Good pay attracts good teachers

Thank you for putting a front-page article in the paper highlighting teacher salaries. A little over 20 years ago, such an article caught my eye and attracted me to the teaching profession. At that time, I was a software developer making a pretty good salary. When I realized that I could actually make a good living being a teacher, I jumped at the opportunity. It was the best decision I could have made.

Your articles regarding teacher pay always have some underlying implication that the pay is not deserved. There are always anecdotes from those who blame the state’s financial woes on teachers (such as your quotes from Jack Roeser), along with some data that doesn’t relate to the article, because as we all know, when an article includes data, the conclusion must be trustworthy.

I’m glad that you highlighted Fenton High School. I taught 10 years there and found the work ethic of the faculty to be second to none. If journalists truly want to find out how valuable those faculty members are, I’d suggest they shadow some of the teachers for a long enough time to recognize what the teaching profession actually entails. Follow them to their early morning help sessions, after-school tutoring and coaching responsibilities, late nights grading tests and developing engaging lessons, along with their myriad of professional development activities. Only then would you have a true picture of their value to their community and our country.

I’d suggest that the only way our country is going to get out of its mess is if we continue to attract and retain the best and the brightest into the teaching profession. Thanks again for putting that front and center in your Sunday paper.

Tim Sirois

Buffalo Grove