In this Aug. 9, 2012, file photo, officials walk towards the field for an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins in Orchard Park, N.Y. The NFL and referees' union reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday, Sept. 26, to end a three-month lockout that triggered a wave of frustration and anger over replacement officials and threatened to disrupt the rest of the season.
Associated Press
Thank goodness the professional football referees are back on the job. Democrats and Republicans united over this important issue and pressured the league to end the lockout. It would have ended civilization as we know it if they hadn't found the money to increase the referees' salaries $24,000 in 2013, to increase their retirement income and to hire more officials.
The screams from the public to get the knowledgeable professionals making the decisions warmed the hearts of all true Americans. I am so grateful the officials are getting the respect they so deserve.
I can hardly wait for that same public pressure on the Legislature to adequately fund education — increasing educators' salaries more than the pitiful $358 total master teachers in our district have received in the last four years, increasing rather than decreasing educators' retirement income and hiring more teachers so there aren't English classes of 40 students and math and science classes of 44.
I anticipate the cries of support for education professionals to make the decisions and the demands to give them the respect they deserve. Oh, wait. Priorities must be set. Teachers are only entrusted with our children's future. That can't compare to a football game.
Virginia Riley
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The fact is there are about 1,700 players in the NFL. There are 3.6 million teachers.
If you can do something; that most people cannot do, then you make more money.
It is money, BCS and bowls for instance, that skews the equation. Schools and fans fantasize that win-loss translates into educational excellence. The Ivy League, MIT, Cal Tech, and others clearly negate that argument. There may even be a negative More..
We bemoan the poor state of education in our state. Yet, what are the headlines in the paper today? It's all about high school football. The biggest problem with education today is that our societal priorities are in the wrong place, and not More..