Why is there a teacher shortage?

[Anonymous]

The biggest complaints I hear from teacher are not working extra hours per se—it’s that they have to work so many extra hours because they are required to attend meetings and otherwise attend to non-teaching responsibilities during and immediately after the school day, such that the actual requirements for their actual JOB are done in their free time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem is it takes 3-4 hours of work to prepare for that 7 hours, especially if you are a newer teacher. You don’t actually get time AT work to complete your work. I get 42 minutes to myself each day to plan all my lessons, grade all my assignments, contact my parents, respond to emails, complete required trainings, plan for committee meetings, meet with committees, etc. The remaining 6 hours of my day are directly in front of students. I may get to sit at my desk for 2-3 minutes at a time, but that is rare and I can’t actually complete any of my tasks when students are in the room with me. That 42 minutes needs to actually be 3-4 hours. Since it isn’t, I get a tremendous backlog of work. That’s why I work 6 days a week, with Saturday being my “catch-up” day from home. Usually it’s 10-12 hours, so I spend almost every Saturday in my home office completing what I didn’t have time to do during the work day. I often can’t do it after school because I have an obligation to run one club, help with parking duty, and run tutoring. When I do get home, usually 2 hours after my contracted time, I have to check in on my own family.

This is why I am dissatisfied. I think many teachers would feel better if our time in front of students was scaled back to give us more time for the other 50% of our job.

- Signing off to start working. I attended 6 hours of meetings today, so received no time to prepare for the school year

Friend -

You HAVE to .... HAVE to ... HAVE to! figure out ways to automate and get most of your work done while you are "in front" of the students.

Things finally got manageable for me when I started working like a doctor. You know how they sit in the room with you but are spending the whole time typing on the computer? You need to assess and grade, and organize, and clean up, WHILE the students are in the room with you.

You need to reduce the amount of grading and planning you are doing ahead of time. If it can't get done at school, it isn't going to be done at all. Automate, automate automate. Grade for completion and participation. Computer score multiple choice tests. Parent contact via automated systems if at all possible instead of lengthy phone calls. Plan adequate lessons, not fancy lessons. Have handouts or slides that are decent, good enough. Use whatever your school district provides; don't reinvent the wheel.

Spending Saturdays, all day, at home doing schoolwork is completely unsustainable.

We aren't paid enough for that. Sure, it's an amazing way to be a teacher. But to teach the way you are doing, you should teach 3 hours and have 3 hours for reflection and planning and grading. But, they won't give you those three hours without students. So you need to skimp on the thoughtful reflection, use whatever they will give you instead of creating your own, and take back your life.

Check out the 40 hour work week if you haven't already:

https://join.40htw.com

A quote from that website: The average teacher joining our program works 62 hours per week. Upon completion, the average member works just 52 hours in a typical week.

52 hours is still too much.

That is less than most professionals. I don’t know anyone that works 9-5 exclusively and never takes work home or works outside of those hours. Most professional jobs require “extra” hours of work or preparation for various things that can’t be done during the work day. Plus most jobs don’t have the summers off and extended holiday breaks for every major holiday.

I dont know anyone working 52 hours per week making less than 6 figures. High 6 figures. I could go to teaching- for the same pay that I am making now- and would literally be working 2-2.5x more than I do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem is it takes 3-4 hours of work to prepare for that 7 hours, especially if you are a newer teacher. You don’t actually get time AT work to complete your work. I get 42 minutes to myself each day to plan all my lessons, grade all my assignments, contact my parents, respond to emails, complete required trainings, plan for committee meetings, meet with committees, etc. The remaining 6 hours of my day are directly in front of students. I may get to sit at my desk for 2-3 minutes at a time, but that is rare and I can’t actually complete any of my tasks when students are in the room with me. That 42 minutes needs to actually be 3-4 hours. Since it isn’t, I get a tremendous backlog of work. That’s why I work 6 days a week, with Saturday being my “catch-up” day from home. Usually it’s 10-12 hours, so I spend almost every Saturday in my home office completing what I didn’t have time to do during the work day. I often can’t do it after school because I have an obligation to run one club, help with parking duty, and run tutoring. When I do get home, usually 2 hours after my contracted time, I have to check in on my own family.

This is why I am dissatisfied. I think many teachers would feel better if our time in front of students was scaled back to give us more time for the other 50% of our job.

- Signing off to start working. I attended 6 hours of meetings today, so received no time to prepare for the school year

Friend -

You HAVE to .... HAVE to ... HAVE to! figure out ways to automate and get most of your work done while you are "in front" of the students.

Things finally got manageable for me when I started working like a doctor. You know how they sit in the room with you but are spending the whole time typing on the computer? You need to assess and grade, and organize, and clean up, WHILE the students are in the room with you.

You need to reduce the amount of grading and planning you are doing ahead of time. If it can't get done at school, it isn't going to be done at all. Automate, automate automate. Grade for completion and participation. Computer score multiple choice tests. Parent contact via automated systems if at all possible instead of lengthy phone calls. Plan adequate lessons, not fancy lessons. Have handouts or slides that are decent, good enough. Use whatever your school district provides; don't reinvent the wheel.

Spending Saturdays, all day, at home doing schoolwork is completely unsustainable.

We aren't paid enough for that. Sure, it's an amazing way to be a teacher. But to teach the way you are doing, you should teach 3 hours and have 3 hours for reflection and planning and grading. But, they won't give you those three hours without students. So you need to skimp on the thoughtful reflection, use whatever they will give you instead of creating your own, and take back your life.

Check out the 40 hour work week if you haven't already:

https://join.40htw.com

A quote from that website: The average teacher joining our program works 62 hours per week. Upon completion, the average member works just 52 hours in a typical week.

52 hours is still too much.

That is less than most professionals. I don’t know anyone that works 9-5 exclusively and never takes work home or works outside of those hours. Most professional jobs require “extra” hours of work or preparation for various things that can’t be done during the work day. Plus most jobs don’t have the summers off and extended holiday breaks for every major holiday.

I dont know anyone working 52 hours per week making less than 6 figures. High 6 figures. I could go to teaching- for the same pay that I am making now- and would literally be working 2-2.5x more than I do.

First of all, are you talking about professionals who work in state or local government? Second, are you looking at how much they would be paid for working only 10 months? I can assure you that plenty of government employees work more than 50 hours per week and make the same or less than teachers do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem is it takes 3-4 hours of work to prepare for that 7 hours, especially if you are a newer teacher. You don’t actually get time AT work to complete your work. I get 42 minutes to myself each day to plan all my lessons, grade all my assignments, contact my parents, respond to emails, complete required trainings, plan for committee meetings, meet with committees, etc. The remaining 6 hours of my day are directly in front of students. I may get to sit at my desk for 2-3 minutes at a time, but that is rare and I can’t actually complete any of my tasks when students are in the room with me. That 42 minutes needs to actually be 3-4 hours. Since it isn’t, I get a tremendous backlog of work. That’s why I work 6 days a week, with Saturday being my “catch-up” day from home. Usually it’s 10-12 hours, so I spend almost every Saturday in my home office completing what I didn’t have time to do during the work day. I often can’t do it after school because I have an obligation to run one club, help with parking duty, and run tutoring. When I do get home, usually 2 hours after my contracted time, I have to check in on my own family.

This is why I am dissatisfied. I think many teachers would feel better if our time in front of students was scaled back to give us more time for the other 50% of our job.

- Signing off to start working. I attended 6 hours of meetings today, so received no time to prepare for the school year

Friend -

You HAVE to .... HAVE to ... HAVE to! figure out ways to automate and get most of your work done while you are "in front" of the students.

Things finally got manageable for me when I started working like a doctor. You know how they sit in the room with you but are spending the whole time typing on the computer? You need to assess and grade, and organize, and clean up, WHILE the students are in the room with you.

You need to reduce the amount of grading and planning you are doing ahead of time. If it can't get done at school, it isn't going to be done at all. Automate, automate automate. Grade for completion and participation. Computer score multiple choice tests. Parent contact via automated systems if at all possible instead of lengthy phone calls. Plan adequate lessons, not fancy lessons. Have handouts or slides that are decent, good enough. Use whatever your school district provides; don't reinvent the wheel.

Spending Saturdays, all day, at home doing schoolwork is completely unsustainable.

We aren't paid enough for that. Sure, it's an amazing way to be a teacher. But to teach the way you are doing, you should teach 3 hours and have 3 hours for reflection and planning and grading. But, they won't give you those three hours without students. So you need to skimp on the thoughtful reflection, use whatever they will give you instead of creating your own, and take back your life.

Check out the 40 hour work week if you haven't already:

https://join.40htw.com

A quote from that website: The average teacher joining our program works 62 hours per week. Upon completion, the average member works just 52 hours in a typical week.

52 hours is still too much.

That is less than most professionals. I don’t know anyone that works 9-5 exclusively and never takes work home or works outside of those hours. Most professional jobs require “extra” hours of work or preparation for various things that can’t be done during the work day. Plus most jobs don’t have the summers off and extended holiday breaks for every major holiday.

I dont know anyone working 52 hours per week making less than 6 figures. High 6 figures. I could go to teaching- for the same pay that I am making now- and would literally be working 2-2.5x more than I do.

First of all, are you talking about professionals who work in state or local government? Second, are you looking at how much they would be paid for working only 10 months? I can assure you that plenty of government employees work more than 50 hours per week and make the same or less than teachers do.

List the jobs, hours worked and pay (for 10 months)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem is it takes 3-4 hours of work to prepare for that 7 hours, especially if you are a newer teacher. You don’t actually get time AT work to complete your work. I get 42 minutes to myself each day to plan all my lessons, grade all my assignments, contact my parents, respond to emails, complete required trainings, plan for committee meetings, meet with committees, etc. The remaining 6 hours of my day are directly in front of students. I may get to sit at my desk for 2-3 minutes at a time, but that is rare and I can’t actually complete any of my tasks when students are in the room with me. That 42 minutes needs to actually be 3-4 hours. Since it isn’t, I get a tremendous backlog of work. That’s why I work 6 days a week, with Saturday being my “catch-up” day from home. Usually it’s 10-12 hours, so I spend almost every Saturday in my home office completing what I didn’t have time to do during the work day. I often can’t do it after school because I have an obligation to run one club, help with parking duty, and run tutoring. When I do get home, usually 2 hours after my contracted time, I have to check in on my own family.

This is why I am dissatisfied. I think many teachers would feel better if our time in front of students was scaled back to give us more time for the other 50% of our job.

- Signing off to start working. I attended 6 hours of meetings today, so received no time to prepare for the school year

Friend -

You HAVE to .... HAVE to ... HAVE to! figure out ways to automate and get most of your work done while you are "in front" of the students.

Things finally got manageable for me when I started working like a doctor. You know how they sit in the room with you but are spending the whole time typing on the computer? You need to assess and grade, and organize, and clean up, WHILE the students are in the room with you.

You need to reduce the amount of grading and planning you are doing ahead of time. If it can't get done at school, it isn't going to be done at all. Automate, automate automate. Grade for completion and participation. Computer score multiple choice tests. Parent contact via automated systems if at all possible instead of lengthy phone calls. Plan adequate lessons, not fancy lessons. Have handouts or slides that are decent, good enough. Use whatever your school district provides; don't reinvent the wheel.

Spending Saturdays, all day, at home doing schoolwork is completely unsustainable.

We aren't paid enough for that. Sure, it's an amazing way to be a teacher. But to teach the way you are doing, you should teach 3 hours and have 3 hours for reflection and planning and grading. But, they won't give you those three hours without students. So you need to skimp on the thoughtful reflection, use whatever they will give you instead of creating your own, and take back your life.

Check out the 40 hour work week if you haven't already:

https://join.40htw.com

A quote from that website: The average teacher joining our program works 62 hours per week. Upon completion, the average member works just 52 hours in a typical week.

52 hours is still too much.

That is less than most professionals. I don’t know anyone that works 9-5 exclusively and never takes work home or works outside of those hours. Most professional jobs require “extra” hours of work or preparation for various things that can’t be done during the work day. Plus most jobs don’t have the summers off and extended holiday breaks for every major holiday.

I dont know anyone working 52 hours per week making less than 6 figures. High 6 figures. I could go to teaching- for the same pay that I am making now- and would literally be working 2-2.5x more than I do.

First of all, are you talking about professionals who work in state or local government? Second, are you looking at how much they would be paid for working only 10 months? I can assure you that plenty of government employees work more than 50 hours per week and make the same or less than teachers do.

List the jobs, hours worked and pay (for 10 months)

You clearly have never worked in government or possibly a professional job. Low salaries and high demands are problems in government work that is not limited to just teachers. Many public defenders, state's attorneys, policy and procurement professionals in government agencies work long hours and earn low salaries, and can't use the leave they have earned due to workload demands. It's actually similar to teaching - there's a brain drain from people leaving, and no one wants these jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem is it takes 3-4 hours of work to prepare for that 7 hours, especially if you are a newer teacher. You don’t actually get time AT work to complete your work. I get 42 minutes to myself each day to plan all my lessons, grade all my assignments, contact my parents, respond to emails, complete required trainings, plan for committee meetings, meet with committees, etc. The remaining 6 hours of my day are directly in front of students. I may get to sit at my desk for 2-3 minutes at a time, but that is rare and I can’t actually complete any of my tasks when students are in the room with me. That 42 minutes needs to actually be 3-4 hours. Since it isn’t, I get a tremendous backlog of work. That’s why I work 6 days a week, with Saturday being my “catch-up” day from home. Usually it’s 10-12 hours, so I spend almost every Saturday in my home office completing what I didn’t have time to do during the work day. I often can’t do it after school because I have an obligation to run one club, help with parking duty, and run tutoring. When I do get home, usually 2 hours after my contracted time, I have to check in on my own family.

This is why I am dissatisfied. I think many teachers would feel better if our time in front of students was scaled back to give us more time for the other 50% of our job.

- Signing off to start working. I attended 6 hours of meetings today, so received no time to prepare for the school year

Friend -

You HAVE to .... HAVE to ... HAVE to! figure out ways to automate and get most of your work done while you are "in front" of the students.

Things finally got manageable for me when I started working like a doctor. You know how they sit in the room with you but are spending the whole time typing on the computer? You need to assess and grade, and organize, and clean up, WHILE the students are in the room with you.

You need to reduce the amount of grading and planning you are doing ahead of time. If it can't get done at school, it isn't going to be done at all. Automate, automate automate. Grade for completion and participation. Computer score multiple choice tests. Parent contact via automated systems if at all possible instead of lengthy phone calls. Plan adequate lessons, not fancy lessons. Have handouts or slides that are decent, good enough. Use whatever your school district provides; don't reinvent the wheel.

Spending Saturdays, all day, at home doing schoolwork is completely unsustainable.

We aren't paid enough for that. Sure, it's an amazing way to be a teacher. But to teach the way you are doing, you should teach 3 hours and have 3 hours for reflection and planning and grading. But, they won't give you those three hours without students. So you need to skimp on the thoughtful reflection, use whatever they will give you instead of creating your own, and take back your life.

Check out the 40 hour work week if you haven't already:

https://join.40htw.com

A quote from that website: The average teacher joining our program works 62 hours per week. Upon completion, the average member works just 52 hours in a typical week.

52 hours is still too much.

That is less than most professionals. I don’t know anyone that works 9-5 exclusively and never takes work home or works outside of those hours. Most professional jobs require “extra” hours of work or preparation for various things that can’t be done during the work day. Plus most jobs don’t have the summers off and extended holiday breaks for every major holiday.

I dont know anyone working 52 hours per week making less than 6 figures. High 6 figures. I could go to teaching- for the same pay that I am making now- and would literally be working 2-2.5x more than I do.

But remember that 52 hours per week is only over 42 weeks of the year, as teachers get 10 weeks off in the summers.

Assuming 55 hours per week for 42 weeks, that's 2310 hours of work. For those that work 52 weeks per year, that compares to about 44.5 hours work per week. So you aren't working more total hours, but you have a compressed schedule where you have a much more concentrated schedule for 42 weeks, but have 10 weeks off each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But remember that 52 hours per week is only over 42 weeks of the year, as teachers get 10 weeks off in the summers.

Assuming 55 hours per week for 42 weeks, that's 2310 hours of work. For those that work 52 weeks per year, that compares to about 44.5 hours work per week. So you aren't working more total hours, but you have a compressed schedule where you have a much more concentrated schedule for 42 weeks, but have 10 weeks off each year.

Teacher here -- I want to say that I somewhat agree with you. I do feel I would be underpaid if I worked 52 hours a week as some of my colleagues do. But the summers off do make up for it somewhat.

However, right now with a MA and 15 years' teaching experience my salary is around $80,000. Even if I were to accept an 11 month or 12 month position, it would only rise to $89,000 or $97,000. That's a good salary for the teaching field, but it isn't what a lot of my similarly educated friends are making now with 15 years' experience.

[Anonymous]

But remember that 52 hours per week is only over 42 weeks of the year, as teachers get 10 weeks off in the summers.

10 weeks without students is not ten weeks without work. But you know that.

All of this nitpicking is really just smoke and mirrors to avoid examining the crux of the OP: why are teachers leaving the profession, especially if they have it so good?

[Anonymous]

ETA, if it was so much better to teach compared to other jobs, I think we'd see more people return to teaching after leaving for other professions. IME I've never seen that happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem is it takes 3-4 hours of work to prepare for that 7 hours, especially if you are a newer teacher. You don’t actually get time AT work to complete your work. I get 42 minutes to myself each day to plan all my lessons, grade all my assignments, contact my parents, respond to emails, complete required trainings, plan for committee meetings, meet with committees, etc. The remaining 6 hours of my day are directly in front of students. I may get to sit at my desk for 2-3 minutes at a time, but that is rare and I can’t actually complete any of my tasks when students are in the room with me. That 42 minutes needs to actually be 3-4 hours. Since it isn’t, I get a tremendous backlog of work. That’s why I work 6 days a week, with Saturday being my “catch-up” day from home. Usually it’s 10-12 hours, so I spend almost every Saturday in my home office completing what I didn’t have time to do during the work day. I often can’t do it after school because I have an obligation to run one club, help with parking duty, and run tutoring. When I do get home, usually 2 hours after my contracted time, I have to check in on my own family.

This is why I am dissatisfied. I think many teachers would feel better if our time in front of students was scaled back to give us more time for the other 50% of our job.

- Signing off to start working. I attended 6 hours of meetings today, so received no time to prepare for the school year

Friend -

You HAVE to .... HAVE to ... HAVE to! figure out ways to automate and get most of your work done while you are "in front" of the students.

Things finally got manageable for me when I started working like a doctor. You know how they sit in the room with you but are spending the whole time typing on the computer? You need to assess and grade, and organize, and clean up, WHILE the students are in the room with you.

You need to reduce the amount of grading and planning you are doing ahead of time. If it can't get done at school, it isn't going to be done at all. Automate, automate automate. Grade for completion and participation. Computer score multiple choice tests. Parent contact via automated systems if at all possible instead of lengthy phone calls. Plan adequate lessons, not fancy lessons. Have handouts or slides that are decent, good enough. Use whatever your school district provides; don't reinvent the wheel.

Spending Saturdays, all day, at home doing schoolwork is completely unsustainable.

We aren't paid enough for that. Sure, it's an amazing way to be a teacher. But to teach the way you are doing, you should teach 3 hours and have 3 hours for reflection and planning and grading. But, they won't give you those three hours without students. So you need to skimp on the thoughtful reflection, use whatever they will give you instead of creating your own, and take back your life.

Check out the 40 hour work week if you haven't already:

https://join.40htw.com

A quote from that website: The average teacher joining our program works 62 hours per week. Upon completion, the average member works just 52 hours in a typical week.

52 hours is still too much.

That is less than most professionals. I don’t know anyone that works 9-5 exclusively and never takes work home or works outside of those hours. Most professional jobs require “extra” hours of work or preparation for various things that can’t be done during the work day. Plus most jobs don’t have the summers off and extended holiday breaks for every major holiday.

I dont know anyone working 52 hours per week making less than 6 figures. High 6 figures. I could go to teaching- for the same pay that I am making now- and would literally be working 2-2.5x more than I do.

First of all, are you talking about professionals who work in state or local government? Second, are you looking at how much they would be paid for working only 10 months? I can assure you that plenty of government employees work more than 50 hours per week and make the same or less than teachers do.

List the jobs, hours worked and pay (for 10 months)

You clearly have never worked in government or possibly a professional job. Low salaries and high demands are problems in government work that is not limited to just teachers. Many public defenders, state's attorneys, policy and procurement professionals in government agencies work long hours and earn low salaries, and can't use the leave they have earned due to workload demands. It's actually similar to teaching - there's a brain drain from people leaving, and no one wants these jobs.

So basically you are saying all government workers are chumps.

Frankly, saying you are a public defender has respect where teaching doesn’t. Want proof? Teachers can’t pee when they need to. Where is the humanity and dignity in that? Even prisoners have a toilet on demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ETA, if it was so much better to teach compared to other jobs, I think we'd see more people return to teaching after leaving for other professions. IME I've never seen that happen.

Exactly! "Summers off!!!' If that's so enticing (and I agree it is a nice benefit, especially if your spouse is also a teacher), and the salary seems decent, why aren't people flocking to the profession?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But remember that 52 hours per week is only over 42 weeks of the year, as teachers get 10 weeks off in the summers.

Assuming 55 hours per week for 42 weeks, that's 2310 hours of work. For those that work 52 weeks per year, that compares to about 44.5 hours work per week. So you aren't working more total hours, but you have a compressed schedule where you have a much more concentrated schedule for 42 weeks, but have 10 weeks off each year.

Teacher here -- I want to say that I somewhat agree with you. I do feel I would be underpaid if I worked 52 hours a week as some of my colleagues do. But the summers off do make up for it somewhat.

However, right now with a MA and 15 years' teaching experience my salary is around $80,000. Even if I were to accept an 11 month or 12 month position, it would only rise to $89,000 or $97,000. That's a good salary for the teaching field, but it isn't what a lot of my similarly educated friends are making now with 15 years' experience.

Define “similarly educated.” $90-100k is pretty good for someone with a liberal arts degree. It’s not like you have an MS in a STEM field.

Regardless, schools reduce class load on teachers. I think spending more money on hiring more teachers, so they can add another hour of prep time each day, would be a better move than paying teachers more. A $10-20k bump wouldn't address burnout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But remember that 52 hours per week is only over 42 weeks of the year, as teachers get 10 weeks off in the summers.

Assuming 55 hours per week for 42 weeks, that's 2310 hours of work. For those that work 52 weeks per year, that compares to about 44.5 hours work per week. So you aren't working more total hours, but you have a compressed schedule where you have a much more concentrated schedule for 42 weeks, but have 10 weeks off each year.

Teacher here -- I want to say that I somewhat agree with you. I do feel I would be underpaid if I worked 52 hours a week as some of my colleagues do. But the summers off do make up for it somewhat.

However, right now with a MA and 15 years' teaching experience my salary is around $80,000. Even if I were to accept an 11 month or 12 month position, it would only rise to $89,000 or $97,000. That's a good salary for the teaching field, but it isn't what a lot of my similarly educated friends are making now with 15 years' experience.

Define “similarly educated.” $90-100k is pretty good for someone with a liberal arts degree. It’s not like you have an MS in a STEM field.

Regardless, schools reduce class load on teachers. I think spending more money on hiring more teachers, so they can add another hour of prep time each day, would be a better move than paying teachers more. A $10-20k bump wouldn't address burnout.

I’m a DP.

My first thought is to say I’d love to observe you take over my high school classroom for just 2 days. I think you’d get a great idea of what a person with a “mere” BA can do. I also think you’d change your tune.

Teaching is HARD. It is physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually demanding. It’s also demoralizing. I don’t have to look any further than your “it’s not like you have an MS in a STEM field” comment to find the demoralizing hit. Guess what? I DO have an MS. I’m a career changer. I’d be making 3 times what I make now if I had stayed. (I’d also be working FAR fewer hours.) I had this crazy idea of doing something that would be genuinely meaningful, something that would contribute to society… which, of course, means I have to take a cut in pay and respect. Our society really has messed up values.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But remember that 52 hours per week is only over 42 weeks of the year, as teachers get 10 weeks off in the summers.

Assuming 55 hours per week for 42 weeks, that's 2310 hours of work. For those that work 52 weeks per year, that compares to about 44.5 hours work per week. So you aren't working more total hours, but you have a compressed schedule where you have a much more concentrated schedule for 42 weeks, but have 10 weeks off each year.

Teacher here -- I want to say that I somewhat agree with you. I do feel I would be underpaid if I worked 52 hours a week as some of my colleagues do. But the summers off do make up for it somewhat.

However, right now with a MA and 15 years' teaching experience my salary is around $80,000. Even if I were to accept an 11 month or 12 month position, it would only rise to $89,000 or $97,000. That's a good salary for the teaching field, but it isn't what a lot of my similarly educated friends are making now with 15 years' experience.

Define “similarly educated.” $90-100k is pretty good for someone with a liberal arts degree. It’s not like you have an MS in a STEM field.

Regardless, schools reduce class load on teachers. I think spending more money on hiring more teachers, so they can add another hour of prep time each day, would be a better move than paying teachers more. A $10-20k bump wouldn't address burnout.

Is $90-100k really that low for someone with just an MS in any STEM field? I have a social science grad degree and make in this range as a mid career government employee. I didn't think it was that bad

[Anonymous]

Age 45 in MCPS as a STEM teacher. It is hard seeing all my friends with much higher incomes. Yes, I have more flexibility in the summer. But they all work from home so that basically cancels out. I don’t know what their retirement situation is, but it seems we will work until our kids college is done.

It seems like the best combo is to have one teacher and one partner in a STEM/finance field. Stable, flexible combo. If not then lots of commuting or some other set of sacrifices that is becoming less and less attractive to to working college educated adults.

My wife I decided to only have one child. A lot of this was due to work and finances. I have always felt guilty about that.