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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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.

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.

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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.[/quote]

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.[b] A $10-20k bump wouldn't address burnout.[/b][/quote]

DP. Hard disagree. There are a lot of teachers who are very good at their jobs and don't feel as stressed as their coworkers BECAUSE we have spouses or partners who make enough to cover the $10-$20k additional that we should be getting paid. Ask me how I know. Having that extra amount in the family budget allows me to send my kids to camps when I have to go back to work the week before they're in school or pay a college kid to take one of them to sports practice if I have to work late and DH is taking the others to practice, pays for a house cleaning service and landscaping, and allows us to Door Dash dinner or do takeout if I get tied up with paperwork or meetings and don't have time to cook. I'm also able to "treat" myself to getting my hair done and a pedicure or a new outfit or whatever without worrying about whether it's going to mess up our finances. Oh, and I can actually set aside a decent amount for retirement. I feel a lot less burnt out than a lot of the people I work with. I might be doing work at night or on weekends sometimes but I'm also not trying to do that on top of 10 hours of house/ yard work with nothing in the budget for self care and the nagging worry that my car is going to need $2,000 in repairs that I can definitely not afford.

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