Everyone agrees that teachers should be paid a good wage - at least those who have proven themselves to be the best. They've got a tough job and in some places like our current Secretary of Education's old digs - Chicago Public Schools - a near impossible one.But there has always been the unwritten understanding that working for the taxpayer as a teacher involved sacrifices. Teachers would measure their value to society based on how many young minds they were able to reach, how much they were admired by the community, and how much personal satisfaction they received from the teaching. The job was largely its own reward - at least, that's the way it used to be.Now, teachers are just another bunch of special pleaders, grasping for as much as they can get from the taxpayer regardless of their performance. Personal satisfaction at being good at what they do is so far down the list it's damn near invisible. This attitude manifests itself in how shockingly bad our schools are and how much...(Read Full Post)