As a student, this may sound a little odd to you, but there's something about school that I've always liked. I think the main thing I've liked was the learning and the knowledge I gained. Knowledge is something I hold quite highly, and school seemed like the best way to gain it and to share what of it you have with others. Of course, who are the individuals who try their best to get us the best learning experience; to ensure that we can reach our greatest potential? The answer is teachers, the ones who dedicate themselves to our betterment and learning.

Being a teacher certainly is not an easy thing. If a student fails, it's the teacher whose head gets put upon the line. And hey, I know there are days when they feel like they've just had enough, especially when the kids just won't be quiet. For all that they go through though and do for us, it doesn't seem that teachers are appreciated enough. I mean, appreciation from students can be anything from simple cooperation to telling them just how much they've inspired you. But it's not the students that I'm worried about.

The teachers in my district are the lowest-paid out of twelve of the closest school districts. The staff's negotiating team has been trying to work out a deal with the administration for quite some time now, but the highest raise the administration is willing to offer them is 2.23%, which is just not enough. Two close districts received 5% and 6% pay raises, and they were already being paid more than my district's staff, so why shouldn't ours?

On a similar note, I was browsing the Press-Enterprise website today when I saw that Beaumont (not one of the twelve districts we are compared to) has been offered a 4.7% pay raise, in a package that includes both salary and health benefits. This is great for the Beaumont Teachers Association, especially considering that their staff are already paid more than ours.

The most intriguing thing I learned is that our superintendent is the highest paid superintendent out of all twelve of the neighboring districts. That is just what I see as wrong: our appointed bureaucrat is paid the most out of all of the twelve districts, but then our teachers are paid the least. Definitely interesting that our district, even though it has the lowest-paid teachers, is offering even less than districts that are currently paying more.

I don't see it as fair: educators, whether in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, or even colleges, influence us so much, but yet they are given so little in return. They help motivate us to strive to meet our potential and step up to take our place in the world. We are gifted to live in a nation with a free public education system. I think these teachers really need to be treated to the pay and respect that they deserve from their district.

Some of the teachers are even threatening to move to other districts if the pay situation does not improve. This would be devastating for me and the other students here, for they are truly gifted educators paving the future for the next generation.