Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12:30, I am a teacher and I also get frustrated with posters/teachers who complain that they have to take work home without overtime pay and out of the other side of their mouths complain that they aren't treated as professionals. Teachers are professionals. It's a career, not a job. As much as I wish it weren't so, being a professional with a career means working outside of your prescribed work hours. Am I frustrated and disappointed that we haven't gotten step increases for two years or COLAs for three? Of course. But, while we're on the topic, I'm also frustrated that our pay scale is based only on how long you've been teaching. There are second year teachers and thirty year veterans who are remarkable at what they do. There are also thirty year veterans who have been teaching the same exact way for thirty years without any improvement to their performance. Why do they make twice as much money as I do?

Don't you understand that you are the cause of the county taking you for granted? Teachers are the most docile group that I have ever met. They are afraid to speak up in almost every matter. The thinking in most schools that if they are seen or heard protesting that they will not be viewed as team players.

Stop giving them your valuable off-duty hours. Its your life. Enjoy it. DON'T grade papers at home.

I think you are doing us more of a disservice with your lack of professionalism. I do enjoy my life. I don't work 14 hours a day, I just don't complain when occasionally, as a professional, I need to take a bit of work home. I have no problem speaking up when necessary but again, I view myself as a career educator, a professional, not someone who clocks in at a specific time and clocks out at the end of the day like a grocery store clerk. Not that there is anything wrong with a strictly 8-hour a day job, but I think it diminishes our profession to "demand" to be treated that way, as you seem to be doing.

Anonymous wrote:12:30, I am a teacher and I also get frustrated with posters/teachers who complain that they have to take work home without overtime pay and out of the other side of their mouths complain that they aren't treated as professionals. Teachers are professionals. It's a career, not a job. As much as I wish it weren't so, being a professional with a career means working outside of your prescribed work hours. Am I frustrated and disappointed that we haven't gotten step increases for two years or COLAs for three? Of course. But, while we're on the topic, I'm also frustrated that our pay scale is based only on how long you've been teaching. There are second year teachers and thirty year veterans who are remarkable at what they do. There are also thirty year veterans who have been teaching the same exact way for thirty years without any improvement to their performance. Why do they make twice as much money as I do?

Don't you understand that you are the cause of the county taking you for granted? Teachers are the most docile group that I have ever met. They are afraid to speak up in almost every matter. The thinking in most schools that if they are seen or heard protesting that they will not be viewed as team players.

Stop giving them your valuable off-duty hours. Its your life. Enjoy it. DON'T grade papers at home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a lot of respect for teachers and think they should receive good salaries and benefits.

That said, I am frequently amazed at the claims some teachers I know make. Just about anyone in an $80K professional job brings work home sometimes and works extra hours without overtime. It's just standard.

And I know a teacher who told me that MCPS teachers got a 30% paycut. I was shocked and dismayed until she explained that she derived this number from counting up all the cost of living increases that weren't given in the last few years. This is an example of unrealistic thinking -- very few people got COLA increases in the past few years and I wouldn't think teachers would be exempt from this.

The paycut line is union propoganda. Too bad some teachers fall for it.

Janis Sartucci,

You have your own forum to run. Now move along, hater.

Anonymous wrote:I have a lot of respect for teachers and think they should receive good salaries and benefits.

That said, I am frequently amazed at the claims some teachers I know make. Just about anyone in an $80K professional job brings work home sometimes and works extra hours without overtime. It's just standard.

And I know a teacher who told me that MCPS teachers got a 30% paycut. I was shocked and dismayed until she explained that she derived this number from counting up all the cost of living increases that weren't given in the last few years. This is an example of unrealistic thinking -- very few people got COLA increases in the past few years and I wouldn't think teachers would be exempt from this.

The paycut line is union propoganda. Too bad some teachers fall for it.

12:30, I am a teacher and I also get frustrated with posters/teachers who complain that they have to take work home without overtime pay and out of the other side of their mouths complain that they aren't treated as professionals. Teachers are professionals. It's a career, not a job. As much as I wish it weren't so, being a professional with a career means working outside of your prescribed work hours. Am I frustrated and disappointed that we haven't gotten step increases for two years or COLAs for three? Of course. But, while we're on the topic, I'm also frustrated that our pay scale is based only on how long you've been teaching. There are second year teachers and thirty year veterans who are remarkable at what they do. There are also thirty year veterans who have been teaching the same exact way for thirty years without any improvement to their performance. Why do they make twice as much money as I do?

I have a lot of respect for teachers and think they should receive good salaries and benefits.

That said, I am frequently amazed at the claims some teachers I know make. Just about anyone in an $80K professional job brings work home sometimes and works extra hours without overtime. It's just standard.

And I know a teacher who told me that MCPS teachers got a 30% paycut. I was shocked and dismayed until she explained that she derived this number from counting up all the cost of living increases that weren't given in the last few years. This is an example of unrealistic thinking -- very few people got COLA increases in the past few years and I wouldn't think teachers would be exempt from this.

"My wife is a MCPS teacher and leaves the house at 7am; gets home at 6:30pm; eats dinner; and then grades papers/plans until bedtime...."

She commutes about 15 miles each way to work but that is where the job was. Although she gets "planning" time/lunch break, this is usually spent helping kids make up missed work or exams, communicating with parents, or keeping an eye on the kids when there is no outdoor recess.

Believe me, being an elementary school teacher in MCPS is no cake-walk or 9 to 5 job, especially when you have kids of your own....

You lost me at "hello".

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/10/assessing-the-compensation-of-public-school-teachers

Pensions vs 401k:
The Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund of New Jersey illustrates the scale of the issue. The fund reports that the average new retiree in 2009 claimed benefits at age 61 and received an annual benefit of around $46,500. To finance the accrual of these benefits, the fund required total annual contributions equal to approximately 8 percent of worker wages.[37] From this, one might infer that the implicit value of “pension compensation” is 8 percent of wages. However, a private-sector DB pension plan promising exactly the same benefits would need to set aside a much larger amount, equal to almost 19 percent of worker pay. A DC plan that sought to guarantee the same level of retirement benefits would need to set aside an even greater amount, about 27 percent of salaries. These disparate contribution rates are driven not by the generosity of the plans’ benefits themselves, but simply by different accounting rules.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My wife is a MCPS teacher and leaves the house at 7am; gets home at 6:30pm; eats dinner; and then grades papers/plans until bedtime....

You guys made that choice to live far away

Maybe its because many teachers can't afford to live in Montgomery County. Frederick, Howard, and even Jefferson County seems to be the home address of many MCPD teachers.

Anonymous wrote:Lots of other people routinely bring home work. I do - I'm a government economist. Lawyers do. I know lots of federal government employees who bring home work (I'm sure that some of you won't believe it!), including almost anybody in a government management position.

Good for you. You are in management. Teachers aren't. They are in the rank and file. If the county wants them to grade papers at home then they should be paid for it.

You are assuming they live far away. What I got from that is that the teacher works long hours at school.

Anonymous wrote:My wife is a MCPS teacher and leaves the house at 7am; gets home at 6:30pm; eats dinner; and then grades papers/plans until bedtime....

You guys made that choice to live far away

18:38 again. Ignoring 18:17's grumpiness, what she is saying, effectively, is that "even though I refuse to bring home work, all the other teachers bring home work."

Which may come as a surprise to the skeptics out there who keep arguing teachers are overpaid because they only work 7-hour days for 9 months a year (and another PP else ably handled the 2-month summer canard).

Lots of other people routinely bring home work. I do - I'm a government economist. Lawyers do. I know lots of federal government employees who bring home work (I'm sure that some of you won't believe it!), including almost anybody in a government management position.