Three months off is a benefit, not a penalty.
$34 an hour isn't the equivalent of anything. $34 an hour is $34 an hour. Period.
You people all need a wake up call. These are college educated individuals. There are definitely some poor teachers. However the sad fact is that many people avoid or leave education because of the lack of funds.
My wife has taught 5th grade for 22 years in Leawood, Kansas. It is a school in a wealthy suburb so for the most part the parents and students. The hours and planning they have, especially with all the new testing , has them working much more then 40 hour weeks. It is funny that other professions with 4 plus year college degrees would be appalled at $34 dollars an hour but some how teachers should be "happy" with the pay.
I admittedly thought teachers were paid alright until I got a first hand glimpse with my wife. Today teachers also have to be part counsellor, deal with parents that "know more" then the teacher. Any problem the child has is "the schools" fault.
I am a big proponent of school voucher systems and making schools perform, thus the teachers. However all of you need a wake-up call if you think teachers pay is fair for their responsibility. Now if we could get the NEA out of the school system we would really be doing something!!!
You people all need a wake up call. These are college educated individuals. There are definitely some poor teachers. However the sad fact is that many people avoid or leave education because of the lack of funds.
My wife has taught 5th grade for 22 years in Leawood, Kansas. It is a school in a wealthy suburb so for the most part the parents and students. The hours and planning they have, especially with all the new testing , has them working much more then 40 hour weeks. It is funny that other professions with 4 plus year college degrees would be appalled at $34 dollars an hour but some how teachers should be "happy" with the pay.
I admittedly thought teachers were paid alright until I got a first hand glimpse with my wife. Today teachers also have to be part counsellor, deal with parents that "know more" then the teacher. Any problem the child has is "the schools" fault.
I am a big proponent of school voucher systems and making schools perform, thus the teachers. However all of you need a wake-up call if you think teachers pay is fair for their responsibility. Now if we could get the NEA out of the school system we would really be doing something!!!
If you were to add in all the extra hours most teachers spend on preparation and grading, etc., they would make far less.
I don't know where people keep getting this "three months off" idea.
My wife is a high school teacher here in Connecticut, and so are both of her parents, her brother and his wife, and her aunt. For my wife, Final Exams end this year on June 20. She has to come in the next day to submit final grades.
In August, classes will start up again around August 27th. In that time span, she has a mandatory 1 week training & curriculum development workshop she is required to attend. She doesn't get paid at all during the months of July or August, so it's not exactly a vacation, more of a "temporary layoff."
Teachers don't get to choose when to take vacations, unlike people in most other professions who, a month or two ahead of time, just block out their calenders. Yes, they get a certain number of "personal days," but these can't be used as a supplement to a vacation, and you can't take more than one consecutively.
"Three months off is a benefit, not a penalty.
$34 an hour isn't the equivalent of anything. $34 an hour is $34 an hour. Period."
Indeed.
Most school do not have 3 months off in the summer. They typically have about 8 weeks off. They have to stay a week after the kids get out and come in a week early.
> Three months off is a benefit, not a penalty.
Three months unpaid leave is a penalty, not a benefit. Lots of teachers I know end up taking second or third jobs in order to top up their take-home pay.
Personally, I would prefer to see doctors, nurses, cops, firemen and teachers receive up to $100 per hour for 12 months per year, based upon agreed performance outcomes.