Speakout

Teachers don’t get paid enough

I’m sure you’ve had any number of people call in about tonight’s Speakout about the call that said teachers. I would just like for that person to spend one week in a teacher’s classroom, doing the work that the teacher does and understand the pay that person gets to do that work. They didn’t take months off. They had to work in a very odd situation, with online, trying to get the kids to understand what they are trying to get them to do. It was very difficult, I’m sure. I just want people to stop thinking teachers don’t deserve a raise. They don’t get paid near what they deserve for the job that they do. And all the money they take out of their own pocket to take care of children of who don’t have the supplies they need or the parents refuse to get it for them. Again, teachers don’t get paid enough. They’ve done their job and the person who thinks they know what their talking about, come in and do the job for at least one week, even one day, and I think they’ll find out that the teachers do deserve more money.

Teachers aren’t only ones impacted

Great Speakout call. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard teachers say how hard it has been on them during COVID. No joke. It’s been hard on all of us. I don’t care that teachers are getting a raise. Good for them. But stop acting like you are the only ones to be impacted by the pandemic. It is insulting to the rest of us.

Not all teachers deserve a raise

As one who has spent time in a classroom, I can say that not all teachers deserve a raise. Many do. They work hard and care about their students. Other teachers phoned it in during the pandemic. But what can you do? Just like in any job there are good and bad. Let’s salute the good and hope the bad get better or find other jobs.

Proud Sikeston teacher

This is in response to the Speakout on Aug. 4. The caller says teachers aren’t martyrs. I just want to say I’m going on my 25th year of teaching. I have never worked harder than I have in March in 2020. Sent home, not working. I worked every single day, Zooming with kids, getting assignments sent out, videoing lessons to be sent out. I had a 100-plus students when we got sent home in March 2020. I called every single one of them and talked to them and their parents. When school started in 2021 I had quarantine students. I wasn’t required but I called every one of them to introduce myself. We teachers were scared. We took a lot of protocols to protect your kids. I’m not sure if your kid didn’t do their work in the spring of 2020 with an iPad that was provided for them by SPS. Sikeston has done a great job with COVID and I’m proud to be an SPS employee. You should be proud that you live in such a great school district.