If good teachers are not frustrated with their jobs, they should be.

Start with their fundamental goal, what brought them to the profession: to educate children. Add to that the fact they have to please not just the children, but parents and administrators. Add to that the low pay given the hours good teachers put in.

But wait, there’s more. They are bombarded with requirements by the state and federal governments. Teachers’ futures often are determined by the success or failure of students without acknowledgment of the unique issues those students face when outside the classroom.

So the battle between the American Civil Liberties Union and East Lawrence Middle School was nothing new. Ronald Keeton and other teachers at the school discovered what comes as no surprise to most of us: seventh- and eighth-graders tend to be more concerned about the opposite gender than about their school work. Separate the genders and they learn more.

The experiment, according to Keeton, a teacher for 28 years, worked. Children focused more, discipline problems declined and grades increased.

That’s not to say it is the right approach for every school or every teacher. But the ACLU, utilizing federal laws, managed to erect one more hurdle for teachers. In a settlement agreement, the Lawrence County Board of Education agreed to end single-sex classes.

The ACLU’s goal — to prevent the perpetuation of gender stereotypes — is laudable. ACLU says there is no evidence single-sex classes improve learning.

We need to remember, though, that every time we place a new obstacle in front of a good teacher, we limit the educational tools available to the teacher. That is bad for the teacher and, more importantly, it is bad for our children.