Teacher Unions Vs. Students WSJ Opinion Article on the Ujima Village Academy

[Anonymous]

Two to three weeks.
BTW, nurses can get fired in a second, union or no union.

[Anonymous]

Note to self: be nice to nurses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which professionals with this amount of post-graduate education are paid at this scale?

Just curious.

Federal government employees. 100 + is typical of teachers who have not only Masters but sometimes PhD's, and are nearing retirement after a long-term career in the same district (no mobility). Most mid-career teachers I know are in the 50's.

[Anonymous]

dh is PhD scientist published, makes $102 K and is over 55, with the fed govt.

[Anonymous]

Nurses have it rough now, especially as they are cutting the numbers working each shift, and increasing responsibilities... which just like in a classroom, means individual patients get less attention. Kudos to nurses.

But with regard to teacher vacations, given what teachers are expected to do, we work week-ends, evenings and summers and it is not paid. My family HATES report card writing time/semester endings. Sure not all teachers spend their summers doing work projects, but many, many do. We go to workshops, continuing ed programs (yes, nurses do too) and graduate courses, often at our own expense.

Montgomery County teacher salary and benefits are an exception, and a recent change. I worked for years, often from 07:00 to 11:00 p.m. at around 30,000/year with a master's degree plus. Most of the people crying about their investment depreciation weren't teachers in the '90s.

Ooops. Turned into a vent. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nurse Practitioner maybe, for those of us who are at the MA+60 level.

I'll admit the summer vacation is pretty nice. But that wasn't something that unions negotiated. If you want year-round schooling, it can be done. Most parents are not willing to give up summer vacation. It's a cultural tradition. What kind of vacation benefits do nurses and librarians get? I'm guessing nurses earn overtime.

As for the generous pension. I doubt that I could live on it. Did you know that DC teachers need to work summers in order to contribute to Social Security?

I don't know ANY parents unwilling to give up summer vacation if it meant year-round schooling. None.

[Anonymous]

I may be old fashioned, but I'm not willing to give up summer vacation. I would hate for my son to have missed his summer vacations with his grandparents, volunteering for environmental organizations, attending music camp, trying out different summer jobs. These experiences have been as important to his development as the formal academic experiences he gets during the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nurses have it rough now, especially as they are cutting the numbers working each shift, and increasing responsibilities... which just like in a classroom, means individual patients get less attention. Kudos to nurses.

But with regard to teacher vacations, given what teachers are expected to do, we work week-ends, evenings and summers and it is not paid. My family HATES report card writing time/semester endings. Sure not all teachers spend their summers doing work projects, but many, many do. We go to workshops, continuing ed programs (yes, nurses do too) and graduate courses, often at our own expense.

Montgomery County teacher salary and benefits are an exception, and a recent change. I worked for years, often from 07:00 to 11:00 p.m. at around 30,000/year with a master's degree plus. Most of the people crying about their investment depreciation weren't teachers in the '90s.

Ooops. Turned into a vent. Sorry.

Thinking about how I spend my weekends, at Martin Luther King library checking out 50-100 books for my students on my teacher card; at Staples buying inkjet cartridges, paper, etc.; at the Smithsonian, previewing exhibits that I want my students to see; at the kitchen table, grading papers, planning lessons, etc. I love my job. But I devote most of my non-teaching time to prep, grading, research, and planning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:that's what the most senior teachers make. average is probably 65-75K. Do you think teachers should earn less?

I don't. I think they should earn more. There was a recent study conducted in MoCo that indicated a single mom with two kids would have to earn just about $65,000 to have even a modest standard of living -- meaning shelter provided, day care paid, along with food, health, and transportation costs. I'm old enough that male teachers used to support their families on their salaries alone. Gone are the days when one teacher's salary could support a family.

[Anonymous]

here was a recent study conducted in MoCo that indicated a single mom with two kids would have to earn just about $65,000 to have even a modest standard of living -- meaning shelter provided, day care paid, along with food, health, and transportation costs. I'm old enough that male teachers used to support their families on their salaries alone. Gone are the days when one teacher's salary could support a family.

A big difference in your comparison is a single mom to a family w/ a mom & dad. With a male teacher supporting everyone, no child care costs, which is a good chunk right there. I agree that it's extremely difficult in an urban area to live on one wage earner's salary instead of two.

[Anonymous]

Or, in the case of many teachers, 2 salaries to support one: many waitress, tutor & take on other jobs in order to support themselves and pay back student loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that's what the most senior teachers make. average is probably 65-75K. Do you think teachers should earn less?

I don't. I think they should earn more. There was a recent study conducted in MoCo that indicated a single mom with two kids would have to earn just about $65,000 to have even a modest standard of living -- meaning shelter provided, day care paid, along with food, health, and transportation costs. I'm old enough that male teachers used to support their families on their salaries alone. Gone are the days when one teacher's salary could support a family.

But won't that fuel inflation. We need to examine the crazy cost of living issues today.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it is teachers' salaries fueling inflation.