School has always felt somewhat ideal. Not ideal in the concrete sense — we would all love Hawaiian Punch water fountains and heated toilet seats — but ideal in the sense that it has always felt safe and consistent. We might fail a tough test every once in awhile, but there is a sort of barrier that protects us from the “real world” and keeps us snug in a place where questions have a single right answer.
Because of this, any rift in the net of stability is unsettling to students. Over the past couple of weeks, word of tense contract negotiations between our teachers and the Board of Education has spread.
Ordinarily, few of us would even know that such discussions were taking place, but as the adults in our building begin to make visible protest, we are drawn into a situation that demands our awareness.
Teaching seems so much a part of our teachers’ lives that sometimes we forget that it’s their job, and witnessing them engage in such a dispute has served as a reality check. It has shown us that our teachers face hardships and difficult decisions just like anyone else, despite the fact that they may put on their best faces for us in the classroom.
This developing situation is, of course, unfortunate, but it also presents a unique learning opportunity and beckons us to rise to a greater level of maturity as students. Because there are multiple possible solutions, we are left caught between members of our community (perhaps our own parents) and the adults who we look up to and rely on every Monday through Friday.
We support our teachers and want the very best for them, but how should a student respond when he or she can’t come into school early for extra help? Is defensive action on the part of our teachers in conflict with society’s moral dedication to its students?
The school district inherited a significant rollover from last year’s budget. Is our Board disrespecting our teachers by denying them a pay raise, or is it acting in our best interests — or both?
Tough questions like these come about when more than one of our values or desires come into conflict. While they may have no single right answer, they encourage us to be more aware of the disputes and passions that surround us, as well as the fact that where issues of spending are concerned, compromises are sometimes necessary. Most importantly, they present ethical dilemmas that we’re all likely to encounter throughout our lives.
