Posted on 06/28/2017 5:32:28 AM PDT by simpson96
Im on the road, traveling out West, doing a little hiking, a little sightseeing, a lot of thinking.
I just sat down with my laptop and a cup of coffee under the blue skies of Wyoming, thinking about how much I will learn in these 4½ weeks. Thats the same chunk of the school calendar reflected on our students progress reports. Just over four weeks about 23 days, almost a month.(snip)
One of the first questions people on the road ask is about your occupation. Thats always an easy ice-breaker. I reckon I dont yet look retirement age, so they ask, What do you do that allows you to have the time to drive from Georgia to Wyoming? I proudly proclaim I teach.
Im learning more and more about how the education profession is one of the most rewarding. Of course, I would love the salary of a doctor or the hours of a banker, but theres no complaint about having the summers off, guaranteed holidays free, and weekends off.
Then I realize, we dont really have these days off.
Scattered throughout my days on the road, I try and squish together some time to create a lesson on close reading. Somewhere in between hikes, I am planning a unit on The Invisible Man. When I can find Wi-Fi, Im sharing ideas with a coworker on how to teach writing.
If teachers arent grading papers on the weekend, they are planning for the week. If teachers arent baking cookies on Christmas break, theyre eating them as they grade essays. If teachers arent lying on the beach in the summer, they are reading teacher books to make them better at their job.
So, I dont feel guilty anymore when people make judgments about teachers having the summer off.
(Excerpt) Read more at ledger-enquirer.com ...
Example: Negotiated contract for $120,000 (the amount makes the division easier, not saying this is the average pay)
$120,000/12 = $10,000 a month for twelve months.
Or
Teacher elects to take pay for 10 months at $12,000 at month but no checks during the summer when school is closed.
Several of my teacher friends elect to take their pay over twelve months so they'd have a check or two when school is closed.
Me either.
For many public servants....I play the tiny violin. They think they work the hardest and long hours with low pay. Like you, my husband is in IT and not only does his work call for nights, weekends and holidays, he is asked by many who know he knows about computers to help them out with a problem they are having...and, it is a challenge and he cannot say no. He will spend hours googling vids to find out how to fix anything.....and they ask him about that also since he is DIY!
Oh, when PS’s retire, they also want more benefits and receive a nice monthly retirement which we will not...so waaaaa on both sides, haa! Oh, and I bet her monthly insurance does not cost her $1,500 per month....
Now, I am not complaining one bit as we are blessed and live within our income. Some of the 60-80 hour weeks working for companies he helped grow have had payouts we will use for retirement, Lord willing and the creeks don’t rise!
I’m in IT as well and have learned how to say no a whole lot more.
All I’ve got the last time being Mr. Helpful was burned.
Other than advice, the favor generator is gone.
Teaching is great, and the greatest thing is to be able to close your door and be your own boss. Of course there is always a structure and requirements to conform.
However, there was one summer when three of us were standing on the sidewalk when a Police cruiser stopped and asked us how we were able to hang around during work hours. We told him we were all teachers, he laughed and drove off.
The sad part for me was not being able to stay a teacher through all the budget ups and downs. (and the dame union seniority system which has been the main problem all along.)
I get paid more than that, but I live in NJ (NY metro area), which is the 2nd most expensive area in the country to live, according to my employer (only SF employees have a higher pay scale). But I do contribute (significantly) to my health insurance, have copays and deductibles, all of which went up thanks to Obamacare. And while I get some matching for 401k contributions (50% on up to 4% of salary contributed), I am pretty much funding my own retirement.
Do you teach at least ten out of 25 students, probably more, who have no copay and whose parents do not have any cost for insurance?
No, I don't. What's your point, Vanessa?
I have teacher friends who make about $36K and some who make around $45K. Depending on what their husbands do, they may or may not take their own children to the doctor when they probably would if they were on Medicaid.
And this makes teachers unique in some way?
And also have to do the continual learning on your own time.
Don’t forget the monthly “Professional Development Day”.
They’ve got 2 months in the summer for “development”. Why are they taking time away from their students?
This is why I am so opposed to teacher raises on the backbone of the taxpayer. They get paid very well for working only 2/3 of a year. Maybe teaching is tough in some places but the gloating and superiority of this article is reprehensible and elitist. NO,TEACHERS you arent “special”—I am really sick of hearing that. You are doing a JOB just as most of the rest of us are doing and WE dont get paid to take Summers off.
“——we lost the best training program for motherhood. “
My mother,grandmother,and great grandmother would be surprised to learn that a training program is needed for motherhood-——in fact,it surprises me.
.
All I'm saying is that we never had an "education" problem until relatively recent times when people started to home school and actually talk about it.
Once the conversation got started, it is a natural to do a compare and contrast exercise and see the problems between public school and other schooling AND the affect(s) it has on American society.
The family was the first political regime ... the benevolent dictator (papa) and larger families utilized sisters to baby-sit and learn how to tend to children.
"Education" was always read'n, rit'n' an' 'rithmetic and most every kid in America had at least THOSE basics just because they HAD to.
We built Hoover Dam, the Empire State building, went to the moon, developed the mechanized age and a TON of et cetera's.
Your mother, grandmother and great grandmother just didn't use the language of "training", but they were trained none the less
Teachers in Florida have it awful. First of all, the paperwork that is required for each student is insane. My neighbor who teaches never gets home before 6:30 if she is lucky and works most weekends. Then for all that she gets a big salary of 31,000 a year. Oh how lucky for her. Good grief who would want to do that job? It is pitiful how low the salaries are at least in Florida. Now Chicago is a whole different story....you can do very well.
Oh please. People in the PC word are making 6 figures at least. You can’t compare it to teachers and yes you MIGHT have to be ON CALL on weekends and holidays with double time or holiday pay. Pity.....please.
Bray, that is the worst excuse. When you graduated college, you chose to go after money instead of lower paid public service. Everyone has made choices but most go after the almighty dollar and that is a fact. I jointed the military and get a pension and would be crazy to feel guilty over it. I chose the life, those that don’t get the pension made other choices.
Actually President Bush destroyed the education system but you knew that. “No child left behind” and his student loan programs have completely destroyed education. Teaching to the test....spit. Bush was a disaster everywhere he turned. What a relief to have Trump.
I'm not looking for pity, I just get tired of hearing teachers complain about their pay, benefits, or time off.
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