Fighting for respect: Why Alpine, Ca. Teachers are on Strike

       
                Just the other night over dinner with my dad, a construction superintendent with 50 years in the trade, our conversation turned towards my fifteen year career as a high school English teacher. I was grading papers at the time, and one of them happened to be a narrative written by a student who loved reading war novels. The student seemed like a younger version of my dad, who consumes war novels like Don Quixote consumed tales of chivalry. I shared the essay with my dad, who was beyond impressed. He said, “Where did he come up with that idea? It’s brilliant”.

                I answered, “The story is a his own based on the stories he’s read, but the idea of what to write, imagining him in every story, I gave him that idea”. I added that while I gave him the idea, it wasn't mine originally but had been used in one variation or another in Don Quixote and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, among others. My dad paused for a moment to form up his thoughts. Then he said, “That’s what you do”? It was more a question than a statement and with a look of wonderment in his eyes, he answered the question: “You help your students express ideas they didn’t know they had in ways that connect with thinkers they’ve never thought of”.

                Wow. I was impressed. His flattering summation of my work made it sound so important, which then made his follow up statement all the more shocking: “It’s too bad you didn’t stay in construction”.

I was speechless.

                But he was only getting started, so he continued: “I mean you’re so good at connecting with people of all ages, of making sense of difficult concepts, and you’re always looking for ways to do your job better—“He paused to form up his thoughts again,”—if you had stayed in construction, you’d probably be making 125 K or more by this point with your skills. Instead, you are stuck in a job that doesn’t reward you for the work you do.

                Seeing my dumbfounded (ness) as an invitation to continue, he added, “you know that John that went to Granite (Granite Hills HS) with you--graduated a year after you--he works on the same job site with me, and I bet he’s making 140-150 K a year with his company. It’s too bad you didn’t go the same route”.

                I shuddered, not at the thought of my dad wanting the highest salary possible for me, (what parent doesn’t want that for their child) but at the thought of him being disappointed that I had persevered through college night classes while working construction by day to earn my Bachelor’s degree; at the thought of him being disappointed that I had continued my education for another year to earn my credential; and finally at the thought of him being disappointed that I was good at what I do, which it now appeared as though he saw as a waste of my talent.

                With the current strike of our Alpine teachers, I can’t help but think of this conversation, because it highlights the disconnect that exists between educators and certain members of the general public.  Some of the general public believe we, as teachers, are too selfless, while others believe we are too selfish. The truth is we are somewhere in between, but I think tipping toward selfless. Teachers are not asking for the salary other professionals make , even though most put in similar hours and energy, and the job is arguably (I understand if you disagree) as important to the future of our country as that of lawyers. What teachers are asking for is a wage that respects the commitment they have made to your kids future with an initial education, an ongoing education, and a relentless pursuit of success for all children whether they be yours, mine, or their own.

                To me that doesn’t sound selfish. Selfish would be listening to my dad’s advice and taking my talent I use to teach and using it in a career with a higher salary ceiling simply for the monetary reward.  Here in Alpine, the Alpine teachers are doing what they need to do to keep a living wage, a respectable wage and still use their energies to educate the children in this community. They are not trying to break the bank and we know that because they are willing to take lowered benefits and take a small pay cut while the majority of the school districts in San Diego County are giving their teachers raise between 3-7%.

                At this time, as parents we need to support the people that have the greatest impact on our kids: their teachers. Stand up for our teachers and you also stand up for the future of all our kids. Not standing up for the teachers here in Alpine and our community could be spending the summer watching Alpine teachers headed to other districts or choosing to go into other lines of work. In addition, other teachers could choose to not come to Alpine to teach at all.

                                                                          Pat Bowers