Taylor Mali on what teachers make
I’ve been a fan of Taylor Mali for a while and I can’t watch him perform this one enough!
It actually made me cry recently because I hadn’t seen it for a few years and with all the teachers being laid off (27,000 in Ca) with most of the money cut from local governments coming from education (60%) because of the budget crisis ($11.5 BILLION in Ca). The media covering all of this brought a rash of teacher bashing in blogs and comments in my local paper (The Napa Valley Register) and it was starting to get depressing. I wrote a blog about it called “Since when are the teacher bashers in the majority” or something like that. So after being made to feel beyond appreciated I came across this video again and the timing was perfect! It got me over feeling anything but absolute pride in what I do. Thanks Taylor.
Ronda Gupton-Pruett 
I’m a big Taylor Mali fan as well. When I showed this to my creative writing class, they applauded!
Hope you don’t think I’m a stalker–we chatted via Flickr a while ago, and then I saw you were a friend of Victor Ramos on facebook.
Enjoy what’s left of the summer.
I love this video! I’m happy it’s getting out there more for so people can see it.
Good Post!
I wanted to be a teacher when I was younger. Somewhere along the way, I was scared off. If I did become one, this would have been a monologue I’d have written down for inspiration. I love this video, regardless of my current vocation (I’m an actor who’s paying a teacher in a play and I’m researching, which brought me to this).
I would never have the patience, tolerance or back bone to have been a teacher, or at least I wouldn’t have lasted had I started out as one. I only know how hard it is to be a teacher just by portraying it on stage. My heart goes out to all who want to make a difference to all the students out there they reach out to.