To Whom It May Concern

Teachers Need To ZIP THE LIPS!!

Once again, teachers in Nebraska are doing the usual complaining that they don't make enough money, using the most common misleading and deceitful tactics in order to trick the public into believing the ignorant rhetoric that spills forth from their mouths like so much rattling of the empty can.

The economy stinks right now, I don't know what it's like for other states, but Nebraska is having a horrible time budget wise trying to make ends meet, everything is being slashed, from university funding to law enforcement, but that doesn't seem to matter to teachers. "We hold the nation's future in our hands, yet we make the same salary as an automobile mechanic" was what one teacher said recently.

WOAH, now hold on just a minute and lets do a little research about what she said right there. Now, this teacher and the auto mechanic both make a salary of $26,500 dollars a year, BUT.... something to consider in all of this, a teacher works 9 months of the year, where as, the auto mechanic works a full year to gain his salary. So, let's break this down into a more realistic comparison of the salaries of these two occupations.

Teacher: $26,500 for 9 months = $2944.44 dollars a month

Mechanic $26,500 for 12 months = $2208.33 a month

This teacher has a SUBSTANTIAL gain over the mechanic, based on the REAL numbers done mathematically. And, if you were to take the $2944.44 by 12, to figure out the actual salary of a teacher, the total comes to $35,333.28 for a year.

"Oh, now that's not fair" you say? Sorry, I don't have much sympathy in the way of teachers, they knew going into this profession that they were going to have that three months each year where they would not be working. "But a teacher has to work late at night to correct papers and get ready for the next days classes." So what?!?!?!? Do you know how many professions require those working them to be on the job, either at work or at home, working from home, for 60 to 80 hours a week? And let's face it, teaching isn't some horribly hard job, anyone who tries to say that it is SOOOOOOO terrible needs to spend some time working in a factory, or driving a cab, or doing some fast food, because any of those jobs and a thousand others are a damn site harder than being a teacher.

And, as far as the whole "holding the nation's future in our hands" statement, just what do you think happens when a mechanic works on a car, or a police officer directs traffic, etc? There are so many jobs that hold just as much importance as far as how they affect the future as a teacher's job does. Don't get me wrong, I respect very much what teachers do, however, I don't believe for an instant that they deserve more money, especially when the economy is doing so poorly.