You may be one of many, here. You have had thousands of doctors, nurses, engineers, ITs and teachers passed through your classes. You have been sought as the teacher who has the technical skills and knowledge whom to learn from. And not only the technical teacher but, the motivator in the expression of raw ideas, in modelling leadership roles, in human resource relationship-building, and in the influence of people's life-skills to use for the greater good in their sphere of influence. Or you may be the educator in the little people's--children's lives. In the classrooms or at home-- teaching and understanding the best your heart tells you. Children are our most valuable resources in the life-lessons we love to talk about around the teacher's table. Often, our pupils bring out the secret best learners in us, we often realize at the end of the day. Do you find teaching a challenging profession? Do you feel that there isn't enough of you to go around to listen to a child, to face, to be trusted upon and to give to all worth the attention needed? I think as teachers, we always create those moments worthwhile-- while we're at it. I admire who you are, Teacher!
I don't think in my state teachers are appreciated. We treat them as baby sitters but pay them less. To make a living many teachers have to seek employment in nearby states because pay is low.
I can't speak for your state but, in Maine, they also generate a general feeling among the public that teachers are underpaid. Perhaps that was the case at one time, but that time was quite some time ago, I think. Probably a larger percentage of people would say that teachers are underpaid, but they haven't actually looked at the salaries and benefits. I live in a mill town, where the mill has closed after several years of lay-offs and temporary closures. We have been laying off police officers, we've closed the trash transfer station every day of the week but three, our town hall staff has been reduced by fifty percent, and there is talk of closing the library, yet the school budget goes up every year, this despite the fact that, since no one can find work here anymore, families young enough to have children are moving, so the student population has been declining. After hearing this nonsense about teachers being underpaid, I posted the salaries and benefits for everyone employed by the school system online, and people could see that they were earning far more than nearly anyone else in town, during the better years, and had a benefits program that couldn't be beat. Plus, when teachers had enough years in to retire, they could take their retirement program and then be hired back by the school system, earning both a retirement package plus a regular salary. There may be places in the country where teachers are truly underpaid but I believe that in most parts of the country, people would be surprised to learn how well their teachers were actually doing, particularly when you consider the benefits and retirement packages that are now pretty much unheard of in the private sector.
My question is are the teachers teaching or merely reading the same words over and over again every year?
I think that good teachers are probably tired of teaching the tests, and being restricted to Common Core nonsense.
Hey all. I, myself, was a vocational teacher, meaning that I was a teacher not only because I wanted to be but also because I felt an intrinsic need to share information. In my case, the majority of my teaching was to adults, though I have had my fair share of the munchkins in class. There were times when I felt I was not being paid enough. These were almost always times when part of what was being paid for the education was being divided among administrators and supplies and overhead. When I worked as a private teacher, I was able to set my own price. Let's say that price was $15 an hour for a private ESL class. This was nearly twice what I would have been paid through an agency or in an academy. When I decided to slough off some of my less motivated students, I raised my price to $35 an hour. Wasn't I surprised when not only did that tactic not get rid of those lazy students but actually had them commenting to me "We were wondering when you would begin charging us what you were worth!" I've always been kind of sensitive about teaching and how it is perceived by those who do not or have not taught. I've so often compared student attitude to teachers to their attitudes towards their doctors or lawyers of dentists. Seems the teacher can say do this or that and the advice can be passed off as opinion while if a doctor gives instructions those instructions are more readily obeyed. I always found that kind of unfair, as doctors and lawyers and dentists have traditionally made much more money than teachers and those are also (mostly) vocational jobs. Anyway, teachers' salaries aside, and parents' attitudes aside, have to agree with Ken and thank the gods that I never had to teach in the US system and only had to do review work in the Spanish system.... peace, revel.
My ex mother in law was a teacher. And she went out of her way to help each and every kid that went through be classroom. But every time she turned around it was another catch 22. If she suspected a kid was being abused, she was supposed to report it. If she reports and is wrong she involved in a law suit and loses her job. If she doesn't report it and she's wrong she's involved in a law suit and loses her job. We set impossible standards, and then pay them less than almost any other career
What a horrific thing to do to our hardworking teachers who do genuinely care. Damned if we do (care) damned if we don't! If doctors have legal funding support , educators should have, too!
What a horrific thing to do to our hardworking teachers who do genuinely care. Damned if we do (care) damned if we don't! If doctors have legal funding support , educators should have, too!
Absolutely! It's ridiculous what's expected from them. Their jobs are more important than almost anyone I can think of. But when they make a difference in a kids life, and the kid acknowledges and hugs the teacher, the teacher has to put her hands up like she's being arrested. Rules like that make it so we're expecting the worst. Good teachers have to behave like they're presumed guilty.
I was just talking to my niece about teachers yesterday. Her DD will graduate from high school in a couple of years. She is considering becoming a teacher. I told her that I would think twice before encouraging her to be a teacher. As a librarian, I have talked to many teachers over the years. I think most of them start out as idealists, thinking that they can affect the lives of children for the better. It's not long before the cold hard facts hit them. Teaching is, for the most part, a difficult, thankless job. You have parents who send their child to school without having done their homework, then when the child doesn't learn, it's the teacher's fault. Some parents let the child stay up so late that he/she sleeps in class. I could go on and on. After a few years of all this, they are disillusioned and ready to quit. I have known some who have quit and gone to other professions. Many of them are counting the time until they can retire. Are they paid enough? Not in my opinion. I think they should draw combat pay.
I can think of about 600 or so jobs, off the top of my head that makes more than a teacher but deserves less. I remember when my ex mother in law was told she couldn't stay late to work on grading papers anymore because they didnt want to pay overtime. Basically, you still had to do the work you just couldn't do it at school where you would get paid.
I haven't lived anywhere where teachers were paid by the hour. Usually, they are contracted to work for nine or ten months, and given the option of having their pay spread out over twelve months so that they can continue to collect a paycheck over the summer, or they are paid more for the months that they are teaching. Those that are involved in teaching summer school, for those schools that have summer school, are paid for the extra months that they are working.
I always thought a teacher's pay was salary. I don't know what she made, but I know they had to track hours working at school, and start leaving a few hours earlier than the previously had.
Being a teacher is hard work and I do not think they get paid enough for the responsibility they have in teaching our childred. I have helped in the schools when my grandchildren were still in the lower grades. The teacher has kids coming into the classes sick, unkempt, hungry and ill prepared to learn. The teacher must find a way to teach the class and ste parent happy and the system ill help the child that is not being taken care of by the parent, keep the educational system happy. The teacher I helped provided supplies for the kids that the parents did not give their kids supplies and she often fed those same kids. When the parent did come to the school to complain about a perceived slight, you could tell the parent was not fit to care for the child but her hands were tied. She was a great teacher, I was happy to help her but there was no way I would have done her job. Not because of the kids but the parents and the system that she had to work within.