Reply to The wisdom of rewarding Montgomery’s school employees (Washington Post)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]I'm so sorry that you're jealous of our cushy, high paying jobs in the field of education.

FWIW, my friend who's been a Fed for fewer years than I've been teaching is making almost twice my salary.

So I have no idea what you're complaining about, as I'm certain your pay isn't exactly at the low end either[/quote].

I'm neither jealous of your job in the field of education nor complaining about my equally high paying job in the field of social work.  But I do believe that a 7% raise IS unequivocally CUSHY in the current economic climate (e.g. the County and State are crying "broke").  So enjoy your raise but please stop bitching about it -- particularly to your fellow public servants who are "raise-less" (and hoping that our particular jobs -- of helping children in crisis -- aren't eliminated/diminished when the budget ax comes around).

[/quote]

I was being sarcastic.

And keep in mind, Social Worker, that we, too, as educators, deal with damaged children on a daily basis - DAILY.  Sadly, I've called CPS one too many times only to see NOTHING good result from my actions.  In fact, there were several families where abuse was suspected and there were calls at every level - elementary, middle and high.  And guess what?  Nothing happened!

So I'll say this much - We teach, we parent, we protect. [b] We deserve our raises.[/b]

[/quote]
Actually, you're already pretty well compensated given that you only work 10 months out of the year with long breaks at Christmas and in the spring. Paid professional days for development, every holiday off, never coming into work on the weekends, never worrying about childcare on snow days, holidays or school breaks. I'm a PICU nurse and my work is every bit as worthy as what you do but I haven't seen a raise for 3 years. This year we are getting a raise, it is 1.5% and I am grateful as I understand the shrinking reimbursements that are impacting my hospital. If I want professional development - I pay out of pocket and take a day of PTO to attend. [/quote]

First I will say that nurses have one of the hardest jobs on the planet. I think nurses should be paid millions. I saw how well they took care of my grandparents when they were in a nursing home and I could never, ever repay them for what they did for them. I am very grateful for the work they do.

however, to say teachers don't work over the weekends is a joke. I grade papers EVERY SINGLE Sunday for hours on end. Every friend I know has that same week off between xmas and new Years that I have (whether they work in the private or government sector and they are using some of their 30 vacation days to do it), we lost paid professional development days three years ago (unless you have funding from an outside source), I have to worry about childcare because I teach HS and y children go to ES which starts two hours after I have to be at work (and same goes for half-days, professional days, etc.) Like you, we haven't gotten a raise in three years and, like you, are gettting a small one this year.

You are just another person who has never been in a classroom and has no idea what our jobs are like. Just like I wouldn't assume to know the ins and outs of your job because I have been a patient of nurses, don't assume you know what it is like to teach because you were a student once. That is just plain ignorant.[/quote]
I have never had the whole week between Christmas and New Years off. PTO during that time is very limited. We work every other Christmas and that include the eve and the day after. I don't understand the whole grading papers on Sunday. School ends in the early afternoon. What do people do for the rest of the day? I'm not being snarky, I am asking. I see the high school kids on my street coming home before 3pm. I'm not saying your job isn't hard, I know it has its moments... but all jobs do and I have been on the other side of the classroom. I not only work in the hospital but I've taught nursing for 12 years as well. I will continue teaching as my retirement job :)[/quote]

I coach as well (really the reason I got into teaching) so after school I coach until 5:30, get home around 6:00. I do this two out of three seasons. The third season I do have time from around 4:00 until 5:30 when I get my kids and that is nice to have to run errands, get dinner started, etc.

Look, I am NOT saying teachers have it any harder than anyone else who works (I know some on the thread are but I am not one of them) - I am just trying to make a point that just because the bell rings at 2:10 doesn't mean our day is over. I think teachers work pretty hard but I also really value the leisure time I have, and I DO understand I get a lot.  I just hate having to defend over and over again that we actually work and what we do is hard work. It is not all summer vacations, snow days and lazy afternoons. That is a giant misconception about teachers.

As for the police/FF comments, I can't even get into that. They HATE teachers, in fact, their unions tell them to. We are always the scapegoat when it comes to budgets (which is funny since I have never heard a teacher talk badly about a FF or PO, or really any other jobs as much as we are targets).  They make us out to be the bad guy. One point I will bring up as to why we are compensated more is because of our degrees. Teachers are required to have a Masters after a certian point, you don't even need a college degree to be a fire fighter or police officer.

As for PP who is going to teach as a "retirement" job, it is great you found something you love to do so much that you plan to do it when you are retired! I hear this a lot from people in the private sector (I was an accountant before I was a teacher and an old co-worker keeps telling me he wants to teach HS history once he retires. However, teaching people who want to be there (ie. nursing students) is a lot different than teaching Algebra to a room of 14 year-olds who should have passed it by then. That is why so many teachers run screaming at the end of their 30 years  :-)  )[/quote]

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