21st CENTURY TEACHER APPLICANT

Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with
all those kids and fill their every waking moment with a love for
learning. Not only that, I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride in
their ethnicity, behaviorally modify disruptive behavior, observe them
for signs of abuse and T-shirt messages.

I am to fight the war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check
their backpacks for guns and raise their self-esteem. I'm to teach them
patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, how and where
to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook and how to apply for a job.

I am to check their heads occasionally for lice, maintain a safe
environment, recognize signs of potential antisocial behavior, offer
advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and
scholarships, encourage respect for the cultural diversity of others,
and, oh yeah, always make sure that I give the girls in my class 50
percent of my attention.

I'm required by my contract to be working on my own time summer and
evenings at my own expense toward advance certification and a master's
degree; and after school, I am to attend committee and faculty meetings
and participate in staff development training to maintain my employment status.

I am to be a paragon of virtue larger than life, such that my very
presence will awe my students into being obedient and respectful of
authority. I am to pledge allegiance to supporting family values, a
return to the basics, and to my current administration. I am to
incorporate technology into the learning, and monitor all Web sites
while providing a personal relationship with each student. I am to
decide who might be potentially dangerous and/or liable to commit crimes
in school or who is possibly being abused, and I can be sent to jail for
not mentioning these suspicions.

I am to make sure all students pass the state and federally mandated
testing and all classes, whether or not they attend school on a regular
basis or complete any of the work assigned. Plus, I am expected to make
sure that all of the students with handicaps are guaranteed a free and
equal education, regardless of their mental or physical handicap. I am
to communicate frequently with each student's parent by letter, phone,
newsletter and grade card.

I'm to do all of this with just a piece of
chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a 45 minute
more-or-less plan time and a big smile, all on a starting salary that
qualifies my family for food stamps in many states. Is that all? And you
want me to do all of this and expect me

NOT TO PRAY?