by Elizabeth Olivier

Created on: March 06, 2009   Last Updated: March 10, 2009

Imagine you are a pediatrician. You are done with appointments for the day and are reviewing patient files at your desk before going home. Suddenly, a man, presumably a parent, is standing in front of your desk, visibly upset about something. You wonder where he came from. He must have walked right past the receptionist's desk. He proceeds to tell you his name and his child's name. You begin to process the information, trying to remember if there is something out of the ordinary in the child's file that should upset their parent. There are so many patients it can be hard to remember every detail about each one without glancing at their charts. Before you can think of anything, the man continues on, informing you that you have misdiagnosed his child because you obviously have no clue what you are doing. He then tells you the proper diagnosis along with what medicine should be prescribed and demands you write the prescription on the spot or he will sue for malpractice.

Most people would take one look at this scenario and wonder about security. Why would anyone try to force a doctor to prescribe a medication for their child over the doctor's medical judgment? The average person would go pay for a second opinion if they disagreed with their doctor before resorting to blackmail. The assumption is that the doctor went to school to study the subject and, although they are not infallible, they have more expertise in the matter. The same average person, however, would not hesitate to enact this scene with a teacher. Every day, teachers encounter students, parents, administrators and politicians who question their ability to teach and dictate how these trained "professionals" should do their jobs. Practically every one who has ever been a student thinks they know more than the teacher in the classroom; and, they act accordingly.

Adding insult to injury, teachers are the poorest paid profession. It is not meant to imply that a twenty-year veteran with a master's degree does not receive a level of compensation which is livable; but, compared to other professions, this veteran teacher may not have reached introductory pay. In fact, there are some high school drop-outs making more money than first-year teachers by working in factories. Many rationalize that teachers only work nine months per year, forgetting most teachers work far more than forty hours each week during the school year, spend part of their "vacation" time preparing for the school year and cannot make enough

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