W hen it all boils down to it, it’s your opinion, whether you earned it or not, that rules your judgment.  And if you didn’t earn it, your judgment is probably not ruled by you.  I remember the time my folks told me they didn’t know all the answers.  That’s when I knew that no one else did either.  I only wish everyone’s parents would admit as much as mine.  I know I do.  Especially when it comes to math.  But though I’ll never claim to be a math whiz, I know when things don’t add up.  And so do you.

          I was stuck in line with a lot of you at the High School the other day, waiting to have my daughter’s class schedule approved by a bank of computers, manned by so many women that you wonder whether the guys have ceded our kids’ education to the growing majority of our population.  (And they say Hillary can’t win).  I had the good pleasure of meeting with the CAP Counselor, who also happens to be a lady who has invested her life in teaching, and learned that the Fayetteville Public Schools, is proposing to ignore the contributions made by her, and every other teacher who’s invested their lives in similar fashion, and ask you to vote to increase your taxes, and screw all of the old teachers.

            It all sounds really good.  Here’s the pitch.  According to Superintendent Bobby New, if we raise taxes, we can take the extra money and use it to lure young newly graduated teachers to come take a whack at giving our kids what for.  We’ll pay you more than you can get teaching in other nearby towns, so the Superintendent would say, if you’ll just come here instead of going there. 

Pretty simple, right?  I mean, who wants to vote against education, for goodness sake? 

Well I’ll tell you who.  The old teachers (and I mean those who’ve been teaching for more than one year), some of whom have been spinning away at the wheel, molding the minds of generations that we can only hope have been challenged by their example, are getting ready to see students graduating with a teaching degree getting a raise that nearly equals the money the old teachers are making now.  Nothing against the newly graduated teacher, I mean, I was married to one myself, and still am some twenty-three years later.  Of course, neither of us are newly much of anything anymore.  And maybe that’s the point.  Wherever you get your opinion, from yourself or from someone you trust, what’s the sense in disrespecting those who’ve devoted the time that we don’t have to do what we wish we could do?  How about instead of trying to recruit newly graduated teachers, we shoot for raising the pay of teachers with experience. 

Speaking of experience, I am reminded of the jury instruction that is always read by the Judge before handing the case over for judgment:  “In considering the evidence in this case you are not required to set aside your common knowledge, but you have a right to consider all the evidence in the light of your own observations and experience in the affairs of life.”  Strong words.  And that’s the law.  It’s like the lesson my folks taught me when they told me they didn’t have all of the answers.  If we all realize that we’ve got a little common knowledge that we’ve accumulated in our lives, and apply it to a situation, chances are we’re going to make the right decision.  Whether we’re good at math or not, we know when things don’t add up.  

If there is a silver lining, it’s that the Superintendent can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.  Not, at least, unless we let him.  Please let your opinions, wherever you get them, come out of the closet on this issue.  Don’t let the “old” teachers get screwed.Please drop an email to Superintendent Bobby New at  bnew@fayar.net and ask him why he’s trying so hard to attract newly graduated teachers at the expense of our experienced teachers.

By Robert Ginnaven
 
You can E-Mail at: dickson@twinsprings.net