To the Editor;

I used to be a teacher. My dream was to reach the hard-to-reach learners. I was going to change the world. You can do that, change the world, when you are a teacher.

Something you say, do, allow a child to experience through a lesson, can become a part of them and in turn, can play a part in helping them reach their potential and their dreams. I have wanted to be a teacher since the third grade when my own teacher encouraged us to dream big. That was my big dream and I thought it was a darn good one. I spent the next nine school years knowing I would be going to a college that would help me to fulfill that dream. I wish I knew then what I know now.

Flash forward six years from high school graduation. I have a master's degree in education. I can teach birth through grade 6. Now all I need is a job. Then the amazing world of teaching I knew and loved... died. It was terrible timing.

Our college class was supposed to be the class that was sought after, the class that replaced the Baby Boomers. The class that knew all the latest tricks and tips that would hold a child's attention and make learning fun. The problem with that was- Baby Boomers were no longer on track to retire when they were supposed to. The economy fell. There were no teaching jobs. None. I decided to substitute teach and work at PetSmart for extra cash while I patiently waited for my turn to teach. It never did come.

This is the point in time when schools had just started to come under fire. Teachers are overpaid and underworked. They get summers off and work 9-3. Their students are not learning what they should be. Their students are not passing state tests. It's the teacher's fault the inner city kids are bombing tests that their suburban counterparts are easily passing. I student taught in a city school and saw firsthand how difficult it is to balance teaching a child that doesn't fully understand the English language, a child whose parents are in prison, a child who cannot afford food, a child who reads at grade level 1 but is in grade 5 with a child who in a suburban setting would be considered average but here is top of their class. These teachers need to not only be teachers but parents and disciplinarians as well. It's darn near impossible to balance these kids and teach them all what the state requires for their grade level. But they try their best to do this and are constantly chastised for not doing enough.

Teachers work 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and get summers off. This is the argument I hear most often around teaching and why individuals that do not work in the school and have no idea what they are talking about feel teachers are overpaid. Teachers do not work 9 to 3. A typical day in a teacher's world is 7 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. Why so late? Lesson plans are not given to a teacher like many feel it is. Lessons do not typically come out of a book. Lessons are created by teachers. Each lesson is tailor made to the children in the class. What works for one class does not necessarily work for the other class. Lessons need to constantly be altered and changed- often while in the middle of teaching them. Weekends and holidays are spent grading papers, creating exams, creating help sheets, worksheets, projects and lesson planning as well. Teachers never put in 40 hour weeks- the weeks are closer to 70 or more hours depending.

Being a teacher used to be something respectable. Now if you indicate you are a teacher it comes with eye rolls and judgment. Teachers no longer have the same freedoms they used to have creating lessons. They are not supposed to teach to the standardized tests, but if they do not teach to these tests the children will not pass them and now it is a reflection of how the teacher teaches. You are graded by how well your students do regardless of whether you are in a well off area versus a struggling area. You are told you get paid too much and work too little. You are told to teach this way, teach this content and you are not teaching the way you should be by individuals that never went to school for teaching and have no background in education at all. You are constantly watched. You are constantly stressed. You work harder than the majority of people work and it is not seen or acknowledged.

I used to be a teacher. I used to be someone to look up to. Someone that molded minds and helped create futures. I used to be a teacher that loved her job, loved her students and even loved the hours I put in because I knew what my students would get out of my hard work was worth it. I have a Master's degree. I created a lesson plan that is currently used around the country. I have a great background in education. I am a fantastic teacher. But now due to the stigma teaching has and the direction education has headed, jobs are scarce. Funding is not there. The teachers that actually are retiring are doing so without their positions being filled again because there is no money in the budget to hire someone else. You need to know someone in most areas to get a job. You need your foot in the door either by knowing that person or by subbing for a few years in the district. I subbed in a wonderful school district in Syracuse for a few years before I realized there was no end in sight. There was simply no future in teaching.

I used to be a teacher. I used to be following my dream. The day I realized that dream would be lost was a dark one. I had a good cry. I had several good cries. I let go of the dream because I had to. I am not a teacher. I work in insurance. I answer phones and assist others in their claim status and benefit information. I do enjoy my work but my heart is heavy. I want to be out there changing the world. I try to look at my job as if it is a teaching experience. I am often complimented at how easy I make their insurance sound when they called in without a clue. "You should have been a teacher" I have heard several times. Each time I hear it I cringe. I want to scream that I should be a teacher. I should be teaching! But right now, that is not possible. This is not the time for educators. This is the time for individuals that have nothing to do with education telling educators what they should be doing and who they should be.

I'm not the only one that had to give up my dream. There are thousands more of me out there -- amazing teachers that never had a chance to reach the stars. I think of my third grade teacher and wish I could have told her my dream was realized. Instead, you can call the number on the back of your health insurance card and I would be happy to assist you with your insurance needs.

Danielle Caryl

Manlius

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My dream was to teach, and hard work and persistence paid off

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