For those who think teachers are "over paid"......

Not sure what's specifically going on in WI, but there are similar sentiments in Florida as well...."they have all that paid time off" being the most prevalent.

Well, the $585 a day thing really puts it into perspective! Also, don't forget how much money most teachers spend on supplies (an average of $500 a year) since their budget doesn't usually cover them for the entire year. Teachers have to put up with so much bureaucratic nonsense, aside from pressure from the parents...and of course, the problematic students themselves.

For a job that is so difficult and important (most of the people who complain about them being overpaid would never even dream of doing it) I just can't believe anyone gripes about what they get paid. In my county, the average starting salary is $33,000 a year. That is ridiculous for a job that requires a 4 year degree.
 
Jill-O said:
I don't think good teachers are overpaid, but I do think there are a lot of people teaching who are a drain and dead weight on the tax payers.
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This is really true of all public work. Unfortunately, as is the case with many government jobs, unless you seriously screw up you are usually allowed to keep doing your job indefinitely, until perhaps the time for downsizing/cutbacks rolls around.

Definitely there needs to be more done to promote the best teachers and weed out the worst, but cutting in to the incentives for teachers (not directly the salary itself, because it is low for a job requiring a 4 year degree) is certainly not going to help. The real issue with teachers having too much time off is that there is not enough class time during the year, especially since a hefty chunk of that time is spent teaching test preparation skills vs. critical thinking and learning. Having the summers off hails back to when parents needed their kids to help them on the farm. I'm sure it will never go away as long as the entertainment and tourism industry has any say about it! But when you think about it, it is no surprise that we rank so low compared to other parts of the world in education.
 
Teachers are usually only PAID for their working time. Most districts allow them to extend that over the summer months. That doesn't mean they are PAID for not working over the summer. Their annual pay is divided into 12 months.

Personally I agree with the "good" teacher. Every school district tests their students. teachers whose students don't score well consistently should be pretty easy to identify.

I leave my kids with teachers for more hours in a day than I get to spend to them. I personally would like to see salaries higher and teachers compensated for taking care and educating our most precious commodity...our kids!!!
 
Actually I have 80 students right now, can I get in on this? I have few compared to many colleagues who have 180 themselves.
 
Jill-O said:
Good teachers don't need public sector union support. However, the ones who have no business in the classroom do.
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Maybe your outstanding sister can go teach at a parochial school to test out your theory. When they try paying her peanuts, she can remind them that she's a darn good teacher, more deserving than all the rest. That oughta sway them to pony up.... :headshake2:
 
Jill-O said:
Good teachers don't need public sector union support. However, the ones who have no business in the classroom do.
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I don't believe you understand all of what the teacher's unions do.
Furthermore, teachers, especially new ones, get paid absolute drek for A) the training required B) the amount of work the job takes and C) the importance of the job.
As was said above, teachers DO NOT get paid for the summer. Those are months where many teachers would work more if they could.
I know teachers who mow lawns in the summer. I know teachers who paint houses in the summer. There's summer school, of course, and endless workshops...

As far as good teachers not needing their union (it's THEIR union, by the way, not some ambiguous "public sector union" that happens to support them), I won two different awards in my three years teaching. One from a district/university initiative and one from the state. My students performed higher than district average, which is far higher than state average. And, yes, I did need my union's support. Guess that makes me a bad teacher.

I do think there needs to be reform in education. I think there needs to be work done toward measuring teacher impact. Unions often resist these things, but that does not mean that the unions are bad or that they don't do massive amounts of important and necessary work to give the most important ad most informed part of the education system a voice in the process.
 
Most people wish that they could get more money for what they do. Most people agree that most people should get paid more. Then somebody has to sign the check. Too many people don't care as long as it isn't or at least doesn't seem like it's their name on the dotted line. But alot of people are starting to care and it's a good thing. There are some professions in which if you worry too much about how much you're getting paid you should find other work. What is it worth to you to pay the fireman who rushes into your burning home and carrys you to safety? I'll tell you that there is no amount of money that's enough. But a fireman does what he does because of who he is not because of what he gets paid. The same goes for teachers. So he/they don't get paid what we think they're worth.
But they gets paid what they and their employers agree they're worth. That's how it should be. The only person who has any rights to any job is the person who creates it. Unions do what they do by force or threat of force so by their very nature they're immoral. Even more so in the public sector where tax dollars are involved. Anybody wanna make a bet on how long this thread lasts?
 
SubRosa said:
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Not really, In the United States, education is a socialist program. You're applying capitalist ideas to a socialist system. It's the government that determines what teachers are paid. The government is trying to get the most bang for it's buck, it will at any possible chance underpay for services when it can. Teachers Unions are in place to make sure that these government workers aren't taken advantage of too terribly.

It's true, most teachers enjoy their jobs, however people who enjoy their work are still entitled to fair compensation.
 
Okay folks.....you know the guidelines.....thanks.
 
This isn't meant to be a "union" "non union" thread. My point is I'm so sick of hearing how teachers are just over paid babysitters.
 
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