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My idea of someone that has a hard job is someone like a construction worker digging a ditch on the highway with a jackhammer in 5 degree weather all winter long and working 52 weeks a year. Not someone complaining that little Johnny spoke back to them. Thats my view.
My idea of someone that has a hard job is someone like a construction worker digging a ditch on the highway with a jackhammer in 5 degree weather all winter long and working 52 weeks a year. Not someone complaining that little Johnny spoke back to them. Thats my view.
Please come into my class and and attempt to teach my kids while one child is off his meds and is calling out, pushing his desk across the room, grabbing (I'm not allowed to remove him from the room and I can't force his parents to give him his meds), oh, and then there's the child that can't take the noise that the first kid is creating so he has stuck his hands over his ears and put his head down. Then the kid that was pushed goes into a corner and starts crying. This happens 3 times per week. Of course there's the child who needs glasses but whose mother has every excuse in the world why she doesn't have them...even when we've told her she can get them for free.
So the answer to some of this is that the problem kids sit in the front of the class, and the girl who needs glasses also needs to sit in the front...hmm, the front of my class isn't big enough. Now add in NCLB and my class needs to be able to show Adequate Yearly Progress over last year-even though these students have disabilities. So I write lesson plans to compensate for all of my kids learning disabilities and behavior issues.
And even though I'm a Special Ed teacher this is happening in regular ed classrooms across the country.
BTW...I spent about $1500 out of my own pocket last year for school supplies because my annual supplies budget from the school is $200. I am a good shopper but I will be out of writing paper in my classroom by January. If I want my kids to have paper I will have to buy it myself.
My point is that whether it's the guy standing in the freezing cold or the teacher at the front of the class, everyone chooses to do what they do. I took a 50% pay cut to become a teacher...because I love it. My benefits stink compared to what I had, I contribute to my pension, I will never get a bonus, I don't get over time when I spend 20 hours doing lesson plans and grading papers at home each week and I have to work a summer job just try to make ends meet.
So, do I think teachers starting salaries she be on par with other high-demand/highly skilled jobs...yes I do. You may not think teaching is a skill like engineering but just try to do it to the level that you want all of your child's teachers to do it and you are talking HIGHLY SKILLED.
Jersey, Thats the career choice that you made and if you took a 50 percent pay cut thats on you. My post is trying to make mention that teaching is not one of the hardest careers. People are lined up to take that career so if you can't hack it someone will do it. I know I sound disrespectful but I'm calling a spade a spade.As for myself I have been stabbed in the line of duty, shot at three times, had my arm smashed with a baseball bat at a family dispute. Ive working in one of the worst areas for 30 years and I also contribute 8 1/2 percent of my salary towards my pension, also thousands of people take the test for this job. Am I on this open board crying about how hard I have it as a police officer, no. I can retire but I don't. Word of advice the general public has no sympathy on how "hard" our careers are. I apoligize if I come on strong but thats me.
Don't apologize, you have a right to your opinion but whereas I would not want to stand with a jack hammer in freezing weather I doubt if people doing those jobs would want to do mine.
NJ schools are overall excellent. Much better than most states public schools. Perhaps attracting better candidates makes a difference. Making teaching a competitive job option for people who might otherwise opt to make more money in another profession isn't a bad thing. Yes, I took a pay cut but had I had to take a 75% pay cut I couldn't have done it and I wouldn't have, and not to toot my own horn, but I've been told my students are lucky I'm their teacher.
And, just so you know, I want to say thanks to you and everyone in your job (ok, most). Being a police officer can be thankless and it shouldn't be.
Do you have any idea the amount of education a teacher needs to succeed? A masters degree is a requirement. What other profession requires a masters and then tries to pay you 30,000?? Also, in NY teachers have to have a certain amount (18hours i think) of graduate courses every 3 -5 years. More money. Oh and btw we are talking about the future of our country. No Child Left Behind has created a crisis in th education system of our country when you vote in NOvember vote for NO NCLB ask ANY teacher in ANY state.
No Child Left Behind has created a crisis in th education system of our country .
Some would say the crisis always existed, and that NCLB is making everyone aware of it. Having kids get to the 8th grade before someone questions their inability to read can't be seen as a good thing by anyone, can it? Whats wrong with evaluating the progress made by the kids in our classes, and making sure that they are being taught some fairly basic skills, like reading & adding? Is the NCLB program perect? I highly doubt it. Certainly it's better than pretending there's nothing wrong with the education system.
Ok, my 2 cents...
Why does anyone really have to worry about, or care about, another persons salary?
DO you watch baseball only to complain for nine innings that these guys make millions?
I am not even going to tell you what my former (20 years) career was, because people complained about how much we made.
People complain about how much police make.
People complain about how much firefighters make.
And, yes, people complain about how much teachers make.
Some teachers are worth every penny, and some are not...and this goes for police as well.
A policeman and firefighter put their lives on the line.
A teacher is the learning bridge between parents and children.
I have seen teachers that run out the door five minutes after school has finished, and I have seen policeman who don't give a crap about their job.
I have seen teachers who are still planning for the next day in school at 5pm.
There are some who go to graduate school and just take up their professors time so that they can one day get a paycheck, and there are some who are up all hours of the night studying so that they will make a difference.
I have a son who is in 6th grade.
His 1st grade and 3rd grade teachers were in school sometimes after 5pm.
His 4th and 5th grade teachers were clueless.
I think that it is dead wrong that schools have to give extra time to help out kids with learning disabilities, but do not have the extra time for kids who are far beyond the rest of their classmates.
I also believe that it is a four week waste of time to test kids. These "developmental" tests are bull. It seems that some teachers, and admins as well, stress these tests a bit too much so that they can get a pat on their backs.
Quote:
My idea of someone that has a hard job is someone like a construction worker digging a ditch on the highway with a jackhammer in 5 degree weather all winter long
Do you have children?
If so, would you rather have your kids learning the 3 R's from construction workers?
Its interesting to see the extremes at both ends fighting this one. On one hand there are the all teachers are underpaid and work 18 hours a day crowd. On the other are the "teachers arrive at 8 and leave at 3 and do nothing else" crowd.
I lived next to a teacher through my childhood. The vast majority of days she got home around 4:15 to 4:30 or roughly a half hour+ after I did.
What alot of people miss is:
1) (sometimes) Crazy good health insurance for very low cost
2) How many layoffs do teachers have to deal with?
The worst part of teacher pay is they have to be paid alike:
My 2nd grade teacher was so good I got sick one day and did NOT want to go home! How amazing is that? A 7 year old did not want to go home. She would be underpaid at 60K a year.
OTOH
My 7th grade teacher was a real POS. If I ever find see his grave I'll "eliminate waste" upon it. Overpaid if they give him a penny a decade.
Ok, my 2 cents... Why does anyone really have to worry about, or care about, another persons salary?
DO you watch baseball only to complain for nine innings that these guys make millions?
I am not even going to tell you what my former (20 years) career was, because people complained about how much we made.
People complain about how much police make.
People complain about how much firefighters make.
?
Duh - because we PAY their salary from our taxes. I don't care what a stockbroker makes because I don't pay him...teachers, firefighters, police officers - I pay.
Oh yeah and when ARod can't hit a freaking ball in the playoffs I do mutter about how overpaid he is.
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