Husband's Support for Exhausted Teacher goes Viral (degree, public school, wages)
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Here in N.C. our educational system is in shambles. This husband is glad his teacher wife of 7 years is quitting and he tells why in his opinion piece which has gone all over the country. We are embarrassed here in N.C. about the sorry state of our once stellar educational system.
He talks about how his wife hasn't received promised pay increases. I would like to ask which private sector employers promise a certain raise each year (they don't unless you are unionized)
He complains about senior management (school board & legislature). In most companies, employees complain terribly about the bad decisions senior management is making. This is not limited to teaching.
As far as his other points, I think he is pretty accurate. I would add a big pet peeve of mine - teachers being forced to teach kids that don't want to be there and parents who don't prepare their kids for school, or expect the school to work miracles.
Good case in point is the thread about the 4 year old who wants to bring a dog to class, and expects the teacher (and school nurse) to care for the dog in addition to teaching the class. Poor teacher. But, happens all over.
Final comment about teacher pay. Teachers get paid based on supply (number of people willing to work as teachers) and demand (number of school districts trying to hire teachers). The reason they don't get paid as much as other professions is that the supply of teachers is great and demand is low, so the pay is low. It's not based on public's perception of what they do or the administration's or legisature's opinion. If suddenly half the number of teachers stopped teaching, pay would increase significantly.
He talks about how his wife hasn't received promised pay increases. I would like to ask which private sector employers promise a certain raise each year (they don't unless you are unionized)
He complains about senior management (school board & legislature). In most companies, employees complain terribly about the bad decisions senior management is making. This is not limited to teaching.
...
If suddenly half the number of teachers stopped teaching, pay would increase significantly.
Nearly all private sector employers make promises of raises, but the promises are made on a shorter time frame. e.g. you receive your review and are told shortly after what level of raise you will receive and then the raise is implemented a few weeks after that. Teachers sign a contract that specifies their raises a few years ahead of time (and the same thing happens in the private sector, including with non-union jobs), but then the district renegs on the contractual agreement and does not award the raises.
The issue is not that private sector does not have bad senior management, the difference is the orders of magnitude and lack of control. A private sector employee who does not like senior management can find a new company. A public teacher who does not like senior management has to find a new career.
Unfortunately for the last aspect, the state legislature controls the supply of labor, not the teachers. If suddenly half the number of teachers stopped teaching, the state legislature would simply double the number of people eligible to teach via alternative and emergency certification.
Huh. Not playing my violin for that guy and his wife. My wife is underpaid, too. Unfortunately my wife is a social worker with a master's degree and will never make as much as a public school teacher.
Unfortunately for the last aspect, the state legislature controls the supply of labor, not the teachers. If suddenly half the number of teachers stopped teaching, the state legislature would simply double the number of people eligible to teach via alternative and emergency certification.
No, there are only a finite number of people who are willing to teach, regardless of education and certification requirements. If the pool of willing people shrinks significantly, then pay will rise.
Quote:
Teachers sign a contract that specifies their raises a few years ahead of time (and the same thing happens in the private sector, including with non-union jobs), but then the district renegs on the contractual agreement and does not award the raises.
I've never heard of the private sector specifying raises a few years ahead of time. I've worked in companies that have told you of your pay raise a few weeks in advance but I've also worked for companies that didn't tell you in advance and then the pay raise just happened. And I've worked in companies where I've been promised raises or bonuses and then they haven't happened yet. It's not a unique problem of the educational world.
Nearly all of these would be non-issues if teachers were not forced to unionize. She is honestly complaining about 'only receiving one automatic raise'? Why should anyone ever get an automatic raise? You should get a raise if you prove you are doing more than you were when you were hired. No one ever deserves a raise for doing the exact same work.
Also, given how little teachers work compared to most white collar jobs, it is hard to have much sympathy. Teachers work on average 3 hours/week less than people in other white collar professions (source here), adjusting to assume all professions take the same vacation time as well as including time spent at home grading papers, etc. On top of that, teachers work an average of 48.5 days less per year than other professions (source here). So teachers work less hours per week when at work, and have dramatically more vacation time on top of it all.
Teachers are paid according to what the legislature wants to pay them. In N.C. master degree don't warrant more pay, tenure is gone and yes teachers are paid the same for more and more work as legislators keep having unrealistic expectations of what teachers can handle in one day. When more time is spent doing paper work than teaching, I say we have a serious problem.
No, there are only a finite number of people who are willing to teach, regardless of education and certification requirements. If the pool of willing people shrinks significantly, then pay will rise.
No, the school boards do stupid stuff like import teachers from the Philippines or other low wage countries (epic fail, btw). They also create alternative routes to licensure so people can segue into the profession more easily. Or they let long term subs to take on the class. They exhaust every means possible regardless of how it impacts students rather than raise wages.
When the nation was suffering from a teacher shortage, my district suffered a severe shortage and had to hire thousands of new teachers every single year. This year, they still had to hire 1200+ teachers even without a national teacher shortage. (no raise, either)
Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsq
Why should anyone ever get an automatic raise? You should get a raise if you prove you are doing more than you were when you were hired. No one ever deserves a raise for doing the exact same work.
Teachers are not doing the exact same work every year. They have the same job title every year. The amount of work has increased year over year every year that I have taught. My expertise in my position has increase year over year as well. I was a much better/more efficient teacher my second year teaching than my first. After the fifth year, I would look back at my first year and shake my head and I was very good as first-year teachers go.
I've never heard of the private sector specifying raises a few years ahead of time. I've worked in companies that have told you of your pay raise a few weeks in advance but I've also worked for companies that didn't tell you in advance and then the pay raise just happened. And I've worked in companies where I've been promised raises or bonuses and then they haven't happened yet. It's not a unique problem of the educational world.
I agree with this. I've had jobs where there was no official policy regarding raises. You might get a raise at a year..or it might be at 15 months. It isn't just teachers that face uncertainty.
Teachers are not doing the exact same work every year. They have the same job title every year. The amount of work has increased year over year every year that I have taught. My expertise in my position has increase year over year as well. I was a much better/more efficient teacher my second year teaching than my first. After the fifth year, I would look back at my first year and shake my head and I was very good as first-year teachers go.
For the non-unionized world, we keep track of what changes with our work year after year (no one does the same work year after year, not just teachers) and then you present the differences to your boss and make a case as to why you deserve more money. More money should never be automatic. If you can't prove you deserve it, you shouldn't get more money.
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