To the Editor:
Do teachers get paid enough … no!
I taught for 38 years in the inner-city. Kids there didn’t generally do well on standardized tests. I taught them how to succeed and they took the test and ‘aced’ it. The entire group scored above the 90th percentile. This got us a letter from Trenton suggesting that we ‘cheated’ on the standardized test. They couldn’t understand how Brown or Black children from the inner-city high rise, one-parent families could possibly score so high … unless they ‘cheated’ somehow. They didn’t cheat! They learned and did it well.
I used a different method. I ran a computer lab and used a publisher of computerized math skills for children. The Millican Math project has a series that covers all the necessary skills needed to be successful and understand how to solve a math problem. We used this daily for months and the principal watched every day. Nobody cheated. They learned.
The people in Trenton couldn’t believe that our kids did this without cheating. That was until the principal picked up the phone and gave hell.
To further indicate what teaching is all about, I’ll share this. I made a good salary as far as teaching goes, but with a young and growing family, I needed more. So, with a few teachers with a like desire and a Catholic inner-city priest and a Methodist minister, we formed a nonprofit corporation and applied for state and federal grants. We were enormously successful.
Our first grant amounted to over $200,000 and was recurring. In fact, it was refunded every year for over 20 years.
We opened an after-school program with these funds that ran all year long and through the summer months, as well.
We also applied for numerous other grants, and we were successful, as well. Many of the kids that came through our doors are now completing college and some are also now teachers.
Do not underestimate an educator. They deserve more money, but they also know how to augment their paycheck using their professional skills. Anyone who cries about how their salary is small needs to get off their collective butts and do what we did … use your educational skills and know-how. Create your own source of extra income! Start a nonprofit corporation and fill a need! There is funding available. Check out nj.gov/education/grants/opportunities/.
