After reading a number of letters about the teacher strike in the SVSD, a number of things need to be clarified about teaching. First, teaching is not just a "job," it is a profession. One simply just can't go to the district office and fill out an application to be a teacher without the proper training and credentials.

The first step in becoming a teacher past high school is attaining a bachelor's degree. Less than 28% of all Americans over 25 have a college degree. Teachers are in a select minority of Americans as related to education. Within six years of graduating, teachers must earn 24 graduate credits. Those credits amount to approximately the equivalent of 2/3 the necessay hours needed for most masters' degrees. Some masters require a few less hours, some a few more. Even with tuition reimbursement factored in, graduate course fees and books are more costly than undergraduate classes. The money needed to pay for these classes comes out of teachers' pockets because they must have the 24 necessary hours to remain teaching. How many other "jobs" require that many graduate hours in order to keep a job once one is hired? Some teaching certifications require a number of graduate credits or even a masters degree in order to be qualified to teach that subject. Every five years, teachers now must have 180 hours of continuing education. The average salary for Americans with an education above a bachelors but not quite having a masters is about $78,000. Between a bachelors and masters is the amount of education that every teacher is required to have who has has taught at least six years. Even if you factor in the amount of time teachers actually spend in the classroom and inservice days (about 38 weeks in most cases, some up to 40 weeks, not even including the endless hours prepping at home out of the site of the public or expanding their subject knowledge in other ways), compared to a professional with more than a bachelor's education but less than a master's who works 48 weeks a year, the average teacher salary should be about $62,000. Where are average teacher salaries $62,000? To get hired as a teacher, a prospective candidate must have criminal and child abuse clearance. How many other "jobs" require that scrutiny before hiring a qualified individual?

Teaching is not just a "job," it is a profession. Most people, even those with the necessary educational levels, cannot be teachers. They simply lack the skills, temperment, and other qualities necessary to be in the classroom. Teaching is a vocation that is crucial for the betterment of society. Very few occupations can claim to be as key to the betterment of society as teaching. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, the key to a strong democracy is a strong public education system. You get what you pay for. If you don't want to pay for a strong public education, fine. Just don't expect a strong democracy.