Good teachers make 100 correct decisions every day

There is an undercurrent of anti-education that runs through every community in America. Many people like teachers at low prices, but if they hear that a classroom teacher with 20 years’ experience and a master’s degree plus 30 credits who also coaches a sport or two not only enjoys medical and dental coverage but is bringing home $75K for the contracted 185 days of the school year, they start getting agitated.

That resentment is playing out in Wisconsin right now as Gov. Scott Walker has set about to strip the union rights of public workers.

This “gravy train is over” mantra will spread across the country and once again angry cliques of taxpayers who are overfed and undertrained will target teachers as being overpaid and underworked. A good teacher is worth 100 times what he or she gets paid. Good teachers make a hundred right decisions every day to help kids. And the smarts and personality traits needed to do the job well require talent, artfulness, compassion and empathy - and quite frankly most mature adults would get absolutely destroyed during a daily six-hour classroom lockdown. Personally - oh no, not this part - my wife and I spent a lifetime helping other people’s children, it’s just who we are. So when someone steps across and helps anyone in my clan for any reason, my appreciation is immeasurable. Tell a teacher thanks and don’t worry about how much he or she makes. Spend that time knocking down your cell phone and cable bills.

Hearing acuity - The smarter the person, the funnier and more entertaining he or she becomes as senses begin to dull at the edges. Last Wednesday, Feb. 23, before the Smyrna at Polytech game, the officials were introduced through what sounded like a washtub amplification system as Lloyd Mears, Alan O’Neill and Rufus Thomas. Rufus seemed to glance sideways and I thought, “Rufus Thomas sang ‘Walking the Dog,’ ‘The Funky Chicken’ and my favorite, ‘Can your Monkey Do the Dog?’ That’s not Rufus Thomas. That’s Rudy Thomas.”

I heard Rufus but I’m not sure anyone else did. I do give myself credit for all the mistakes I don’t make when covering a high school sporting event.

Free bite - Every dog gets one free bite; it’s in the law books. There was much community weighing in this week on a posted story of Milford athletic director Glen Stevenson picking up a left-behind wallet on a Walmart photo counter and leaving the store with it.

I know Glen in a writer-to-athletic director relationship and know lots of Milford coaches who say he is just a good guy in no need of spontaneously snagging a wallet left on a counter in Walmart with over $800 in cash inside. Who has $800 in a wallet, leaves it on a counter, then wants to press charges for lack of character? I’d hate to have my mug on websites as the nice guy; just chain your wallet to a belt loop if he is near you, sportswriter. “Do the right thing and always tell the truth,” Grand Mom Rose said. “And stop stealing donuts at the German bakery.”

Snippets - Jimmie Allen, Cape graduate, not to be confused with Jimmy Allen, 1975 point guard, is not only on “American Idol,” which I have never watched and won’t, but he is also the nephew of Magic Johnson. That is verified ‘cause I’ve seen the pictures. Jimmie has great talent and confidence and was great as the lead in freaking “Footloose” when he was at Cape.

I’m not offshore, open water, deep sea guy, but I know if a vessel is approached by another it is always cause for concern and I’m not cruising near the Horn of Africa without a shoulder sidewinder missile launcher. Back in the day when I owned a 13-foot Whaler I had a ball cap that read “Captain Canal.” Cruises to Norma’s sub shop were just the best.

Go on now, git!