I DID have it easy compared to other teachers. And yet I was still incredibly unhappy. That’s why I knew I had to get out. I worked in a good school, made good money, and didn’t have gang problems or drug problems or anything like that. To teachers who are in that situation, I admire you greatly. I don’t know how you do it, honestly. Just the fact that you can survive like that year after year, makes you an EXCELLENT teacher, regardless of what anyone else says.
And don’t be sorry for me, please. I am doing very well now in my new career; I love it, it’s technical, and people are respectful. I might go back into teaching later in life; I really loved it. Thanks for the support!
“Office hours”? What are those? My mom’s a teacher, my girlfriend is a principal, I’m familiar with the hours that teachers put in. However, in the private sector, a lot of employees (such as myself) also work longer than “office hours” and work on the weekends. Shit, one day I was either working or traveling for 25 hours! I wish I had a teacher’s schedule.
And why is it that someone who has spent four years (or more) studying education in college, and has gone through whatever accreditations it takes to be a teacher, is being some greedy asshole because he might be able to expect a wage that’s right at the average for everyone else in the state.
What entitled douchebags, huh? Maybe they should have taken their teaching degrees and gone out and managed hedge-funds instead.
A worker with 2 weeks vacation and 10 holiday days puts in 240 days on the job. Most teachers in the state of California work about 185 days per year, based on union requirements. That comes out to about 7 extra vacation weeks per year.
Do right wingeres think that other government employees are overpaid? Senators? Congressman? Damn. Wish I had that gig. :rolleyes: Talk about inefficiency.
Former teacher here. I left the profession for many of the reasons outlined in the OP. Yeah I got home at three in the afternoon. And then promptly took a nap because I was so damned exhausted from teaching six periods a day. Teaching is physically and mentally draining. Unless you’ve stood in front of 26 kids trying to make them smarter you have no idea what the profession entails. And that’s the problem. People think teaching is easy so they hold it in contempt. I’ve never held a harder job.
Ever.
But just keep insulting teachers. That’ll attract quality candidates to the profession. I would literally weep if either of my daughters decided to become teachers at this point. The mediocre pay and the utter lack of respect from parents and kids IMO is simply not worth it.
I don’t think teachers are the ones picking the fight about time off. Responsible teachers need that time to help themselves become better teachers, and use it that way. It’s everyone ELSE who is picking this battle to fight with teachers, to derail the conversation… which reminds me, what was the point of this thread again? Oh yeah… it had nothing to do with teacher pay, time off, tenure, or whatever. It had to do with teachers getting blamed for failing students regardless of how good they are, and that this is keeping good qualified teachers from staying in the profession.
Yes, the OP really shouldn’t have gone on and on about it like he did. Wasn’t that his number one complaint in fact? Not getting enough time off? :rolleyes:
And obviously no one was aware that teachers got any time off at all before you jumped into the thread to enlighten everyone. But now that you’ve made a dozen posts on the topic, could you go ahead and fuck off? Those of us interesting in discussing the topic beyond exchanging "no u"s with Dio would greatly appreciate it.
There are probably only a few jobs harder than teaching. You said it best though. Trying to teach 26 completely unique individuals for 188 days a year is exhausting work. I too would collapse after coming home because I was so mentally and physically exhausted. But it was really all the tears I shed from the lack of support and respect that drove me out of it. All the time off in the world doesn’t make up for the fact that you are made to feel like shit week after week.
lol. I am sorry for ranting so much about the time off I got as a teacher. :smack: In my excessively long post, it looks like I just couldn’t help myself from bringing it up again and again! /sarcasm
HERE IS A MESSAGE TO ANYONE WHO THINKS TEACHERS GET TOO MUCH TIME OFF: GO BECOME A TEACHER AND SEE IF YOU FEEL LIKE THE TIME OFF IS WORTH IT!
Now, let’s get back to the points I really brought up!
Way more fucking time off = no need to exaggerate it, then.
These discussions always seem to come down to this.
[QUOTE=every debate about teachers ever]
**
Pro: **And teachers are overworked and underpaid.
**Con: **They are not – they make more than average salary, and get more than average time off. They get all summer off and go home at 3!
[/QUOTE]
The point is not whether teachers get more, less, or exactly and precisely the same as the average: the point is whether what they get is excessive. Is more than average always excessive? I personally think teachers’ jobs are considerably harder, more stressful, and more important than average. Like other posters, I am not OK with crappy teachers being allowed to continue teaching, but I am deeply confused by the idea that good teachers ought to be ashamed to make more / get more time off than the average for their location and educational background.