once a year rant

mark it down folks. this is a rant. i don't often behave this way in public, but you know...today is just one of those kinds of days. i am seriously wondering why it is that teachers are paid so little that a person can not work as a teacher in the public schools of our state and be able to provide for his/her family as a one-income wage earner. has it always been this way? if so, i just don't understand it. i mean, i teach three kids everyday...for about 3 hours, and i'm worn out. who says to teach is not work? obviously the person who has never done it! it seems like it ought to count for more than poverty level income for a man or a woman to go to work 40 hours a week within our state's schools and teach the next generation. oh...is it the summers off? gosh...you know...with all that money they make through a school year, i'm sure teachers just have it made and can sit on their butts and do nothing all summer! yeah right...the one that chooses this profession to earn a living is out working in the summer to try to make up the difference for the rest of the year! not just in the summer either! he/she must take a second or even third job after school and on weekends just to earn above poverty level. is the degree not legit? why go to school for four years and then pay thousands for a graduate degree so that you can rise above the poverty level income if you could just go down the road and get paid almost double to ____________??? i'm not even going to fill in the blank b/c this isn't to rip on the jobs of others or meant to de-value what they do. my point is that i believe that teachers in our public school systems are under-valued, thus under-paid. come to think of it, maybe its that the idea that a man should be able to go out and provide for his family so that his wife can stay home and nurture and educate the children has become archaic???? has our school system become a place for women to go and get jobs? women that are the second wage earners in their family? maybe so. heck...it'd be a GOOD second income! but for the love of pete, when i type in the numbers and find that our family can qualify for $500 in food stamps because we are that far below poverty level, it just seems like there's a problem!!! is it the 6 kids??? maybe. so, i re-did the screening and indicated that i had "only" three kids, and we still qualify for $300 a month is food assistance. granted, i'd never take it, but still...come on! maybe i should have stuck at the national average of 1.8 children, put them in daycare, and gone to work as a teacher. is that really what family's have to do to make it these days? its sad. so sad. it makes my heart ache. even as i am starting out the day as a full-fledged pessimist, i will choose to thank God that He alone is truth and justice and goodness. He is my strength and my refuge. i am safe to put my trust in Him. i have no doubts that we are right where we need to be for this season. but gosh...its just frustrating sometimes. my once a year rant is over--you won't hear it again.