As a retired public school teacher and past member of the Maine Teachers Association, I feel it necessary to respond to the disparaging remarks about “the teachers union” in Ron Bancroft’s column in the Press Herald (“Scorecard for candidates shows Cutler gets best grades,” Oct. 5).

His portrayal of the legitimate representation of professional educators as “a major force against any real reform in Maine’s K-12 system” is symptomatic of attacks on both public school teachers and the very existence of organized labor currently in vogue by politicians and pundits alike.

Over the past decades, public school teachers have struggled to adjust to continually changing policies, shrinking resources and public ambivalence on both state and local levels.

State initiative after initiative have changed the public school game plans. Local progress testing gave way to Maine Educational Assessments and then to the wholly ill-advised shift to the use of SATs as a one-size-fits-all assessment.

Pressure has been placed on systems to place costs above educationally sound practices which speak to the needs of all students.

Teachers have been portrayed as greedy, elitist and unwilling to serve the needs of their students and communities.

Throughout the tumult within the profession, the Maine Teachers Association has served as a democratically based organization supporting and defending dedicated professionals charged with educating Maine’s youth.

Far from being obstructionist, the association has stood for high professional standards and the legitimate collective needs of its membership. Secure teachers are not the problem.

In difficult times, it is easy to scapegoat. Mr. Bancroft makes a glib assertion that fear and insecurity will lead many to accept as fact.

However, please remember: If you can read and understand both sides of any issue, thank your teachers.