RANT: Teachers, why are you so whiny?

[Anonymous]

OP, I completely agree with everything you say!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers have the responsibility--but not the authority.

They get the blame--but they don't get to make the decisions.

Welcome to life as an employee at basically any business anywhere in the country. It's the very definition of middle management. It is, indeed, a hard situation, but certainly not unique to teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers have the responsibility--but not the authority.

They get the blame--but they don't get to make the decisions.

Welcome to life as an employee at basically any business anywhere in the country. It's the very definition of middle management. It is, indeed, a hard situation, but certainly not unique to teaching.

I am pretty sure my friends don't get blamed for the downfall of our future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers have the responsibility--but not the authority.

They get the blame--but they don't get to make the decisions.

Welcome to life as an employee at basically any business anywhere in the country. It's the very definition of middle management. It is, indeed, a hard situation, but certainly not unique to teaching.

I am pretty sure my friends don't get blamed for the downfall of our future.

Bingo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers have the responsibility--but not the authority.

They get the blame--but they don't get to make the decisions.

Welcome to life as an employee at basically any business anywhere in the country. It's the very definition of middle management. It is, indeed, a hard situation, but certainly not unique to teaching.

I am pretty sure my friends don't get blamed for the downfall of our future.

It is PRECISELY this type of drama that gives you guys a bad name. When is the last time you heard someone actually say that? Seriously, the drama...

[Anonymous]

I think both perspectives are right and I am a teacher. It is incredibly stressful, especially when the kids get phones and attitudes and feel it is their purpose in life to constantly disrupt class. Don’t even get me started about the cheaters and liars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think both perspectives are right and I am a teacher. It is incredibly stressful, especially when the kids get phones and attitudes and feel it is their purpose in life to constantly disrupt class. Don’t even get me started about the cheaters and liars.

Almost every parent I know wants those cell phones out of the room. It's your classroom. Just don't let kids have them and stop complaining about them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:as a former teacher, it really bugs me when folks mention summers off. This is unpaid time, yes most school systems have a plan in place where you can take your pay so as to lessen your monthly take home and spread your 10 month contract out to 12. Some people can afford to only work 10 months out of the year, but many others scramble- you speak like teachers should be working during the unpaid summer months to plan... OP your the worst.

lol... possessive "your" teacher. I think you meant you're. educator my ass.

this is a shining example as to what is wrong with our education system. teaching is a profession i have great respect for as i have had some great teachers in my life whose names i remember thirty plus years later.

the issue as i see it as that good teachers get paid as much as bad. seniority trumps all. teachers need to be awarded based off of merit. until that happens good teachers will continue to get paid too little and bad teachers will continue to get paid too much.

anyone that argues this point is a bad teacher. those that agree are good teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:as a former teacher, it really bugs me when folks mention summers off. This is unpaid time, yes most school systems have a plan in place where you can take your pay so as to lessen your monthly take home and spread your 10 month contract out to 12. Some people can afford to only work 10 months out of the year, but many others scramble- you speak like teachers should be working during the unpaid summer months to plan... OP your the worst.

lol... possessive "your" teacher. I think you meant you're. educator my ass.

this is a shining example as to what is wrong with our education system. teaching is a profession i have great respect for as i have had some great teachers in my life whose names i remember thirty plus years later.

the issue as i see it as that good teachers get paid as much as bad. seniority trumps all. teachers need to be awarded based off of merit. until that happens good teachers will continue to get paid too little and bad teachers will continue to get paid too much.

anyone that argues this point is a bad teacher. those that agree are good teachers.

I find it interesting that you chose to point out one misuse of the word "your", which easily could have been a typo, while failing to capitalize the beginning of any sentences and the pronoun I in your reply.

I don't disagree that teachers shouldn't be paid based solely on experience, but I have yet to see a merit based system that is fair. If you can somehow tell me how you would determine what makes one "good" vs "bad" I'd love to read it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's school, not daycare. How many hours does your child really need to be in school? A longer day is really unnecessary and developmentally inappropriate.

While I am sure you could find a bucket full of studies to back up this statement please know that there are an equal number of studies that debunk it. From my own anecdotal experience; my first-born was in daycare 8 hours a day before my wife was able to switch to being a stay at home mother. He learned a ton and was far ahead of the vast majority of his schoolmates when he started kindergarten.

On the topic of compensation it seems everyone likes to focus on the summers off. While I am sure that is enticing for some the real pay out is in the form of a pension. There are very few occupations that a person can work anymore that will offer a full pension after ~twenty years... being a teacher is one of them. Forget the summers, the pension is the ace in the hole in terms of compensation. To date I have been in the same profession for over two decades. While I am not in a bad state in terms of retirement I am nowhere near where I would be if I had spent the last twenty years as a teacher. So please do attempt to reign in the pity party just a bit for those of us that don't have our heads in the sand. Failing to mention this perk amidst the myriad of complaints is disingenuous at best and I think that we as parents are just in expecting more from those that we entrust with our children's education.

I am sure I am not alone in saying that if it weren't for ridiculous government regulation and the lack of social development that my wife and I would be home schooling our children.

Teaching is one of the most important professions but the lack of respect for the profession by those who professionally practice it is just astounding. Always someone else's fault right... no accountability. Sorry... those aren't lessons I want my children learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Find me a profession where people *don't* whine. No one's paid enough, no one's appreciated enough, each individual thinks they're awesome. It's just human nature. When I was in labor, my ob/gyn "whined" for hours to me and DH about how hard his profession was. At the same time, he mentioned his upcoming vacation to the south of France.

FWIW, I love teachers. F'ing love teachers. Who taught my kids to read? Not me. Who's teaching my kids algebra? Not me. Who's guiding my son through his HS science classes, nurturing his dream to become an MD? Not me.

I love and respect teachers too! You’re miserable OP.

[Anonymous]

I find it interesting that you chose to point out one misuse of the word "your", which easily could have been a typo, while failing to capitalize the beginning of any sentences and the pronoun I in your reply.

I don't disagree that teachers shouldn't be paid based solely on experience, but I have yet to see a merit based system that is fair. If you can somehow tell me how you would determine what makes one "good" vs "bad" I'd love to read it.

yeah i will concede that is a bit 'pot calling the kettle black'. it is a by-product of my profession where i tolower() everything. in my defense though, i never claimed to be an educator.

i also disagree that your/you're is in the realm of typo. i am well versed on this topic and that is not a typical typo.

semantics aside, i don't disagree that determining 'merit' is a difficult thing. it is something the private sector has been struggling with since forever... and quite honestly gets wrong quite a bit of the time. however; as flawed as it may be i can all but guarantee that that one person that pretty much every company has, that has been sitting on their thumb for the last ten years is pay capped and probably has been for the last eight years.

there is value to experience but it should be measurable if it is to be compensated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's school, not daycare. How many hours does your child really need to be in school? A longer day is really unnecessary and developmentally inappropriate.

While I am sure you could find a bucket full of studies to back up this statement please know that there are an equal number of studies that debunk it. From my own anecdotal experience; my first-born was in daycare 8 hours a day before my wife was able to switch to being a stay at home mother. He learned a ton and was far ahead of the vast majority of his schoolmates when he started kindergarten.

On the topic of compensation it seems everyone likes to focus on the summers off. While I am sure that is enticing for some the real pay out is in the form of a pension. There are very few occupations that a person can work anymore that will offer a full pension after ~twenty years... being a teacher is one of them. Forget the summers, the pension is the ace in the hole in terms of compensation. To date I have been in the same profession for over two decades. While I am not in a bad state in terms of retirement I am nowhere near where I would be if I had spent the last twenty years as a teacher. So please do attempt to reign in the pity party just a bit for those of us that don't have our heads in the sand. Failing to mention this perk amidst the myriad of complaints is disingenuous at best and I think that we as parents are just in expecting more from those that we entrust with our children's education.

I am sure I am not alone in saying that if it weren't for ridiculous government regulation and the lack of social development that my wife and I would be home schooling our children.

Teaching is one of the most important professions but the lack of respect for the profession by those who professionally practice it is just astounding. Always someone else's fault right... no accountability. Sorry... those aren't lessons I want my children learning.

What do you mean by “full pension” and where in teaching can you get it after only 20 years? Virginia’s pension (VRS) provides about 50% of the highest three years’ average. The only way you could get that with 20 years experience is if you were at least 40 years old when you started.

[Anonymous]

23:27,

you mean by “full pension” and where in teaching can you get it after only 20 years? Virginia’s pension (VRS) provides about 50% of the highest three years’ average. The only way you could get that with 20 years experience is if you were at least 40 years old when you started.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think both perspectives are right and I am a teacher. It is incredibly stressful, especially when the kids get phones and attitudes and feel it is their purpose in life to constantly disrupt class. Don’t even get me started about the cheaters and liars.

Almost every parent I know wants those cell phones out of the room. It's your classroom. Just don't let kids have them and stop complaining about them.

I'm not allowed to. I can tell students not bring them, but if they do I have no recourse. I cannot confiscate the phones. (Admin is worried about what will happen if we see something on the phones, they break while in our care, or another student steals it while it's in my desk.) I cannot hold kids for after school detention. I cannot give a grade for active participation. Does anyone have a solution that has worked well at their school? I know we're all fighting this battle.