I simply want to teach students

Why is it that every time someone with a small amount of intelligent stands up and ask for more money for those who work in the field of education they always gets told the same response. Want more money go work in the industry because you are too smart to be a teacher. Is it that people just don’t want smart people working in the field of education? Want to know why our schools are losing ground in this country? It is because smart people get sick of being told that as teachers they will never be valued in this country. I have been fighting that same attitude for the past eight years and am getting very sick and tired of it. Why is it so very wrong to want people who work in the field of education to earn a living without having a rich husband or wife to support them? Why must you be retired before you can give back to your community in the field of education? Little known fact the longer you are a teacher the better you are at the job. What is wrong with this picture people? Why is the American public so blind to the fact that if you want good educators you give them a fair paycheck at the end of the day? What is it going to take to open the eyes of the voting public or are we just preordained to become a third world country because of this attitude. If I hear one more person tell me go back to the industry then I plan on asking them if they truly want this country to fail their children and their grandchildren when it comes to their education.

Most people wonder why I don’t just say I will go back to the industry I came out of and the answer is that education is well worth fighting for in this state and they might as well get use to seeing this person every time they turn around. I don’t and won’t stop fighting for this cause until New Mexico is much higher in the rankings of our states educational field. If you are an elected official plan on facing me down on more than one occasion. I will either be your best friend or in the case of people like the president of my college your worst enemy. I am not going to step aside or stay silent while the CEO types destroy our public educational system. The most interesting problem is that I try to support people until they vote against the interest of educational employees. Some even point out that they return my phone calls but what good is that if they then turn around and support individuals like my college president? They hate it when we point out the past but they love to point out their past behavior to us.

All the instructional support unit at my college has ever wanted was to be treated like the other staff members and paid the same for a day’s work but most now fear losing their jobs due to budget cuts. Enrollment will rise in the next few years meaning more money for the college because of the fee system setup by Michael Glennon but no more people will be hired to cope with that reality faced by frontline educational employees yet we are asked to do more work for less pay while administration gets double digit pay increases and add more people to their ranks everyday. People who work in the field of education don’t begin to know what the word fair means in this state and that is why we are ranked at the bottom in the field of education. Want a better educational system New Mexico then deal with this issue fairly.