Cicero, I never said paying to go to somewhere else was ideal. I simply said it was an OPTION.
It's just not ideal, it's irrational, and only an option for a select minority who can afford it. Unfortunately most of our failing schools are in areas where the lower income families live. These families are barely paying their school taxes, you really think they have a reasonable 2nd option?? Let's be realistic. The pubic education system is set up to keep the lower and middle income families locked into the public school system. The rich who can afford their school taxes and send their children to private school usually do. The only equalizer is the tax rebate voucher, so these lower and middle income families can have the choice of which schools are failing and which ones are not. Up to this point the public has had to depend on state reports to tell us what schools were good and which were bad. Let the free markets decide. Those who are failing us will no longer exist.
. My ex-wife is a pharmacist and doesn't get a lunch break when she is the only pharmacist on because the company won't close the pharmacy. She has to eat while working standing up. I'm not sure how the company is able to skirt the law like that.
Being a pharmacist, my guess would be that she is considered an exempt employee. Exempt status means that she is exempt from any state or federal labor laws. Do what you have to do to get the job done.
I will start by saying this: You guys have no idea what you are talking about. 1. It is ILLEGAL for teachers to strike so that is never going to happen. 2. Instead of striking, we (yes, I'm a teacher) simply do our jobs. Here's what I mean: At my school (all schools are different) we are required to be there from 7:40 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. So, we wouldn't strike, we would go in together at 7:40 and leave together at 2:35. We wouldn't stay after to help students. You may think that sounds horrible but it leads me to my third point. 3. We don't get paid for staying after school. How many of you work at your job for free? In my first few years of teaching, I sepnt about 2 hours a night (on average) getting things ready. How many of you a) bring your work home and b) don't get paid for working on it? How many of you go to meetings as part of your job and don't get paid for it? How many of you go through 45 HOURS of REQUIRED training and get $111 for it? How many of you go to work, go home, and come back for parents' night and don't get paid for it? You want to talk about not being able to pay your bills? I have been teaching for 6 years and I still only make $38,000. For 3 years, I coached my school's trivia team FOR FREE because it wasn't in the contract so I couldn't get paid for it. I put in about 35 hours a year doing that FOR FREE. 4. School is the only place where people (students) show up, DO NOT do what they are supposed to, and think it is perfectly OK. What I mean is 95% of all students are , at some time, off task and misbehaving. But nobody sees a problem with that. Everyone says, "You can't yell at my kid!" Well, how many of you have a job where you have to "babysit" the people under you. Teaching is 99% babysitting, discipline, paperwork, and meetings. It is only 1% teaching. If I only kept the students who truly wanted to learn Biology (my subject) I would have about 5 students per class. Nobody goes into a restaurant and trashes the place, no body goes to the movies and beats up the pocorn vendor. But kids come into school EVERY DAY and REFUSE to learn. So why are they coming? So, if you think I make too much money because I work more hours than I get paid for with kids who don't care if I do my job (not to mention my job depends on them doing well, even though they sleep through class or go to the bathroom for 10 minutes everyday during my class) maybe you should become a teacher and ask for less money. By the way, if you can read this, thank the underpaid, underappreciated teacher that taught you.
Well you have certainly changed your tune since your first post. In this post you state what a horrible job you have. How underpaid you are! How under appreciated you are! Then you post how you love your job and say how great the union is. Apparently you do HATE your job but you LOVE your benefits the union supplies for you. Or should I say the taxpayers? So in essence you are saying that you AREN'T in it for the kids..right? Which goes to back up the 'no child left behind' idea.
Do your job and teach the kids. That is what you supposedly went to college for. Teaching was no different when you were in college as it is today. So you knew what you were getting into. But you just couldn't resist those taxpaid benefits. And yet you still complain.
And granted, you pay your fair share of taxes too. But a percentage just comes back to you.
I'm so glad that we have such dedicated teachers teaching our kids like yourself who isn't in it just for the tax-paid money. You have just confirmed why most taxpayers vote school budgets down.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Just because your job may not have a union, why is it my fault? Is this communism? Because you don't have a union I can't either? Do you hate the 8-hour work day? You can thank unions for that. I understand some people have to put in over time but the vast majority of us are glad that we don't have to work 14 hours a day. Would you prefer to get no lunch break?
I guess you wouldn't be a teacher if it wasn't run by a union, right? So you are basically just a union junkie, reaping the benefits from the already over taxed taxpayer. Our school taxes are too high now and you are bitching because you can't control your kids. You truly do need another profession. I guess you are a man since you mention an x-wife. So there are jobs-a-plenty out there for you. Heck, you could become a selector at Golub for $38,000 with great benefits. Of course that is non-union and not paid for by the taxpayer. Or perhaps you could take a civil service test and get a state job. Or go to a police academy and become a cop.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I just want to weigh in on this debate. I am also a teacher and I have been a teacher for almost 10 years. I have stayed in the same district since the Monday after I finished student teaching. The district I teach in is by no means the highest paying district in the area but I stay there because I love the kids and I love my job, I wouldn't do anything else. I do admit that my job is not perfect and there are some frustrations, but regardless of the job I had there would be parts of it that I didn't like. I just want to respond to a few frustrations that people has expressed about teachers:
1. We have the best benefits ever... - I do have good benefits. I am single and I don't pay for my benefits at all, but people who started teaching about 3 years after I do pay at least 10% towards their benefits and the contract after that upped all new people to 20% I believe, so the trend seems to be heading towards taking away those benefits a little at a time. I am grateful for my benefits and I think that anyone who is working should get benefits, they are one of the most important parts of a compensation package when you take a job.
2. We get paid too much. - I have been at my job for almost 10 years and I make a whopping 42,000 a year. I pay for a car (no it's not an expensive one... I have never had a brand new car actually), my student loans for both undergrad and grad, my living expenses etc... I am left with very little money at the end of the month. In fact most teachers don't get the whole summer off. Almost 80 - 90 % of the teachers I know have part time jobs all year or work all summer to supplement their income to survive.
3. We get too much vacation. - I will be honest. I love the fact that I get so much time off. It helps me to recharge and be a better teacher. Although I love my students, sometimes if they have been more difficult than usual I need a bit of time away from them to be a better teacher. If I didn't get all that vacation then I would be paid more I assume since with a Master's degree in any other field I would be making a lot more than I do as a teacher. Vacation is part of the compensation package for the lower salary.
4. We are only teachers for the vacation and the high paying salary, - This is the most untrue statement that I have ever heard. 99% of the teachers I know are teachers because they want to impact young people. They work at school and at home to improve their lesson plans and develop new ways to intrigue kids who are now days only intrigued if you are a video game. I take work home with me almost every day. I am constantly thinking of new exciting ways to get my students to learn. If i have a student who is struggling academically or socially or emotionally I try to make sure that I help them in any way that I can. I have spent countless hours in the last ten years outside of the time I am mandated to be at school helping kids through things that have nothing to do with school as have many other teachers. I don't do this because I have to I do it because I think of these kids as though I was their extra mother. So I have to say that I take offense to this statement the most.
5. Striking - Thankfully I have never been in the position to even have to contemplate this. Our "strike" is commonly known as "work to rule" since technically we are not allowed to strike. Work to rule means you are there for the exact amount of time the contract states, you cannot take work home with you etc... This would kill me and I hope it never gets to this, but as much as I love my kids I can't afford to take a pay cut or lose my benefits. I already work on the side I can't take another job.
I am not saying that it is a perfect system but you cannot place the blame on the shoulders of teachers. The government puts standards in place, promises billions of dollars and gives about 1/10 of what is promised, which is actually about 1/20 of what is needed. Many parents no longer care about how their child does in school. They refuse to believe that they or their child needs to put any effort into their education and blame the teachers instead of taking any responsibiilty for it. I have no problem working as hard or as harder than I already do but I am tired of being the bad guy. I do my best in the 40 minutes a day that I am allotted with a student, and spend time after school with them if they need help and spend my own free time working on improving my teaching and their learning experience. I understand that you are tired of the high tax bills but we as teachers cannot change that. Lobby the White House or your senators to help fix the problem. You see I understand a fixed income because in reality I also live on one. Just know that I would not leave my job unless I couldn't live on the salary anymore, I love what I do and I am tired of being the scapegoat for the world's beef with the government.
I just want to weigh in on this debate. I am also a teacher and I have been a teacher for almost 10 years. I have stayed in the same district since the Monday after I finished student teaching. The district I teach in is by no means the highest paying district in the area but I stay there because I love the kids and I love my job, I wouldn't do anything else. I do admit that my job is not perfect and there are some frustrations, but regardless of the job I had there would be parts of it that I didn't like. I just want to respond to a few frustrations that people has expressed about teachers:
1. We have the best benefits ever... - I do have good benefits. I am single and I don't pay for my benefits at all, but people who started teaching about 3 years after I do pay at least 10% towards their benefits and the contract after that upped all new people to 20% I believe, so the trend seems to be heading towards taking away those benefits a little at a time. I am grateful for my benefits and I think that anyone who is working should get benefits, they are one of the most important parts of a compensation package when you take a job.
2. We get paid too much. - I have been at my job for almost 10 years and I make a whopping 42,000 a year. I pay for a car (no it's not an expensive one... I have never had a brand new car actually), my student loans for both undergrad and grad, my living expenses etc... I am left with very little money at the end of the month. In fact most teachers don't get the whole summer off. Almost 80 - 90 % of the teachers I know have part time jobs all year or work all summer to supplement their income to survive.
3. We get too much vacation. - I will be honest. I love the fact that I get so much time off. It helps me to recharge and be a better teacher. Although I love my students, sometimes if they have been more difficult than usual I need a bit of time away from them to be a better teacher. If I didn't get all that vacation then I would be paid more I assume since with a Master's degree in any other field I would be making a lot more than I do as a teacher. Vacation is part of the compensation package for the lower salary.
4. We are only teachers for the vacation and the high paying salary, - This is the most untrue statement that I have ever heard. 99% of the teachers I know are teachers because they want to impact young people. They work at school and at home to improve their lesson plans and develop new ways to intrigue kids who are now days only intrigued if you are a video game. I take work home with me almost every day. I am constantly thinking of new exciting ways to get my students to learn. If i have a student who is struggling academically or socially or emotionally I try to make sure that I help them in any way that I can. I have spent countless hours in the last ten years outside of the time I am mandated to be at school helping kids through things that have nothing to do with school as have many other teachers. I don't do this because I have to I do it because I think of these kids as though I was their extra mother. So I have to say that I take offense to this statement the most.
5. Striking - Thankfully I have never been in the position to even have to contemplate this. Our "strike" is commonly known as "work to rule" since technically we are not allowed to strike. Work to rule means you are there for the exact amount of time the contract states, you cannot take work home with you etc... This would kill me and I hope it never gets to this, but as much as I love my kids I can't afford to take a pay cut or lose my benefits. I already work on the side I can't take another job.
I am not saying that it is a perfect system but you cannot place the blame on the shoulders of teachers. The government puts standards in place, promises billions of dollars and gives about 1/10 of what is promised, which is actually about 1/20 of what is needed. Many parents no longer care about how their child does in school. They refuse to believe that they or their child needs to put any effort into their education and blame the teachers instead of taking any responsibiilty for it. I have no problem working as hard or as harder than I already do but I am tired of being the bad guy. I do my best in the 40 minutes a day that I am allotted with a student, and spend time after school with them if they need help and spend my own free time working on improving my teaching and their learning experience. I understand that you are tired of the high tax bills but we as teachers cannot change that. Lobby the White House or your senators to help fix the problem. You see I understand a fixed income because in reality I also live on one. Just know that I would not leave my job unless I couldn't live on the salary anymore, I love what I do and I am tired of being the scapegoat for the world's beef with the government.
I just want to weigh in on this debate. I am also a teacher and I have been a teacher for almost 10 years. I have stayed in the same district since the Monday after I finished student teaching. The district I teach in is by no means the highest paying district in the area but I stay there because I love the kids and I love my job, I wouldn't do anything else. I do admit that my job is not perfect and there are some frustrations, but regardless of the job I had there would be parts of it that I didn't like. I just want to respond to a few frustrations that people has expressed about teachers:
1. We have the best benefits ever... - I do have good benefits. I am single and I don't pay for my benefits at all, but people who started teaching about 3 years after I do pay at least 10% towards their benefits and the contract after that upped all new people to 20% I believe, so the trend seems to be heading towards taking away those benefits a little at a time. I am grateful for my benefits and I think that anyone who is working should get benefits, they are one of the most important parts of a compensation package when you take a job.
2. We get paid too much. - I have been at my job for almost 10 years and I make a whopping 42,000 a year. I pay for a car (no it's not an expensive one... I have never had a brand new car actually), my student loans for both undergrad and grad, my living expenses etc... I am left with very little money at the end of the month. In fact most teachers don't get the whole summer off. Almost 80 - 90 % of the teachers I know have part time jobs all year or work all summer to supplement their income to survive.
3. We get too much vacation. - I will be honest. I love the fact that I get so much time off. It helps me to recharge and be a better teacher. Although I love my students, sometimes if they have been more difficult than usual I need a bit of time away from them to be a better teacher. If I didn't get all that vacation then I would be paid more I assume since with a Master's degree in any other field I would be making a lot more than I do as a teacher. Vacation is part of the compensation package for the lower salary.
4. We are only teachers for the vacation and the high paying salary, - This is the most untrue statement that I have ever heard. 99% of the teachers I know are teachers because they want to impact young people. They work at school and at home to improve their lesson plans and develop new ways to intrigue kids who are now days only intrigued if you are a video game. I take work home with me almost every day. I am constantly thinking of new exciting ways to get my students to learn. If i have a student who is struggling academically or socially or emotionally I try to make sure that I help them in any way that I can. I have spent countless hours in the last ten years outside of the time I am mandated to be at school helping kids through things that have nothing to do with school as have many other teachers. I don't do this because I have to I do it because I think of these kids as though I was their extra mother. So I have to say that I take offense to this statement the most.
5. Striking - Thankfully I have never been in the position to even have to contemplate this. Our "strike" is commonly known as "work to rule" since technically we are not allowed to strike. Work to rule means you are there for the exact amount of time the contract states, you cannot take work home with you etc... This would kill me and I hope it never gets to this, but as much as I love my kids I can't afford to take a pay cut or lose my benefits. I already work on the side I can't take another job.
I am not saying that it is a perfect system but you cannot place the blame on the shoulders of teachers. The government puts standards in place, promises billions of dollars and gives about 1/10 of what is promised, which is actually about 1/20 of what is needed. Many parents no longer care about how their child does in school. They refuse to believe that they or their child needs to put any effort into their education and blame the teachers instead of taking any responsibiilty for it. I have no problem working as hard or as harder than I already do but I am tired of being the bad guy. I do my best in the 40 minutes a day that I am allotted with a student, and spend time after school with them if they need help and spend my own free time working on improving my teaching and their learning experience. I understand that you are tired of the high tax bills but we as teachers cannot change that. Lobby the White House or your senators to help fix the problem. You see I understand a fixed income because in reality I also live on one. Just know that I would not leave my job unless I couldn't live on the salary anymore, I love what I do and I am tired of being the scapegoat for the world's beef with the government.
Bumblethru, could you please specifically quote the line(s) where I said I hate my job? Please don't mistake me pointing out "bad" thing about my job with hating it. Once again, I am merely trying to point out things that my make job not such a "cake job" like everyone thinks. I'm pointing out why I feel that I deserve my salary.
I just want to weigh in on this debate. I am also a teacher and I have been a teacher for almost 10 years. I have stayed in the same district since the Monday after I finished student teaching. The district I teach in is by no means the highest paying district in the area but I stay there because I love the kids and I love my job, I wouldn't do anything else. I do admit that my job is not perfect and there are some frustrations, but regardless of the job I had there would be parts of it that I didn't like. I just want to respond to a few frustrations that people has expressed about teachers:
1. We have the best benefits ever... - I do have good benefits. I am single and I don't pay for my benefits at all, but people who started teaching about 3 years after I do pay at least 10% towards their benefits and the contract after that upped all new people to 20% I believe, so the trend seems to be heading towards taking away those benefits a little at a time. I am grateful for my benefits and I think that anyone who is working should get benefits, they are one of the most important parts of a compensation package when you take a job.
2. We get paid too much. - I have been at my job for almost 10 years and I make a whopping 42,000 a year. I pay for a car (no it's not an expensive one... I have never had a brand new car actually), my student loans for both undergrad and grad, my living expenses etc... I am left with very little money at the end of the month. In fact most teachers don't get the whole summer off. Almost 80 - 90 % of the teachers I know have part time jobs all year or work all summer to supplement their income to survive.
3. We get too much vacation. - I will be honest. I love the fact that I get so much time off. It helps me to recharge and be a better teacher. Although I love my students, sometimes if they have been more difficult than usual I need a bit of time away from them to be a better teacher. If I didn't get all that vacation then I would be paid more I assume since with a Master's degree in any other field I would be making a lot more than I do as a teacher. Vacation is part of the compensation package for the lower salary.
4. We are only teachers for the vacation and the high paying salary, - This is the most untrue statement that I have ever heard. 99% of the teachers I know are teachers because they want to impact young people. They work at school and at home to improve their lesson plans and develop new ways to intrigue kids who are now days only intrigued if you are a video game. I take work home with me almost every day. I am constantly thinking of new exciting ways to get my students to learn. If i have a student who is struggling academically or socially or emotionally I try to make sure that I help them in any way that I can. I have spent countless hours in the last ten years outside of the time I am mandated to be at school helping kids through things that have nothing to do with school as have many other teachers. I don't do this because I have to I do it because I think of these kids as though I was their extra mother. So I have to say that I take offense to this statement the most.
5. Striking - Thankfully I have never been in the position to even have to contemplate this. Our "strike" is commonly known as "work to rule" since technically we are not allowed to strike. Work to rule means you are there for the exact amount of time the contract states, you cannot take work home with you etc... This would kill me and I hope it never gets to this, but as much as I love my kids I can't afford to take a pay cut or lose my benefits. I already work on the side I can't take another job.
I am not saying that it is a perfect system but you cannot place the blame on the shoulders of teachers. The government puts standards in place, promises billions of dollars and gives about 1/10 of what is promised, which is actually about 1/20 of what is needed. Many parents no longer care about how their child does in school. They refuse to believe that they or their child needs to put any effort into their education and blame the teachers instead of taking any responsibiilty for it. I have no problem working as hard or as harder than I already do but I am tired of being the bad guy. I do my best in the 40 minutes a day that I am allotted with a student, and spend time after school with them if they need help and spend my own free time working on improving my teaching and their learning experience. I understand that you are tired of the high tax bills but we as teachers cannot change that. Lobby the White House or your senators to help fix the problem. You see I understand a fixed income because in reality I also live on one. Just know that I would not leave my job unless I couldn't live on the salary anymore, I love what I do and I am tired of being the scapegoat for the world's beef with the government.
I just want to weigh in on this debate. I am also a teacher and I have been a teacher for almost 10 years. I have stayed in the same district since the Monday after I finished student teaching. The district I teach in is by no means the highest paying district in the area but I stay there because I love the kids and I love my job, I wouldn't do anything else. I do admit that my job is not perfect and there are some frustrations, but regardless of the job I had there would be parts of it that I didn't like. I just want to respond to a few frustrations that people has expressed about teachers:
1. We have the best benefits ever... - I do have good benefits. I am single and I don't pay for my benefits at all, but people who started teaching about 3 years after I do pay at least 10% towards their benefits and the contract after that upped all new people to 20% I believe, so the trend seems to be heading towards taking away those benefits a little at a time. I am grateful for my benefits and I think that anyone who is working should get benefits, they are one of the most important parts of a compensation package when you take a job.
2. We get paid too much. - I have been at my job for almost 10 years and I make a whopping 42,000 a year. I pay for a car (no it's not an expensive one... I have never had a brand new car actually), my student loans for both undergrad and grad, my living expenses etc... I am left with very little money at the end of the month. In fact most teachers don't get the whole summer off. Almost 80 - 90 % of the teachers I know have part time jobs all year or work all summer to supplement their income to survive.
3. We get too much vacation. - I will be honest. I love the fact that I get so much time off. It helps me to recharge and be a better teacher. Although I love my students, sometimes if they have been more difficult than usual I need a bit of time away from them to be a better teacher. If I didn't get all that vacation then I would be paid more I assume since with a Master's degree in any other field I would be making a lot more than I do as a teacher. Vacation is part of the compensation package for the lower salary.
4. We are only teachers for the vacation and the high paying salary, - This is the most untrue statement that I have ever heard. 99% of the teachers I know are teachers because they want to impact young people. They work at school and at home to improve their lesson plans and develop new ways to intrigue kids who are now days only intrigued if you are a video game. I take work home with me almost every day. I am constantly thinking of new exciting ways to get my students to learn. If i have a student who is struggling academically or socially or emotionally I try to make sure that I help them in any way that I can. I have spent countless hours in the last ten years outside of the time I am mandated to be at school helping kids through things that have nothing to do with school as have many other teachers. I don't do this because I have to I do it because I think of these kids as though I was their extra mother. So I have to say that I take offense to this statement the most.
5. Striking - Thankfully I have never been in the position to even have to contemplate this. Our "strike" is commonly known as "work to rule" since technically we are not allowed to strike. Work to rule means you are there for the exact amount of time the contract states, you cannot take work home with you etc... This would kill me and I hope it never gets to this, but as much as I love my kids I can't afford to take a pay cut or lose my benefits. I already work on the side I can't take another job.
I am not saying that it is a perfect system but you cannot place the blame on the shoulders of teachers. The government puts standards in place, promises billions of dollars and gives about 1/10 of what is promised, which is actually about 1/20 of what is needed. Many parents no longer care about how their child does in school. They refuse to believe that they or their child needs to put any effort into their education and blame the teachers instead of taking any responsibiilty for it. I have no problem working as hard or as harder than I already do but I am tired of being the bad guy. I do my best in the 40 minutes a day that I am allotted with a student, and spend time after school with them if they need help and spend my own free time working on improving my teaching and their learning experience. I understand that you are tired of the high tax bills but we as teachers cannot change that. Lobby the White House or your senators to help fix the problem. You see I understand a fixed income because in reality I also live on one. Just know that I would not leave my job unless I couldn't live on the salary anymore, I love what I do and I am tired of being the scapegoat for the world's beef with the government.
mnaborln, so what is it that you are looking for: More money Better benefits More time off Better hours A better union A job in a different district Well behaved students Concerned parents......?????
Look, you work in a broken system such as the medical profession. The educational system started it's decline when they chose to take prayer out of school and allowing sex education, morning breakfasts and after school babysitting to supersede reading, writing and arithmetic. And this started long before you chose to go into teaching. And all the money in the world, or all of the time off will never make it better. Hang on to your seat, cause it ain't gonna get any better.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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