Mad, Mad, Mad World
This month has been a horrific one for educators. I know the phrase "In like a lion, out like a lamb" typically describes the weather in March, but I'm hoping it applies to the 2018 calendar year. So far this year, there have been 18 instances of guns being discharged either in schools or on school property. Since I personally had only heard of what has been the worst this year, the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, I decided to look a little more at what qualified as a school shooting since I hadn't heard about the others and found this article on Snopes.
But I digress. I am not here to say what "counts." Everything should count. Anytime someone loses his or her life, it should "count." There are more than 17 people who did not return to school today. There are kids who will never return to that building. There are teachers who will probably leave the profession. The shooter took more than 17 lives: he took away a sense of trust, of safety. Teachers all around the country looked around their classrooms and tried to figure out what could be used as a weapon, should something equally horrific walk through their school doors one day. People tried to figure out if they could be as brave as Aaron Feis or as selfless as Scott Beigel. Many of us pray that we will never have to find out.
In addition to this horrific event, teachers are striking in West Virginia. It's interesting to see professionals getting paid wages that are barely enough to support their families...or not enough to support their families. When I looked to see what the average annual West Virginia teacher's salary was..I found it almost $5000 more than what I, as a second year teacher with more credits than most, make. I searched for where North Dakota landed on the National Education Association's list for starting pay and found that we're 33rd with an average salary for teachers of $50,472 (see page 32 of previously linked document)...but that's average...not average starting. I would have to work at my current school for 20 more years to hit that average salary.
I'm hoping that the rest of this year works in teachers' favor instead of against it. With companies like Dick's Sporting Goods, Walmart, and even Kroger raising the age requirement for purchasing a firearm and also discontinuing the sales of certain types of firearms, I'm hoping we're moving toward a safer world. Hopefully the country begins to realize that the people who are literally putting themselves between a madman with a gun and their children is someone who can't afford family health care and needs to work three jobs to make ends meet. The next time you think about how teachers "make too much money," think about Aaron Feis, Scott Beigel, and all the other teachers who have literally given their lives so that parents can hold their children at night.
But I digress. I am not here to say what "counts." Everything should count. Anytime someone loses his or her life, it should "count." There are more than 17 people who did not return to school today. There are kids who will never return to that building. There are teachers who will probably leave the profession. The shooter took more than 17 lives: he took away a sense of trust, of safety. Teachers all around the country looked around their classrooms and tried to figure out what could be used as a weapon, should something equally horrific walk through their school doors one day. People tried to figure out if they could be as brave as Aaron Feis or as selfless as Scott Beigel. Many of us pray that we will never have to find out.
In addition to this horrific event, teachers are striking in West Virginia. It's interesting to see professionals getting paid wages that are barely enough to support their families...or not enough to support their families. When I looked to see what the average annual West Virginia teacher's salary was..I found it almost $5000 more than what I, as a second year teacher with more credits than most, make. I searched for where North Dakota landed on the National Education Association's list for starting pay and found that we're 33rd with an average salary for teachers of $50,472 (see page 32 of previously linked document)...but that's average...not average starting. I would have to work at my current school for 20 more years to hit that average salary.
I'm hoping that the rest of this year works in teachers' favor instead of against it. With companies like Dick's Sporting Goods, Walmart, and even Kroger raising the age requirement for purchasing a firearm and also discontinuing the sales of certain types of firearms, I'm hoping we're moving toward a safer world. Hopefully the country begins to realize that the people who are literally putting themselves between a madman with a gun and their children is someone who can't afford family health care and needs to work three jobs to make ends meet. The next time you think about how teachers "make too much money," think about Aaron Feis, Scott Beigel, and all the other teachers who have literally given their lives so that parents can hold their children at night.
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