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Re: "the myth of underpaid teachers" no longer true!
Posted by PA Teacher on 7/15/09

    If you are just working 7 or 8 hours a day then you are not doing
    your job right? I COMPLETELY disagree. When it comes to first
    year teachers, it may take some time to get acquainted with things
    and figure out what works and does not work. But teaching is not
    rocket science...and I just can't stand it when people try to make
    it seem to be. You need a great personality and a passion for
    education young adults to be a great educator.

    And who are we kidding with the 8 hour work days? In most teacher
    contracts, the work day is 7.5 hours long (I'm speaking about PA
    contracts...I'm unclear as to the contracts of other states). We
    also get a 30 minute lunch, and we get a full period of "prep
    time". I teach in a block schedule, so every day I have close to
    an hour and a half during the regular school day to prepare my
    lessons and prepare for school.

    Teachers do have families, and a lot of teachers are also involved
    in extra curricular activities that have nothing to do with their
    own class. Are you trying to tell me that a football coach who
    does not spend more than 8 hours a day on his own classroom is a
    bad teacher? What about the teacher who helps out with after
    school tutoring, quiz bowl team, etc etc etc. They can't possibly
    spend over 8 hours a day on their own classroom, and then spend
    several hours a day coaching, mentoring, etc....and then have a
    normal family/social life.

    As a student going into my student teaching, I was told a lot of
    myths by my professors that I believed to be true at the time.
    Teachers are underpaid...you need to spend all night and all day
    planning lessons to be effective, etc etc etc. Teachers are
    highly paid and live terrific lives (most of them anyway). Our
    graduate school is free and paid for and we work 9 months a year!!
    If we decide to do anything in the summer it is either taking
    graduate courses (which will make us more money, and give us
    opportunities to advance...principal/superintendent courses), or
    teaching summer school (again...more money in the bank), or
    working at another job (which pays us!).

    As for the low pay in other states...the salaries of teachers are
    not a secret. Even here in PA where the salaries are higher than
    most in the country, there are school districts who start their
    employees out at 35000 and the contract tops out at around 65000.
    The teachers who work in those types of districts complain and
    threaten to strike because the pay is so low. It is well
    advertised that certain districts are high paying, and others are
    low paying....if you can't land a high paying job, deal with it!
    You are CHOOSING to work there! Quit the complaining and
    acknowledge the fact that if you don't want to work in a district
    for 35000 then you can always leave...and I'm sure the district
    has about another 200 applicants who are very ready to take your
    place.

    I am working in a district that is very high paying because I
    chose to apply there. I was fortunate enough to land a job there.
    If I didn't get a job anywhere and a low paying district offered
    me one, I would have to bite the bullet and take it. Teachers
    need to stop with the lying to everyone and tell it like it is. I
    was so shocked to see how different REAL teaching was compared to
    the education courses that you have to take to become a teacher.

    I absolutely love teaching! I love educating young students, and
    I love the fact that I wake up every day and get to talk about and
    conduct activities about a subject matter that I find fascinating.
    But I also love the money I am making and the fact that I get to
    go to graduate school for free while my friends are up to their
    necks in debt. I also love the fact that my fiance and I both
    teach, and have 2 weeks off for christmas, a week off for
    thanksgiving, a spring break, and an entire summer to relax and
    not have to worry about work. IT really is a great job.


    On 7/14/09, Compared to what? wrote:
    > There is NO doubt that teachers are better paid now than ever
    > before; however, when compared to other industries, we lag
    behind.
    >
    > My brother, whom I love dearly, is a union electrician and makes
    > about $80,000 a year. I'm not saying he's not worth it, but
    > think about it, though. Many teachers (I'm glad you are
    > appreciate of what you have in PA.) still start out at around
    > $30,000 and when you compare that salary to, say, a secretary
    > with little or no education past the 12th grade, we are still
    > underpaid. (And I've worked as a secty. so don't go there.)
    >
    > Yes, we get summers (most of the summer) and holidays off.
    > That's great. But I don't agree that we work from 8-3 and
    > that's it, because it's not. If you are working just 7 or 8
    > hours per day, then you're not doing your job right or you're
    > using the same lessons year after year and your kids are bored
    > to death.
    >
    > Nice to know, though, that things are good in PA.
    >
    > On 7/14/09, teaching in PA wrote:
    >> You are absolutely right...as a teacher I get upset when I
    >> hear other people (and they are usually teachers) complain
    >> about how underpaid we are. In my opinion...it is WAY TO EASY
    >> to become a teacher. I do consider teaching a profession, but
    >> there is no other profession that I know of where students
    >> right out of college can jump right in. I graduated from
    >> college and spent three years working with at risk kids, and I
    >> went back to get my teaching certificate.
    >>
    >> I was recently hired at a public school at the age of 25...and
    >> the lifestyle I now have compared to the lifestyle I had prior
    >> to teaching is a thousand times better. Think about this...my
    >> fiance and I both teach...we are both extremely young. I
    >> teach in the state of PA and my starting salary is 43,000 with
    >> a bachelor's degree, and my fiance's starting salary at her
    >> public school is 44,000. COMBINED we are making close to
    >> 90,000. We are currently taking grad classes together working
    >> towards our masters degrees, and when we complete it right
    >> before our 3rd year of teaching our salary bumps up to 54,000
    >> and 56,000...just three years into teaching! imagine if I
    >> were to be like everyone else and begin teaching at the age of
    >> 21 or 22...I would be making 54,000 by the time I'm 25.
    >>
    >> Summers off (and don't let teachers try to fool you with the
    >> notion that they work on grad school stuff during that time)
    >> and big breaks during winter and spring...teachers are being
    >> paid very very well. And do not forget that many school
    >> districts will actually PAY FOR their teachers to obtain their
    >> masters degrees and doctorates. The school district benefits
    >> when their teachers take graduate courses, and tuition for my
    >> fiance and I are 100&37; paid for. No other company that I
    know
    >> of would pay 100&37; for a professional's graduate school.
    >>
    >> Benefits are better than anyone else's, and there is the
    >> teacher's union that will always support us and make sure that
    >> we are more than adequately compensated. The myth that
    >> teachers are underpaid needs to be stopped...My fiance and I
    >> are just started our educating careers and combined make
    >> almost 6 figures. And dont even get me started on our
    >> retirement!!! it's the best in the land...and if you teach
    >> (especially in the state of PA, you know exactly what I'm
    >> talking about)
    >>
    >>
    >> On 6/17/09, job-seeker wrote:
    >>> Hi. I'm throwing this out for discussion......
    >>>
    >>> Years ago, teachers were considered underpaid, overworked,
    >>> generally a lousy profession. But this seems to be a thing
    >>> of the past.
    >>>
    >>> Since teachers have been unionized, they have a pretty
    >>> good situation. Benefits, pension, tenure, union lawyers,
    >>> paid training, long vacations...As for salaries, in my
    >>> state (new hampshire....a rural state) the average salary
    >>> is $50,000.
    >>>
    >>> To become a teacher, you only need a bachelors in
    >>> education. This is why the job market is flooded with
    >>> teachers and it is no longer easy to find teaching
    >>> positions.
    >>>
    >>> Getting a teachers contract in a public school is VERY
    >>> desirable, not what it used to be! Any thoughts?

     
     

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