A Bargain

My union, the Oakland Education Association, would like me to know that we are currently experiencing a bargaining process. This news comes a little like being told by climate scientists that we are currently experiencing a global warming process. This seems to be a state of being, rather than an exception. Teachers seem to be collectively bargaining across this great land of ours. This great land of ours that currently sits somewhere toward the back of the pack when it comes to academic achievement worldwide. Teachers are paid, on average, fifty-six thousand dollars a year. I live in one of those rare spots on the map where salaries hover close to a more comfortable sixty-nine thousand dollars a year. Not that I make that, not even after twenty-one years of service. And while I live in a state that also boasts one of the highest costs of living, I can take solace in the fact that I don't live in Arizona.
Elizabeth Milich, who teaches at the Whispering Winds Academy, posted her pay stub on Facebook: showing that she makes a little more than thirty-five thousand dollars a year. Even more with the one hundred thirty-one dollar bump she received for taking professional development courses. Congratulations to her on the raise, but she wasn't looking for that shout out. She was pointing out just how ridiculous it is that a job that requires a college degree pays such a pittance. Lots of people like to thump their chests and laud teachers for doing the job they do for such paltry paychecks. Some of these same individuals will roll their eyes when they hear that teachers are asking for raises. Again.
Meanwhile, I sit by and watch the free agent market for professional athletes continue to generate multi-millionaires, some of whom received their college degrees while others have not. I understand, as an educated person, that this is a matter of comparing apples to oranges. I don't really want their job, and with a very few exceptions I believe they are happy pursuing their dreams. My dream is different. After spending more than two decades climbing the ladder, I can boast a living wage, along with job satisfactions and frustrations that make me wonder if I am on the right path from time to time.
Like the time when we are undergoing a bargaining process. Which makes me wonder, if teachers were to be armed, if that process might change.