EDITORIAL RE-EDUCATING TEACHERS.

ABOUT 300 teachers who protested a proposed ``me-too'' raise for principals acted like a gang of unruly children this week, proving the point that not all teachers should be paid the same.

As board members tried to explain their positions, the crowd hooted and jeered, booed and offered catcalls in a juvenile display that served only to embarrass their profession and the school district.

They should have been sent to the corner with dunce caps on their heads.

Only board members Caprice Young and board President Genethia Hayes had the courage to confront the rabble with the ugly truth - none of the teachers argued passionately about helping kids learn.

None begged for help in raising test scores for kids in poor neighborhoods.

None showed concern about saving money for books, supplies or computers.

They were there for one purpose and one purpose only - to get whatever they could for themselves without regard to anyone or anything else.

No wonder the district struggles year after year.

In the end, the board voted 5-1, with Young casting the lone no vote, and refused to grant principals the same automatic raises as teachers. Stopping administrators piggybacking on the raises awarded to teachers was the right decision that, unfortunately, was taken in the wrong atmosphere.

Over boos and hisses, Young said that while she opposed ``me-too'' raises, she supported pay-for-performance measures that principals had agreed to in their contracts, something that the teachers union vehemently opposes.

Hayes added that she refuses to accept the proposition that children are unteachable because of their color or their family backgrounds or their neighborhoods.

Both are dead on, and we applaud Young and Hayes for having the backbone to tell it like it is.

The education establishment doesn't want to pay teachers what they're worth. They want them all to be paid the same, as if they were assembly- line workers instead of professionals. Paying poor teachers the same as the best and protecting them from being challenged has turned our schools into an assembly line for failure, stifled by a culture of mediocrity.

The group that turned out Tuesday is not indicative of teachers as a whole. The mob does not speak for the thousands of dedicated teachers in the district who never give up the fight to light up a life and open doors through learning.

This is a critical time for public education. But real reform will take place only when the majority of dedicated teachers stands up to the mob and fights for excellence in the schools - and for themselves.