That's not precisely status quo, unfortunately. There have been relatively few organized campaigns from teachers of late, and newspapers, no fans of unions, tend to color their coverage against us, leading the public to believe we're a bunch of parasites feeding at the public trough, producing nothing. The fact that we teach their children is meaningless.
I'm a parent, and I'd say teachers are second only to doctors in their importance to my kid. Of course, I know all the editorials in the tabloids are total crap written at the behest of their publishers--who for all I know are playing tennis with Mayor Bloomberg at this very moment.
But the real encouraging news is if we can get the word out, if we can get off our butts, we can bring about real change. Now the problem is only how to wake up that sleeping giant. Three terms of autocratic union-busters at Tweed have left an atmosphere so toxic many teachers are afraid of their own shadows. Ironically, it's their own fear that condemns them to the mistreatment and vilification of the media/ Tweed partnership.
And the only cure is to get up, stand up, just like Bob Marley used to sing. Have we got any teachers who can sing like Bob? We could use one or two just about now.
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