Sports and schools

Professional athletes train hard and work hard, even in the off season. They get media attention during the season, and have topnotch facilities to train and compete. They certainly get banged and bruised, but they get compensated well. They get quality medical attention, and retire with decent pensions after a relatively few years of play. Then they often have at least modest celebrity to build another career on. They get media attention for a short hospital visit to a child or for a sports camp for kids. This is all a consequence of the support of fans, TV and corporate advertising.

Now contrast that with people who work in public service—let’s say teachers. Teachers get little attention. The public is reticent to pay the costs of good schools. The time parents volunteer at schools is nothing to the time they watch sports on TV. Teachers are banged and bruised, too, as they deal with bullying, mental health and behavioral issues, dysfunctional families, hungry students, homelessness and inadequately prepared students. Teachers do this day after day. Facilities are often not even close to state of the art. Politicians play with teacher pensions, which can be inadequate even after 30 years of teaching. And teachers work hard in the off season.

It’s great for a city to have a winning sports franchise, but it’s essential for a city to have a school system that gives every child the opportunity for a quality education. We have to own our priorities.