Ire against teachers unjustified, harmful

As a suburban teacher, I have grown increasingly disheartened and frustrated by the recent criticism directed toward educators for what some people perceive to be an unfair compensatory system in our current economic environment.

David Koester's Aug. 15 letter to the editor continues the argument against the current system, citing the usual rhetoric of a "wealth of information" that allegedly establishes teachers are paid comparable to their private-sector counterparts. Koester later begs the question of whether you, the hardworking private-sector employee, have received a raise recently, even as teachers everywhere greedily demand their annual increases.

His letter, like many others published recently, attempts to paint educators as predominantly self-serving, greedy individuals who hide behind their unions on a focused mission to take advantage of taxpayers. That notion is both false and offensive. It fails to address the fact that when the economy is good, as was the case in the 1990s, private sector salaries on average typically outpace teacher salaries.

It fails to address the disparity in compensation between teachers and other professionals, such as physicians or attorneys, even though teachers are expected to complete a comparable amount of graduate-level course work. It fails to recognize that, contrary to popular belief, teachers do work during the summer, and on weekends, and at night.

Most importantly, however, it sets a very dangerous and precarious tone about a profession that we need more bright and talented people to enter. Think carefully about the quality of your suburban schools right now. Then think about what it would become without high-quality teachers. Then ask yourself if you think continued criticism of the profession will encourage young people to enter it, or deter them into more lucrative professions bearing more public support.

Oh yeah, and by the way, I'm a taxpayer, too.

Steve Svetlik

Wheeling