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I respectfully COMPLETELY disagree.

I will bet you MOST people go into teaching to get summers off and other 2 week Easter and Christmas off. Not because they want to 'help others'.
They only teach a few classes a day. Study halls and other free time give the teachers the time they need to 'grade papers', etc. What hours does your wife work? What time is she home? I see and know when the teachers that I know leave and are home. They are home 'by' 3:30pm. Add up the actual hours..and be honest.
Compare this to the average worker like me, who works 9 hours a day (I do NOT get paid for my lunch)...and I work at least 40 hours a week....52 weeks a year. I get 6 holidays and 2 weeks vacation. I do not get paid for my sick when I leave...do teachers? Of course. I do not get a month off for CHristmas and Easter. DO teachers? OF course. I do not get off from May to Sept. Nor do I get paid extra for staying to do 'dentention classes' or any other extra curriculum activities. They do.

Sungirl,

I disagree with very few of your posts, but I do disagree with this one.

My wife is a school teacher. Yes, her official workday ends at 3:00, but that is irrelevent. She works AT LEAST two hours every night at home. Last night, she was up until midnight because her grades are due today. Tonight it will be something else. Last weekend was a wash because she had some project she had to do. This weekend it will be something else.

She has to be at school at 7:00 every morning, where she works until school official begins.

The "school hours" are only a small portion of her actual work day.

Sorry, Sungirl, but you're just wrong about this. That's not to say there aren't some teachers who "slough off," but that's true for just about any profession you could name.

The fact is that most teachers spend inordinate amounts of time at their jobs, either in the classroom, after ours at the school or admin building, or at home.

My wife's school district in fact has just instituted an online system for the teachers so they can enter all their grades, file certain reports, etc., from home. My wife probably works an average of 10 to 11 hours per day during the week.

She is only paid for SOME extra services, such as after-school tutorials (only a few teachers get to do those), and meetings on Saturday.

Otherwise, she's contributing to the welfare and education of her students, and that's what she's in it for. And I don't think she's that unusual.

Teachers actually only work 9 months a year and only get paid for that 9 months. Quite a few school holidays are mandated teacher workdays. My wife is requred to be at her school at 7:30AM and most days does not leave until 6:00PM. She has no "free" time during the day, even to take a bathroom break. Her lunch is spent in the lunch room making sure that little terrorist like the kid in this thread doesn't mame someone with a fork. She doesn't get a lunch break. Christmas breaks are not paid breaks, teachers are only paid for the time they work. Many nights she is up to 1:00am getting the record keeping requirements completed because there is no time in the school day to do so. She is also obliged to attent PTA meetings that take place in the eveings and is not compensated for that time. She also is obligated to schedule parent confrences at times that partents are available to meet, usually not during normal school hours. She is also has spent time giving depostions and called to court as a witness to events that very much mirror what started this thread. All on her own time and then has to make up the work that she missed by having to talk to the lawyers and jury. There is more.

I respectfully COMPLETELY disagree. I will bet you MOST people go into teaching to get summers off and other 2 week Easter and Christmas off. Not because they want to 'help others'. They only teach a few classes a day. Study halls and other free time give the teachers the time they need to 'grade papers', etc. What hours does your wife work? What time is she home? I see and know when the teachers that I know leave and are home. They are home 'by' 3:30pm. Add up the actual hours..and be honest. Compare this to the average worker like me, who works 9 hours a day (I do NOT get paid for my lunch)...and I work at least 40 hours a week....52 weeks a year. I get 6 holidays and 2 weeks vacation. I do not get paid for my sick when I leave...do teachers? Of course. I do not get a month off for CHristmas and Easter. DO teachers? OF course. I do not get off from May to Sept. Nor do I get paid extra for staying to do 'dentention classes' or any other extra curriculum activities. They do.

Unfortunately, these statements appear to be founded in ignorance by making such broad brush statements. My mother taught, retired from the public school (K-6) system and now teaches in a private school. She leaves the house by 7:15 Am and does not get home until 5:15 Pm. Add to that times spending correcting papers, attending professional development courses and it is a busy day, updating lesson plans, etc. The Summer? She tutors students for parents and students who request it - yes, for compensation.