Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I happen to have a lot of friends or relatives that are teachers. My best friend teaches 2nd grade. While she works her rear off during the year putting in 10-12 hour days, her vacation time is to die for. I'm at work during the beautiful weather and she's at home with her kids, taking them to the pool, going to the zoo or to the park and sleeping in. I know that I could have had the same career but chose differently, so that's my own fault. Plus, honestly, I don't think I could do what she does. But 2 weeks at Christmas, a week in the spring, 9 weeks in the summer, all the holidays? I'm so jealous!

Where does your friend teach that she has 9 weeks off in summer? Public schools get out in mid to late June and teachers’ report back in mid to late August tounpack classrooms and undergo training.

Anonymous wrote:I know that I’m not cut out for teaching, but I do envy the summers off a bit, but probably more so the “portableness” of the profession- there arent many places DH and I could both find good jobs so we sometimes feel rather stuck in the DMV. I’ve also known teachers who step away for a couple years when having a baby, or to go on sabbatical or similar for their spouse’s job, and have a relatively easy time finding a new job when they are ready to step back in. Again, not something I could do in my field.

But it’s not an easy profession by any means.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Woah. Never ever did I say teachers didn't deserve their vacation time or don't work incredibly hard. It is definitely a job I could not do. I'm only jealous of that time off. I wish I could be home with my own kids during the summer!

Just wanted to clarify something. The summer/spring break/winter break is not vacation time. We are not paid for those days. Memorial day? Not paid. Labor day? Not paid. You probably get a few paid holidays right? Our pay is divided to give equal paychecks during the year but those days are not contract days so we do not get paid. Hence, not vacation.

This is such a silly argument. I get paid once a month, the exact same amount, no matter how many hours I work or if the month has more or fewer days. That doesn’t make some days in a 31 day month “unpaid.”

Ok, when I was a teacher we received 10 paychecks per year, 1 per month for 10 months. I did not receive a paycheck in the summer. That is why I refer to it as unpaid because I was not paid.

When I was a teacher’s aide, I made $9.75/hr and nothing in the summer. If you averaged it out to be a year round salary I would have been “making” subminimum wage. Now THAT is unpaid time. Teachers get a living wage for their year round lives no matter how you slice and dice it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Woah. Never ever did I say teachers didn't deserve their vacation time or don't work incredibly hard. It is definitely a job I could not do. I'm only jealous of that time off. I wish I could be home with my own kids during the summer!

Just wanted to clarify something. The summer/spring break/winter break is not vacation time. We are not paid for those days. Memorial day? Not paid. Labor day? Not paid. You probably get a few paid holidays right? Our pay is divided to give equal paychecks during the year but those days are not contract days so we do not get paid. Hence, not vacation.

This is such a silly argument. I get paid once a month, the exact same amount, no matter how many hours I work or if the month has more or fewer days. That doesn’t make some days in a 31 day month “unpaid.”

Ok, when I was a teacher we received 10 paychecks per year, 1 per month for 10 months. I did not receive a paycheck in the summer. That is why I refer to it as unpaid because I was not paid.

When I was a teacher’s aide, I made $9.75/hr and nothing in the summer. If you averaged it out to be a year round salary I would have been “making” subminimum wage. Now THAT is unpaid time. Teachers get a living wage for their year round lives no matter how you slice and dice it.

It’s not a competition to see who was paid the worst. Both scenarios described above include unpaid time. Also, depends where you live and work because not all teachers make a decent living wage anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Woah. Never ever did I say teachers didn't deserve their vacation time or don't work incredibly hard. It is definitely a job I could not do. I'm only jealous of that time off. I wish I could be home with my own kids during the summer!

Just wanted to clarify something. The summer/spring break/winter break is not vacation time. We are not paid for those days. Memorial day? Not paid. Labor day? Not paid. You probably get a few paid holidays right? Our pay is divided to give equal paychecks during the year but those days are not contract days so we do not get paid. Hence, not vacation.

This is such a silly argument. I get paid once a month, the exact same amount, no matter how many hours I work or if the month has more or fewer days. That doesn’t make some days in a 31 day month “unpaid.”

Ok, when I was a teacher we received 10 paychecks per year, 1 per month for 10 months. I did not receive a paycheck in the summer. That is why I refer to it as unpaid because I was not paid.

When I was a teacher’s aide, I made $9.75/hr and nothing in the summer. If you averaged it out to be a year round salary I would have been “making” subminimum wage. Now THAT is unpaid time. Teachers get a living wage for their year round lives no matter how you slice and dice it.

Anonymous wrote:I think the grass is often greener on the other side of the fence.

I'm a special ed teacher. There's a lot to be jealous about in my profession. I get to laugh with my * every day. It's never boring. I teach summer school, but still get 4 weeks off. And, I have to admit that snow days rock.

But that doesn't mean I don't also sometimes feel jealous of people with other careers. I envy the houses some of my college classmates can afford. I envy my friends who have enough flexibility at work to do things like take calls from their pediatrician in private during the work day, or slip out for an hour to see the Halloween parade. When my kid had serious medical issues, I really envied parents who had annual leave they could use at will.

The reality is that I have a job that has its perks, and its downsides, as do most of the well educated people I know.

Anonymous wrote:I happen to have a lot of friends or relatives that are teachers. My best friend teaches 2nd grade. While she works her rear off during the year putting in 10-12 hour days, her vacation time is to die for. I'm at work during the beautiful weather and she's at home with her kids, taking them to the pool, going to the zoo or to the park and sleeping in. I know that I could have had the same career but chose differently, so that's my own fault. Plus, honestly, I don't think I could do what she does. But 2 weeks at Christmas, a week in the spring, 9 weeks in the summer, all the holidays? I'm so jealous!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Woah. Never ever did I say teachers didn't deserve their vacation time or don't work incredibly hard. It is definitely a job I could not do. I'm only jealous of that time off. I wish I could be home with my own kids during the summer!

Just wanted to clarify something. The summer/spring break/winter break is not vacation time. We are not paid for those days. Memorial day? Not paid. Labor day? Not paid. You probably get a few paid holidays right? Our pay is divided to give equal paychecks during the year but those days are not contract days so we do not get paid. Hence, not vacation.

This is such a silly argument. I get paid once a month, the exact same amount, no matter how many hours I work or if the month has more or fewer days. That doesn’t make some days in a 31 day month “unpaid.”

Ok, when I was a teacher we received 10 paychecks per year, 1 per month for 10 months. I did not receive a paycheck in the summer. That is why I refer to it as unpaid because I was not paid.