There Are Some Common Misconceptions About Teachers

From the Anash.org Inbox: In response to a recent article from the Rebbe about teachers being paid like professionals and a commenter questioning the need for a raise in teachers’ pay today, a melamed addresses some common misconceptions about teachers.

In a recent article, a section from a sicha was quoted in which the Rebbe calls for teachers to be paid like professionals. However, one reader commenting on the article questioned the need for a raise in teachers’ pay in our time.

In this letter, a melamed addresses some of the common misconceptions about teachers.

*

Dear Yid,

I don’t know who you are; but I would guess that you’re a baal habos such as the one you so aptly describe struggling to make ends meet. You seem to be disgruntled about the fact that teachers keep making a fuss about their struggles in parnassa, and you finally hit fingers to keyboard with the timeless cry of “’כי כל העדה כולם עניים, ולמה תתנשאו על קהל ה”.

I cannot, and will not, invalidate your experience, and the dire situation you depict is unfortunately true for so many. And yet, allow me to present another angle as to why articles such as these – raising awareness to teachers’ financial plights – are excusable and even laudable:

Teachers are public servants, serving the community with commitment and dedication par to none.

EVERY good teacher, not only the outstanding ones, offers and avails themselves to HOURS of uncompensated work, and I do not only mean marking tests, reporting to their higher-ups, and answering to parents and their concerns ranging from curious to furious.

I also mean intrapersonal work; worrying about their students, thinking about how they can improve their classes and relationships with their pupils, tweaking a lesson to make it more engaging. From the newbie melamed staying up nights to prepare his curriculum, to the veteran mechanech offering hours of counseling – to parents and teachers alike – gratis.

There is no other trade or profession in the world that innately requires as much devotion and wholehearted presence out of the time and space officially paid for as does teaching. Teachers are community heroes and ought to be recognized as such. It is not about the salaries as much as it is about the general attitude of the parents and community toward the teachers.

I speak not about the utter disdain and loathing that unfortunately exists in some relatively extreme circumstances. I speak, rather, about the relatively common lack of respect and appreciation in the way the community as a whole views “The Teacher.” Relative to the amount of giving by teachers, these articles address the giving back by the community.

I am anti-kvetching, and I am not writing this to further bemoan the financial stress that teachers face. I am merely responding to the pushback generated by your response and respectfully request you to reconsider the realities.

True, teachers receive a lot of benefits as you mentioned in your comment (you even forgot Chanukah gelt, tips, etc…). But follow the life of a teacher for a month and you will quickly see that those are well-earned. No one is getting rich off teaching, as you fallaciously present in your final comments, which are honestly quite ludicrous. (MANY melamdim don’t own homes – many can barely pay their rent – and summer homes?!)

Do you know how many teachers come into the classroom stressed PRIMARILY because of their financial state? I personally know a teacher – a stellar educator and a real mentch – who is considering leaving chinuch from a purely financial perspective. He recently told me that when he writes to the Rebbe about his predicaments, he writes that he knows he would be a much more effective mechanech if not for his financial struggles.

This is absolutely not an excuse for a teacher not to show up and invest his 110%, no matter the struggle. This is a call to the larger community: If you want better chinuch, offer better incentives to those fully equipped and ready to provide it. It’s that simple.

Understandably, I am not referring to the outlying, extreme stories of abusive teachers, which no one will deny have existed. No need to respond with those stories. Of course, teachers – like all humans – err. And good teachers – like all good humans – know how to mend mistakes and fix flaws.

But herein lies the vicious cycle: if teachers are not supported – financially, mentally and emotionally – then they will not be able to function properly enough to make those apologies, never mind not making those mistakes in the first place. In a culture of cooperation and communication between community and teacher, teachers are encouraged to succeed. When respected, they can reciprocate. Yes, respect must be earned. But can you honestly say that the average teacher hasn’t done his part?

On that note, I would like to give a major shoutout to the parents and faculty of the school where I have the zechus to teach, Tomchei Tmimim Ocean Parkway. It is a role model for successful, positive communication and sense of community between parents and teachers, with enough mutual respect to pass around.

In short: Yes, many people struggle financially. But it is the community that cannot afford for the teachers not to afford. Inasmuch as teachers are public helpers, it is incumbent on the public to help them help them.

Shmuel Wagner

P.S. I only addressed the sensible point in your comment; how baalabatim also struggle. I did not feel it worth anyone’s time to respond to the claims that teachers need to have certification of perceived expertise, or that only years of expensive education produce a master teacher.