After the fallout

My original motivation for the editorial was to explain that I felt that teachers should agree to a salary freeze because of the school's financial difficulties. By going further and listing the salaries, I was sucked into a vortex of controversy. One good thing did come from the controversy. We now know that Fieldcrest has an above average salary for its teachers, mainly because there are so many teachers with so many years of experience. If this translates into a higher quality of education, then I feel that an above average salary is justified. Those who looked at the average salaries on the internet may have noticed that average salaries for some Chicago area schools are as high as $79,000.

Fieldcrest Superintendent Dr. Michael Stagliano told me that there are many variables to be considered when comparing salaries among schools such as length of service, size of school, cost of living in the area, type of curriculum, etc. It is pretty hard to compare apples to apples.

Meanwhile, our legislators in Springfield finally seem to be getting the message that the education funding crisis is now the most serious crisis facing the state. Governor Rod R. Blagojevich wants to gut the Department of Education and establish a new department that reports directly to the governor's office. The governor seems to think that accountability and control must be established first. He has not yet revealed any plan to improve the funding of education.

It is becoming apparent to me that with all the problems we are faced with today, that our country is undergoing considerable changes. Just like a lawnmower engine that races real fast before it runs out of gas, the boom period of the 90's has resulted in an abrupt hangover for the 21st century. Look how much has changed. We are in a war on terrorism for the rest of our lives, our jobs are being shipped overseas, our medical cost and insurance rates are spiraling out of control, and we are unable to come up with enough money to educate our children.

The materialism that has been spawned by the advent of television advertising has resulted in a softer generation of people who demand instant gratification by clicking a button. Our jobs have become the enabler for materialism. Is it surprising that we have fat children, criminal business executives, and day traders in the stock market?

The pendulum has reached its apex and is swinging back down. Our social security payments will be adjusted downward because too few people will be working to support the too many people who have retired. The unrelentness increase in medical costs will subside when we finally realize that it makes more sense to spend money on educating people on how to live healthy lives rather than trying to come up with new ways to cure or treat diseases that are the result of unhealthy life styles.

Teachers are not the only ones who will have to hold the line on salary increases. With the loss of our manufacturing jobs and now our white collar jobs to overseas, it is more important than ever that the American workforce adjust to the new world order through retraining and education. Teachers will become more important than ever. Ethics and values that are no longer taught by overworked parents must now be taught in our schools. It is up to our teachers to pass on the thread of civilization that will keep our country together. Hopefully, this re-ducation will result in a greater appreciation of the teacher as role model and less for the million dollar sports stars.

Last week's editorial may have left the impression that I do not appreciate teachers. To the contrary. I feel that teaching is one of our most important professions. I wish we could pay them all $100,000 a year. Unfortunately, the masses are not willing to pay to watch teachers teach class like they will to watch an athlete dunk a basketball. It is a sad commentary on our culture.