Teachers have never had it easy

Nancy Kinder, Las Vegas

Wednesday, March 13, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.

In response to Kathi Mentlik’s letter, “Stop complaining, start teaching,” I am over 40 and do remember that class sizes were big and we all pretty much learned. But do you remember that we respected teachers, parents supported the teachers (and helped in the classes as you stated in your letter) and parents were involved in education?

I taught for 32 years, and everything was different “back then.” Many of today’s students are disruptive. The more students you stuff in a classroom, the more time you spend on discipline. When I would call a parent, if I could get in touch with them and speak their language, many times they implied that I was the one causing the problem. If I called to talk about a student failing my class, they wanted to talk about why I took their child’s phone. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t necessarily all parents but ...

As far as the teachers putting each kid in front of a computer, I ask, “When were you last in a school?” There are not enough computers in this district for every kid to sit in front of one.

If we could go back to the “good old days,” teachers’ only duty would be to teach. Now teachers parent, counsel, do administrative and custodial tasks besides learning new standards, teaching methods, English-language learner strategies and new technology to name a few — and all for no pay raises.

Walk a mile in a teacher’s shoes, then you can ask them to stop complaining.