Are you sick of highly-paid teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There's no comparison. Teachers have it way worse.

No, way, teachers get holidays off, school breaks off, my son's teacher took off over 16 days last year to deal with family issues so guessing they have vacation & sick leave. Granted their job has gotten more dangerous but not as bad as cops.

In MCPS teachers get 9 sick days and 3 personal days per year. And when they take one of those days, they have to find somebody to come in and perform their job for them, and write a detailed sdescription of how to do so.

("over 16"? So... 17? Such a random number to remember!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There's no comparison. Teachers have it way worse.

No, way, teachers get holidays off, school breaks off, my son's teacher took off over 16 days last year to deal with family issues so guessing they have vacation & sick leave. Granted their job has gotten more dangerous but not as bad as cops.

In MCPS teachers get 9 sick days and 3 personal days per year. And when they take one of those days, they have to find somebody to come in and perform their job for them, and write a detailed sdescription of how to do so.

("over 16"? So... 17? Such a random number to remember!)

Not that random, I remember Oct-Feb she was out on average once a week (kids sick, spouse sick, dog sick) after that I stopped asking my son. Are you saying the teacher finds a replacement? No, not in our area. An automated system calls all sub teachers to fill spots. Often there would be 2-3 subs to cover the one day. As far as doing their job for them, once again, not usually the case, the kids would watch movies, do busy worksheets not at all related to what they were studying, sometimes read & review on their own current material. The sub didn't teach, she babysat.

I am not one though that thinks teachers get paid too much. But, most of the people I know that teach or stopped to stay home with kids, only want to teach because the perks out weigh the negatives.

I think just about any person would say their own job don't pay them enough, teachers just get more press & a more public forum for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There's no comparison. Teachers have it way worse.

No, way, teachers get holidays off, school breaks off, my son's teacher took off over 16 days last year to deal with family issues so guessing they have vacation & sick leave. Granted their job has gotten more dangerous but not as bad as cops.

In MCPS teachers get 9 sick days and 3 personal days per year. And when they take one of those days, they have to find somebody to come in and perform their job for them, and write a detailed sdescription of how to do so.

("over 16"? So... 17? Such a random number to remember!)

Not that random, I remember Oct-Feb she was out on average once a week (kids sick, spouse sick, dog sick) after that I stopped asking my son. Are you saying the teacher finds a replacement? No, not in our area. An automated system calls all sub teachers to fill spots. Often there would be 2-3 subs to cover the one day. As far as doing their job for them, once again, not usually the case, the kids would watch movies, do busy worksheets not at all related to what they were studying, sometimes read & review on their own current material. The sub didn't teach, she babysat.

I am not one though that thinks teachers get paid too much. But, most of the people I know that teach or stopped to stay home with kids, only want to teach because the perks out weigh the negatives.

I think just about any person would say their own job don't pay them enough, teachers just get more press & a more public forum for it.

I was only speaking for MCPS. Teachers can either find their own sub personally, or put the job into the call system which will fill it (hopefully). Some principals may not approve personal leave until a sub has been secured for the job. I have many friends who are teachers in different parts of the country, and the procedures for just about everything vary widely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish we paid teachers more. And could fire them.

They can be fired.

Not really. They hire lawyers and the teacher's union protects them. It is VERY difficult to fire a teacher.

I'm all for increasing the amount of money a teacher can potentially make, decreasing the power of the union and giving significant pay raises only to those who truly deserve it. Yes, 90% of teachers work hard. We once dealt with someone who was part of the 10% and I have no doubt she will teach forever. It's not just about hard work. The master teachers work hard and do an amazing job and THEY should get major raises. Some people work hard and even after many years of experience they just don't blossom into good teachers. People bitch about the fact you can't measure performance and pay accordingly. Yes you can. It is done in every workplace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There's no comparison. Teachers have it way worse.

No, way, teachers get holidays off, school breaks off, my son's teacher took off over 16 days last year to deal with family issues so guessing they have vacation & sick leave. Granted their job has gotten more dangerous but not as bad as cops.

After you use your personal/sick days you get docked pay. So, if it were my school, the teacher would have been taking pay without leave after her 2nd personal day (provided she wasn't sick - we have liberal sick leave, as long as it is substantiated with a doctor's note if it is more than 1 day at a time). As a teacher, I routinely work 50-60 hours a week during the school year, and spend my "breaks and holidays" planning, grading & attending professional development. So, let's say I work just an extra 10 hours per week during the school year … that's about 360 extra hours, which works out to 9 extra weeks of 40-hour work weeks … so, what's that about summer vacation? Yes, it is a perk to get time to spend with my kids (many of my colleagues actually work all summer to compensate for low salary), but don't think I'm getting paid for less hours of work ...

[Anonymous]

I have to check in here. Please do NOT comment about the job of teaching unless you are a teacher, because you have no idea. Whatever it looks like to you in terms of pay, workload, vacation,etc. is nothing like what it really is. The job has no defined set of hours. I literally could work around the clock, but I have to eat and I have to sleep. It is hours of work and an incredible amount of stress. New reform metrics only have added to this unmanageable job. Stop talking about summers off. There is no "time off." Summer vacation is actually only about 3-4 weeks, similar to most mid level career people, and I still have work to do in that time. I have meetings, classes,planning- most of which I am not paid for in the other weeks.

It is midnight, and I have been working all night since I arrived home. I stopped for dinner...45 minutes. I have no kids, but if I did they would not have any attention or I would not be able to do what I need to do just to be prepared for tomorrow, or to compile the grades that are due this week, or organize endless data points for an evaluation check of how effective a teacher I am. Kids who fail my class because they complete nothing will go on to the next grade regardless and their parents will threaten me at parent conferences over these grades...as if I was responsible. If they do not pass tests in school either because they cannot due to disabilities or effort, I will labeled ineffective as a teacher. Where else in working America would this fly?

Did you read about the shooting in a middle school in New Mexico? How about the one a few weeks ago? Have you been in a classroom of angry. hungry, impoverished kids day after day?

This is no longer a job, it has to be a complete give over of one's life. Talking about our pay, unless you fully understand what this job entails, is reprehensible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to check in here. Please do NOT comment about the job of teaching unless you are a teacher, because you have no idea. Whatever it looks like to you in terms of pay, workload, vacation,etc. is nothing like what it really is. The job has no defined set of hours. I literally could work around the clock, but I have to eat and I have to sleep. It is hours of work and an incredible amount of stress. New reform metrics only have added to this unmanageable job. Stop talking about summers off. There is no "time off." Summer vacation is actually only about 3-4 weeks, similar to most mid level career people, and I still have work to do in that time. I have meetings, classes,planning- most of which I am not paid for in the other weeks.

It is midnight, and I have been working all night since I arrived home. I stopped for dinner...45 minutes. I have no kids, but if I did they would not have any attention or I would not be able to do what I need to do just to be prepared for tomorrow, or to compile the grades that are due this week, or organize endless data points for an evaluation check of how effective a teacher I am. Kids who fail my class because they complete nothing will go on to the next grade regardless and their parents will threaten me at parent conferences over these grades...as if I was responsible. If they do not pass tests in school either because they cannot due to disabilities or effort, I will labeled ineffective as a teacher. Where else in working America would this fly?

Did you read about the shooting in a middle school in New Mexico? How about the one a few weeks ago? Have you been in a classroom of angry. hungry, impoverished kids day after day?

This is no longer a job, it has to be a complete give over of one's life. Talking about our pay, unless you fully understand what this job entails, is reprehensible.

Then do something else if you're not enjoying it. Seriously. Get off the cross and find a career that makes you happy. I am a teacher (on maternity leave), my husband is a teacher, and three out of our four parents are teachers. This attitude is why so many people dislike teachers. Complain, complain, complain. We all had career day, and you knew what you were getting into.

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher and so was my mother. I went into teaching because I wanted to do what she did. She retired a few years ago and now will sometimes volunteer in my classroom. She always tells me how different it is now from what she did. The expectations are ridiculously high and the parents blame the teachers when their kids don't do the work/studying. She just forwarded me a cartoon that shows parents 30 yrs ago pointing angrily at their kid during a parent teacher conference. The cartoon from today has the parents angrily pointing at the teacher. That sums it up very well. Teaching has changed so much even in just the last 7 yrs when I first started. I could go on but I have lunch duty.

[Anonymous]

For more on the frustrations of teaching, read this article by Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/31/i-would-love-to-teach-but/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher and so was my mother. I went into teaching because I wanted to do what she did. She retired a few years ago and now will sometimes volunteer in my classroom. She always tells me how different it is now from what she did. The expectations are ridiculously high and the parents blame the teachers when their kids don't do the work/studying. She just forwarded me a cartoon that shows parents 30 yrs ago pointing angrily at their kid during a parent teacher conference. The cartoon from today has the parents angrily pointing at the teacher. That sums it up very well. Teaching has changed so much even in just the last 7 yrs when I first started. I could go on but I have lunch duty.

I saw this cartoon as well. It is dead on, and I am a parent who is not a teacher, but have a heart for teachers and think there are so many ridiculous and entitled parents these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm more concerned about things like this:

http://nypost.com/2014/01/12/no-space-no-books-no-leader-no-clue-at-citys-worst-elementary/

And people say there is no war on the underclass. It's garbage like this that is allowed to happen in this country. There is no excuse, no rationale, no reason. And for the record, HELL NO teachers are not overpaid!

+1.

This is horrible.

[Anonymous]

I am not a teacher but work in finance for an engineering company. If you take a salary/9 × 12.. it is more than a lot of them make. Sorry, they are overpaid.

[Anonymous]

Then do something else if you're not enjoying it. Seriously. Get off the cross and find a career that makes you happy. I am a teacher (on maternity leave), my husband is a teacher, and three out of our four parents are teachers. This attitude is why so many people dislike teachers. Complain, complain, complain. We all had career day, and you knew what you were getting into.

Yeah.. Career day, huh? Even student teaching won't prepare anyone for what this job actually is...not now. It is not the same job AT ALL. It is also a different career than even ten years ago before corporate America took it over. Complaining? Simply correcting those who think teachers are overpaid, which is what this forum topic is about. Perhaps comprehension is not your thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not a teacher but work in finance for an engineering company. If you take a salary/9 × 12.. it is more than a lot of them make. Sorry, they are overpaid.

1. A teachers contracted calendar is not the same as a student's calendar. THEN add an addional 3 weeks of setting up the classroom or closing it down. I worked a minimum of 60 hrs/week during the school year. My contract was from 8/1 until 6/30 every year... FWIW.

2. What summer job can teachers find that would substantially supplement their income while allowing time to take grad classes?

3. still had expenses like childcare, mortgage, etc.

While i love teaching, I had to make a choice of time with my own kids vs. my students. I chose my kids and now stay home while working a p/t job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a teacher but work in finance for an engineering company. If you take a salary/9 × 12.. it is more than a lot of them make. Sorry, they are overpaid.

1. A teachers contracted calendar is not the same as a student's calendar. THEN add an addional 3 weeks of setting up the classroom or closing it down. I worked a minimum of 60 hrs/week during the school year. My contract was from 8/1 until 6/30 every year... FWIW.

2. What summer job can teachers find that would substantially supplement their income while allowing time to take grad classes?

3. still had expenses like childcare, mortgage, etc.

While i love teaching, I had to make a choice of time with my own kids vs. my students. I chose my kids and now stay home while working a p/t job.

Ignore the errors. Sick right now, and it is 3:42... But you understand my point, right?