A teachable moment

Excuse me while I climb on my soapbox for a brief rant and rave.

We have a teachable moment now in Wisconsin, but what is the lesson?

Many in the state are still celebrating the “hero” packers on their super bowl win. It is not that I don’t like the packers – I do – but should we be making heroes out of millionaires who are good at playing a game while we vilify the much lower paid teachers? As of 2007, the minimum pay for a rookie in the NFL was $285,000, many times what an experienced teacher can expect to earn.

And how did they get to their respective positions of employment. For the NFL player, typically they went to college on a scholarship and were trained by a head football coach who was paid millions more than the next highest employee at the school. Some of the future NFL players decide to forgo their senior year. What does the NFL do to help encourage education? It may lend some support to a “stay in school” PSA. On the other hand, the teachers are often paying for school through student loans rather than scholarships. Many teachers will go on after the four years of a Bachelor’s degree to work on a Master’s degree.

Is it any wonder that a young person would rather play than do homework? So, next time you wonder “why can’t Johnny read?” ask yourself, can he run off tackle? Which one does society say is more valuable?