so i certainly "get" the teacher's point of view. and as i said, it's a very hard job, impossible to please everyone, and they should be paid more and given more resources and respect.
i hope we're in agreement substantively. my only problem with the post, as i was trying to make clear, was the implication that anything other than teaching the actual subject matter is an annoying incremental "ask". no, these things are part and parcel of the job. and it's precisely because there are so many such things that teachers should be paid more and respected more and given more resources to do these things properly.
my mother used to have to break up fights and discipline kids. and she had to figure out a way to do it without sending them to the principal's office because she knew the kids would get paddled if she did that. my brother has to deal with all kinds of learning and psychological and behavioral issues his students have it's just part of the job.
i'd just prefer it if the letter to the editor explained that the job simply *is* much harder than lecturing out of a textbook and assigning a handout for homework, *because* there's a ton more involved, all these other things the letter lists. and we haven't even gotten into paperwork, state requirements, assessments, continuing education requirements, and never-ending complaints from parents.
there's a lot to the job, people who haven't seen that side of it don't realize how hard it is, and should have a lot more respect for the people who do it.
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