked her. It happens. Her seventh grade social studies teacher caused her no end of grief (truthfully, not just her. He has been causing bright students grief for a number of years). In ANY profession, there are people we don't like. Most people who are in teaching competent. Are they perfect? No. Should they be expected to be? No. The majority, though, do good work.

Inappropriate behavior on the part of a teacher should be reported & addressed, of course, but the idea that every teacher, everywhere should pay for the bad behavior of a few is just crazy.

This is what I get for checking my email too close to bedtime.