Keeping it real

Today, as I pulled out of the driveway, I was aware of the work the city workers must do. They clean our streets, they take our trash and recycling away, they clear the snow away so we can safely drive on the roads, and that only covers a small percentage of city workers. I can not even get into all the work the police and fire men and women do. I am really not sure of how they are paid, but I can only assume there is some sort of base pay that increases over time. These people make so many things possible for us, things we may take for granted. I remember just a few weeks ago, I was irritated my roads had not been plowed yet. But then, I have to remember there are many roads for them to clean. I hope those people get paid enough for what they do. But who is to say what is enough? So, as I was thinking this, I looked in my back seat at my two children who I was driving to school. I started wondering about their teachers and how valuable they are to them, to me, and the thousands of other children across the state. My children spend a large portion of their time with their teachers so I would hope they are doing the best job of teaching my children skills, life lessons, morals, and of course, the basics. I realize my job, as a mother, is to do the same thing as well. However, they spend almost 7 hours a day with my children. Over the years, I have had my run-ins with some teachers that may not be suited to teach. I have also had the great pleasure of getting to know some of the best teachers. From my experience, their age, years worked, or even education were not hard and fast indications of who would be a great teacher. That is why I believe the great teachers should get paid for their excellence. Perhaps, it would even help the "others" politely remove themselves from the teaching field. Maybe, it would even attract others to come if they knew they could be paid for greatness. Everyone has to make money some how, so I can understand why some would chose other jobs that pay more even if their heart is with teaching. They way I see it, paying teachers based on merit is the right way to go about this.