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I think teachers have a very important and sometimes difficult job but I always laugh when people defending their compensation bring up the "you should see how much time they spend grading papers at home at night". Do you really think that most of us out there in the private sector don't bring work home with us to do at night or over the weekend?
Grading those Kindergarden and 1st grade "papers" is a killer. None of you understand the pain and sacrifice. I used to be a coal miner and worked on an alaskan crab boat but those were way easier than teaching first grade for 182 days per year from 7:30-3:28 on Long Island and trying to survive on a meager $121k per year with stellar benefits.
Thanks OP. Talking to everyone like we're idiots who don't understand what we pay for really helps your "cause."
One day I want to see a teacher (or the mysterious 'spouse') come on here and just say "yup, it's a great gig. I love my job and the pay is amazing compared to most places. I'm very fortunate." That's what MY friends who are teachers say to my face because they know the other arguments are BS and I will call them on it. But not on here. On here it's the same old "haters?" "jealous?" "you don't know the pain" whaa waaaa victim garbage. We're not buying it. Grow up and be thankful for you're good fortune.
Oh...and I coach 3 sports so I "babysit" your kids........... FOR FREE...and also manage to raise my own kid.
And once again let me "school" you on something else. Blaming the administrators is foolish. (Ugh, I have to defend the Administrators again). Don't get me wrong, they make way too but it's much FOR A REASON! They make what they make PRECISELY because the teacher unions are so strong and salaries so high. They can't hire Business Officials and Superintendents. Qualifications are insanely rigid and no one wants the job. They have to hire "interims" from pools of retired officials. If your KG teacher makes $125k to work 8 hrs a day (maybe) then your principal OF COURSE will make $175k to manage 1 school with minor politics and a few more hours per week and some meetings. The Superintendent has to deal with all the schools, the Board, the parents, Newsday, the auditors, the lawyers, Albany, works 80+ hours a week and is under complete scrutiny. Who wants that for $250k when you can be an elementary principal for $75k less or have the cush teacher gig for $125k and up?! My friend LOST money going from being a music teacher to being an admin (Director of Technology)?! Why? Immediately LOST the step and contract raises his colleagues got. He went 2 years with no raise. Had he stayed a teacher he would have gone up 7% both years. The market pays what it pays, even bogus inflated markets like our schools. Teachers are a dime a dozen. Superintendents are a rare find from a tiny pool of eligibles. I'm not talking about Syosset. Those people are whacked for paying Hankin that much and most districts don't. My district's Super makes $225k.
Last edited by mongoose65; 11-10-2013 at 08:02 AM..
One day I want to see a teacher (or the mysterious 'spouse') come on here and just say "yup, it's a great gig. I love my job and the pay is amazing compared to most places. I'm very fortunate."
exactly ! you mentioned your teacher friends admit this to your face.
All I hear from my teacher friends:
"I could do much better on the outside" (heard consistently all year)
" Oh no, I have to go back to work in a month" (mentioned if I take a day off and see them drinking at the beach in August).
Now, of course I hear the added complaints about Common Core and evaluations. When I mention that most of us in the private sector have been dealing with this for our entire careers, the common response : "It's different for us".
why is it that even K teachers make over 6 figures? I'm not even exaggerating. Grade stuff at home... give me a break. It's a messed up system these unions have employed. And at who's expense?
One day I want to see a teacher (or the mysterious 'spouse') come on here and just say "yup, it's a great gig. I love my job and the pay is amazing compared to most places. I'm very fortunate." .
To be fair, dman72 is pretty evenhanded and his wife is a teacher.
Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 21 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,219 posts, read 17,088,442 times
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As the sound of crickets chirping in the distance where has the OP gone? I would have thought he would be defending his oringal post... silence.......chirp.......silence...
why is it that even K teachers make over 6 figures? I'm not even exaggerating. Grade stuff at home... give me a break. It's a messed up system these unions have employed. And at who's expense?
Keep in mind till about 8-10 years ago, most districts were still on half day kindergarten. Back then my kids' kindy teachers were making 6 figures for four hours a day, which included plenty of playtime and a "rest period". I think they had to go full day to ensure full-on riots wouldn't ensue.
That's why I'm here, to vent MY side of the story. Not looking to start a war on here (because its immature and unnecessary) but please don't tell me to relax. That's my venting. People don't realize what teachers do and I'm enlightening them. People simply see their school taxes rising and the teachers are the first to get a bad rap.
I think most folks know that about 1/3 of a high school teacher's time is spent instructing, 1/3 prepping/meetings/contacting parents, and 1/3 assessing student work. Rookie teachers are in for a big surprise if they think they'll only work 8 to 3. That is not to say all folks know that...there may be a few that think the only time a teacher works is when they are physically instructing students in school.
I think most folks also know the average salary of Long Island teachers (before state, federal and property taxes) and the average medical coverage teachers now receive with this salary and the average pension received by retired teachers. That's why, except for a few folks here on Long Island, there is not much of an uproar about teacher hours, pay, medical benefits, and pensions.
This message board may not always reflect the generally accepted Long Island views on many issues (teachers, presence of witches on Long Island, benefits of Joe's Crab Shack, Port Jefferson's decline, etc) of course.
@mjd1976 - Wow, three posts and you come out with both barrels blasting, very bold.
Understand that criticisms of teacher's compensation rarely invokes the service they perform, which is beside the point, but rather the lack of market based price discovery to arrive at a compensation suitable to both parties, the teacher and the taxpayer.
Also, did you ever ask yourself why other individuals are paying for you and your wife's retirement? Maybe that has a little to do with the feeling of teacher's being "overpaid".
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