"Chicago Teachers - Calling or Profession"

 "Is Teaching a Calling or a Profession?"

The Chicago Teacher Strike brought to mind some of the teachers of my youth.  Yes, there were the duds--those who should have found something else to do in life.  However, there were those who were every bit the professional as today's teacher but to them it was a sacred calling.  To them it was serving the children and in some cases their parents. To them it went beyond contracts to calling. 

You see, there are some "professions" which call upon those who serve in those areas to keep a firm grip on a sense of "call."  Included would be the obvious like pastor, priest, and rabbi.  However, there are others such as police officer, fire fighter, and yes, teacher. 

Thinking back to my teachers, it was understood that the pay would not be the best but that there were other pay offs as for instance seeing your former student graduate high school and go on to work in the trades or off to college.  There was certain gratification that a paycheck or a retirement plan could not offer.  It was the gratification of what one might instill character and knowledge in the life of a child.

However, now things are different.  It seems that the more that any profession has become enamored with the classification, "professional" the more that profession has lost touch with the notion of "calling."  That is not to say that all teachers have done so but for most who wave their union signs and demand this or that benefit, it seems to be little more than a job.  It seems that such people find serving below their dignity and thus will not stoop down to that level.

As the camera's sweep the strikers, I try to imagine Mrs. McClary, Mrs. Mayer, Mr. Peterson, or Miss Grimes in and among the crowd.  For the life of me, I cannot imagine these and others going on the news denigrating the school board or the school administration. 

Was it that they were well paid, had benefits, and a short school week with planning days built in?  No of course not, nor did they expect that teaching would be easy.  They knew that the challenges would be many, the problems huge, and the pay low.  But for them it was an opportunity to train children in skills that would be needed throughout life. 

From Mrs. Mayer teaching basic addition up through Miss Grimes teaching Algebra and Geometry, there was no thought of professional standing and strikes.  It was all about teaching. It was all about training young people to be responsible adults with enough skill to not be a burden on society.

Mr. Joe Peterson?  He was a combat injured Marine who understood what Jr. High young men needed.  A firm but fair hand that was realistic and who dealt with the harsh realities of life.  We knew he was tough.  We knew that he could not hit us but we did not believe it.  He was a man's man that by his life demanded the respect of some very troubled young men.

So, Chicago Teachers, if you care for the kids the way you say you do then I have one very simple question.  Why are you on strike?  Why do you listen to the union thugs?  Why don't you get back to teaching and prove to the citizens of Chicago and the country that you are there because it is a calling, not just a job? After all, you are among the highest paid teachers in the nation.  Well, maybe you are just out to give new meaning to the word, greed!


As you strike you know that you even now are teaching your kids.  You are teaching them that it is okay to demand your way.  You are teaching them that if they do not get what they want, behaving like a barbaric thugs is okay.  Then when they behave in the classroom as you are now you wonder how is it that they can do this?  The answer is simple.  You taught them by how you walked off the job, created havoc for families, and thought only of yourselves.

Whoever you are, what a fine example of a teacher, a role model you present.

If you are the professional teacher that you say you are, then go back to your kids and teach them by your life that even when life is unfair, a person of character presses on with the task at hand.  That lesson will do more for them than all the picketing, the catcalling, the demanding, and all else that is a part of this strike.

Oh, Mrs. McClary?  The last time I saw her (she died at a young age of breast cancer) it was after the school day, she was in her car, burning her own gas, delivering cupcakes and party favors to a student who had been home sick and thus had missed a party in her classroom.  Now that is a teacher who was every bit a professional but who taught and related to her kids with a sense of calling and never got around to worrying about the notion of being a professional.

Where it in my power, I would fire the lot of you and bring in men and women who understand call, character, and commitment.  Men and women who deliver cupcakes and party favors on their own time, using their own resources.