NOTE: There is a letter floating around the Internet allegedly written by a Marine identified only as “J” who offers a scathing response to President Obama’s farewell address. In that letter, the Marine makes some disparaging comments about teachers and teachers’ unions. This is my answer.
Dear J,
Let me start by expressing my heartfelt thanks for your service to our country. I’m writing this letter as an answer to your own letter in response to President Obama’s farewell address. In it, you detailed your many criticisms of the president’s time in office. While my view on some of the points you made may differ from yours, my main issue concerns comments you made about teachers and teachers’ unions.
As a public school teacher and teachers’ union member, I’d like to clarify some things for you as well as share some thoughts about what my profession is like. First, you refer to teachers’ unions as “bloated.” I wonder what exactly makes you describe them that way because you don’t elaborate in your letter. If teachers’ unions advocate for teachers, who in turn advocate for their students, then at what point is that excessive?
You go on to assert that unions hire teachers. I’m no lawyer, but I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. In fact, I live in a “right-to-work” state, where freeloading workers can enjoy union benefits without having to contribute union dues. These unfair laws have significantly weakened unions without providing any measurable improvement to children’s education. On the contrary, studies have shown that students in states with strong teachers’ unions do better.
After accusing teachers’ unions of doing something they cannot legally do, you accuse them of doing something that makes absolutely no sense. After all, why in the world would anyone want to “hire teachers who can’t teach?” If that’s the case, then why do unions offer a myriad of professional development opportunities that help make good teachers great and great teachers even better? Not to mention all the stringent prerequisites to becoming a teacher in the first place!
As if your baseless claims weren’t bad enough, you then suggest that teachers “can’t be fired.” I assure you, teachers can most definitely be fired. Unions simply fight to make sure their members’ due process rights are respected. I’m sure you can appreciate this, since military personnel cannot be dishonorably discharged without a court martial. Everybody deserves a right to due process under the Constitution, J. Yes, even teachers.
But, you see, the problem isn’t even the question of whether teachers can be fired or not. Rather, the problem is people like you feeling like they can pass judgment on our profession, support policies that hurt us and by extension our students, and spread a false narrative that exacerbates the problem, just so they can turn around and use us as scapegoats. This, combined with unrealistic expectations, lack of support, and yes, poor pay, often creates a work environment with low morale and high turnover, so that very good teachers leave the profession out of frustration, and potentially great teachers refuse to enter it out of fear.
I don’t pretend to know anything about your profession, J. Please don’t presume to know about mine. Sure, you were in a classroom once upon a time as a student, but that’s like me saying I know your job because I watched “Full Metal Jacket.” Honestly, J, I don’t even know if you actually exist, considering that I only found your letter in click-bait, fake news, propaganda web sites. But I do know there are many misguided and misinformed people out there who think like you do. Hopefully, this letter will help them understand the teaching profession a little bit better.
All the Best,
Mr. Ramon Veunes
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