Education, it's something we all need to have a successful life. Educated people make a stronger country and more money. Through education we move forward as an individual, country, and species. Can you imagine if we were all still getting around on horseback?

Everyone preaches doing well in school to make a better future for yourself, but what about the educators? Teachers are crapped on nationwide. Sorry. That's about as clean as I can be on the matter.

Most teachers I know have no budget for student supplies which means most are ponying up their hard earned paychecks to make sure they have what they need to educate their students.

They don't whine or complain because they know what they're doing changes lives. And, eventually, all of our futures.

I constantly get into arguments with those that believe America is the greatest country on Earth. I hate to bust your bubble but we're not. Not even close. Just look at how we treat education in this country for instance.

We are constantly slashing funds from the budget and we pay our teachers like ditch diggers. No offense to ditch diggers but teachers control the future of this nation because they are raising the next generation of Americans.

This is a major issue. Which is why I am so happy that the Illinois lawmakers FINALLY stepped up to the plate.

According to ILNEWS.org, "Lawmakers passed a bill that would mandate local public schools set minimum pay for teachers at $40,000 annually by the 2022-2023 school year. The union-crafted legislation would set the minimum teacher pay at $32,076 for the 2019-2020 school year and scale up to $40,000 by the 2022-2023 school year. The minimum would then be raised commensurately with inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Lawmakers would have the ability to vote against the CPI-based raise."

Honestly, I still think we can do better but this is a HUGE step in the right direction.

We are lucky we still have any teachers at all. They get no respect and no compensation for the tremendously important task at hand. Thankfully, there are plenty of people in this country that care and want to educate no matter what. But, the way things have been, the profession is a total turnoff.

I am hoping to see two things happen once this policy gets off the ground:

1. Teachers getting the help and compensation they need and deserve.
2. A new found inspiration for more to be educators.

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