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I can read & learn about topics very quickly but I can’t take that information from my brain & communicate it to others. It’s actually very frustrating.
I’m also a hard person to teach; those who have been able to reach me really deserve an award. I can look you dead in the eye, nod my head, smile, etc ... but I won’t have heard a word you said. To me; teaching is an art. Teaching me, effectively; is genius.
I’ve been fortunate that my area’s public school district (cssd 11) is rich in people. It’s a large, lower-income district that has had to withstand population booms & busts & received no money from taxpayer voted measures for 17 years, until this year.
Their administration has screwed up with issues ranging from amateur mistakes to truly bizarre goof-ups but the teachers ... they are gold. It’s not unusual to have 5 teachers from 3 generations of the same family teaching in the district. My kids HS band teacher was MY Jr High band teacher & many teachers have retired, only to come back as volunteers. They are awesome.
I remember when I started the 2nd grade, all the teachers were on strike & remained so I believe until October & it was very disruptive. Wish it wouldn’t have to get to that point but the teachers get more lip service than support from their district.
Not all public school teachers get free Healthcare, but many do. Even if its free for only yourself. In LA's school district which is the 2nd biggest in the whole country, you can insure every single child and spouse, even if that's composed of like 7 people, all for free.
That's one district, if that's accurate. Can you name, say, five others, nationwide, that also have full health insurance coverage without an employee contribution?
These sorts of deals were originally included in compensation packages as what was then perceived as a cheaper alternative to raises. Unfortunately for the present day budgets, the people who established the system didn't really do the math for the long-term, nor anticipate the skyrocketing cost of health insurance. I'm sure they'll stop offering it to new employees soon if they haven't already, but it'd be a legal mess to default on pre-existing agreements with established employees.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tgbwc
What is your point in this response? The previous posts weren't made as complaints but rather to show that many teachers are not getting free healthcare.
Exactly, it not saying that it's so terrible for teachers to have to pay for healthcare or retirement, it's to say that they do - the whole free healthcare, full pension thing is largely mythical.
It's a bit crabs-in-a-bucket to me how much people want to see certain jobs, teaching included, get less pay and fewer benefits. There are a lot of teachers out there - it's one of those sort of cornerstone middle class jobs. It just speeds the race to the bottom if other employers can get away with paying less and offering less because their potential employees don't have as many other options. And that's not even taking into account the notion that one would think you'd want healthy competition for the positions where people are spending all day working with your children, you know?
Why go in to a profession and then complain/whine (maybe strike) about the pay/benefits?
I didn't complain a whole lot about any of it until recently. Things have changed. As I have stated many times before, it used to be a decent job. It has changed. I don't recommend anyone go into it now unless their eyes are WIDE OPEN and they understand fully what they are getting into and still want to do it.
I am too far in with years and age to go a different direction now.
I still love most of the job. I spent Wednesday going out to a neighborhood where students' homes had been badly flooded in the hurricane. Meeting the families and hearing their stories and talking to them was what I love doing.
But I do make less now than I did 15 years ago. Sigh.
Why go in to a profession and then complain/whine (maybe strike) about the pay/benefits?
I can think of a few reasons.
The person choosing the career did not fully understand the work and hours required.
Pay and benefits have not kept up with inflation
Work requirements changed
Other comparable professions have superior pay and benefits
Working conditions change
Or just because we allow human beings to express themselves.
I would guess if teaching jobs were like other jobs in that vacation time was reduced to 2-3 weeks, there would be an immediate decrease in the number of college kids going into education.
Ask college kids why they want to be teachers? 1. Love kids, 2. Summers off.
Summers off will overrule love kids.
And teachers aren't helpless. They just act like they are. They could be part of the solution of all these problems, but they choose not to.
There are states in which teachers have to take on 2nd jobs just to pay the bills.
Soft major? Where the rubber hits the road is in the classroom. You either can teach, or you can't!
Michelle Rhee is a charletan who falsified data - and has little credibility left, except for those who want to corporatize education.
I agree that great teachers should be paid well. The lousy ones should be fired. There should be a measure of accountability.
More taxpayer money isn't going to fix this. It is the abuse of power that is wasting the funds that should pay the great teachers more, but doesn't.
The government control of our schools ties the hands of those who would be great teachers some of which leave for private schools because of the laws governing public schools.
Protest at the place where the people who have the control over teacher pay "live".
If you think teachers have such an easy high paying job why aren't you a teacher?
I for one, can "Do"
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