Abstract: Prior to the reform and open-door policy, school teachers in China were ranked next to the landlords, rich peasants, counterrevolutionaries and “bad elements” as the most ill-fated social groups bearing the impacts of endless political campaigns. The major cause that led to the teachers’ misfortune, this author argues, is the class struggle rhetoric in that period which politicized education and deprived many teachers of trustworthiness due to their family origins or personal experiences. Despite such high political risk, the mass intellectuals still took the teaching jobs because they simply had no other choices. Moreover, being a teacher might be a stepping stone for entrance into the officialdom -- an undeniable attraction to those who had political ambitions.
Keywords:primary and secondary school teachers, social mobility, political campaigns