It’s stories like this that drive me crazy.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The complaints are rolling in.

A union official said teachers in St. Paul, Minn., don’t like their district’s new pay-for-plug program.

The St. Paul school district is charging $25 per year if a teacher wants to plug in a coffee maker, microwave or refrigerator in a classroom or office.

The district said rising energy costs are the reason.

The president of the local teachers union said employees are outraged.

Mary Cathryn Ricker said teachers don’t charge the district for electricity at home when they take papers home to grade.

District officials said the annual costs of running those appliances range from $22 for a microwave to $75 for a coffee pot.

They said a "quick estimate" of the district’s overall annual energy cost for those items is $100,000.

For now, the district is asking for voluntary payment before deciding how to enforce the fee.

People who pay it will get a sticker to affix to their appliance.

Years ago, I went to visit Regis High School. Regis is a private, tuition-free school. And one of the things that stayed with me was how easy it was to feel like a professional in that school. No one kicked teachers out at 6:00 — the custodians worked around teachers who were working late. The teachers lounge was stocked with free snacks and drinks, to say nothing of the comfortable seating and workspaces.

And it was the little things like that that made a difference. Teachers felt valued. And that matters. Charging teachers for the coffeemakers they keep in their rooms, because the school doesn’t provide coffee for them is penny-ante, and it sends a message to the teachers that is rather chilling.

We need to get back to thinking about teaching as an honorable and honored profession. Articles like this — policies like this — make me think we are moving farther and farther away from that. How sad.