Mothers as Teachers... no more.

In a time when more families have two working parents and many children are being brought up in single-parent homes, it seems odd that school schedules still reflect the agrarian society that once dominated our landscape. I know some will contest this fact, citing that many farms and farmers would not agree to a nine-month calendar, 8am-3pm each day, because it is completely out of sync with the farming schedule. But it came from somewhere and my bet is that it has something to do with milking cows in the morning before school, picking cotton after school, planting in the late spring, and harvesting in the late summer. Then it just became ingrained into our culture that school would run during these days and hours. This was a perfect fit for a mother who wanted or needed a job. Mothers became a readily available workforce as educators that allowed them to balance the needs of their family with the ability to earn a couple extra dollars. The nuclear family has changed, and education has remained stagnant. But now teachers want to be taken seriously, myself included. No longer is education a place solely for mothers or even second-wage earners. Teaching has, and should continue to, evolve into a profession that is highly respected in our society.

Teaching is a cushy job... my personal experience would tell otherwise, but seriously, a 6-hour and 50-minute day, 185 days a year. Long vacations, ten sick days, two months off in the summer? I agree that perhaps teachers need time off to plan, assess, evaluate, self-reflect, etc. but who is holding us accountable to doing that? No one. In what other profession do they trust all of the employees to be doing all these things unsupervised, undirected, and on their own time? I'm not arguing for more demanding supervision, nor am I saying that teachers should teach more classes. I believe that teachers should work normals hours, normal days, and be treated "normally," and, of course, should be paid accordingly. Oh, and then teachers should also be held accountable for actually teaching their students.

Our nation's teachers are no long just mothers. They are mothers first, and fathers, and grandparents, and recent graduates, and career changes, etc. It's time we start structuring education so that teachers put in the time to gain the respect they so much deserve.

...list of questions that I will not provide the answers for (right now, but expect me to!):
1) How much time should students spend in school? And is it all in traditional-style classes?
2) How should teachers be held accountable for planning and reflecting?
3) How do we retain teachers who do not want to become a principal or AP?
4) What should be the necessary training to become a teacher?
5) Professional development - what is this? It's not professional, nor is it developing anything.
6) Teaching for a new economy - what needs to be taught to a generation who has all the information at their fingertips (see Eric Schmidt on GPS)?
7) How does student learning figure into calculating teacher success? And how do we assess student learning?