Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
All in all.............back to your original "beef," I think the other teacher was a little over the top asking for (demanding) that the parents throw in some money for the new (new to your kiddos) teacher's B'day.
There are lots of great teachers out there who work their butts off, and possibly don't earn what they should. There are lots of crappy teachers who need to be fired, but are protected by powerful unions.
There are lots of parents who volunteer because they can and want to, and there are other parents who want to volunteer but can't.
Public education is a hot topic and will continue to be so, but I say don't be bullied into giving for the B'day gift, but give a token during Christmas and Teacher Appreciation and / or end of school year.
I have been teaching for the last 15 years and gifts are appreciated but certainly not expected. As for supplies it is your child who is blowing his nose with the tissues, writing with the pencils etc. Unfortunately the amount given each school does not cover supplies for the increasing number of children that are put in the classrooms each year. Those fundraising products you are asked to sell actually fund many programs at your school for your child and helps purchase extra supplies so we do not have to beg again when the supplies run out in middle of the year. Every teacher I know spends her own money on supplies. Often the attitude you show about helping out your school will be reflected in your child's attitude. So when those tissue are on sale pick up an extra box and send it in to school. Your teacher will appreciate the effort and your child will feel good about giving.
Nope, that wasn't what was said, nor what was meant. But thanks for the good laugh with all the inferring and implying it took to come up with that one. Btw, this is posted on the Austin forum, so the discussion of national lobbying efforts isn't really on topic. You may not be aware, but the teachers' unions here have very little power compared to other areas of the country.
Maybe you ought to pick up a copy of Strunk and White then- one paragraph, one idea and all. Being that you put both thoughts in the same paragraph, proper writing mechanics suggest that you meant for them to be related somehow.
America is a free country (at least for now), so there are choices. No one is forcing anybody (at this stage of the game at least) to be a teacher. There are precious few jobs that don't have drawbacks and many of them major, so pick your poison, but Lord Almighty, stop with the constant bellyaching.
I know eveyone has gripes about their jobs, but so many teachers are just whiney babies and it is sickening. You hate your jobs that much, it reflects in your performance and the kids pay the ultimate price. Far too many people enter the teaching profession with the intention of being more or less glorified babysitters and then if any demands or stress is put upon them, they just freak out. For everyone's sake, get a different job!
You are out of your mind and clearly have little value for education and the value that could be derived from a rich (and I use this term lightly given the resources) environment. It amazes me that people like you think that we can throw anyone into a teaching job and expect them to shut up, be happy and deliver high level results-- while tearing down moral. The reason teacher are frustrated is because we continue to raise the bar but we cut their salary, lay them off, cut additional resources, and refuse to properly fund the public school system-- when the education of our country is the most important tool we have as a country. Teacher's pay in the US is ranks behind 25 other countries as ranked by GDP. I am a recruiter and do you know how difficult it is to find qualified high-level talent in this country (let alone this state...)? It blows my mind that we don't think about education in the same way we think about national defense! Do we think we are going to coast just because we are "Americans"? I miss being #1 and no one wants to do anything to get us back to that spot. And yes, this correlates directly to how we treat our teachers and our general attitude towards public education.
And teachers don't hate their job-- they hate how people treat them and how parents hand their kids off and show little involvement in their kid's education, yet blame the teacher when little johnny brings home a less than desirable grade.
Very true. I had 160 students and only a 42 min free period. There was no way I could grade all those papers in 42 min. Teachers spend many hours at home on school related work.
My husband (who is not a teacher) brings home work all of the time. I don't think that is unusual for a lot of employees who are on salary, just part of the job. One should know what's involved with their job before they take it.
Am I the only one who thinks Austin teachers make enough money? 40-55K is certainly enough to teach children and have summers/holidays off. They know this going in, so why is the money such an issue after they start. If you want to make more money, perhaps you shouldn't have chosen education as your field of study. Most have spouses that work so the combined income is more than enough. I'm tired of the complaining!
...and by the way, not to knock teachers at all, why would a highly skilled person teach at the current salary level when they can take that same skill set and go to work in corp america with a salary around market value with a bonus, and possibly other compensation (stock, etc.) and an ability to see pay increases as their performance increases as well? Wouldn't it be great if your kid had a teacher that studied their respective subject at a top university? But at the current salary level it would be very difficult to pay back the cost of that education. It is a shame that we can't attract a high level of talent to teaching-- think of the impact they could make to this country.
I am in my 37th year of teaching and I find the incident cited by the OP to be very tacky! At Christmas and Teacher Appreciation Week, all gifts are welcome but the most meaningful gifts I get are cards( homemade cards especially) with notes of appreciation for my efforts. After all, how many coffee mugs can you use? LOL
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
