Teachers need a cheerleader

As a teaching professional of 16 years, I was appalled by the Aug. 23 editorial on the way to retain teachers.

The ignorant authors suggested such things as increased pay, mentoring programs and student loan forgiveness as ways to stem the bleeding. It was only in the final, ridiculously miniscule paragraph that the truth of the problem was exposed: “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to dial down on the teacher bashing.”

Gee, ya think? Since No Child Left Behind’s start in 2001, we have dealt with an intentional, unending assault on the teaching profession by editorial boards, the Broad Foundation, Bill Gates, David Coleman and countless others who think they have the answers to student success when they know nothing.

What person would want to work in a profession where the environment is continually corrosive, unsupportive and often times mean-spirited? Teachers, as a wise principal once told me, need a cheerleader.

We teach children out of a love that cannot be quantified. A new book, “Returning Sanity to the Classroom,” is a good place to start re-learning how to support teachers the right way. Editorial boards need to stop the purposeful feign at being shocked over a teacher crisis they helped to perpetuate.

This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 8:27 AM with the headline "Teachers need a cheerleader."