Are teachers overpaid and glorified babysitters?

This question has been asked time and time again.  For many who feel they are overpaid and glorified babysitters, they must remember this…Compared to any city job, teachers are required to have the highest level of education, and over the course of their career, they make the least amount of money.

For those that feel that they are glorified babysitters, they must remember this.  Try putting 30-40 students together, which come from all different social and economic backgrounds, put them in one class, keep them focused and educate them.  How easy is that???  On top of that, try dealing with the school administration, parents and the school district when measuring a student’s ability to learn, as well as testing them on how well they understand the knowledge you have taught them.  Being that all students learn differently and grasp certain concepts differently, a teacher must adapt and apply numerous teaching methods to satisfy their students learning needs. 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I never had a babysitter teach me how to read and write.  I never had a babysitter teach me how to add and subtract.  I never had a babysitter teach me how to apply critical, analytical and conceptual thinking, or even how to think in those terms for that matter.   In fact, the last babysitter I had made me dinner, put on a movie to watch with me, then fell asleep on my couch while waiting for my parents to come home.  I didn’t even get story time before I went to sleep. 

At a young age, many students feel that school is a waste of time.  I beg to differ.  School does more than just teach you math, science and history.  It teaches students how to work with one another, as well as how to interact with one another in a professional manner.  Basically, it teaches students how to better adapt and handle social environments.  The policy of the New York City Department of Education is to prepare students for college the minute they enter the school system.  Why, you ask?  According to statistics, college graduates have demonstrated that they can follow through with an assignment that can cause a high level of mental stress; they make better employees, earn higher salaries, have a better standard of living and are overall more successful.  In fact, many people I know today that did not finish school have stated at one time or another that if they could go back and do it all over again, they would have taken school much more seriously. 

Of course there will be dead weight in any company or organization on this planet, but overall, teachers are molding and sculpting the young minds that will one day be the future of our society.  You cannot put a price tag on a good teacher, for their work and altruistic nature are invaluable to society.   Those that try have never stood in front of a class and think it is so easy to be an overpaid glorified babysitter.  If it is so easy, why aren’t more people putting in the time, money and hard work to become one?  People like that are arrogant and ignorant.