1. Salaries - Do not assume that ALL teachers make 60K a year. After 20 years of teaching, I make 43K a year. Not all states pay high salaries.
2. Generous vacations. Think of it as "comp time." True, I only work 39 weeks a year, but those are 60 hour work weeks. That doesn't include extra time and money I spend taking classes for recertification.
3. Every profession in America has its share of lazy bums, perverts, and liberals. Teaching is no exception. There are lots of us who are dedicated, hard-working, morally upright, non-union, and conservative.
4. Teaching has always had many challenges, but there is an extra challenge we face today: scorn and disrespect. Supposedly, all (or most) teachers are either greedy, lazy, studid, or are a pervert.
5. In spite of the heartaches and difficulties I have on the job, no matter the long hours, no matter the scorn and disrespect that is heaped on teachers on this forum, I still love teaching.
Preach it sister Molly.
What state are you in? That sounds kind of like Kansas....I would kill for 60 K after 20 years.
That is why I am looking into journalism instead. No, I would not make much money in that field, unless I really hit the big time, which is highly unlikely. And, I would have no holidays, virtually no vacation, no weekends free. But, I love to write. And, unlike teaching, once I got home around 6/7 or so, I could actually spend time with my family instead of having to grade papers, plan lessons etc. But, after 20 years, I would have the seniority to actually be able to have Christmas off (wow, what a concept), and I certainly would make more than 40 grand a year. Probably about 55K, and that would be about the ceiling for pay in journalism unless I hit one of the top-5 papers in the nation.
So, the ceiling would be similar to teaching. But, I would probably get there quicker despite similar starting salaries. On the other hand, I could retire from teaching early and pursue another career later, such as journalism.
I don't know. I am student teaching in the fall and will see if I really do want to be a history teacher. I could end up teaching journalism in addition to history, and that would get my journalism side fulfilled, or I could write for a small newspaper during the summer.
I love both teaching and journalism so much....it is incredibly, incredibly hard to decide which route to pursue, and I hope God leads me to the way soon.
But, whatever I do, you are correct that teachers are not the overpaid lazy bums portrayed on this site. At least most aren't. They work HARD for the money.
And, I can't think of anything as worthy as the calling to help a future generation of students learn.
My hat is off to you and other Freeper teachers.
I only work 39 weeks a year, but those are 60 hour work weeks.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
More whining!
Molly,,hate to break it to you but there are THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of workers working 60 hour weeks with NO vacation. Guess what! Some are on 24/7 call, wear beepers on their belts to respond to life threatening emergencies.