The Grade They Deserve

A group of teachers from several local school districts are planning what they call a 'grade-in', in which they will occupy tables at a mall to demonstrate how much and what kind of work teachers do outside of the classroom. The event is intended to show how hard they work, making lesson plans, grading papers, and so forth, on their own time. The point is to draw sympathy for educators in light of proposed budget cuts.

What to say, what to say? That teachers have a lot of work to do after hours is obviously undeniable. That they even merit a degree of sympathy is fair enough as well. But beyond that, well, they aren't the only ones who work from home or, as will be the case later today with their pseudo-protest, a mall food court. They are not the only people who find they must work extra hours to get their jobs done.

They surely knew as well when they elected to go into education that this would often be the case. In light of all that, why they feel that they deserve a special kind of sympathy is a question which stands begging for a suitable answer. Again, not they should not receive a decent sympathy for the work they do. But we don't see other people who work just as hard in their off hours calling society to task in such a public manner.

So good teachers work hard; give them their due. Indeed, as actions speak louder than words, the good ones are generally noticed anyway. But this particular action speaks to a different tune, and it is fair to wonder what is really meant by it.