The writer is responding to a Monday letter from Wayne Drye, “Teachers have a pretty good gig.”

Teachers may have had a pretty good gig in the old days, but those days are long gone.

You quote 250 days — I guess that is for an eight-hour day? Most teachers spend at least 10 hours a day working, not to count weekends grading papers or working on lesson plans. Many a summer day is also spent planning for the year ahead.

Yes, some people work in places that may be physically challenging. Teaching children and young adults can be physically, emotionally and mentally draining.

Do you have any idea what it is like to have a classroom with 20 children coming from a variety of backgrounds — from the girl who needs to sleep because Mom and Dad were fighting last night, or the boy who is crawling under desks barking like a dog, or the young one who has been passed around from auntie to uncle?

It is a very stressful job, but I have never met anyone who didn’t complain about their job at some point.

It’s too bad North Carolina won’t allow teachers to unionize. I was in a union up North; it protected my rights as a worker and fought for my raises. When I came to North Carolina, it was, “You will attend a meeting any and every day or evening we designate.” ‘You will eat lunch in the cafeteria with your students.” “You will not have a break from the time you arrive until the time you leave.”

Even migrant workers get a 20-30-minute uninterrupted lunch break. Have you ever tried eating with 20 children? Very unappetizing.

Colleges are having trouble recruiting students into education. Nobody wants that job anymore. People can’t afford to be teachers. Who will be teaching your grandchildren?

You say you are not bashing teachers — but really, you are.

— Carol Schmitz-Corken

Salisbury