how many hours a week do you put in as a teacher?

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP. I teach in IL. I have a low salary for someone with my experience and educational level. I should really be close to 90K at this point. Unfortunately, when one changes districts a few times over their career, they do not take all their "years" with them. So, while I have 25 years in, I am only paid as if I have 7 years in. Again, though, this is not really about the money. It is about the time. I love my students and love my work, it is just too much of it. And I have children of my own and a spouse who I love. I leave the house at 6 a.m. and don't arrive home until 5 or later each night. And I'm doing so much work at home and on the weekends. I brought up my pay because the people I know who are working the hours I work are all making at least double what I make. It is somewhat comforting to hear that many others making comparable pay to me also have to put in long hours. But in the long run, I'm still not there enough for my kids and I find this does not gel with my moral code around mothering. I'd give anything to be able to teach half time. We just can't afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. I teach in IL. I have a low salary for someone with my experience and educational level. I should really be close to 90K at this point. Unfortunately, when one changes districts a few times over their career, they do not take all their "years" with them. So, while I have 25 years in, I am only paid as if I have 7 years in. Again, though, this is not really about the money. It is about the time. I love my students and love my work, it is just too much of it. And I have children of my own and a spouse who I love. I leave the house at 6 a.m. and don't arrive home until 5 or later each night. And I'm doing so much work at home and on the weekends. I brought up my pay because the people I know who are working the hours I work are all making at least double what I make. It is somewhat comforting to hear that many others making comparable pay to me also have to put in long hours. But in the long run, I'm still not there enough for my kids and I find this does not gel with my moral code around mothering. I'd give anything to be able to teach half time. We just can't afford it.

It looks like it's both about the money and the time. As a fellow teacher in IL, I'd suggest doing whatever possible to downsize your expenses. On teacher salaries, we managed to pay off our home in 4 years and SAHP too. A key was choosing a home that didn't cost more than 2x HHI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP-65K is my pay with a graduate degree and 25 years experience. But it isn't really a money issue for me. It is the time. I love my children (the ones at home, though I do love the ones at school too) and it isn't right for me to be gone so many hours a week. My children are teens and they need me. And I love my spouse and I don't like being busy and not able to engage with him often. I also want to have a life outside of work. Exercise, fun, friends, you know?

You should have taught on Long Island. You would be getting paid $120,000 now and you could retire in 5 years with a $80,000 life long pension with healthcare paid for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. I teach in IL. I have a low salary for someone with my experience and educational level. I should really be close to 90K at this point. Unfortunately, when one changes districts a few times over their career, they do not take all their "years" with them. So, while I have 25 years in, I am only paid as if I have 7 years in. Again, though, this is not really about the money. It is about the time. I love my students and love my work, it is just too much of it. And I have children of my own and a spouse who I love. I leave the house at 6 a.m. and don't arrive home until 5 or later each night. And I'm doing so much work at home and on the weekends. I brought up my pay because the people I know who are working the hours I work are all making at least double what I make. It is somewhat comforting to hear that many others making comparable pay to me also have to put in long hours. But in the long run, I'm still not there enough for my kids and I find this does not gel with my moral code around mothering. I'd give anything to be able to teach half time. We just can't afford it.

It looks like it's both about the money and the time. As a fellow teacher in IL, I'd suggest doing whatever possible to downsize your expenses. On teacher salaries, we managed to pay off our home in 4 years and SAHP too. A key was choosing a home that didn't cost more than 2x HHI.

That's good!

How much was the house and your salaries? In Northern VA you wouldn't be able to find a home that's only 2x your HHI. I have 25 years and my DW is only 2 steps behind me. That puts our HHI at ~180k. Even as far up as we are in the scale we wouldn't be able to find a home 2x our HHI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. I teach in IL. I have a low salary for someone with my experience and educational level. I should really be close to 90K at this point. Unfortunately, when one changes districts a few times over their career, they do not take all their "years" with them. So, while I have 25 years in, I am only paid as if I have 7 years in. Again, though, this is not really about the money. It is about the time. I love my students and love my work, it is just too much of it. And I have children of my own and a spouse who I love. I leave the house at 6 a.m. and don't arrive home until 5 or later each night. And I'm doing so much work at home and on the weekends. I brought up my pay because the people I know who are working the hours I work are all making at least double what I make. It is somewhat comforting to hear that many others making comparable pay to me also have to put in long hours. But in the long run, I'm still not there enough for my kids and I find this does not gel with my moral code around mothering. I'd give anything to be able to teach half time. We just can't afford it.

It looks like it's both about the money and the time. As a fellow teacher in IL, I'd suggest doing whatever possible to downsize your expenses. On teacher salaries, we managed to pay off our home in 4 years and SAHP too. A key was choosing a home that didn't cost more than 2x HHI.

That's good!

How much was the house and your salaries? In Northern VA you wouldn't be able to find a home that's only 2x your HHI. I have 25 years and my DW is only 2 steps behind me. That puts our HHI at ~180k. Even as far up as we are in the scale we wouldn't be able to find a home 2x our HHI.

Thank you. The house was 95k and our salaries were combined 47k at the time, due to one of us being in school, then shot up to 95k combined shortly after, so we threw more at the mortgage. The feasibility does depend on where you are, as you note. In Illinois, if you can stay out of Chicago, though, there are a lot of good houses available with a 100k budget. If OP really wants more time, chopping expenses (smaller / cheaper house, used cash cars, etc) could make PT possible. Alternatively, so could dropping all of the ECs she's involved in, but OP's mostly ruled that out in previous posts.

[Anonymous]

I am in my classroom at 7:50, and I sped all subsequent moments in school working one-on-one with students, reading/gradin compositions, or teaching.

From 4-5, I orchestrate an after-school activity.

(Go home. Eat dinner. Exercise, shower).

8:30-ish, check school email and respond to student questions. Then, from about 9-11, I "drop in" to Google Doc composition drafts to add comments/guidance, and then I print, read, and mark several more compositions. At about midnight (though sometimes a lot later), I go to bed.

I used to love being a high school English teacher, but the daily barrage of parent complaints has ruined for me. I probably need antidepressants now. I have reached the point where I fucking hate my job, and this has nothing to do with the students, who are lovely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am in my classroom at 7:50, and I sped all subsequent moments in school working one-on-one with students, reading/grading compositions, or teaching.

From 4-5, I orchestrate an after-school activity.

(Go home. Eat dinner. Exercise, shower).

8:30-ish, check school email and respond to student questions (and emails from psycho, abusive parents). Then, from about 9-11, I "drop in" to Google Doc composition drafts to add comments/guidance, and then I print, read, and mark several more compositions. At about midnight (though sometimes a lot later), I go to bed.

I work for about 5-8 hours on Saturdays and Sundays as well (it takes sooooo long to read and comment upon all the compositions).

I used to love being a high school English teacher, but the daily barrage of parent complaints has ruined it for me. I probably need antidepressants now. I have reached the point where I fucking hate my job, and this has nothing to do with the students, who are lovely.

*spend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in my classroom at 7:50, and I sped all subsequent moments in school working one-on-one with students, reading/grading compositions, or teaching.

From 4-5, I orchestrate an after-school activity.

(Go home. Eat dinner. Exercise, shower).

8:30-ish, check school email and respond to student questions (and emails from psycho, abusive parents). Then, from about 9-11, I "drop in" to Google Doc composition drafts to add comments/guidance, and then I print, read, and mark several more compositions. At about midnight (though sometimes a lot later), I go to bed.

I work for about 5-8 hours on Saturdays and Sundays as well (it takes sooooo long to read and comment upon all the compositions).

I used to love being a high school English teacher, but the daily barrage of parent complaints has ruined it for me. I probably need antidepressants now. I have reached the point where I fucking hate my job, and this has nothing to do with the students, who are lovely.

*spend

This sounds horrible. Do you have a life outside of work?

[Anonymous]

I'm currently taking classes to get my endorsement for middle school social studies and this thread is depressing as hell. Please tell me there are teachers who work close to a 40 hour week and are still effective!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm currently taking classes to get my endorsement for middle school social studies and this thread is depressing as hell. Please tell me there are teachers who work close to a 40 hour week and are still effective!

It depends entirely on your definition of the word "effective."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. I teach in IL. I have a low salary for someone with my experience and educational level. I should really be close to 90K at this point. Unfortunately, when one changes districts a few times over their career, they do not take all their "years" with them. So, while I have 25 years in, I am only paid as if I have 7 years in. Again, though, this is not really about the money. It is about the time. I love my students and love my work, it is just too much of it. And I have children of my own and a spouse who I love. I leave the house at 6 a.m. and don't arrive home until 5 or later each night. And I'm doing so much work at home and on the weekends. I brought up my pay because the people I know who are working the hours I work are all making at least double what I make. It is somewhat comforting to hear that many others making comparable pay to me also have to put in long hours. But in the long run, I'm still not there enough for my kids and I find this does not gel with my moral code around mothering. I'd give anything to be able to teach half time. We just can't afford it.

It looks like it's both about the money and the time. As a fellow teacher in IL, I'd suggest doing whatever possible to downsize your expenses. On teacher salaries, we managed to pay off our home in 4 years and SAHP too. A key was choosing a home that didn't cost more than 2x HHI.

That's good!

How much was the house and your salaries? In Northern VA you wouldn't be able to find a home that's only 2x your HHI. I have 25 years and my DW is only 2 steps behind me. That puts our HHI at ~180k. Even as far up as we are in the scale we wouldn't be able to find a home 2x our HHI.

Thank you. The house was 95k and our salaries were combined 47k at the time, due to one of us being in school, then shot up to 95k combined shortly after, so we threw more at the mortgage. The feasibility does depend on where you are, as you note. In Illinois, if you can stay out of Chicago, though, there are a lot of good houses available with a 100k budget. If OP really wants more time, chopping expenses (smaller / cheaper house, used cash cars, etc) could make PT possible. Alternatively, so could dropping all of the ECs she's involved in, but OP's mostly ruled that out in previous posts.

Thank you for the additional information!

The PP at 15:50 wrote, "I'd wager most DC/MD/VA teachers are clueless about how good they've got it compared to other teachers elsewhere". If what you were able to do in IL is representative of much of the country, teachers in DC/MD/VA might not be doing so well.

[Anonymous]

OP. We were able to buy a nice little home in the Chicago suburbs for just over 150K. So less than 2x our HHI. We could probably swing it for me to work half time except, and its a BIG except, I would not get my full pension cause I wouldn't have enough credits. We save 20% of our income on top of our pension contributions, but it wouldn't be enough to live on in retirement without the pension (Illinois teachers don't contribute to or get social security, so the pension is a huge deal) The other thing is if you go half time, you have zero seniority. This means every year I'd get riffed and not know until possibly August if I have a job to come back to. I can't have that kind of uncertainty.

We keep our expenses as low as we can, only have one car, and don't really go on vacations. But we want to help our kids go to college and life is expensive here like it is most places.

[Anonymous]

OP again. To the teacher getting her middle school endorsement. No way will you EVER be able to put in 40 hour work weeks. Maybe 50 on a good week and especially if you have a 4 day week due to a holiday. The first few years will be the hardest and you can plan on 70-80 hour weeks then. Make sure you get at least 5 years in before having kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. We were able to buy a nice little home in the Chicago suburbs for just over 150K. So less than 2x our HHI. We could probably swing it for me to work half time except, and its a BIG except, I would not get my full pension cause I wouldn't have enough credits. We save 20% of our income on top of our pension contributions, but it wouldn't be enough to live on in retirement without the pension (Illinois teachers don't contribute to or get social security, so the pension is a huge deal) The other thing is if you go half time, you have zero seniority. This means every year I'd get riffed and not know until possibly August if I have a job to come back to. I can't have that kind of uncertainty.

We keep our expenses as low as we can, only have one car, and don't really go on vacations. But we want to help our kids go to college and life is expensive here like it is most places.

It sounds like you've got options but don't want to use them. You could work less but want a.) to put in all the extra hours at work while b.) earning additional money while c.) having seniority stability. As so many have said through the ages, you can't have it all. Since you clearly see your additional work contributions as more important than the extra time you could spend with your kids, why not just own it instead of acting as if you're being forced to put in all the extra time you do at work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. We were able to buy a nice little home in the Chicago suburbs for just over 150K. So less than 2x our HHI. We could probably swing it for me to work half time except, and its a BIG except, I would not get my full pension cause I wouldn't have enough credits. We save 20% of our income on top of our pension contributions, but it wouldn't be enough to live on in retirement without the pension (Illinois teachers don't contribute to or get social security, so the pension is a huge deal) The other thing is if you go half time, you have zero seniority. This means every year I'd get riffed and not know until possibly August if I have a job to come back to. I can't have that kind of uncertainty.

We keep our expenses as low as we can, only have one car, and don't really go on vacations. But we want to help our kids go to college and life is expensive here like it is most places.

We were able to buy our nice little home in the DC suburbs (VA) for $430k eight years ago. So a little over 3x our HHI.