Tired of teacher friends complaining

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If teachers had to work 48-50 weeks a year they'd really bitch. School averages 180 days or 36 weeks. You never hear them bitch in July. Teaching is tough having to deal with unruly students and helicopter parents but there is a lot of downtime. If they want to earn more money don't be off for 16 weeks.

+1. The summer is your time to unwind, recharge, pursue hobbies, or some other stream of income. One of my teacher friends works on her Etsy shop. Another teaches yoga. Both have children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't say I don't plan for summer - I actually work quite a bit over summer, and have for over a decade. Many of us have side hustles and summer jobs.

Yes, you can plan to stretch out your pay over 12 months, but it's just that - stretching it out. You're still working and getting paid for only 10 months worth of work, not 12.

Or, consider it that you get paid annually, but are only expected to work 10 of those 12 months. You can choose whether to get paid all 12, or have the paychecks align with the months in which you work.

I'm sorry, are you stupid?

Teachers work 10 months and are paid 10 months. If their "salary" were applied across 12 months, it would be significantly smaller.

I currently teach for the MSDE in the juvenile detention facilities. We technically earn significantly more than city or county teachers, but hourly we are on the exact same pay schedule. We, however, work Christmas break and all summer, do not take spring break or fall break or any holidays, and are thus compensated that time where regular public schools are not. They are paid for the time they work. 10 months.

You work ten months out of the year, and your annual salary reflects that. I work roughly 11mos out of the year once you factor in my 15 days of PTO and the federal holidays, and I get paid an annual salary that my company believes reflects that.

Like almost anyone who considers a job, I evaluate everything from the salary to the schedule (hours, flexibility) to the benefits package to the type of work itself in determining whether I'll take it. If the overall package is favorable to me, I may decide to take the job. Presumably most professionals, including teachers, make similar calculations. If the overall compensation package (salary + benefits + schedule + the type/amount of work) is worth it to you, take the job. If not, we have 4% unemployment right now.

[Anonymous]

I'm also tired of all of my teacher friends posting about every little potential snowstorm 10 days out on Facebook and re-sharing daily updates from 5 different weather sites. Praying for snow days and delays and school cancellations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well it IS kind of normal (and teachers do tend to complain to each other when they are outside of school). And also, they DO get paid ridiculously low salaries for the amount of stress they are under.
Yes, your job is super-stressful too, but you likely get compensated for it in a way that teachers do not. AND, the thing you (and even many teachers before they are IN the job) may not realize is that it is literally one of the only jobs that you simply can NEVER leave "at the office" for the next day. There is always planning to do...and grading...and more planning...and more grading. There is no "down time" to do this at work because they are always ON when they have a class of students. There is no hiding in your office or sitting quietly in a meeting pretending to be paying attention. (I know you don't always do this, OP, but you *could* do it. It's an option. And that's sort of the point.) With teaching, the work is constant and ongoing from the minute you step into the school to the minute you leave. And then you take it with you.

Oops. I accidentally sound just like your friends. LOL

But that is probably why I left the profession after 8 years. And lemme tell ya...I have worked 3 different "office jobs" since--one was a law firm, one was a publishing house, and now I'm at a marketing firm (I have a Masters in English) and I haven't found an environment yet that is as stressful as teaching.

I hear you. But, I also don’t get whole summers off?

Neither do most teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In literally every other job, if you need to go to the bathroom, you get up and go. Have you ever considered that? If a teacher has to go to the restroom, they have to wait a few hours for lunch, or somehow magically find an extra adult that is certified to be alone with the children in the classroom, without leaving the room or using a phone.

Someone pointed that out to me, and that is tortuous.


Nope, I don’t just walk up and go to the bathroom in the middle of a trial or hearing. Or in surgery, or delivering a baby, or caring for a patient.

Exactly. Adults manage fluid intake in situations when they know they will be without a bathroom break for a couple hours. And every classroom has a phone so a teacher can connect with the office or another teacher in the case of a real emergency.

I've taught in five different districts. I've never had a phone in my classroom.

I have no phone in my room and no cell service either (interior room with cinder block surrounding). I've asked for a phone, citing safety issues, but the request was denied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like other professions, teacher are free to look for another job, but they don't due to summers off, snow days and similiar schedules to their own kids. So, the benefits outweigh the job fulfillment. Accept it.

Yes. My friends who are teachers complain or vent but at end they always say “ but I don’t want to give up my summers with Larlo and Larla. “

I just feel like all jobs there are trade offs. I get paid extremely well, can flex my clients, and can go for a coffee whenever I want. I do not get summers off, if I take a snow day I do not get paid, I have no employer retirement - only what I personally save. Ironically, I started out in elementary Ed years ago but changed my mind. I wonder if I had pursued the career if I would have enjoyed and stayed the course. I do think it’s a hard profession in today’s parenting climate though— I’ll agree to that!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tired of anti-teacher trolls bitching about the people who educate their children.

-not a teacher

Hmm...educating children requires a higher thinking level. Showing videos and/or a sitting at a desk looking at the computer during instruction time is what many teachers do nowadays. Those who are really into teaching are appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I used to think being a teacher was easy until I started volunteering in my sons school. Take 1hr and go volunteer and see what you think. I have nothing but respect for teachers now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to think being a teacher was easy until I started volunteering in my sons school. Take 1hr and go volunteer and see what you think. I have nothing but respect for teachers now.

Same. It’s way harder than I thought. Guilty of thinking like OP before. Now I know better.

[Anonymous]

I wish people would stop complaining about teachers and actually try to do their job. You’d be out the door after the first angry parent or dealing with 30 wound up kids in a class all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two teacher friends constantly complain about how much work they have & how little they get paid when ever we get together. They act as if teaching is the hardest job & that anyone who works any other job doesn't work as hard as them when school is in session. But most jobs are difficult in certain ways & a lot of jobs pay the same range but without the added benefits. And I can't understand why they complain about pay when they chose to go into the field knowing the pay range. Is this normal for teachers or is this just an isolated occurrence?

This again?? How many threads are people like you going to start just so you can bash teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Normal for teachers.

I absolutely support paying teachers more. But teaching has been a low-paid profession for generations so I get frustrated when my teacher friends act surprised. Especially the ones who are children of teachers. You can complain all you want, and I'll agree that it stinks, but don't act like it's a shock!

True. And...I do not think I am underpaid. I knew what I was getting into pay-wise when I majored in Education.

-a teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tired of anti-teacher trolls bitching about the people who educate their children.

-not a teacher

Hmm...educating children requires a higher thinking level. Showing videos and/or a sitting at a desk looking at the computer during instruction time is what many teachers do nowadays. Those who are really into teaching are appreciated.

Bull. Stop making up stuff to fit your narrative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well it IS kind of normal (and teachers do tend to complain to each other when they are outside of school). And also, they DO get paid ridiculously low salaries for the amount of stress they are under.
Yes, your job is super-stressful too, but you likely get compensated for it in a way that teachers do not. AND, the thing you (and even many teachers before they are IN the job) may not realize is that it is literally one of the only jobs that you simply can NEVER leave "at the office" for the next day. There is always planning to do...and grading...and more planning...and more grading. There is no "down time" to do this at work because they are always ON when they have a class of students. There is no hiding in your office or sitting quietly in a meeting pretending to be paying attention. (I know you don't always do this, OP, but you *could* do it. It's an option. And that's sort of the point.) With teaching, the work is constant and ongoing from the minute you step into the school to the minute you leave. And then you take it with you.

Oops. I accidentally sound just like your friends. LOL

But that is probably why I left the profession after 8 years. And lemme tell ya...I have worked 3 different "office jobs" since--one was a law firm, one was a publishing house, and now I'm at a marketing firm (I have a Masters in English) and I haven't found an environment yet that is as stressful as teaching.

I hear you. But, I also don’t get whole summers off?

Neither do most teachers.

Then they’re doing it wrong since it’s been beaten to death that they aren’t paid for summers. So, you’re not paid for summer and don’t get the summer
off once the school year has ended? How exactly does that work?

[Anonymous]

Looking at this like a reasonable person, I would say there are two possibilities to why you hear teachers complain:

1) for some reason everyone who goes into education is whinier and more annoying than everyone in every other profession;

or

2) teaching is actually really frustrating.