How does your child's school accomodate 2 income families? (sitter, chart, husband)
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Do you expect the teachers to take time out of their own personal lives, unpaid, to accommodate you? Most families are two income families - teachers would need to be available until midnight if they were to schedule all the working parents at times that are convenient for them. They have their own families and children to tend to.
PS - your child's teacher likely either has a master's degree or is working toward one themselves.
Yes, I expect the school to make accommodations so as many parents as possible can be engaged in the educational process - not just stay at home parents and those who work close by. No, I do not expect teachers to be unpaid.
Our school district had many accommodations and events for parents who worked during the day but only three actually involved the teachers being paid for their work time. The beginning of the school year Open House was held at night and two parent teacher conferences were held in the evenings as part of our contract.
However, our district strongly, strongly encouraged teachers to "accommodate" working parents on our own time. No extra pay, no compensatory time, nothing, nada, zip.
So when I was required to do a functional behavioral checklist and other parent forms with a parent who worked until 6 PM, who insisted that she could not come in any other time, guess who had to stay and do this in her classroom from 6:30 PM to 8 PM? Yes, me.
So when I needed to schedule monthly home visits with parents who worked until 5 PM, guess who had to schedule them from 5:30 to 6:30 PM (even though the day care center that my own children attended closed at 6 PM)? Yes, me.
And, I could easier list a dozen more.
I knew teachers who needed to schedule after working hour parent conferences numerous days around report card times. It did not matter if the teacher was a working parent who needed to pick up their child from day care at a certain time or if the teacher was part of two income family. We were required to do all that we could to accommodate working parents.
Frankly, it did not seem right.
The district also strongly encouraged teachers to attend all evening parent events (most principals even kept a check list of whether or not you attended). Again, no extra pay, no compensatory time, nothing, nada, zip, just mandatory "volunteer" attendance.
Hmmm, there was the evening Harvest Party, the evening Holiday Celebration, the evening Spring Fling, the evening Math Night, the evening Book Fair and the Saturday Fun Run.
End of rant.
To me, being a teacher is similar to being a doctor, reporter, EMT, etc. They are jobs that require extra hours and effort in order to serve the people you are charged with better. I don't see why all teachers should have to attend every event but I do think teachers should attend SOME - especially those that are raising funds for your school/classroom.
So, yes, if in today's climate we are seeing more parents who can not attend day meetings, accommodations need to be made.
I have found that once you have kids with all the holidays, extracurricular activities, half days, meetings, and everything else factored in with the cost of child care (before care, after care and summer camp) we were pretty much working 2 jobs to juggle our kids around.
We made the decision 2 years ago to have one of us stay at home. We sold our house and bought a smaller house in a better town (which reduced our mortgage significantly - we pay less than it would cost to rent a studio apartment) It was really the best decision. My kids can now partake in things like girl scouts and have a nice home cooked dinner at a normal time, and have a parent there to help with homework, projects, etc.
The working spouse gets extra special treatment at the end of the day because staying home and raising kids does not compare to commuting and dealing with toxic people all day. If both of us were working it would just be too exhausting to devote extra special time to a spouse. But, since only one of us works it works out well and working spouse is less stressed.
Weekends used to be spent cleaning, grocery shopping, and everything else that couldn't be done during the week. Now, the weekends are ours to enjoy.
I guess we changed our routine to accommodate our kids early education needs.
Count your blessings. We can't do that. Our children are in schools that suit their educational needs and if we moved, they'd lose out on a quality education. I wish people would realize that their individual success stories and remedies are not a one size fits all solution.
What does that have to do with a teacher taking unpaid time to accommodate you far outside of his or her working hours? Most teachers are done by 3:30 or 4, having been in the classroom since 7:30 or 8 in the morning. Why should they stay until 6pm or later when you are able to take the time?
I don't think anyone is saying that the school acts like it's the end of the world for a meeting to be missed, though there are certainly meetings that it is on you, the parent who chose to have a child, to figure out how to attend (i.e. IEPs, behavioral or academic issues, etc).
I just don't understand why some thing your time and compensation is more important than your child's teacher's time and compensation.
Because their job revolves around the child and family? If an issue is important enough to warrant a meeting, its important enough to meet the parents when they are able to meet.
So OP what you are suggesting is that the teachers, who also may be part of a 2 income family, should adjust their working hours to accommodate the hours of your 2 income family?
Yep. Part of the job IMO. Just like doctors, EMTs, police officers, firefighters, reporters, photographers, news anchors, plumbers, electricians etc do. Work the hours which best meet their clients' needs. What, do teachers think they are special or something?
The public schools we went to didn't seem to accommodate working parents. I had flexible hours when I worked, so it wasnt a problem for me. But I saw many many people rushing in and out of meetings, etc in their work clothes. Seemed like a lot of people made it work, but I know not everyone can.
My kids are in private school and they seem to fully accommodate working parents by having everything in the evening or weekends...which is a pain now that I am a SAHM and evenings and weekends are more busy.
I've noticed that private schools tend to be much more flexible and welcoming to parents. And guess what? Their teachers are usually paid less than their public school counterparts.
Too many couples today think they need two incomes, when the reality is they WANT two incomes. Like I said, all couples have to make the choices that is most important to them. Material things or children.
That's nice for you, especially the part where you can determine that families who have two working parents do so for material reasons rather than caring about their children.
Despite your ability for many families the difference between one working parent and two is middle class vs poor. A good neighborhood with good schools or not. And not for nothing, many people work because it fulfills them as people. Fulfilled happy parents who work while the children are at school are not doing their children any harm.
Too many couples today think they need two incomes, when the reality is they WANT two incomes. Like I said, all couples have to make the choices that is most important to them. Material things or children.
Explain to me, in detail, how we can live on $30,000 per year, save for college, save for retirement, have money for a one week vacation every year, money for activities/sports for kids, etc. and I'll give you a big stinkin' kiss!! I'm waiting...pen and paper in hand.
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because staying home and raising kids does not compare to commuting and dealing with toxic people all day. If both of us were working it would just be too exhausting to devote extra special time to a spouse. But, since only one of us works it works out well and working spouse is less stressed.
What, do teachers think they are special or something? 