If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people. — Chinese Proverb
Editor-In-Chief, Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier III, MD, COL (ret.), MC, USA
My mother is an educator, and I have observed her impact on countless lives. Most of my career as a physician has centered on the medical education of resident physicians. My second daughter has a master’s degree in education. Until recently, she was a second-grade teacher within an economically challenged area. My mother and daughter are the heroines in this editorial, since the resident student material I molded had already been appropriately shaped by teachers of children. My success in my medical career can be traced to those early educators who had the patience and skill to see potential in an otherwise insufferable child. I am eternally indebted to those educators who awakened my mind to the possibilities the erudite mind can achieve. Sadly, my daughter has left the teaching profession, partly because the compensation is not nearly commensurate with her education level or the teaching profession’s resource demands.
Low teacher pay began with public education’s inception in the 1800s. Women were recruited for the emerging profession because they generally had few work options, had limited access to higher education and accepted lower wages, generally. Centuries later, the pay disparity persists, with some estimates suggesting teachers receive 23.5% less than comparably educated professionals.1 Without too much effort, my daughter was able to find an office management position with a financial firm for higher pay and far less stress. Like most educators, she is a good teacher. She gave all of herself to her class (hence the stress) but could no longer justify the effort for low pay and little institutional support. My wife and I fully championed her decision to leave teaching, despite feeling education was her calling. What father would encourage a child to persist in a system that poorly compensates their workers and fails to adequately support them?
As a taxpayer and a defender of our democracy, I am more than a little concerned by the systemic problems within our educational system that my daughter’s flight from teaching represents. From my perspective, a healthy democracy requires an educated population to function. A populous lacking critical-thinking skills inherent to a trained mind is susceptible to beguiling, lying and tyrannical leaders. Child educators are the first line of defense against those who would steal our freedoms and destroy our democracy. Our own unpleasant history of slavery illustrates my point. Between 1740 and 1834, many Southern slave states enacted laws prohibiting slaves and free people of color from learning reading and writing. Slavers knew an uneducated population was easier to manipulate and control. Some readers might find this example a bit hyperbolic. I disagree, for if we fail to learn our past lessons, we are doomed to repeat those mistakes.
I would also note that the pace of technological development on this planet is not slowing down. If we are to remain competitive in the world of the future, a highly educated population is required. Perhaps too soon for the collective comfort of humans, machines and artificial intelligence will quickly supplant humans in performing most forms of manual labor. This new reality will demand ever greater creative and critical human thinking skills if we are to remain the masters of our machines. Unlike many pundits, I do not fear developments in artificial intelligence. Educated humans throughout history have demonstrated a tremendous capacity to adapt to evolving technological advances. As a developing writer before the age of word processing, I know this to be true in my own life. I have enjoyed advances in computer science, communication and other life-changing technologies because I benefited from a good education.
Euphemisms exposing the virtues of educators, like the one I used to introduce this editorial, are flattering but woefully inadequate. I believe that education and educators are the secret sauce, the vital element and the essential ingredient to enjoying a productive life and maintaining a successful democracy. It is high time that we, as a society, stop just thanking teachers and begin demonstrating our appreciation for their incredible work by paying them what they are worth. No physician, nurse or health professional reading this column today got here without a teacher’s selfless devotion and effort early in their lives. Those teachers generally received far less remuneration for their efforts than you. We need to reward these superheroes of our society by resourcing the school systems and paying respectable wages. If you enjoy the benefits of this country and modern medicine, pay the teachers.
- Hughes, s. (March 3, 2023) Teachers are underpaid. Is that changing? Marketplace (https://www.marketplace.org/2023/03/03/teachers-are-underpaid–that-changing/) Accessed July 6, 2023.