Are you one of the millions of Americans that tunes in to your favorite late night talk show? If so, then you are probably familiar with the use of real news stories that these so-called ‘comedians’ use as their use as an axis for their poorly rehearsed comedy routines. This is one main reason that I choose not to watch late night comedy shows. Whether it is Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, David Letterman, etc., I still find their choice of subjects to joke about is rather tasteless. Of course, one of these ‘late night kings’ that I have come to absolutely loathe is none other than Jon Stewart. My choice of topic, which is stated in the title, appeared as a segment on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Trust me, I was not watching this video for entertainment value… and didn’t really find much in it anyway. However, while watching the video over and over I have found that Mr. Stewart actually makes a few valid points. I was actually highly shocked and very impressed with exactly how supportive he is toward teachers in this video. I must say, at first glance I thought he was criticizing teachers. However, I listened to it over and over and listened to all the details and I actually came to realize that, between his smart-alec sounding comments and his ‘jokes,’ he actually appeared to show a bit of sympathy toward teachers. This video is definitely a video that can rub you the wrong way the first time you see it, like most late-night television shows, because you don’t really understand what the host’s personal opinions are behind the sarcasm and ‘comedy.’
I, for one, believe that it is completely unjust and unfair to compare the salaries of teachers to the salaries of those on Wall Street. Let’s face it, teachers barely make enough money as it is, and most with families to care for are nowhere near scratching the surface of financial security. The people on Wall Street are, though. The people responsible for helping to slowly destroy our economy are the ones getting all of the money. The subject of teachers being paid by taxpayers was brought up in the video. However, teachers only get paid a small fraction of the federal tax money that goes towards education. Of course, education is on the low end of the totem pole in our country by only receiving 3% of federal taxpayer dollars (Cbpp.com), which is a sad truth we have to face. No wonder schools are cutting arts and music classes in schools country wide; but this is another touchy story for another time. In Kentucky, the government is allotted close to $5.5 billion (Teacherportal.com) each year to go towards the schools across the state, which isn’t a lot. Only 1/3 of it goes toward paying the teachers, which is only a little over $1.6 billion a year (Teacherportal.com). I have had teachers in Jessamine County who have abandoned their teaching careers and have gone back to school to pursue something that pays much more. I honestly don’t blame them, but praise them. Get out from underneath all of this federal bull while you can. Sad part about it is, there are just as many people out there waiting to get a job as a teacher as there are piss-ons who already work for the schools. What gets me is the fact that some people don’t understand that teachers struggle the way all middle class Americans do right now as well, especially if they have families; whiners may make it sound like a teacher’s $50 thousand a year and health benefits are a luxury. It’s not like they’re sitting on a throne doing absolutely nothing all day. Jon Stewart picks fun at people implying teachers are rich in the video as well: “They’re not big shot teachers with their….. desks and seemingly endless supply of multicolored construction papers. Oh! And their number 2 pencils, I guess number 3 pencils aren’t good enough for ‘your majesty!’” I think this was a very good statement in the sense that it mocks the people who over-exaggerate what teachers really do have.
In the video they ran clips of news shows talking about this subject. In one segment of the clip a lady said that teachers don’t get paid as much as those on Wall Street, but she was interrupted by another person who said teachers don’t work as much either. Here’s where I stand on this: no, teachers don’t work as much, but they have just as important a job as the bankers on Wall Street do. A teacher’s job is to fill the minds of our young Americans with knowledge so that they may navigate the rough roads of life with as little trouble as possible. A Wall Street banker’s job is to attempt to get our economy out of the hole, but they obviously fail at that job: look at the economic crisis we’ve been facing! Jon Stewart agrees in his best joke I have ever heard out of the man: “See the difference? Regardless of the greed-based, almost slightly sociopathic job bankers did wrecking our economy, those people were there every single day twelve months a year.”
Now, tell me how being a teacher is even remotely comparable to being a banker on Wall Street? If anyone should have docked pay, it is the Wall Street bankers. They work more than teachers do in one year, so why would it hurt to pay them a little less and deserving teachers and other working middle-class citizens a little more? Someone in the video mentioned that Wall Street bankers are guaranteed bonuses under legal contract; while this may be true, most contracts are only good for so long and have to be renewed. Take advantage of expiring contracts and change benefits! In my opinion, all of this is just 100% pure common sense that the government refuses to pay any attention to. In today’s society an average household income is a bit over $46 thousand. We all know that is not good, especially in today’s economy; the cost of living goes up little by little every day. $46 thousand (Mybudget360.com) is almost poverty level, if it isn’t already. Granted $250,000 isn’t necessarily comfortable for larger families, but it is a whole lot more for smaller families and single people.
In the description below the video, it says “When will America's teachers follow the lead of Wall Street and start making some sacrifices for the children?” America’s teachers already make sacrifices for their students. They teach them. They stay late at work to grade papers or attend meetings and sacrifice personal time with their own children to teach ours. In my opinion, they are already making enough sacrifices for some pretty sorry pay. Also, by asking teachers to make sacrifices, you lose good teachers who teach the people to run our country right. If anyone should be making monetary sacrifices, it’s the wealthy C.E.O.s and Wall Street bankers they talk about in the video. Jon jokes that they have to pay these people ‘top dollar’ to keep from screwing our economy up more, when in all actuality, money cannot necessarily buy better help. They can fire the dumb guy and hire someone without knowing that that person is twice as dumb. We definitely need to put more focus on asking for sacrifices from people who are much better off than the people they are already asking for sacrifices from.
Sources:
Sources:
“How much does the Average American Make? Breaking Down the U.S. Household Income Numbers.” Mybudget360. MyBudget360, n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2011.
Jon Stewart. “Crisis in Dairyland - For Richer and Poorer - Teachers and Wall Street.” Thedailyshow. Comedy Central. 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 Aug. 2011.
“Kentucky Teacher Salary.” Chart. Teacherportal. Teacher Portal, 2004. Web. 23 Aug. 2011.
“Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go?” Chart. Cbpp. Cbpp, 15 Apr. 2011. Web. 23 Aug. 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment