I am writing in reply to Fred Blanchard’s letters pertaining to education. The general theme is that teachers are overpaid. Disclosure: I am married to a teacher. I am also the father of three children 100-percent educated in the Brunswick school system. I believe the vast majority of teachers in Brunswick are dedicated professionals deserving of the salaries and benefits paid to them. The modern teacher faces administrative, legal and human challenges that previously did not exist. Mr. Blanchard’s analysis uses only the number of hours per day that a teacher must be in school with students. This is a fundamental flaw. It is routine for teachers to work many hours outside the classroom. In addition to planning and grading, often teachers must utilize complex computerized systems of counting and accountability. The integration of students with special needs into our public schools, a just undertaking, is an additional cost that previously was borne by segregated institutional care.

We rightly expect our teachers to accomplish the tasks assigned to them. But let’s be fair and give credit where it is due by counting all the hours per year that teachers genuinely devote to work. Using that method of measurement, I believe that the remuneration teachers earn is comparable, taking into account even the vaunted summer vacation, to wages paid to professional persons with similar education and experience in our society.

A valid test for any organization is the result that it produces. Our Brunswick school system year in and year out prepares dozens of students for matriculation into the most prestigious colleges and universities in this country. I know of students educated in the Brunswick schools who are succeeding in the very top of their class in nationallyrenowned professional schools. These students are competing successfully against others whose parents invested thousands of dollars in private prep schools. Based upon that criterion I could well make the argument that whatever we are investing in our schools and paying our teachers is a bargain.

Richard A. Estabrook
Brunswick