Teacher Protections

“Veteran Teachers: Overprotected, Not Underpaid,” Perspective on Education, Dec. 12.

[William] Chitwood has no idea what public-school teachers go through in the performance of their day-to-day tasks. What Chitwood has chosen to ignore is that:

* Teachers earn far less than other professionals with comparable education and training earn in private industry. Their so-called generous benefits are less than those provided to other civil servants and less than those generally provided to professionals in private industry. And unlike their private-school counterparts, public-school teachers must have a college degree, at least one year of post-graduate work to obtain a clear credential and mandatory continuing education.

* Teachers use large portions of their so-called block vacation to fulfill their mandatory continuing education requirements, prepare lessons for the upcoming year, obtain materials for their classes and attend mandatory seminars and meetings. Our sick days are necessary because we are exposed on a daily basis to 20 or more children who come to school with colds, sniffles and other ailments.

* Chitwood’s five-hour workday is pure fantasy. As a kindergarten teacher, I am at school by 7:15 a.m., work, usually without a lunch break and only two bathroom breaks, until 3:15 p.m. I stay until at least 5 p.m. preparing for the following day. I also work at least four hours every weekend on preparation, attend parent conferences and various school committee meetings and spend additional time on school management and support activities.

If Chitwood wants to see hard-working, dedicated, underpaid and underappreciated teachers, I invite him to attend any classroom at Dixie Canyon Elementary school in Sherman Oaks (and, I suspect, any public school in the Los Angeles Unified School District).

CAROL MARCUS

United Teachers-Los Angeles

Representative

Dixie Canyon Elementary

Sherman Oaks

*

What lemon has Chitwood been sucking on to become so bitter?

While I’m sure that in a list of teachers 40,000 long there must be some hacks, it is my experience as an elementary substitute for LAUSD that the vast majority of teachers I come in contact with are indeed underpaid for the work they do. Five-hour days, “ ‘staff development’ chitchat” and “in-service sessions that end before noon”? If that’s all there was to it, I would agree with [him]. But you know there’s more to it than that! Shame on you! Teachers don’t have a life. Lesson planning, parent conferences, IEP [Individualized Education Program] meetings, open houses, back-to-school night, report cards, and the list goes on.

The shortcomings of our system are myriad, and there’s blame enough to go around. I think it’s counterproductive to point fingers. There should be accountability from all the stakeholders. Try an orange next time; it’s much sweeter.

ARNIE MOORE

Sherman Oaks

*

Chitwood’s attack on public-school teachers essentially argues that because “private-sector” (his euphemism for “private school”) teachers are exploited, public-school teachers should be too. As a former private-school teacher who now teaches at a public university, I believe that Chitwood’s ire is misdirected. Private-school teachers, with no unions and no job protections, are constantly at the mercy of every possible complaint, justified or not, made by any student, parent or administrator. It can be a miserable, insecure life, but at least such private-sector faculty typically don’t have to face indigent students whose language is often not English. Chitwood’s energy should be aimed at improving the teaching conditions of private-school faculty, not undermining the few incentives left for anyone to enter the public school ranks.

JACK SOLOMON

Professor of English

Cal State Northridge

*

After reading Chitwood’s perspective regarding veteran teachers, I cannot understand why college graduates are not flocking into the teaching field!

The description Chitwood gives is so terribly inaccurate, I cannot begin to critique his opinion. It is enough to say that he chose to leave public-school teaching and enter the private sector! If the job in public education is so easy and well-paid, why get out?

CHUCK TRUDEAU

Shadow Hills