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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Simple answer is teachers are treated like unpro crap and blamed for society's ills while being paid peanuts and getting no support from the admin or union.[/quote]

That’s the reason. I can’t think of another profession requiring a specialized degree and license that pays so little [/quote]

I can’t think of any other profession that gets over 3 months off per year. [/quote]

Me neither since it's more like two months. Even that doesn't help. There is a shortage and it will get worse. Nobody seems to care to do anything about it. Eventually, schools will go to a model that already exists in places. One certified teacher will teach online while many classrooms will watch. They will employ monitors to watch the kids in person in the classrooms. [/quote]

Summer alone is  2.5 months.  There are lot more days/weeks off and vacations during the school year.  It is a lot of time off [/quote]

IT DOESN'T SEEM TO HELP THOUGH, DOES IT? If these benefits are so awesome, people should be flocking to fill these positions but they aren't. We've had vacancies for over a year and not one person has even applied to most of them. [/quote]

So…teachers should get paid a lot more for working a lot less?[/quote]

Let’s be very, very clear about this: 
Apparently these glorious summers aren’t a huge perk. WE ARE ALL STILL LEAVING. If you think these amazing summers are worth it, then apply to work as a teacher.

You clearly know the workload and the pay AREN’T worth it, because I don’t see you lining up for an interview. I don’t see anybody lining up for an interview!

I’m so sick of hearing “but you get all this time off.” I work 7 days a week. Yes, 7. I am never caught up. I spend my glorious unpaid summers you seem to crave in classes that I PAY FOR in order to keep my certification.

So just stop with the “all the time off” nonsense. Frankly, it’s very insulting.[/quote]

Teachers haters irrationally hate teachers. There is literally nothing that you can explain to them that will help them understand. 
[/quote]

No one hates teachers, but let’s not claim teachers are working 8+ hrs per day 7 days per week and 365 days per year.  They don’t.  In fact, it’s been discussed to pay teachers more and have them be year round employee and many teachers chimed in stating there isn’t enough work for them to do.  No other profession gets as many vacation days as teachers do.  Some people want to make a lot of money and seek a job that pays as such, but you’d be lucky to get. Some people would rather make less and have more time off and a schedule more closely aligned to the days off their children have.  Short of taking FMLA leave, no other employee could take the same number of (unpaid) days off a teacher has without getting fired.  The avg American only gets 11-15 paid vacation days, of which most people don’t even take for various reasons. That is comparable to the paid time off teachers get as well. [/quote]

No one works 365x8x7. But teachers do work far more hours than they are contracted to do.

If you sincerely don’t hate teachers then listen to what they are saying. Some of these “perks” aren’t as valuable to them as you think they are. And they aren’t enough to overcome other challenges.

Teachers are leaving. You can either try to understand why by listening to them or you can create some alternate narrative. 
[/quote]

Just about every salaried employee also works over the standard 40 hr week.  I really don’t see the pay and hours being the main challenges to teachers.  There are plenty of people that like that schedule and the flexibility it offers.  The problem is no one wants to go into teaching only to be stuck managing poorly behaved kids all day long.  With the terrible absentee parenting, plus the huge rise in ADHD and such, it is too much.  If teachers could actually teach, and feel they were making a difference vs being babysitters, more would stay. [/quote]

Teachers are telling you why we are leaving. For some, it’s poorly behaved students. For many, it’s the workload, and it’s a lot more than 40 hours a week. A LOT MORE.

This job doesn’t have the flexibility you think it has. To get an hour off for an 30 minute appointment, I HAVE to take four hours of leave. Many teachers have to find their own subs, and then have to cancel the appointment because there are no subs available.

Teachers miss everything at their own children’s schools. If it happens during the school day, teachers miss it. I’ve missed 3 events this year already.

For 10 months, we live by a bell and have no flexibility. We have flexibility for 8 weeks during our unpaid summer, but we are often taking college courses (that we pay for) to maintain our certification. We also prep for the next year. [/quote]

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