Do Teachers Get Paid "Peanuts"? (background, curriculum, endorsement)
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Remember, and I've said this many times: very few people question engineers, doctors, scientists, dentist, trash men, etc. Why? Because those occupations all have specialized training (so does teaching) and very few people have even tried to understand the training.
On the other hand, everyone has gone to school and as a result think they are experts, even though they have none of the specialized training needed to be a teacher.
As I've also said before: you have a question about building a pier or seawall you ask a Marine Engineer. You want to know how to get kids to read you ask the guy in front of the liquor store holding a 40oz. in a paper bag.
Then why is it that half the new teachers coming out of college think that they're child psychologists? The last time I checked having a degree in elementary education does not qualify one to diagnose autism, adhd and other disorders or recommend a child be medicated.
Teachers make more than I have every made, although I did get very good benefits. I also got only 2 weeks off a year, instead of being able to be off when the kids were off school.
I know teachers are important and some of them must suffer from weak administrators and students who are poorly parented, but they aren't getting any pity party from me.
Then why is it that half the new teachers coming out of college think that they're child psychologists?
Let's see your back up on that.
Also, various fields of Psychology are required for any Education degree. They would include a course or two in the age group (Adolescent Psych for Secondary, as an example), Educational Psych (which is heavy on Statistical measurement), Social Psychology to name only three. I don't remember how many I took as a non-Psych major (40 years ago) but I was one course away from a Psych minor.
To answer your question, now that I've thought about it, that's part of the job. Trying to figure out what makes that kid that's not succeeding tick and fixing it some way. We're also asked our evaluation of the student for things like IEP meetings, suspension/expulsion hearings, MDT meetings among other instances.
My point is that I'm a taxpayer and a dad and I'm so sick of hearing public school teachers pissing and moaning about how tough life is when the reality is that many in the private sector have it much tougher. If my taxes are paying your salary and I haven't had a raise in 4-5 years and have to worry about my job security the last thing I want to hear you ***** about is having to pay an extra 2% towards your benefits package when you have annual raises written into your union contract. A contract which by the way pretty much ensures that you could beat a kid to death on the job and you still wouldn't lose your job or benefits.
I have been teaching for 30+ years and haven't had a raise since 2007. Most of what you say is straight up Bull$hit.
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Oh and I'm a member of of this site too so I'll post on any damn topic on any damn thread that I see fit to post on. The way some of you guys are bitching they ought to name this particular forum the teacher kiss ass forum.
I've read your posts in the past. Usually angry, confrontational, and include made-up facts presented as truth.
My wife has been teaching for 26 years. She makes $50K per year spread over 12 months. Benefits are decent, not cheap. She gets about 9.8% taken out for NPERS and 1% for her 403(b) per month. She also pays in SS and therefore is eligible. If insurance was no object, she could retire in four years at 57.
Her contract hours are 8-4. She is contracted for 191 days, students are in school 180 days. There are 4 snow days included. She is in the building from 7:30-5:30. Unless she has a faculty meeting, IEP meeting or something else going on, she never brings work home. She was a teacher in service the day after the students are done for the summer. The next day is teacher checkout. She does not go back to her classroom until around Aug 1s
My point is that I'm a taxpayer and a dad and I'm so sick of hearing public school teachers pissing and moaning about how tough life is when the reality is that many in the private sector have it much tougher. If my taxes are paying your salary and I haven't had a raise in 4-5 years and have to worry about my job security the last thing I want to hear you ***** about is having to pay an extra 2% towards your benefits package when you have annual raises written into your union contract. A contract which by the way pretty much ensures that you could beat a kid to death on the job and you still wouldn't lose your job or benefits.
Oh and I'm a member of of this site too so I'll post on any damn topic on any damn thread that I see fit to post on. The way some of you guys are bitching they ought to name this particular forum the teacher kiss ass forum.
1. Teachers are taxpayers, too. MY taxes pay public school teacher's salaries. Not just yours.
2. I am a teacher in the private sector. You don't pay my salary. Do I qualify as "having it much tougher," because I'm not a public employee, in your eyes?
3. I haven't had a raise, either. The economy does not allow for it. It is what it is, which is kind of a "tough t*tties" situation.
4. I don't have a union contract (nor do I want one, actually). I am far from the only educator to be privately employed.
5. I have the same job security concerns as anybody else, i.e. if I don't do my job, I won't retain it. Only I work in a profession that, for some reason causes people (such as yourself) who are not my bosses to feel that they have some sort of authority to weigh in on what they think my job is, and whether or not they consider me to be doing it, with no credentials to make that judgment call, whatsoever. Fortunately, these people have no say, but it's funny when they think they do.
6. I work with highly physically aggressive population, and am far more likely to get beaten to death myself on the job than the reverse. I am actually trained in safe restraint. But if I intentionally injured a child, I would, in addition to quite deservingly being stripped of my credentials, assuredly lose my job and benefits. Do I get a cookie now?
With all due respect, which is not much, you don't actually seem to know what you are talking about.
Also, various fields of Psychology are required for any Education degree. They would include a course or two in the age group (Adolescent Psych for Secondary, as an example), Educational Psych (which is heavy on Statistical measurement), Social Psychology to name only three. I don't remember how many I took as a non-Psych major (40 years ago) but I was one course away from a Psych minor.
To answer your question, now that I've thought about it, that's part of the job. Trying to figure out what makes that kid that's not succeeding tick and fixing it some way. We're also asked our evaluation of the student for things like IEP meetings, suspension/expulsion hearings, MDT meetings among other instances.
Half the teachers at my school DO have degrees in psychology. They are behaviorists.
Teachers make more than I have every made, although I did get very good benefits. I also got only 2 weeks off a year, instead of being able to be off when the kids were off school.
I know teachers are important and some of them must suffer from weak administrators and students who are poorly parented, but they aren't getting any pity party from me.
Speaking for myself, I don't WANT a pity party. I like what I do, accept that it pays what it pays, and if I didn't, I certainly have the abilities, qualifications, and experience to work in other industries (and have). I'm good at what I do, and choose freely to do it; I have no need of a pity party.
What I'd like is professional courtesy. I'd like for it to not be assumed that I'm sh*t at my job just because everyone thinks they are an expert in the field, or because they know a crappy teacher, so all teachers are crappy.
But at the end of the day, I don't really care about others' (erroneous) perceptions. I know I do a worthy job, and I know I'm good at it. I do it for reasons that don't have a lot to do with the monetary compensation, and if I wanted to make more money elsewhere, I would and could and have.
Then why is it that half the new teachers coming out of college think that they're child psychologists? The last time I checked having a degree in elementary education does not qualify one to diagnose autism, adhd and other disorders or recommend a child be medicated.
Again, evidence of your ignorance of the topic at hand (and, apparently, you only know elementary education teachers. None of the teachers I work with have degrees in elementary education).
No teacher is diagnosing anyone with any medical condition. It's not happening. Not legal, and no teacher would touch it with a ten foot pole. Running educational assessments is not "diagnosing with autism" (et al). Maybe you are confused.
I have worked with children with severe autism for years, and am very familiar with autism. But I don't diagnose anyone with anything, as I am not a medical professional nor qualified to perform medical diagnostics. It's not my job, and I don't need to. My students don't actually come to me UNTIL they already have a diagnosis...they are not eligible if they do not have a diagnosis or an IEP.
If a parent wants his or her child to receive appropriate services for his or her needs, it is up to that parent to see to it that the appropriate diagnostic course is taken, and advocate accordingly. I neither diagnose nor recommend, I simply present the data regarding a child's performance and behavior in the school setting and let that speak for itself. I don't think you have experienced a teacher diagnosing anything, either. I call BS.
Do you think that teachers are considerably underpaid for the amount of work that they do?
It seems to me that when I look at average teacher salaries in most states (let's not use the exceptional places that those who dismiss teachers like to use), they tend to be barely enough for a family to get by on with only one income. That means that families headed by single-salary teachers are generally poorly equipped to do things that many other families take for granted, such as vacations, purchasing various products, etc.
I look at people without an education who happen to have found work in fields such as real estate, construction, lawn maintenance, and the like, and many of them are pulling home six figures a year, whereas teachers who work far harder, it would seem, are pulling home less than fifty thousand dollars. Something seems wrong with this picture, especially when one considers that teachers take their work home with them, but many of these professions do not. Which profession has the most impact on the world? Would you say that teachers are paid "peanuts" for their workload?
This has been a subject for years so anyone going into education is aware of the pay. No, I don't think they are paid peanuts. Very few single parents, despite their educational level, do very well with one paycheck. The great thing about this country is that a teacher can supplement their income by taking a second and maybe a third job to earn the money for the things they need or just feel entitled to. The professions that you mention work hard and if you haven't done that type of work, I suggest you try it. There is no pension for many of these people or other benefits. No climate controlled environment. And, for all you know, many of these professions may have people with an education in teaching and decided they would rather do something else.
In this economy, be happy you have a job.
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