Dear Santa: I WANT TO TEACH!

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 11:12:37 -0500

Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is a job with security. I don’t even have to make a lot of money; I just want to belong somewhere and know that I am appreciated. I don’t know how to do this though. I went back to college like I was told I should. I decided that I really loved college and I even stayed for an MA degree, when I decided that I would like to teach at a community college. I started teaching at a community college two months after I graduated, one week after getting married, because I love learning and sharing knowledge and creativity and ingenuity.

And, guess what, I love teaching. I love teaching so much, that I am afraid that I am addicted to it. But, that can’t be. Isn’t an addiction a bad thing? Teaching isn't bad is it? Wow…maybe I can file for disability because, I am addicted to teaching but, can’t get any classes.

I can’t get classes. Is it because the taxpayers don’t appreciate us? Wait…that can’t be; I am a taxpayer. Or is it the government? It has to be the government, right? The Governor wants the district to cut up to 10% from their budget. So, even if I could get a few classes assigned to me, by the time the semester comes around, they are likely to be cut, to accommodate the budget crisis.

You see, I am only an Adjunct faculty member. ADJUNCT: A Distressed Jilted Unwanted Neglected Censored Teacher. An Adjunct means: no security. You never know if you are going to get to teach from one semester to the next. And, even though I have been there for 3 and 1/2 years, there are others who have been there longer and they have seniority. Seniority means, that regardless of how involved people are with the well being of the students and the college as a whole, the longer you are at the school, the more classes you get to teach, if there are any to go around. But, then there is the 9 unit rule.

In order to make sure that they don’t mistake us for permanent, full time employees, the college, which is paid for by all my fellow taxpaying Californians, only lets you teach a maximum of 9 units (9 Hours) a week. We don’t want teachers getting health care or paid vacation days now, do we. Healthy, rested teachers might figure out how to change the system.

But, that is moot now any how, they don’t have to worry about giving anyone 9 units; all the adjunct classes are going to be cropped. And, then all of the tenured- faculty get to teach a full load. This doesn’t mean that they will be dedicated to improving the students experience at the college; for example, advising clubs, writing letters to support scholarship applications or attending campus events. No, this means they have to teach the designated number of courses that are equal to a full time load based on the department….mine is 5 classes. But, wait…that doesn’t mean they have to come to campus. No, they can do this from home by teaching an online class. They don’t even have to get dressed and come down to meet the students if they don’t want. Nor, do they have to attend meetings or, volunteer to sit on committees to discuss how to improve the curriculum.

Nope, they don’t. I don’t have to either; but I do. I do because I am addicted to teaching. I love my students. I love the ‘aha’ moments when I see the gleam in a students eyes as he or she, finally gets it! They see the whole picture. They understand why they are there, sitting in my classroom. How for example, it relates to the next class and the next, and perhaps to the rest of the world.

But, that is one place we don’t relate to the rest of the developed world. We have a poor education system that is crowded and underfunded. We are in a recession, companies are laying people off and unemployment is at 6.7% today and may reach as high as 10%. This is the time when we should be investing in our education system; not stripping the cupboards bare. We need to train people to do new things. We need to inspire people to learn and be innovative. We need to invest in our people to make the next silicon valley become a reality. This won’t happen by firing teachers and closing schools. This won’t happen by turning our students away. Britain and France, among others, pay for primary, secondary and college education for their citizens. We fight over who should pay for books and paper! This has to stop. And, the system has to change. Educators need to be rewarded not dismissed.

"That's how I came to be where I am today. My love of teaching is more than the sum of all of the teachers who sparked my own imagination, but without them, I never would have seen the light.

Santa, help me help them see the light, too. Or, at the very least, will you please send me a lightbulb? 'Cause without those classes I want to teach, I won't be able to afford groceries, soon."

Erin Scholnick-Lee's Open Salon Blog

Dear Santa: I WANT TO TEACH!