Readers who should have taken a class in logic

     After my last blog, I received several messages saying the reason things like that happen is that we don't pay teachers enough. In fact, I heard from several teachers. They opined that if we just paid teachers better, we would fix the educational system. In fairness to these readers, this is a mantra I have heard repeated over and over by teachers through the years. Now don't get me wrong, I love teachers. My mother was a teacher. Many of the favorite people in my life have been teachers. And it's entirely possible that teachers are underpaid, but this line of argument coming from teachers is proof of just how screwed up things are.
     Listen to what they are actually arguing.... Raising teacher salaries will solve the problem. That means one of two possible things. Either they mean that higher salaries will allow the schools to hire competent teachers, while the present salary level does not. Or... it means that if we pay teachers more, they will start doing a good job instead of the crappy job they're doing now. Now it's possible that either or both of these things may actually be true, but remember that this argument was coming from people who are presently teachers. What they're really saying is that 1) I’m incompetent and should be replaced, or 2) I’m not going to do a good job until you pay me more! Either way, not a very bright thing for a teacher to say.
     I know this is going to piss some people off, but that’s what they’re saying. And I fear that as long as so many people so intimately involved in a problem situation can not discuss it with a little bit deeper thought, we will continue to be screwed.