Why does no one acknowledge how overworked teachers are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think teachers are overworked. The actual work isn’t hard. What’s hard is unruly kids and I think as a society we need to have a larger discussion about what to do about them. There’s an unwillingness to have them in separate classrooms

But we do. It’s called public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many individual contributors are making over $150k with just a BA or BA/MA? That’s what lawyers at DOJ are making.

This. I make $150k in government and I manage a large team and work my ass off year round. I am contacted on evenings and weekends regularly. I work as part of a public facing function so am responsive and speak to residents. It can be very stressful. Managing people is incredibly draining. I’ve never taught before so I can’t say it’s more or less work or more or less stress. Just explaining the reality of my job.

I have always viewed teaching as something where it’s very intense and inflexible days when you’re working but more time off than any other professional gets. So trade offs.

[Anonymous]

As a STEM teacher who used to work in a lab, I can say that teaching is definitely much more draining. You are making thousands of decisions a day. Pay is fine, but the stress is ridiculous. Behaviors in the classroom from out of control students is driving teachers away. This generation of kids cannot handle being away from a screen and manage themselves positively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think teachers are overworked. The actual work isn’t hard. What’s hard is unruly kids and I think as a society we need to have a larger discussion about what to do about them. There’s an unwillingness to have them in separate classrooms

My work isn’t hard?

Please prepare and deliver 25 hours of presentations next week. (You will also be held responsible for the outcome of those presentations, so make sure your audience fully understands and can demonstrate that understanding.)

Please leave comments on 320 pages of AP essays. You’ll need to read them thoroughly, of course, but you’ll also have to leave feedback that is clear AND provides next-steps for the following essay. Make sure you track these comments so you can follow up on each individual one when you read the next 320 pages… in two weeks.

Please find time in your 30 available minutes each day to respond to 25-30 student / parent emails. You’ll likely have to eat your lunch at the same time.

Please remember to update 20-25 student IEP plans. The head of the SpEd department (and the law) require you to provide altered tests for some, oral instructions for others, and for two of them make sure you find time after school to read the entire test orally, transcribing student responses. You probably don’t have any of the altered tests ready, so find some time to get that done.

You have a new unit on Cold War fiction starting in two weeks. It’s been a while since you’ve covered that, so you better reread all of your novels and notes. It’s probably a good idea to look for some better criticism. What you used last year didn’t really help the students as much as you would have liked. Better yet… do that AND prepare a lesson demonstrating how students can find their own criticism.

Your correct. It’s an absolute walk in the park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want a job where I’m overworked but am compensated for it. My friends who aren’t teachers work a lot but make over $150k per year. I make $75k. Maybe I’d make that much if I charged for my OT. The job cannot be done with one 45 minute prep period per day. Most days I get zero planning due to meetings and other BS.

Your friends who make 150k don’t get summers off and long breaks during the school year. They’re working a lot more than you.

They get 3-4 weeks paid vacation plus they take 1+ hour lunches every day. Most would admit that they do no more than 3-4 hrs of work each day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s teachers make more money than I do and get better benefits. I very much appreciate them, am always polite, do not try to take their time or make their lives harder. But this idea that I somehow inadequately appreciate teachers is weird to me. Or the idea that I owe them lots of gift cards or gifts. I always make a point of sending thank you cards and, if it is in budget, a target gift card. Beyond that I really don’t think anything else should be expected of me as a parent.

Just how appreciative do I need to be? I am honestly not that appreciated in my job.

+10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s teachers make more money than I do and get better benefits. I very much appreciate them, am always polite, do not try to take their time or make their lives harder. But this idea that I somehow inadequately appreciate teachers is weird to me. Or the idea that I owe them lots of gift cards or gifts. I always make a point of sending thank you cards and, if it is in budget, a target gift card. Beyond that I really don’t think anything else should be expected of me as a parent.

Just how appreciative do I need to be? I am honestly not that appreciated in my job.

+10

Teacher here, who posted above about AP workloads. I don’t need appreciation. I don’t expect it at holidays or at the end of the year. I do appreciate thank you letters when I write college recommendations, but I know not to expect them since they come about 2-5% of the time.

I’d be happy if I can just get some respect. That might look like not calling my job “easy” and telling me to appreciate my summers off. Those 4-5 weeks aren’t much of a trade-off for the grueling 60-70 hour weeks throughout the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want a job where I’m overworked but am compensated for it. My friends who aren’t teachers work a lot but make over $150k per year. I make $75k. Maybe I’d make that much if I charged for my OT. The job cannot be done with one 45 minute prep period per day. Most days I get zero planning due to meetings and other BS.

Your friends who make 150k don’t get summers off and long breaks during the school year. They’re working a lot more than you.

They get 3-4 weeks paid vacation plus they take 1+ hour lunches every day. Most would admit that they do no more than 3-4 hrs of work each day.

Your friends must live in France. I’ve never known an American in my life taking that much PTO or hour long (non working) lunches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a former teacher. My perspective is 1) teachers underestimate how overworked everyone else is. They think they’re uniquely working unpaid overtime when just about anyone in a salaried role is feeling the same .

Teacher here, +1.

[Anonymous]

To answer the question in the title, it’s because I’m busy working 55hrs/week and trying to raise a family myself.

[Anonymous]

I’m a teacher with many years of experience. I can usually get all my work done in 35 hours although there are busier times.

It’s just a job. I do it well but I refuse to play the martyr.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want a job where I’m overworked but am compensated for it. My friends who aren’t teachers work a lot but make over $150k per year. I make $75k. Maybe I’d make that much if I charged for my OT. The job cannot be done with one 45 minute prep period per day. Most days I get zero planning due to meetings and other BS.

Your friends who make 150k don’t get summers off and long breaks during the school year. They’re working a lot more than you.

You realize many teachers work (revising curricula, mainly) and take classes during the summer, correct? My summer last year was 3 weeks long after I accounted for trainings, workshops, and curriculum meetings. Most was unpaid. And those long breaks? Many of my friends in other professions get them, as well. They also get more leave than I do (12 days total - sick and personal).

See this is so classic teacher mentality. You take your absolute best-situated friends and create a fictional ideal of private sector pay/time off/hours. It’s incredibly rare to get long breaks from your job. It’s increasingly rare to get leave at all—now we are all on “unlimited” AKA no leave. Other professions also have trainings and workshops. There are things about teaching that really suck. I quit and never looked back. But it sure as hell isn’t the breaks.

+1

Also, no one is MCPS is doing summer trainings, workshops, and meetings without being paid. It’s against union rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer the question in the title, it’s because I’m busy working 55hrs/week and trying to raise a family myself.

+1 When do we get appreciation? I’m tutoring my child, helping with tutoring, and re-teaching lessons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s teachers make more money than I do and get better benefits. I very much appreciate them, am always polite, do not try to take their time or make their lives harder. But this idea that I somehow inadequately appreciate teachers is weird to me. Or the idea that I owe them lots of gift cards or gifts. I always make a point of sending thank you cards and, if it is in budget, a target gift card. Beyond that I really don’t think anything else should be expected of me as a parent.

Just how appreciative do I need to be? I am honestly not that appreciated in my job.

+10

Teacher here, who posted above about AP workloads. I don’t need appreciation. I don’t expect it at holidays or at the end of the year. I do appreciate thank you letters when I write college recommendations, but I know not to expect them since they come about 2-5% of the time.

I’d be happy if I can just get some respect. That might look like not calling my job “easy” and telling me to appreciate my summers off. Those 4-5 weeks aren’t much of a trade-off for the grueling 60-70 hour weeks throughout the year.

Nobody does that. No one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s teachers make more money than I do and get better benefits. I very much appreciate them, am always polite, do not try to take their time or make their lives harder. But this idea that I somehow inadequately appreciate teachers is weird to me. Or the idea that I owe them lots of gift cards or gifts. I always make a point of sending thank you cards and, if it is in budget, a target gift card. Beyond that I really don’t think anything else should be expected of me as a parent.

Just how appreciative do I need to be? I am honestly not that appreciated in my job.

+10

Teacher here, who posted above about AP workloads. I don’t need appreciation. I don’t expect it at holidays or at the end of the year. I do appreciate thank you letters when I write college recommendations, but I know not to expect them since they come about 2-5% of the time.

I’d be happy if I can just get some respect. That might look like not calling my job “easy” and telling me to appreciate my summers off. Those 4-5 weeks aren’t much of a trade-off for the grueling 60-70 hour weeks throughout the year.

Nobody does that. No one.

Seriously? It’s in this thread. Page 2, I believe. It’s literally in EVERY thread that talks about teacher pay or work hours. Heck, my sister-in-law said it a few weeks back.