Education

Educating our children should always be a priority, but we also need to consider the education and job training of the parents. If the parents of low-income families were provided the opportunity to obtain the necessary education and/or job training to provide for their families, we may very well find that there are fewer in need of other financial support, such as welfare, and possibly decrease the number of welfare recipients over time as new generations grow up in a healthier, more positive environment that fosters educational success and financial independence.

We also need to do more to help ensure the financial security of our educators. The current average starting salary of a public school teacher is pathetic relative to what is asked of them, both in the classroom and out. I grew up a son of a teacher, my father, so I was witness to what teachers do for our children, and how every year we are asking increasingly more and more from our teachers. Our teachers are no longer just educators, they are ad-hoc counselors, parental figures, disciplinarians, and even sometimes friends for the students when the situation warrants. Some, or all, of these roles should be expected of our teachers from time to time, but unless you have witnessed it first-hand, you probably wouldn't understand just how much of an average day a teacher is no longer able to do what they were hired to do: teach.

A lot of why our teachers have, over time, become more than educators is most likely due to the changing priorities of parents today. Our teachers are doing much more than should be asked of them, and it's time that they be compensated as such.