Preachers preach, teachers teach 24/7

I'm a preacher, and have been reminded ever since I was in seminary that preachers preach 24/7. Officially dressed, officially representing or not, the people of the community know who and what I am, and are watching every move I make, listening to every word I say, and evaluating.

Teachers are teachers, and 24/7 the members of their community, especially the students are watching. So what, then, are the implications of a teacher's strike?

If you don't like what you are getting, go on strike, demand what you want, and hold out until you get it.

I remember the days when public servants were not allowed to strike. They were, rather, to submit their requests and grievances to a mediator or arbitrator. These things were worked out behind the scenes so that the public perception of policemen, firemen, teachers, and the like, would not be damaged.

Damaged. That, you see, is what systematically happens to teachers every time the union calls for and affects a teachers' strike. The public, and to no small degree, students, see teachers as people who are interested in money and fringe benefits, not students and their welfare.

I have said, tongue in cheek, that the day a teachers' strike is settled, the students should go on strike. Insist on higher grades, less homework, lower standards for grading, shorter classes. After all, that's what your teachers have been teaching you throughout the strike, isn't it?

Perhaps the teachers in Missoula, Polson, and anywhere else they are contemplating a strike, ought to reconsider. With no animosity might I say that I have done my homework (pun intended), and know that teacher salary scales are not exactly at the poverty level. In preaching, doctoring, lawyering, banking, you name it, even teaching, there is something called "entry level" salary. No one starts at the top. That's not realistic.

What might well be realistic might be for teachers to realize that they are already among the better salaried people in most communities, especially after a few years' experience. What might well be realistic might be for teachers to understand that they just cannot expect the community to raise taxes and raise taxes until we cannot afford them any more. What might well be realistic might be for teachers to understand that they are teaching, especially when they are on strike, and to ask themselves just what it is that they want their students to learn.

Might there be an organized picket outside the school the day after the strike is settled?

Rev. M.J. Nicolaus, Ph.D.

Ronan