Teaching a choice, not a consolation

I just read with indignation Sunday’s Q&A; with Sue Bryant, dean of

UCI’s biological science school (“FOCUSing on the Future”). Her claim

that “We have some really smart kids who don’t get into medical

school who would make great teachers,” feeds the myth that teachers

choose their profession because they can’t do any better.

Unfortunately, Bryant’s opinion has already filtered down to our

youth.

As a high school teacher in the Irvine Unified School District, I

often get the query from my students as to why, with all my

credentials, honors and potential, including more than 80 units of

postgraduate work, I am “just a teacher.”

I graduated from UCLA cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa (for those of

you who don’t know it, the oldest and most respected undergraduate

honors organization in the United States) with a double major in

Spanish and linguistics.

Before declaring my majors in my last quarter there, I took

several premed classes such as organic chemistry and advanced

calculus because they were an easy break from my more academically

demanding and time-consuming humanities courses. I could have easily

pursued a career in science or medicine, but chose to follow one I

was passionate about. As a teacher, I would have greater influence on

curing the ailments of our future society than any medical doctor

could.

Until people such as Bryant stop considering teaching as an

alternative for those who don’t make it into other, more esteemed

professions, we teachers will continue to lack the respect,

recognition and remuneration we deserve. Shame on Bryant.

Also, I am sending this on to my daughter, a UC Davis Phi Beta

Kappa double-major academic honoree, who is pursuing her master’s

degree in education and completing her teaching credential at UC

Santa Cruz. I will also send it to my recent graduates from Northwood

High School who have chosen teaching as a career. Fortunately for all

their future students, they, too, have chosen teaching as a career,

not an alternative.

* DEBORAH E. MEANY is a Corona del Mar resident who teaches as

Northwood High School.