Random Thoughts of a Bus Driver "Priorities"

     Have you ever told your spouse that there was just not any money in the house hold budget for an item that they were considering and turned around and bought something yourself that was even more expensive?  How did that work out for you?  No matter how you try to justify your reasoning it all comes out the same, “If there wasn’t enough for one item then there defiantly wasn’t enough for a more expensive item”.  Recently eighty million dollars yes that is an eight with seven zeros, was moved from the Alabama Education Trust Fund into the General Fund.  The reasoning being, whether you believe the figures or not, that the Trust Fund had a surplus of one hundred forty million dollars and the General Fund was going to come up short.  At the same time it is reported that from 2008-2014 Alabama cut funding to schools by 17.3%, the second highest in the nation.  As a teacher in the state of Alabama I have received one, yes that’s a one with no zeros, state mandated raise since 2007.  That raise was a staggering 2%.  In that same amount of time the cost of living has increased by over 10%.  If you have been in education for any length of time you have found that you are at the top of the pay scale and if my math is correct I now make 8% less than I did ten years ago.  I do not profess to understand the entire goings on in Montgomery, I’m not sure even those that work there do, but I have missed something somewhere.  If you have a surplus large enough to bail out the general fund than why am I making 8% less this year than I did eight years ago and no real promise of a raise in the future.  Don’t tell me that there is not money in the budget.  If this works I’m going to let Montgomery explain to my wife why I was able to buy that new shotgun and we couldn’t get the living room furniture.  I was recently reminded of a phrase that is found in the ethics laws that govern what a state employee is allowed to except from outside sources.  Teachers being a state employee are also bound by this law.  The phrase used is “de minimis value”.  The definition given for this phrase is “something so small that accounting for it would be unreasonable”.  I understand the reason for having ethic laws but I’m sure they were not put in place because someone was concerned that a kindergartner may bring undue influence on his teacher for a grade of satisfactory in hand writing.  Yet this phrase has also sums up how those in positions of power and sometimes the general public have come to view those who work in education “something so small that accounting for it would be unreasonable”.  We talk about how children are our most valuable resource.  Teachers have been in hundreds of conversation that end with “You couldn’t pay me enough to do your job”.  We hold those who work in education to a much higher standard than the general public.  As an example let a teacher get cross way with the law and when it is reported on the news they will say how they are a part of education, what role they played, and what school they worked at.  I have never heard a news cast of a robbery where they said, “The robber has been a part of the plumbing work for most of his life and worked at Joe’s Plumbing”.  I’m not saying those in education should not be held to a higher accountability.  I am saying along with higher accountability there should also be the respect and yes salary that comes with being held to such.  Yes it is a rewarding job, yes I love working with students, and yes I count myself blessed to be in education but none of these will buy my groceries or pay my mortgage.  Many reports now show that teachers are now leaving the profession faster than they are entering.  I am not asking to be a rich man; I would be willing to scrape by on the paltry salary of a Montgomery politician.