Do teachers "really" have it that bad???

[sh00ter]

From another post off-topic dicussing teacher salaries:

One of the best ideas ever, assuming, of course, you can get by on peanuts. Yeah, I know, bad joke. But, unfortunately some truth to it.

Working 9 months out of the year, their salaries would translate to market levels if you add in the other 3 months they would be earning in another job that was 12 months per year. Maybe I "just don't get it" but every time there is extra money it seems to go to the teachers and the perk of having the summer off is overlooked. My aunt & uncle are retired teachers (one was a principle by the time he retired) and they lived better than I do looking back...they had a lake place in their early 30's, bass boats, 4wd, nicer house than I lived in by the time they were late 30's and that was with 2 kids...Now in retirement they live a dream at 2 separate lake homes...I do remember my uncle used to trade and do odd jobs for extra money sometimes in the summer when he'd go up to the lake place to fix it up and stuff, but that couldn't account for the majority of how they were able to live...all the other teachers I knew were females, married to a men who made more than them so they also lived well...is it really that economically bad for tenured teachers who are in their 30's & 40's & 50's these days?

Again, I'm not being cold but considering the other state employees haven't had a raise in like 10yrs or more and they work 12 months, I just hear about how bad teachers have it like I constantly hear about global warming...if all the noise is for the single, 22yo punks right outta college whining about not making a lot of money then they should have picked another field...if a married teacher who is say 40 is making 25k or something, well then of course I'd think they needed a good raise. I think my uncle was making close to 100k or so by himself when he retired from teaching more than 10yrs ago (maybe even closer to 15yrs)...add in the aunt's salary and of course the 9months thing and the pension plan that pays out every montht he rest of their lives and I'd say they didn't get such a bad deal/life...educate me if I am off-base.

 

[YukonGlocker]

Working 9 months out of the year

I didn't have to read further than this to know how stupid this was going to be.

 

[sh00ter]

I didn't have to read further than this to know how stupid this was going to be.

Educate me...I don't really know their salaries and I have admitted that. I watched family who were teachers enjoy their summers for years...maybe sometimes the aunt tutored or taught summer school...but if I am wrong that they get a summer break then educate me please.

 

[Glock 'em down]

I'm not gonna bash teachers, because it is an important job.

However...

When was the last time you saw a bunch of cops at the capital begging for more money.

Just sayin'

 

[Shootin 4 Fun]

I didn't have to read further than this to know how stupid this was going to be.

Well, teachers do get 10-12 weeks of vacation annually.

In reality, the pay for teachers should be in the range of $40k-$50k per year.

 

[deerwhacker444]

. I think my uncle was making close to 100k or so by himself when he retired from teaching more than 10yrs ago (maybe even closer to 15yrs)...add in the aunt's salary and of course the 9months thing and the pension plan that pays out every month he rest of their lives and I'd say they didn't get such a bad deal/life...educate me if I am off-base.

If you uncle was making 100k teaching, then he probably wasn't a "teacher" in OK's public school system. It would take an administration job in one of the larger cities to pull down that kind of coin.

Most teachers don't get a "vacation" during the Summer. Most stretch 9 months of pay over 12 months of bills, and take up a 2nd job during the Summer. What you don't see teachers doing is all the work that goes on after they leave school. They work another 4-5 hrs at home grading papers and getting paperwork done, every single night. Both my parents were teachers, retired out of the Mid-Del system.

 

[SlugSlinger]

I didn't have to read further than this to know how stupid this was going to be.

Adding value as always.

I know teachers, who only work in education because they get summers off and have a 3 month vacation. I hear it's nice to get 3 months of paychecks in advance.

 

[D. Hargrove]

My ex was paid for 9 months and had the option of spreading it out over 12 if she desired. She always did as being without a check for three months sucked pretty bad. Masters in Education with 25 years of experience and she makes right at $42,000. About 1100 bucks a week for 9 months. if she were paid for a 12 month period she would have made $56,000 for the year. She has a small retirement plan through the school system, but really not that impressive. Teaching is her passion, she would and has done it for allot less.

 

[cjjtulsa]

Adding value as always.

I know teachers, who only work in education because they get summers off and have a 3 month vacation. I hear it's nice to get 3 months of paychecks in advance.

Yes - it was so great that my wife quit teaching after 10 years to go back to school for her Bachelor's in nursing. She was sick of watching her husband with a HS diploma make double her salary. She was irritated to talk to a girl that helped at the school with an Associates degree in nursing, who was working 36 hours a week as a nurse and making more than twice her salary. She was sick of spending sh*t loads of time at home planning for classes, showing up a good three weeks before school (you know, on that endless summer break she got) to rebuild her classroom after it was dismantled after every school year. She so enjoyed those who put their kids in school as a day care, as they clearly weren't ready to be in school yet (daily pants-sh*tting and wetting). She got to enjoy the spoils of our legal system, who insist that ALL students have the right to the same education, including the ones who hit, bite, try to stab others with pencils, flip desks, and these kids are regular regulars to this behavior - and because they deserve this right, can't be culled from the class that they are disrupting. Just the daily call to the counselor, and off to the Principal's office, only to be right back the next morning. Then there is the warm, fuzzy feeling of spending part of that whopping $33,000 a year (and that's after starting at $30,000 ten years earlier) to buy school supplies that our worthless public school system can't afford, and that worthless parents just figure drops from the sky when butterball needs pencils, crayons, paper, and every other damned thing under the sun.

Yes - the public school system is a dismal failure. But I will no longer have to hear about it first hand, as we'll leave all of the fun that is being a public school teacher to the poor souls who haven't escaped yet, or who are naive enough to be entering the field.

 

[internetscout]

I'm tired of hearing about it from the young generation of teachers. I know a ton of teachers and they all knew what they were getting into.

Teacher pay and lack of funding is not new. Pick another profession if you don't love it enough to deal with crap. It's not going to get any better around here.