Teachers and what they won't say

On this link http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/what-your-childs-teacher-wont-tell-you-517420/ are a list of things that a teacher won't say to parents.  This is not an all inclusive list by any means but it is a glimse into what teachers think.  I am a teacher as is my wife.  Both of us are special education teachers.  An item caught my eye.  One is that teaching is a calling.  That is definitely the truth.  It isn't the pay that draws people to the profession.  Check out sometime what a teacher for your child actually makes.  You can find that on your schools website.  You will be surprised at how little they really make.  Especially when you compare the education level and required certification now required in order to teach and to remain certified as compared to others of similar requirements.  Please don't quote the old tired phrase that teachers only work nine months out of the year.  Yes it is true they get paid for nine months work (180 days) and it is divided over twelve months.  Talk to a teacher find out how much of the summer they really have.  There is professional training that teachers must attend to keep their job.  Then there is reviewing curriculum changes.  Curriculum is basically the information that the teacher must teach for that year.  Then teachers make lesson plans and start collecting all the extras to help with teaching the curriculum.  Teachers don't just walk into a class and just start teaching without preparation.  How many businesses just start going without a plan?  How many succeed?  The same holds true for teachers.  On television today (10/8/09) Jeb Bush in all his infinite wisdom says that teachers should be paid much better maybe as much as twice what they are being paid now.  I agree with that, the problem is what he said after that.  He said pay should be data driven.  Meaning if your percentages are high your pay should be high.  Ok, let's see if this holds true.  So you teach in an economically deprived area and the students haven't had the parental involvement in their lives that economically advantages students have.  Also the schools don't have the resources that schools in richer neighborhoods have available.  So now your pay is dependent on the "on paper" success of your students.  Let's throw in a few special education students to the mix and what do you lthink the result is going to be?  I have been in such a situation.  No child left behind makes no distinction for this type of a situation.  If the students didn't learn it is the teachers fault.  The test says that is the case.  What never sees the light of day is that the students in the class doubled their knowledge and their scores on the tests.  The teacher has been a success but because the students failed the test the teacher is labeled a failure.  This is where Jeb and all the right wingers want education to go.  They want more "charter schools".  This is a subject for another time.  Of course the teacher unions will balk at this and rightly so.  The unions want students to learn and hold many opportunities to help teachers become better teachers.  Also if you are a bad teacher the union isn't going to support you to remain a teacher.  This new (it really isn't new) idea is a really bad idea.  What is really the thrust of this idea is to bust up teacher unions.