[Buggman]

I think a lot of Freepers need to keep in mind that teachers end up doing a lot of "overtime" work in the evenings--creating quizzes, grading papers and essays, etc.--and do usually work at least some in the summer--developing the curriculum for the following year. By the time you factor in all those extra hours, I think the pay scale is a bit more equitable, particularly for beginning teachers who don't get paid as much and who don't have years of material built up that they can reuse.

I'm definitely not on the "teachers don't get paid enough" bandwagon, but I don't think they get paid too much either--particularly given how difficult it has become to teach, given that most are handcuffed by lawsuit-paranoid administration and uncaring parents.

Instead of talking about just throwing more money at the problem, how about if we talk about giving the teachers more tools to deal with disciplinary problems, which is what the ones I talk to really want.

[WildWeasel]

Your point is excellent.

My wife is a high school English teacher and she puts in at least an extra 20 hours a week during the school year grading essays, tests and research papers. Then in the Summer, she does spend time putting together lesson plans and preparing for the next school year so it's not all fun and games.

I call BS on the report for if in reality teachers were making $ 34 an hour, there would be a glut of college graduates in the market looking for these "high" paying jobs.