Letters to the editor

Educators wear many hats

In regard to the recent update by Representative Taylor Collins on HF 348/SF 496 published May 11, I take great offense to his comment that “Teachers should teach, and parents should parent.”

With a statement such as that, it’s quite obvious that Rep. Taylor is out of touch with the reality of educator demands in today’s schools, yet he is given a right to vote on education matters in our state. As a retired educator and school administrator (42 years), I wore many hats each and every day: counselor, cheerleader, nurse, clergy, detective, content expert, instructional strategist etc. and yes, PARENT!

Unfortunately, there are some children who come through those school doors every morning requiring more than learning. They require love, nurturing, food and sometimes even medicine that are not provided with regularity in the home setting. While Representative Taylor takes aim at educators, I’m guessing that he won’t be stepping on the toes of parents.

After all, teachers are merely civil servants in the eyes of our current Iowa Republican legislators, paid for by the taxpayers. At some point, there must be a realization that teachers simply can’t do it all! It’s thinking similar to Mr. Collins, that is not helping the current status of education in Iowa both as a teaching profession and academic excellence.

With statements such as, “Teachers should teach, and parents should parent,” I’m thinking that Rep. Collins needs to put some blame on himself for perpetuating Iowa’s educational woes!

Matt Mitchell

Mt. Pleasant

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