Do Teachers have it Easy

[james t kirk]

Based on Yuri's thread, I am curious to measure public opinion on teacher's remuneration vs. the effort they have to expend in their occupation.

The question is:

As professions go is Teaching one of the easier ones, or one of the more demanding ones. (Compared to say Doctor, Nurse, Engineer, Lawyer, Accountant, Computer Tech, Trade, etc.)

Do teachers have it made in the shade, or are they justly compensated for their efforts, or are they underpaid and over worked and under appreciated.

 

[Keebler Elf]

I'd say they are appropriately compensated for the work they do.

You're also comparing apples and oranges with some of your comparators. Doctors and lawyers require far more schooling and testing than do teachers and are compensated accordingly.

That being said, I don't think there is any amount of compensation that makes up for teachers having to deal with children that have been improperly raised by their parents.

 

[james t kirk]

I'd say they are appropriately compensated for the work they do.

You're also comparing apples and oranges with some of your comparators. Doctors and lawyers require far more schooling and testing than do teachers and are compensated accordingly.

That being said, I don't think there is any amount of compensation that makes up for teachers having to deal with children that have been improperly raised by their parents.

I realize that, but it's an informal poll on an escort review board.

But, I am curious to see pubic perception is all.

I voted for No. 3 by the way. I'm ok with their salary if they worked 11 mos. of the year like everyone else in the world.

cheers

 

[Garrett]

I think teachers are poorly paid, but I would not throw more money at the system without dramatically overhauling it. There is no incentive to be a "good teacher". At a certain level (principals, school boards) it is all about politics.

If teachers had a true merit pay system, I would have no problem with some teachers making $120k+. A great teacher has dramatic impact on society. As things currently stand though, teachers are mostly mediocre with a lot of slackers. Even when incompetent, they do not get fired. As a result, I think they generally deserve their sucky pay.

 

[hak]

I think there compensation is OK - not excessive. But they always complain, and don't realize how they job is not any more difficult then other professions. They are always "woe is me" when most other professions deal with as much stress and more hours.

I don't have problem with there pay. i ahve a problem with there unjustified whining, and how they feel there job is the hardest out there. That is BS

 

[scouser1]

I think teachers are poorly paid, but I would not throw more money at the system without dramatically overhauling it. There is no incentive to be a "good teacher". At a certain level (principals, school boards) it is all about politics.

If teachers had a true merit pay system, I would have no problem with some teachers making $120k+. A great teacher has dramatic impact on society. As things currently stand though, teachers are mostly mediocre with a lot of slackers. Even when incompetent, they do not get fired. As a result, I think they generally deserve their sucky pay.

ohhh trust me my friend when there is an incompetent teacher they are quickly shown the door by the principal, because you will immediately get a parent, school board trustee or official on your case if you dont and then your job is on the line. Not saying there are of course incompetent teachers out there who have no business teaching but its no better or worse than any other work sector.

 

[PHNINE]

I would have to agree with Garrett here. I think the good teachers are under paid, meanwhile there also a large number of mediocre teachers that do it just as a job. The impact of a good teacher to our youth is priceless. You cannot put a monetary value on the affect one teacher has on a student that is about to enter the real world. If there was a way to determine whether or not a teacher was good or not, a merit system would be ideal, but it is hard to judge every singel teacher in every single school district. All in all, teachers are important, and they need the recognition that they deserve, which they don't usually get.

BTW, my favourite teachers in high school were the student teachers that were university students that were interning as teachers aids. Fuck they were hot...

 

[dj1470]

Once heard a story about another parent who was complaining to a teacher she knew on the sidelines at one of my kid's soccer games. The conversation went something like this:

"My kid gets nothing out of school you make close to $40,000/year why don't I just pay you $5/hr like I pay my babysitter?" said the parent

"OK, no problem" said the teacher

"What" said the parent "you'd do that?"

"Why not?" said the teacher "I have 28 kids in my grade 3 class so that's 28 times 5 for $140/hr times 6 hrs so that's $840/day times 5 days for $4200/week times 4 weeks for $16800/mth times 10 mths = $168000 per year and I'll even subtract $12600 for the christmas vacation and march break for a grand total of $155400 a year and I won't even take vacation pay!"

"Wow $155400 a year that's a lot" said the parent.

"Yes" said the teacher "at $1.19/hr per student you are getting a bargain on your taxdollar so shut the fuck up"

 

[PHNINE]

Babysitting and teaching is a bit different, but I get your point.

 

[Coach]

Teachers are very well compensated for the work they do. Their vacation time & sick days plus the gold plated pension more than make up for the so called lack of salary. Do they work hard? yes many do, but many go through the motions are feel they are entitled to their compensation, as opposed to earning it. Do poor teachers ever get fired?What is very sad is so few of them have actually been outside of school. They go from high school to university to teaching. I think every teacher should have to put in 2 - 3 years in another job, any other job, just to appreciate how great they have it.
Admittedly the various Boards of Education are a farce too so it is difficult to put all the blame on teachers.

 

[shack]

Babysitting and teaching is a bit different

Correct. You can bang the babysitter while you're taking her home.

 

[Garrett]

ohhh trust me my friend when there is an incompetent teacher they are quickly shown the door by the principal, because you will immediately get a parent, school board trustee or official on your case if you dont and then your job is on the line. Not saying there are of course incompetent teachers out there who have no business teaching but its no better or worse than any other work sector.

In my business we fire 5-10% of our employee base annually based on performance guidelines. This is *after* the dead weight is gone. Teachers do not come even close to that. As well, your definition of incompetence tends to be "significant" (violating employment conditions, inappropriate behavior on the job). Show me the case of someone being shown the door for not being a good teacher, with no other considerations.. and then show me this occurring in number.

 

[21pro]

my neighbour is a teacher. he makes over $60,000 per year w/ a great pension and benefits in place. it can be an easy job no doubt.

but, his real gravy is made during the summer. for 6 weeks he goes to ohio and makes firewood at his farm. he sells the previous years seasoned firewood in bulk to distributors... at the end of the 6 weeks he comes home with about $220,000 in cash.

 

[LancsLad]

Don't forget that just about the only campaign promise that Mcsquinty has kept is his slavish cowtowing to the teachers union. He bought their support with our tax money. F**k him.

 

[acutus]

Those that can, do; those who can't, teach(and some might add...those who can't do either, criticize.). Just kidding. I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Garrett's comments in post # 4: 'A great teacher has dramatic impact on Society'. From my perspective, good teaching is about making a topic relevant to the student(s). Not always an easy task given the current demographics and a rapidly changing World. However, I can recall the teachers who had a very memorable and positive influence on me. Sincerely, Jon .

 

[Hard Idle]

So why are people so hung up on the teachers vacation time? If you counted every hour of marking done after regular school hours as Overtime, it would easily cost as much as an extra 8-10 weeks of regular work.

It seems what people REALLY want is exactly what the soccer mom hinted: they want a cheap babysitter all year round so they can take even less responsibility for their own children.

I have many issues with the way some teachers do thier jobs and the the way they are made to do their jobs. But I would never say they have it easy.

Unless you are remarkably well connected with a school board, you can spend many years doing one-day supply teaching stints while waiting for a Full Time job, all the while having to pay bills with odd jobs that are flexible enough to allow you to take a supply gig on a few hours notice.

Once you're in, the elementary teachers can get most of their work done fairly quickly, but High School & Jr. High teachers are responsible for the daily work of 120-160 individual students, and only a fraction of it can be done during class or prep time. Everything else goes home - while you're hobbying or on TERB, they're reading and grading papers.

 

[emailme84]

I disagree with hard idle... teachers have it great... If they only realized how good they have it.

Teachers are given time during the day to complete their marking but in addition... a school day is far from 8 hours... which is an average working day... I would expect that teachers spend a couple hours before and after school preparing for class and marking assignments... They can just as easily stay at the school to mark their assignments but they take them home because they would rather be at home with their families... another benefit we do not have while at work

 

[Hard Idle]

You may want to keep in mind that MP's & MLA's have just as much vacation time and many of them don't show up for dozens of days when the legislature is in session.

In comparing the difficulty of their jobs, only a handful of well connected causcus members make any decisions, the rest just get up for a few headcounts when they have to vote according to the orders of their party bosses. Between election campaigns, the only inconveniences in their lives are having to get up on Saturday morning for constituence days, and making sure to keep their hobbying discrete.

The minimum wage for backbenchers is nearly four times that of a rookie teacher.

 

[Hard Idle]

Teachers are given time during the day to complete their marking but in addition... a school day is far from 8 hours... which is an average working day... They can just as easily stay at the school to mark their assignments but they take them home because they would rather be at home with their families... another benefit we do not have while at work

That might work in primary school where one teacher has only one class.

But from Grade 7 on, the one spare period per day is not enough. In the real world, that hour, plus the time between 3:15 -4PM also involves seeing students who need extra help or want to complain about something, visits from parents, moving AV equipment or supplies, and completeing attendance reports and other admin work required.

They do have the benefit of getting a one hour jump on rush hour traffic, and i'm sure most people would rather they keep it that way instead of having another 5000 people on the road at exactly the same time.

But then again, you couldn't pay me enough to spend a third of my day in room full of kids...

 

[frankcastle]

Way to many teacher just go thru the motions and don't really care about the students. They want more money and less hours. They want all kids to behave like angels or go on Ritalin. No one wants to support after school activies. It is very sad the way our education system is now and it will only get worse as the government keeps giving in.

KWI

Gross generalization. We offered a ton of sports, music, and drama after school and we had 30 coaches in total. I coached two different activities and attended as many other games, plays or shows as possible.