Anyone sick and tired of teacher sob stories? (universities, degrees, geography)
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And teachers aren't helpless. They just act like they are. They could be part of the solution of all these problems, but they choose not to.
I agree with you on that...although I'm not sure from the same perspective.
Educators are way too passive.
I think a big part of the problem is this: "the teaching gender gap is still alive and well. Male educators constitute just 2.3% of pre-K and kindergarten teachers, 18.3% of the elementary and middle school teacher population, and 42% of the high school level teaching staff. These numbers are down from 2007, but suggest a clear female majority in the teaching profession, especially in the earlier grades."
That means that many teachers are not the primary breadwinners of the family.
Well, indirectly, it is...and certainly more "for the kids" that what appears to be your perspective.
Let's say you're a top notch teacher with excellent qualifications. Where are you going to go to work? The district where pay is $10,000 higher or $10,000 lower? The district where benefits are superior or the district where benefits are inferior?
It's no different than most professions/jobs. If you wanna hire the best people, you gotta pay 'em well.
Because it's the teachers who are out there on the front lines all day long. The superintendent gets to sit in an office, go to meetings, travel to conferences--and they do not have to endure the stress and humiliation of being sworn at and talked back to by undisciplined kids.
The teachers have the definition of stress: responsibility without control. They are not allowed to discipline the kids. If they do, they get in trouble. How insulting is that? The teacher actually expected the kid to sit and listen and try to learn, to have some level of respect. But no, the teacher gets verbal abuse and has to be on the lookout for possible physical abuse all day long.
Then, if the kids didn't learn much, the teacher gets the blame. The teachers get to sit in long boring after school meetings when they need to get home and start the preparations for the next day. The teachers get to be on the receiving end of stupid "new" learning methods introduced by the superintendent. They are required to attend these idiotic lessons on how to teach with the flavor of the day brand new method. In reality, there is no new method--the superintendent just came up with it as something to put on his/her resume. Waste of time. Insulting to one's intelligence. Let the teachers teach.
And it's the classroom teacher who deals with every little thing. It can be reporting suspected child abuse, dealing with drug issues, learning disabilities, behavior problems, all sorts of psychological problems, needing to be aware of gang activity--the list is endless--and the teacher is supposed to do it all. And teach.
Many teachers burn out and quit after a few years. If someone wants to see what it's like, sign up to be a substitute. Enjoy.
(Oh, I forgot to mention the usual working conditions--in schools with leaky roofs and mold, over heated, not enough time for lunch, not being allowed to leave the building during the day, elementary teachers required to stand outside in freezing weather for recess, not enough money for supplies, etc.)
It just depends on what "front line" you're talking about. I was qualified to be a superintendent, but had no desire to:
Face the school board in their endless night meetings
Lose a job after just 6 years (average length of a superintendency before things go sour with the board)
Have to hear from every angry parent from the entire district
Automatically get sued almost every time a teacher or principal gets sued
My point is that $300-$400 a month for health care looks like a pretty darn good benefit from my point of view! I thought that could be easily inferred from the context.
Oh really? Last year the average American paid $393 per month for health insurance.
Oh, come on! They have a lunch break, and the kids go to specialists such as art, music, and PE. Have you ever heard of "nursing bladder", BTW? Point being, this is not just a teacher's problem. https://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/C...adder_.45.aspx
Wel, tnff, we agree on something? Don't pass out! Yes, most all health professionals have to be "on" constantly. You're familiar, I'm sure, with the term "bedside manner"?
And Frostnip, here's where we part company. The old "that's different". I have news for you-no it's not. I've learned my lesson; I've tried in the past comparing nursing, particularly in a pediatric office to teaching for several aspects e.g. parental involvement, and always hear "that's different". The fact that some (not all) teachers feel that they and they alone have these issues is very offputting, and incorrect.
Also agree with you, tnff about continuing education.
Now Katarina.
My doctors/nurse practitioners see about 24 patients a day (or more). In between each patient, they can use the bathroom while the patient sits in the exam room for 10-30 minutes waiting for them.
As someone said upthread, we all know a teacher or six. I'm friendly with a teacher couple in my neighborhood. 20 years ago, when we were all young(er), the husband worked construction in the summer, and the wife usually taught a summer session until the 4th of July. Now, neither are working in the summer, and I've never heard of anyone taking any summer classes either, well, perhaps a short (3-4 session) course, but not a semester full of classes. My extended family member teacher works a lot during the school year, but not in the summer, nor does she take any courses that I know of.
Also, we'll need some teachers to verify this but I never heard of the bold.
In all fairness, after being an educator for 33 years, I never heard the bold either.
I live in Philadelphia which is the poorest big city in the country.
I think we should give the city teachers every last dime they ask for. lol, I'm seen some of the Mensa candidates they have to deal with. there were days when I didn't want to deal with my 3 and I love them.
My doctors/nurse practitioners see about 24 patients a day (or more). In between each patient, they can use the bathroom while the patient sits in the exam room for 10-30 minutes waiting for them.
Usually more! And that may be for the docs/NPs, but the office nurses have to jump when the docs say jump. And it's worse in the hospital! Here's one article, there are many: https://www.heraldnet.com/news/provi...throom-breaks/
PS: The one woman pediatrician on staff where I worked had the same complaint and I told her about the "Nurses Bladder" study.
Doesn't matter. Teachers are teachers, and superintendents are superintendents. They have different payscales because they perform different functions.
To paraphrase what others are saying: If you think being a superintendent is so easy, then why don't you try being a superintendent?
To answer your question, because my stills were in TEACHING, not administration. But teaching is not so much less deserving than being an administrator and it's not any easier. I was responsible for 30 kids all day long. Not 30 nice sweet adorable little kids either. Besides everything else we were supposed to do, we were expected to TEACH them too. Would have been nice to have had the time to actually TEACH.
I did get out of teaching though. I got my masters in something else and it was a piece of cake compared to teaching. Doing something else, I had safe working conditions, an hour to eat my lunch--and we could leave the building and go out to eat, time to go to the bathroom, even had breaks morning and afternoon to sit and talk with other adults.
In classroom teaching, I felt like I had to be on stage at all times. Up in front of the class, never a chance to sit down or take a break or talk or joke with another adult. It was intense. On other jobs, I got to relax a bit and be myself.
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