When you enter the field of teaching, you have to be realistic about the income you earn. It was comparable to my income at the time, so I had no issues with the pay. As I taught longer and started looking into other counties in TN, I was surprised to find out Shelby County’s (Memphis) salary for a first year teacher compared to Davidson County. No matter what county you teach in, most teachers would say that they should earn more.
The “Educating the Children of Katrina” article took me back to my first year as a teacher. I had a young man who family had been displaced because of Hurricane Katrina. He was one of my class clowns, but I quickly realized he was just trying to fit in. Once he got acclimated to the new school, he settled in just fine.
In Metro Nashville Public Schools we have a high school that was built environmentally friendly. Cane Ridge High School was built with a geothermal heating and air system, energy-efficient windows, solar sun shades and high-efficiency fluorescent lights. Since “Green Schools Don’t Make the Grade”, didn’t yield the return that was promised. Maybe environmentally friendly is a compromise that might show more promising results.
The “Hidden Problems of Child Farmworkers” article found it hard to estimate how many children farmworkers there are under 18. Many of the child farmworkers, work long hours and are exposed to dangerous chemicals. Unfortunately, it is all perfectly legal.
