[parentologist]

My mom was a teacher. She virtually never took a day off, because she knew that she was expected to be there with those kids in the classroom. When she had surgery, sure, but otherwise, virtually never, even when she was sick.

This contract gives 18 paid sick days every year. I don't know if they accumulate, but I suspect they do. Recently I had a teacher call to ask to see an apartment. I offered to show it to her in the late afternon or early evening, but she said she could come during the day, because she was taking a "mental health day".

I just don't get it. 18 days is 3.5 school weeks. The school year is 180 days. Essentially, they're giving the teachers one in ten days off with pay as sick days? I can understand if someone banks them, and then has a serious illness, and has that to keep the money coming in, but teachers have short and long term disability, too, in their compensation package, so it's not for that purpose. Every day that a teacher takes off, the kids learn nothing. Often, the sub is not capable of teaching the material - for example, a sub for French class who cannot speak French, or a sub for high school math class who doesn't know/remember that level of math. So having this many paid sick days a year is essentially an acknowledgement that the teachers are going to just not be in the classroom up to 10 percent of the time, without consequence.

Combine that with the fact that New Britain offers the highest pay in Central CT. Sure, it's a high stress inner city district, but it's not Hartford or New Haven. Is New Britain so concerned that they won't be able to attract teachers, that they give them permission to just not come in one day in ten?

[Raider111]

Teachers calling in sick are required to leave plans for the sub, so not really an issue.
Anything extended or frequent requires Dr's notes, so they can't really get away with calling in sick every ten days.
Fairfield gets 30 days for what it's worth.

[AMSS]

That's about what I get for my job too...doesn't mean you take them because it's not a personal day. After five days, you will be asked what's up. Schools work the same way.

[Mike 75]

Seems excessive. 5 to 10 is more appropriate. Especially if they carry over each year. Just seems like a way to game the system come retirement time.

[groove]

Given the highly-female nature of the school labor force, I would suspect that many of these days are banked/accumulated and then used for extended things like maternity leave. Before assuming it's a way to game the retirement, I'd be curious to know exactly how many can be carried forward year after year. There usually is a cap to minimize people accruing months and months of leave.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by Raider111

Teachers calling in sick are required to leave plans for the sub, so not really an issue.

The plans usually assume the sub is going to be a "babysitter" and not able to teach the subject. With low sub pay, it's sometimes hard enough for a school to get enough subs period on a given day so that sometimes the teacher will even end up with a different sub for each class (what they do is the teachers have one period/day to prep for the next day's classes, this is a "break" for the sub so when a school falls short the sub is required to cover someone else's class for the period). This isn't common but I wouldn't call it rare either. It's very rare when a teacher is only out for a day or two to get a sub who could actually teach the class.

So often what the kids get that day are a "movie" (in social studies, science, music or foreign language class.......in SS and Science it will usually at least be a documentary related to what they are currently learning, in foreign language it will be entertainment in that language (i.e. for a French class it might be the film "Little Nicolas"), in music it will also be entertainment (i.e. "Hairspray" would be a good example for middle or high school). Art is usually not so lost as they are often on a continuing project they just continue on when there's a sub.

Or they will get a "worksheet" (very common in Math and English, an alternative to a "movie" in the other classes)......though I know of one HS math teacher who has their students watch an episode of the former CBS TV show "Numb3rs" when a sub is needed. Hopefully the teacher required the students to turn in the worksheet at the end of class, otherwise, they'll just do nothing and take it for homework.

So it can be somewhat of a "lost day" even with plans.

[beer belly]

.....here's another one.....divide their yearly salary by the days they are required to work.....some may be in the $600 a day range, plus all the bennies !!......but also gotta remember, they usually take work home and work till 8pm, and if the student does not want to learn, and is a problem in the classroom, the parents blame the teacher.

[EUPL]

18 Days is what I get in a full year.

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by beer belly

.....here's another one.....divide their yearly salary by the days they are required to work.....some may be in the $600 a day range, plus all the bennies !!......but also gotta remember, they usually take work home and work till 8pm, and if the student does not want to learn, and is a problem in the classroom, the parents blame the teacher.

I can vouch for teachers putting in a ton of work at home each night - with NCLB (No Child Left Behind), SBAC and other "educational" initiatives, there is a huge amount of paperwork to fill out to document every aspect of the school day and for each student. A lot of teachers also get to school early in the morning as well. (At my daughter's middle school open house recently, every teacher of hers but one said they were at school every morning by 7am in case a student needed extra help. The one teacher who wasn't in early said she was there after school every day for at least an hour.)

[AMSS]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

Seems excessive. 5 to 10 is more appropriate. Especially if they carry over each year. Just seems like a way to game the system come retirement time.

I don't think that can happen. I have seen banked sicked days be turned over from one teacher to another in tragic circumstances. I know my nephew's teacher was in a horrific accident and the teachers in the building donated sick days.

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

The plans usually assume the sub is going to be a "babysitter" and not able to teach the subject. With low sub pay, it's sometimes hard enough for a school to get enough subs period on a given day so that sometimes the teacher will even end up with a different sub for each class (what they do is the teachers have one period/day to prep for the next day's classes, this is a "break" for the sub so when a school falls short the sub is required to cover someone else's class for the period). This isn't common but I wouldn't call it rare either. It's very rare when a teacher is only out for a day or two to get a sub who could actually teach the class.

So often what the kids get that day are a "movie" (in social studies, science, music or foreign language class.......in SS and Science it will usually at least be a documentary related to what they are currently learning, in foreign language it will be entertainment in that language (i.e. for a French class it might be the film "Little Nicolas"), in music it will also be entertainment (i.e. "Hairspray" would be a good example for middle or high school). Art is usually not so lost as they are often on a continuing project they just continue on when there's a sub.

Or they will get a "worksheet" (very common in Math and English, an alternative to a "movie" in the other classes)......though I know of one HS math teacher who has their students watch an episode of the former CBS TV show "Numb3rs" when a sub is needed. Hopefully the teacher required the students to turn in the worksheet at the end of class, otherwise, they'll just do nothing and take it for homework.

So it can be somewhat of a "lost day" even with plans.

This is a load of crap. While a sub may not teach content, they usually have detailed plans to follow. Most of my teacher friends actually go to work deathly ill rather than deal with the preparation and aftermath of a sick day.