I called my daughter-in-law, who is a teacher, to find out what she had paid for child care per month for their son before he started school this year.  It was $900.00 per month, eight hours a day, four weeks a month. That adds up to $5.62 an hour for babysitting.

Teachers have 26 children in a room.  Multiply that by $5.62 for one child each hour, times 26 kids, 8 hours a day and they would make $1,169.00 each day, or $4675.84 a month. Or, for nine months, $42,082.56---Just for babysitting.  Starting salary for a credited teacher is $40,600 this year.  They would make more money as a babysitter.  They wouldn’t have to get a degree in English, math, science or anything else.  Or go in debt for four years of college.  They wouldn’t have to prepare lesson plans or teach anything.  Or deal with unruly students.  Babysitters can refuse to take your children.  A teacher can’t.  They have to deal with the bad egg.

My mother was a teacher, her two sisters,  their two daughters, my uncle (who was Oklahoma teacher of the year) Ken, me, my daughter Pat, my son Jon and his wife Jennifer and my granddaughter-in-law. That’s twelve.  I’ve heard every horror story about what was imposed on them by administrators--for which they weren’t paid.  Standing gates at ball-games, riding on buses at night to events, grading papers at home, substituting for sick teachers, unpaid, on their own time--and that is the tip of the ice berg.  Free Public Education is the best bargain in the world.  Teachers take the huddled masses and teach them to read write and do arithmetic, as well as counsel those who are mistreated, bullied and living in poverty.  They stay after hours to tutor a child who needs extra help.  I could go on and on.  As I said, I have twelve teachers in my immediate family.  I also have three engineers, and three doctors--those twelve teachers could have chosen a different occupation. You have to be dedicated to helping others to be a teacher.  They could make more money babysitting.