Students should get involved for improved higher education

Editor,

I would like to respond to the last week’s invitation from James Burbank to spit on teachers.

I am familiar with satire, having been exposed to it by Adams of overusing-hyphens-and-non-sequitur fame. I am also familiar with the ongoing issues that have plagued our public education system for years: high teacher-student ratios, low teacher salaries and slacking curriculum.

Even in Wisconsin, the belief that we can fix this system lives on. Where do we start?

A sensational piece of writing can bring attention but changes little. Such attention drawn by a song-and-dance routine lasts only until the audience clicks back to Facebook. Good satire clears a mental space where the reader can stand back and view the situation anew. In hopes of transforming a sarcastic and potentially offensive letter into a promising satire, I would like to follow through on my obligation to ponder this situation.

I am a native-born New Mexican and have attended school in this state for almost 16 years. Teachers have played a large role in my life. When Burbank’s letter parodies the appraisal and corresponding treatment of teachers in our culture, I cannot help but stand with him in his discontent.

Rather than government-subsidized day care, teachers are the essence of education. Education is part and parcel of civilization. Without my education, I could not write this letter or even appreciate the one that provoked it.

If we value education, then clearly teachers deserve more respect.
The value of education is deprecated by the consumers.

Many college students treat education as a mere means of improving future employment. This reduction stuns me. For most, college is the last opportunity for open and personal expression before being shipped downstream by their careers. Others simply enjoy the continued high school Eden while they wait for real life to start.

Frankly, I have trouble concentrating on my grammar lecture with Justin Bieber whispering from two seats over, let alone the guy watching Red vs. Blue in front of me. Are we, as students, doing our part? I acknowledge that the administration is not doing its.

One sure failure is a hiring freeze astride rising admissions followed by a pay cut that discourages teachers.

The economy and legislative budget only make things worse. The education institution has been put into a downward spiral with decreased student interest, increased student debt, decreased staff and increased enrollment. Where does the system break down first?

What is the value, rather than the price, of our education?

After all, many of the classes that UNM freshmen take were free (and some required) in high school. Are we willing to work for our education? We can see that others are willing to suffer for it.

Cory Kalm
UNM student