As teachers have engaged more and more with the political process, especially around pensions, we wanted to create a space where teachers could share how they have engaged with legislators. These are their letters:
Dear Legislator,
When our son told us he was majoring in middle school education with endorsements for both math and social studies. We had mixed emotions. His father and I are both teachers, I have since retired, and we know how incredibly challenging the job can be. Honestly, we tried to talk him out of it. We did not want him to go into such an unappreciated profession with sub-par pay. He is a smart boy and we envisioned him as an engineer or lawyer one day. However, as teenagers sometimes do, he ignored our pleas. He proceeded to follow his calling because he enjoys working with kids and aspires to coach both football and baseball on the middle or high school level one day. Our only consolation, aside from the fact that he would no doubt positively impact future generations, was that he would have a good, solid pension to sustain him in his later years. Now that is in jeopardy.
Defined Contribution with 401a and nothing to fall back on when the market fails is a deal breaker; a gamble he is no longer willing to take. A senior with student teaching planned for next fall, he is now seriously considering other avenues. He says he will finish what he's started since he is so close to graduation, but is now looking into dental school as a second choice.
Our best and brightest are no longer choosing education as a career choice. It is a sad time in Kentucky.
Sincerely,
Traci Brown, NBCT
Dear Legislator,
My wife and I are both working within the school systems. I am Physical Education teacher and my wife is a School Counselor. I personally have always wanted to be a teacher since I was in high school myself. When I went off to college, I changed my mind and graduated with an Exercise Science degree and ended up working at Lowe’s instead of using my Bachelor’s degree for a job. I worked my way up from the bottom in Retail. I went from pushing carts and loading bags of soil and mulch to managing a department and being an Assistant Manager for the store. This job never filled that empty hole that I had within myself. It was a good job with good benefits and good pay. At the end of the day, it was just not what I wanted to do and I felt I was here for more than retail. While working in Retail, I went back to school and began the MAT program so I could finally pursue my career to be a teacher 7 years after I graduated from college with a Bachelor's degree. After a year of being in the MAT program, I was finally able to find a teaching position at a high school to teach young kids about Physical Education and health. I took a significant pay cut to do what I love and I do love what I am doing and know that I will always have the passion to teach kids about physical education. My decision to become a teacher made it slightly more difficult financially at home, but is still manageable to pay all the bills and have a little left over. Also, the pension made it a little easier because I knew my family would be fine financially after retirement. With the talk of the pension system going away and changing from what I am CURRENTLY paying into and agreed to, is frightening because it is unknown how financially stable my family will be after retirement and will probably have to work a different job just to be able to make it. Doing this also will take away important family time and moments that I could cherish in the future. Please, vote no on this restructure of the retirement system and please find an alternative way to fund the issues. I want to keep doing what I love and live where I love doing it!
Thank You for everything that you do,
Michael Ritchie
Dear Legislator,
My name is Chris Spoonamore and I am a Secondary Social Science instructor at Montgomery County High School; focusing on Psychology, Sociology, and World History. This is my 18th year as a classroom teacher and I have absolutely loved my experience as an educator.
I felt called to ministry early on, but felt that I would be unable to carry out the will of the institution when I disagreed with so many examples of mistreatment of people. This is how I ended up in teaching. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of our teenagers. I don't preach to them, I only listen. I allow them to express their concerns and thoughts and then offer them opportunities to improve their situations. I teach them to problem solve and work together for the betterment of each other.
I chose this profession because the public school and its teachers supported me and pushed me to get a degree from Transylvania University. My mother and father made a total of $19,xxx when I was a senior. I did not grow up with wealth, I grew up strong and proud. This is what makes public schools vital to our society. Public school employees play a huge role in our students lives. We inspire future doctors, lawyers, and yes, even teachers.
I implore you to work with your stakeholders. Listen to us. Allow us to help guide you like so many of us did when you were young. Some of you cannot help that others stole from our pension fund. But you can make a change. You do not have to choose to hurt the ones vital to our society's way of life. You can find the funding to fulfill your promise to fund education and future generations.
Just imagine if your teachers did not fulfill their promises to you to push you to become something better.
Respectfully,
Chris Spoonamore
Dear Legislator,
When our son told us he was majoring in middle school education with endorsements for both math and social studies. We had mixed emotions. His father and I are both teachers, I have since retired, and we know how incredibly challenging the job can be. Honestly, we tried to talk him out of it. We did not want him to go into such an unappreciated profession with sub-par pay. He is a smart boy and we envisioned him as an engineer or lawyer one day. However, as teenagers sometimes do, he ignored our pleas. He proceeded to follow his calling because he enjoys working with kids and aspires to coach both football and baseball on the middle or high school level one day. Our only consolation, aside from the fact that he would no doubt positively impact future generations, was that he would have a good, solid pension to sustain him in his later years. Now that is in jeopardy.
Defined Contribution with 401a and nothing to fall back on when the market fails is a deal breaker; a gamble he is no longer willing to take. A senior with student teaching planned for next fall, he is now seriously considering other avenues. He says he will finish what he's started since he is so close to graduation, but is now looking into dental school as a second choice.
Our best and brightest are no longer choosing education as a career choice. It is a sad time in Kentucky.
Sincerely,
Traci Brown, NBCT
Dear Legislator,
My wife and I are both working within the school systems. I am Physical Education teacher and my wife is a School Counselor. I personally have always wanted to be a teacher since I was in high school myself. When I went off to college, I changed my mind and graduated with an Exercise Science degree and ended up working at Lowe’s instead of using my Bachelor’s degree for a job. I worked my way up from the bottom in Retail. I went from pushing carts and loading bags of soil and mulch to managing a department and being an Assistant Manager for the store. This job never filled that empty hole that I had within myself. It was a good job with good benefits and good pay. At the end of the day, it was just not what I wanted to do and I felt I was here for more than retail. While working in Retail, I went back to school and began the MAT program so I could finally pursue my career to be a teacher 7 years after I graduated from college with a Bachelor's degree. After a year of being in the MAT program, I was finally able to find a teaching position at a high school to teach young kids about Physical Education and health. I took a significant pay cut to do what I love and I do love what I am doing and know that I will always have the passion to teach kids about physical education. My decision to become a teacher made it slightly more difficult financially at home, but is still manageable to pay all the bills and have a little left over. Also, the pension made it a little easier because I knew my family would be fine financially after retirement. With the talk of the pension system going away and changing from what I am CURRENTLY paying into and agreed to, is frightening because it is unknown how financially stable my family will be after retirement and will probably have to work a different job just to be able to make it. Doing this also will take away important family time and moments that I could cherish in the future. Please, vote no on this restructure of the retirement system and please find an alternative way to fund the issues. I want to keep doing what I love and live where I love doing it!
Thank You for everything that you do,
Michael Ritchie
Dear Legislator,
My name is Chris Spoonamore and I am a Secondary Social Science instructor at Montgomery County High School; focusing on Psychology, Sociology, and World History. This is my 18th year as a classroom teacher and I have absolutely loved my experience as an educator.
I felt called to ministry early on, but felt that I would be unable to carry out the will of the institution when I disagreed with so many examples of mistreatment of people. This is how I ended up in teaching. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of our teenagers. I don't preach to them, I only listen. I allow them to express their concerns and thoughts and then offer them opportunities to improve their situations. I teach them to problem solve and work together for the betterment of each other.
I chose this profession because the public school and its teachers supported me and pushed me to get a degree from Transylvania University. My mother and father made a total of $19,xxx when I was a senior. I did not grow up with wealth, I grew up strong and proud. This is what makes public schools vital to our society. Public school employees play a huge role in our students lives. We inspire future doctors, lawyers, and yes, even teachers.
I implore you to work with your stakeholders. Listen to us. Allow us to help guide you like so many of us did when you were young. Some of you cannot help that others stole from our pension fund. But you can make a change. You do not have to choose to hurt the ones vital to our society's way of life. You can find the funding to fulfill your promise to fund education and future generations.
Just imagine if your teachers did not fulfill their promises to you to push you to become something better.
Respectfully,
Chris Spoonamore
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