Are Teachers Really Underpaid? (health insurance, homes, public school)

[catsy girl]

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

It's hard work for sure. And even if they are home by 4, the planning, grading, etc, lasts into the night. My mother taught for 30 plus years. It's an physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting job. She earned her time off.

thank you for your realistic comment regarding hard- working, responsible teachers who take their work seriously. i understand most of the posters have the opinion of the majority of people outside the field of education- teaching is a short day with a lot of time off. my husband worked as a teacher for 30 years and rarely got home before 6pm, and even then, brought papers home for grading and had phone calls to make to parents. in my opinion,
the quality of teachers has deteriorated in the last 25 years as has the quality of students. from observing my husband's workload and knowing many teachers over the years, the amount of work expected ( including being social worker, nurse, crisis mediator, and counselor to students ) can not be completed in a schoolday ending at 4pm. certainly there are teachers who do work on this schedule and no, perhaps they don't deserve the higher salaries. but a conscientious, serious teacher , of which there are, in my view, fewer every year, deserves every penny, every vacation day, every holiday that they get. in my opinion it is a thankless, backbreaking job, emotionally, physically, and mentally. you could not pay me enough to put up with what has to be dealt with in today's schools.


catsy girl

[ay jayy]

50-60k is not all that much in this area for a professional(yes I consider teachers professionals) with 5-10 years experience in their position. Likewise a 12k increase in 6 years is pretty poor. I wouldn't accept those conditions. This is an expensive area.

Under 45k and a masters degree? You need to find a new job yesterday.

[lpt2569]

I've spent a little time in the Public School system in Maryland (Balt. County and Howard County), and have 3 close relatives who teach in the Public School System. Until you've spent time actually trying to do a teacher's job, you have no idea what is expected of you - by the students, the parents, the other teachers, the administration, the state, even the country. It's an overwhelming sense of responsibility, for those who take it seriously. Just stop for a second and think about how much time your kids spend with teachers over the course of their young lives, when they need the most attention and guidance. Teachers are expected to train our kids how to read, write, do math, understand science and history, ON TOP OF counseling them, mentoring them, and babysitting them at times. You have parents and students who could not care less, just want to get it all over with, yet teachers are expected to do something constructive in those situations. Our education system in this country is severely damaged, and borderline broken beyond repair. Yet most teachers still go in day after day, hoping to make a difference in these kids lives.

I make more now than I would as a teacher, which is one of the reasons I got out. But I plan to go back, and do my part to try and make a difference. I can't do that where I work now, and it bothers me. And no, teachers are not overpaid, they are incredibly underpaid - I only include those who get it, those who care, those who do it because they love it, despite the nearly insurmountable odds against them to make any kind of dent in even a single life of one of their students. Yes, they get a lot of time off, in comparison to us 9-5ers, but they deserve it. Trust me, they spend a lot of that time, in one way or another, thinking about and preparing for their teaching duties.

[eav1221]

I often envy people who don't have responsibility for over 120 students PER DAY. Teachers are responsible for every child's safety who enters their rooms...the amount of mental "With-it-ness" you have to exert on a daily basis is unbelievable, coupled with having to come up with engaging, fun, relevant, meaningful lesson plans for EACH CLASS THEY TEACH (4 out of 6 periods a day) that engage every type of learner in the room (kinesthetic, auditory, visual, etc. etc.), is exhausting. Then multiply 4 classes of 35 kids a day's worth of papers, that's 140 papers. In one day. Now, us teachers have tricks up our sleeves to cut back on the amt. of grading (I know I do), but it's just so much. There are some days I envy the manager to Starbucks, or the gas station attendant...I just am tired. But I appreciate the posters who give teachers the props they deserve. I forgot to mention in my previous post how 60K is incredibly tough to live on in this area. It just is. I didn't even mention that aside from the school loans comes regular life stuff...cell phone, gas, electric, heat/cooling, etc. It's nearly a shame to suggest that teachers are overpaid...but I understand what it may seem like. If I had to work 12 months out of the year I would've been dead after my 5th year from stress. But I love kids. Each day is different. It's not boring. and when kids write you letters saying how much they love you as a teacher, the other stuff goes away and you know it's worth it.

[davecj]

If you make under 40 with a masters then it really is time to reevaluate some life decisions. How aren't you qualified?

I was laid off from AA county in 2007. I made 36k uncertified teaching 9th grade algebra and stat. Some of those kids were beyond repair at that age.

[Miss Crabcakes]

Originally Posted by davecj

If you make under 40 with a masters then it really is time to reevaluate some life decisions. How aren't you qualified?

Reevaluation has been in full progress for awhile.

What makes me unqualified for many of the marketing jobs I see is because they either want 8+ years exp (I have about 6-7), SEO or heavy online marketing experience (I have virtually none. My background had been in direct mail and email), supervisory exp. (I have none) or proficiency web design or graphic design experience (see my other threads about marketers needing to be designers).

I'm working on the design aspects but marketing has just changed so much in the past few years and the 18-month unemployment set me back a lot. Not to mention my last 3 jobs have been mindless paper-pushers which added little to my overall portfolio.

[End-User]

Originally Posted by Miss Crabcakes

Reevaluation has been in full progress for awhile.

What makes me unqualified for many of the marketing jobs I see is because they either want 8+ years exp (I have about 6-7), SEO or heavy online marketing experience (I have virtually none. My background had been in direct mail and email), supervisory exp. (I have none) or proficiency web design or graphic design experience (see my other threads about marketers needing to be designers).

I'm working on the design aspects but marketing has just changed so much in the past few years and the 18-month unemployment set me back a lot. Not to mention my last 3 jobs have been mindless paper-pushers which added little to my overall portfolio.

The amount of experience they want is really a hard and fast requirement, and you should have no problem as long as you have great references. SEO should only take once course for you to get up to speed, though the web design could be an issue if you aren't comfortable with Flash.

But really, in this economy it seems you might want to go into business for yourself. Partner up with someone who knows the computer side of things (preferably a recent grad so you can justify a lower pay). Then start getting in touch with local companies and selling your skills. This might be the best time to become your own boss considering companies are looking for ways to cut cost and a new start up might look attractive to them.

[End-User]

I'll join the ranks of people saying teachers are indeed underpaid. The amount of money they spend on courses to become qualified should warrant higher starting pays. The fact that they have to continue taking classes to stay up to date on pedagogy should warrant better raises. And of course all that "time off" isn't really down time. The fact that most people who begin teaching change careers within 3 years is a big red flag in my opinion, but I don't know what you can do about that without restructuring the entire educational system.

[Henry Bowman]

Originally Posted by KLynch10

Also keep in mind they get over 2 months off in the summer, 2 weeks off for christmas, and a week for spring break. Plus off for many holidays that most private sector people don't get.

and for the hundredth time, they are not paid for any of those days. They are paid for 190-192 days of work a year, depending on the school system.

[DillThePill]

Baltimore City does pay more than most teaching jobs. They have to or else no one would teach in the city. I had a teacher friend over last night for the Super Bowl and he was excited that his private school was going to match 80% of Baltimore City next year. This is an example of teacher salary responding to market pressure. Salaries are not at these levels because there is an abundance of qualified people lining up to do these jobs. If teaching salaries were so out of line with corporate jobs then you'd expect there to be a lot of people moving into the field. This isn't the case. Generally, it's the reverse. People leave their teaching jobs for another career and the positions are filled with young people out of school.

My GF is a teacher in Carroll County and she'd be happy with 80% of what teachers make in the city. She taught 3 years in the city and won't do it again, despite the higher pay. Teaching in the city is hard. I doubt you've ever had anyone in your office threaten to shoot you in the parking lot when you leave work. I doubt you've had a 6'3" man-child attack you because you were doing your job. I doubt you have to duct tape plastic bags over the broken windows in your office.

Teachers work 190 days typically compared to 240 for a corporate employee. It's certainly less but not as much as people make it out to be. It's common to spend 10 hours a day at the school and eat lunch while working. And there are always grading and lesson plans to do in the evenings and weekends. I've been in the corporate world most of my life and I'd say the amount of time working over a year is pretty comparable between teachers and those below the senior management level.