Holding teachers as moral captives.

We’re an easy target, teachers. Ask any teacher why he or she teaches or what he or she likes about his or her job and surely the response will be that he or she does it for the kids. You probably won’t hear us say we do it for the money.

This heart that we have in our jobs is similar to that of a nurse or a firefighter. We sacrifice our time, sanity, health and lives for the people we serve. We sacrifice for the betterment of our kids, of society. We even call them our kids; love them (some of them) as if they were our kids.

Why does this matter? We are on the brink of losing control over the conditions in which we teach and the compensation we earn for our work. At this moment, we find ourselves in a moral dilemma between our rights and serving our students. If we fight for ourselves, we are labeled greedy. If we don’t, our students will ultimately suffer. We’re being attacked. Forces are telling us we make too much, we’re insatiable, we only work nine months a year. However, most of us don’t do it for the paycheck, although sometimes we find ourselves living paycheck to paycheck.

There is a moral value in our job. A responsibility. This is not a 9-to-5 job. We take it everywhere with us. We’re responsible for people’s lives. Don’t we deserve more? Don’t we deserve respect? Don’t we deserve the benefits we’ve fought so hard for?

Here lies the problem. The minute we start fighting for ourselves is the minute we turn from selfless, giving, patient, education-givers to greedy, lazy people who are responsible for financial disaster. Why? Because of the guilt we incur. Those in the media and those with political agendas hold us captive in moral slavery. When we are bashed, we don’t all tend to fight back too quickly; we may hesitate to speak out for our own rights.

Why? We do it for the kids. The moment we even consider thinking about ourselves is the moment society slaps us with the greedy label. We turn into the bad guys.

— Stephanie Stieber, Chicago

Chicago Tribune, April 12, Voice of the People