The Teacher Trap Archie B. Carroll, "The Teacher Trap," zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA North Carolina Education, October 1978, pp. 14-15 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA How do people who live with the teachers view the dilemma in which their spouse is embroiled? This article, submitted by Georgia Association of Educators Executive Secretary Horace E. Tate, was written by the husband of a public school teacher. Archie B. Carroll zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJI If it were not enough that my wife has to carry the burden of the plight of public school teachers today — and we need not elaborate on what all they are — I have to make life so much more difficult for her by continually harping on what I see to be the dilemma teachers face. It surfaces most vividly when I talk with her about jobs in business where good job performance can result in high levels of rewards and contrast these situations with the ones teachers face — superior levels of performance followed by virtually no recognition whatsoever. That is, teachers are not recognized in the highly visible ways we think of as recognition in this society of ours — salary, awards, honors, promotions, and so on. Like most teachers, she has been content for years with this state of affairs. It has only been in the last year or two that I have tended to dramatically point out these inequities that so clearly exist. She tells me that she was perfectly happy until I began juxtaposing teachers' jobs with those in business and other organizations. In this regard the situation became somewhat analogous to the poor kid living in the ghetto. Two basic strategies are available: (1) leave the kid alone — tell him nothing — what he doesn't know about he will not miss; (2) tell the kid what the world is like out there — what a good life is available to him — and this, of course, creates anxiety and a discomfort that has to lead toward some resolution. This sounds like a depressing picture and it is if you think about it too much. One way teachers cope with it is not to think about it. And when they do not think about it all of the rest of us can rest easy because you don't have to throw a bone to a dog that is not barking nor do you need to grease a quiet wheel — as the sayings go. But where does that leave the teachers? That concerns me greatly. I don't think they have been making much progress arguing that if they were just paid more they would work harder. One other option might be the adoption of an aggressive, militant stance backed by labor unions. This can be successful and has been in some parts of the country. Or, they could realize what is happening to them and work hard within the present system to bring about an improved position by demanding better support. Another argument might be to plead for more equity. Certainly the many income redistribution plans propagated by our government in the last decade could surely be justified for teachers. Or we could expect the general tax- i zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA r [ 14] NORTH CAROLINA EDUCATION