Treaching, Treachers (for Teaching, Teachers)

"No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks," as we kids used to chant on the last day of school. (They were probably thinking the same thing about us.) Some people think that teachers chanting in the streets is almost a form of treachery. The latter's love of molding young minds is supposed to shield them from such base concerns as salaries, benefits, and overall working conditions. New York State's Taylor Law, which was challenged by the United Federation of Teachers at its 1967 inception, prohibits public employees from going on strike. And when professors have the effrontery to peaceably assemble to redress grievances that aren't even related to teaching, that's even worse. It's like actors who talk about politics. Who needs the dirty looks? Treaching turns up three times in OhioLINK and Treachers twice.

(G20 protests in London, National Union of Teachers, March 2009, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid