All my life, my mother has been a public elementary school teacher. Even before I was born, she taught first grade at an elementary school in Massachusetts. As I’ve grown up, I’ve paid attention to both the opinions of the general public and to the reality of what goes on inside a typical public school in our nation. I’ve grown up listening to my mother and the horror stories she tells, the stories of misconduct, of drama, of unfair treatment, and most of all the deeply touching tales that remind you of what it’s really all about: the kids.

Here is the first and foremost thing to understand: Anybody who is not or has never been a teacher, will never understand what it is like to be a teacher. The cruel reality is that the people in our government, both local and national, who are supposed to be in charge of education truly know nothing at all about education. Those businessmen and women and government officials who are supposed to be helping our schools really have no idea what a real public school is even like.

Public school is a microcosm of the universe. This is something my mom always told me as I was growing up. My mom and dad both had parents who were teachers, but with the difference that my dad’s parents taught at boarding schools and my mom’s parents taught at public schools. My dad attended boarding school for his entire high school career and my mom did just the opposite and attended her town’s public high school all four years. The difference between public and private schools is just that- public school is the start of the real world.

As opposed to a private school, public education cannot say no to anyone. If you breathe, they have to take you. There is no selection or screening. You live in the town, your child is allowed to go to the public school there. Simple as that. However, this means that there are people of all different sorts at public school. There are kids who are privileged, kids who come from rough backgrounds, kids from different types of families, kids who don’t have families, kids who do well in school, kids who don’t do well, kids with learning disabilities, kids with special needs, kids of a different race or religion or sexuality or economical background than you, and so much more. Public school teaches you how to get along with others and how to recognize that life is not perfect. Not all people are perfect and the only way to get along in this world is to learn how to deal with that. If you can handle some of the idiots you meet in high school, you can handle anything.

Now, this diversity in public schools is what causes the rest of the nation who doesn’t know any better to freak out and think that we are so behind in the world in terms of education. In some ways, we are. But not in the ways that those helicopter parents are willing to help out with. Why does it look like we are behind? Well, truthfully, we have one of the most educated populations in the entire world. Since public institutions aren’t allowed to turn anyone away, we educate the high majority of our population. In other countries with higher test scores that we all seem to worry about constantly, they don’t educate as much of their population. Countries that outperform us in test scores only educate their top elite and the rest of the population is left with only a primary education. We have lower test scores because we educate EVERYONE through secondary and even post-secondary levels, not just our nation’s top elite students.

So no, we technically aren’t really that far behind those other countries we worry about so much. But what are we actually underperforming in? Well, for one, public schools severely lack infrastructure. If you’ve watched or read the news recently you may have come across some shocking images from public schools in Detroit. Truthfully, many public schools across the country look like that. Poor air and water quality, things breaking and falling apart, roofs leaking, walls crumbling, school lunches inedible and expired, etc. Public schools aren’t exactly the prettiest places on earth.

Another thing that we underperform in is paying our teachers. Being a public school teacher in the U.S. has turned into almost a joke. The salaries in the average school district are laughable for the things that teachers have to put up with. In fact, many school districts in our area have had their teachers go without contracts for three years in a row. This means that as the cost of living rises, the teachers do not get the pay raise to match it no matter how hard they work.

Besides unfairness from a legal standpoint, there are also everyday situations that many can’t even begin to imagine dealing with. My mom has told me stories of children who constantly scream during class, throw things, can barely speak or walk without assistance, and even a child whose behavior problems are so physically threatening that the school had to go into a lockdown and call the police last week due to him throwing a fit in the hallway. Keep in mind, these are elementary schoolers.

There are so many factors that cause these situations and problems in American public education. However, the bottom line is that our teachers put up with more than we could possibly imagine and far more than most parents assume. Public school teachers need their voices heard, should be treated with more respect, and of course receive higher pay.