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Public School Gone Wild

J

jaigner

Active Member
billwald said:
Boggles my mind that people complain about teachers being over paid. I wouldn't take the job for !00K. Rather drive a garbage truck for 50K.
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freeatlast said:
If it was a choice between being a teacher and a garbage truck I would drive for free.
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Being a teacher is a tremendous blessing and a wonderful chance to touch young lives forever, especially in a poverty-stricken area. Fantastic.

But it is hard. It's very, very hard, and for the amount of work and effort I and most teachers put in, we are underpaid.
 
F

freeatlast

New Member
jaigner said:
Being a teacher is a tremendous blessing and a wonderful chance to touch young lives forever, especially in a poverty-stricken area. Fantastic.

But it is hard. It's very, very hard, and for the amount of work and effort I and most teachers put in, we are underpaid.
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I agree that being a teacher is a real challenge, but not that they are under paid in most places.
Texas is rated 23rd in the US and in 2009 the average pay was 49,900. If you base that on a 9 month year which is about what they work and a 50 hour work week, that amounts to 27 dollars an hour plus their benifits which is different in each area.
You can check average pay here by state;
http://www.teachersalaryinfo.com/average-teacher-salary.html
 
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D

Don

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
freeatlast said:
I agree that being a teacher is a real challenge, but not that they are under paid in most places.
Texas is rated 23rd in the US and in 2009 the average pay was 49,900. If you base that on a 9 month year which is about what they work and a 50 hour work week, that amounts to 27 dollars an hour plus their benifits which is different in each area.
You can check average pay here by state;
http://www.teachersalaryinfo.com/average-teacher-salary.html
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Doesn't take into account continuing education requirements and costs, re-certification requirements and costs, after-hours school support (sports and extra-curricular activities), the fact that teachers don't just jump in their cars and leave when the last bell rings, etc., etc.

Don't be a bean counter. Look beyond the basic numbers.
 
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freeatlast

New Member
Don said:
Doesn't take into account continuing education requirements and costs, re-certification requirements and costs, after-hours school support (sports and extra-curricular activities), the fact that teachers don't just jump in their cars and leave when the last bell rings, etc., etc.

Don't be a bean counter. Look beyond the basic numbers.
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I know several teachers and their hours and yes all was considered. They are payed well in most areas today.
 
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freeatlast

New Member
jaigner said:
49,000 is not a lot for highly-qualified college graduates, many of which have higher than an undergraduate education.
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It's 49,900 almost 50 thousand in Texas. Then they can go some other place, but for 9 months work that is a good pay scale.
 
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G

Gina B

Active Member
Beginning teacher pay out here (not including what is put into retirement and medical) is $30,443.07 per year.

Some schools are year round. This just started with the last school session.

Even in schools that have summers off, the teachers don't get them off. They spend the summer taking mandatory classes and developing their class program for the upcoming school year.

Time spent at work: It varies from school to school. They do not *have* to volunteer for extra-curricular activities, but if they don't, they risk losing their job as the amount of volunteer time they put in taken into consideration when cutbacks happen, and lots of cutbacks are happening in this wonderful economy.
They take work home with them to grade and make lesson plans for the next day. They do not have time to do this during the school day because they are teaching. They keep up records and notes on the students and if they have assigned a student detention, they also put in the time to stay with the kid after detention. (some kids love this as they see it as revenge on the teacher for them getting in trouble!)

Right now there are schools without money for textbooks. Some teachers are buying them on their own. They also buy anything extra they need or will find helpful in teaching a class. This can be written off on taxes, but only up to a certain amount. I think they said $200, but teachers often spent much, much more than that. The school doesn't even supply so much as copy paper in my daughter's school. Teachers have a wish list and students can get points for bringing in normal stuff like copy paper, whiteboard markers, etc..

That's how it works out here. I don't know about other places.

They could make just about as much money working as a cashier and not have all the stress, which is why I love the teachers where I live. They do it because they enjoy what they do. Many are getting burned out with the way kids behave and are very frustrated, but they still have teacher's hearts and that is pretty cool to see.
 
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glfredrick

New Member
I'm in my building opening up and turning stuff on at 5:45 am. Teachers begin arriving at about 6 am. I often leave sometime around 4 pm. Teachers are still there. When I've worked as late as 10 pm, I've had company until after 9 pm. No, not every teacher, and not every day, but over half of the teachers work more hours than I do and I'm banking around 50-60 a week.
 
J

jaigner

Active Member
freeatlast said:
It's 49,900 almost 50 thousand in Texas. Then they can go some other place, but for 9 months work that is a good pay scale.
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You should get your degree and try it for a while. See what you think.

targus said:
Is any else as glad as I am that billwald and freeatlast are not teachers? :laugh:
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Bill would probably be a good teacher. Boundtolast, not so much.

mandym said:
It is plenty.....
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You're just the expert on everything, aren't you?

Whatever.
 
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Gina B

Active Member
mandym said:
It is plenty.....
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Stop...think a little harder.

We looked at a cruddy two bedroom basement apartment in Queens, NY and it was $800 a month for rent. A nice place without as many rats and less crime ridden for a two bedroom ran around $1500 a month.

Imagine how much it would cost to get a decent place to rent in a safe area for a married couple with two kids.

Where I lived before I moved here, food costs were outrageous and oil to heat your house (temps regularly were negative 0 to negative 50 for months) was $600 per month from October through May.

The cost of living in different areas differs drastically. When someone doesn't have much experience with life and has only lived in areas where basic costs are much lower, that much a year might *sound* like a lot, but add in rent or house payment, property tax, groceries, costs of living, and suddenly that amount becomes squat.
 
T

targus

New Member
Wow, I don't know about the rest of the country but my wife is a teacher with 25 years experience. She made about $95,000 this year with full medical, dental and vision insurance. The school system pays into her retirement which will pay about 50% of her final salary when she retires next year plus medical insurance.

The kids in her schools are nothing like what has been described here. The kids don't even run in the halls or take cuts in line let alone all the mayhem that has been described in this thread.

Our cost of living is also nothing like what some of you have been describing.

I guess that we have been pretty lucky.
 
M

mandym

New Member
There are a great deal more jobs that work much harder and make much less than teachers in this country. Those who work for the government seem to feel they have a special justification to complain about their pay. I do not buy it. There is not an endless supply of money to provide whatever government employees want.

There are a lot of jobs in this country who work a lot harder for more hours and less pay than you. They have to raise their families just the same. They have to pay rents, and mortgages just the same. Teachers are no more special than the local ditch digger. If you do not like your pay or cannot live off of it, go do something else.
 
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Gina B

Active Member
Mandy, have you considered things such as there are supposed to be benefits for taking the time and effort to get a college education and work towards mastering a skill?

Have you considered that teachers are the ones responsible for molding the minds of the next generation? Of all paid professionals, teachers have the most impact in the next generation. Almost every single child in this country spends more of their waking time with their teacher/s than with any other person. That's a lot of time and a lot of influence. A caring, loving teacher changes a student for life. A bad one scars one for life.

The lack of respect for teachers, such as what you're exhibiting, is becoming grossly apparent in schools and that lack of respect starts at home. It's wrong of you to contribute to that.
 
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