Over the past couple of weeks I have experienced, through personnel observation, teachers getting ready to go back to school in the fall as well as those teachers who are on a year round schedule finishing up there first week.
Here's is what I have observed....

For all those teachers who will be returning to the classroom in the fall they have begun to amass the supplies that they will need for their classroom.  This includes composition books, folders, pencils as well as many other items which one can find in the school supplies section of most retail stores.  For those of you in the field you understand exactly what I'm speaking about.  But those others this is the right of passage for teachers to prepare for the new school year spending money out of their own pockets for supplies for their students and the classroom.

While our government is gracious, did I say gracious, to allow for teachers to get a $250 dollar credit on their taxes it doesn't even begin to compensate the actual amount teachers will spend to have the tools they need for their classroom each year.   For many that figures can top the $1000 mark! 

Not only do many teachers have to scramble to make ends meet to help support themselves and a family they are also called upon to support a classroom family.  Personally I think this is asking too much.  Could you imagine showing up to work for IBM, Microsoft, or any other company and having to supply your office with computer paper, staples, and scotch tape?  Well unfortunately this is what our hard working educators are being asked to do.  Hello is any legislator listening?

So what is my point here?  Well over the past two years our State Legislators have grappled with trying to put together a budget that includes how to compensate teachers.  And here we are 11 days after a budget should have been in place and these esteemed folks still haven't figured out what their going to do.  Is it going to be 3%, 5% or have some have suggested 11%.  Heaven forbid if its 11%.  That means a teacher making $40,000 a year will get an additional $4,943 a year or $411 a month.  On face value that seems like a great increase until you consider that it has been over six years since a teacher last had a raise.  So to amortize this over those past 6 years we're really taking about $68 a month raise but given inflation and the six years after taxes that works out to around $55.  Is that all teachers are worth?

But hey our State Representatives have more pressing issues to deal with in the budget.  They still are arguing whether or not to increase the advertising budget for the state lottery.  Really!!  So we can all experience more stupid television commercials.

Oh a final point.  Those teachers that were shopping after the end of the first week of school were including bottles of wine along with their supplies purchases.  It must have been a challenging week for them.

Thanks for the great week.  Teachers have learned to endure those hardships.  Remember that all of you can inflict the same hardship at the polls and cast your vote to send those unsupportive legislators back home.