Teaching is not for the faint of heart

 I’ve been thinking a lot about teachers lately because they seem to be caught in the crosshairs of so much debate, both at the national and local levels.

Wisconsin’s governor has done away with collective bargaining rights for most public workers including teachers. But in the ongoing battle over the worthiness of teacher unions, invariably the discussion in the blogosphere and among cable news commentators seems to come down to teachers themselves. Among the assertions: They get paid too much, have too many benefits, are on easy street because they get summers off, and so on.

Locally, some people think the proposed $6 million building reserve and technology levy request for Kalispell schools somehow is connected to teacher salaries and clearly it’s not.

I’ve heard people say they’re not going to vote for the levy because teachers already get paid too much.

Say what? This levy deals with maintaining our school buildings.

I’m not saying there aren’t changes that should be made with the collective bargaining process or the power given teachers unions. But I believe teachers are in a class by themselves and should be afforded some special consideration when it comes to job protection. When it’s our children’s education at stake, these aren’t the jobs we want to hand out to the least qualified for the least money.

And by the same token, the system should be fixed so it doesn’t take an act of God to remove a substandard teacher.

Beyond the political arena, we need to recognize the valuable role teachers play in our society. I dare say there’s not one of us whose life hasn’t been changed for the better by something our teachers said or did for us.

Let’s be honest, most people don’t go into teaching for the pay. They do it because they get satisfaction from expanding students’ minds and bringing out the best in our children. A quote — author unknown — I came across says it like this: “A good teacher is like a candle — it consumes itself to light the way for others.”

In my own life I remember with great fondness the encouragement and the nurturing I got from many of my teachers.

Mrs. Nylander was my favorite. She led a spirited group of fourth-graders the year I had her, and I can still recall her praise after I won a multiplication contest at the blackboard. She also dubbed my St. Patrick’s Day art project one of the best, and I vividly remember how hard she laughed at my very anatomically correct milk cow whose head was an upside-down, green-construction-paper shamrock.

Mrs. Nylander read to us every day, and as she reached the chapter when “Old Yeller” died, there was not a dry eye in the classroom. We had a group hug, long before they were fashionable.

I tried my hand at teaching Sunday school when we lived in Eastern Montana, and found out how absolutely difficult it is to keep third-graders’ attention, even for just an hour. After I’d agreed to teach the class I found out it was a group of unruly boys that no one else wanted to deal with.

One of the boys had thrown a chair at the teacher before me. Once I realized his mother had just given birth to twins and he was only vying for some attention, it was easy to lavish him with love. He became my best student.

What I learned without a doubt is that teaching is darn hard work, and not nearly as easy as it seems. Teachers have my gratitude and my respect; I hope they have yours, too.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.