I am a 26-year-plus veteran teacher.

I am making payments on a $12,000 school loan for a master's degree that I completed two years ago. The incentive was two-fold: To assist others in the integration of new technologies into the classroom, and to make a needed advancement on our salary schedule. I am considered a successful and effective educator. However, without an incremental salary increase, through the furthering of my education and training, I would not have incurred such a debt.

I continue to hear from colleagues and others, "Well, you didn't go into teaching to become wealthy!" Hmmm, I don't remember taking an oath of poverty either. Even a beef-packing plant will pay for its employees to receive additional training. Does Microsoft expect its employees to go into debt just to remain working there?

Those of us in education are no less human than anyone else. All of our families have similar basic needs. Additionally, we all have personal hopes and dreams that aren't necessarily related to our careers. I have mouths to feed, clothes to purchase and a roof to keep repaired. Each year I sign a contract for 180 days of teaching. I am then criticized for "having summers off." Since I have no choice in the matter, it seems a moot point. I doubt I could register for unemployment in the summers.

If my salary increases are to be based on a student's success, or their ability and/or desire to learn, then it seems other public servants should be under the same system. My friend, the firefighter, should be paid according to whether or not a house is saved from the flames. Law enforcement would receive merit pay based on the prevention of crime. How about others, like doctors and attorneys? It seems there is little acknowledgement of the individual traits of students as they come to us from varied backgrounds, environments, cultures and languages. No Child Left Behind was an awesome sentiment but quite naïve in reality.

I understand that we are public employees and not paid through the more capitalistic system of big business, but something is very wrong with a system that doesn't sufficiently reward those who educate EVERYONE -- namely, us -- the practitioners. No, our system pays administrators, techies and secretaries more than many of those who actually provide students with free, public education. All of the decision-makers in Olympia and D.C. didn't get there alone. They had teachers who helped them develop the necessary tools to pursue their own hopes and dreams for the future.

I am sorry for the dissertation here. I am simply tired of the hype, the unfunded mandates, the public ridicule and the general lack of understanding by those outside our profession.

* Dennis Miller lives in Yakima.