teacher myths

[HsvTeacher]

I will just say that they get testy when you correct their spelling or grammar! Then, regardless of the point, you are stooping to the lowest because you have nothing worthwhile to say!I wonder if the argument goes both ways?

If you read post #259, you'll see that I wasn't correcting another poster, because I find that to be rude and in poor taste. Everyone makes mistakes, even teachers.

I was simply asking whether the PP's DBF's father paid for all these things with a teacher's salary or a principal's salary, since he was a principal when he retired.

 

[golfgal]

I do not intend to begrudge teachers their money (I definitely think they earn it), but there are many, many, many people (in other professions) who have not been getting raises in recent years... even though they've completed additional years of service. If all is right with the world, I agree with you -- people (teachers and others) *should* get rewarded for additional years of service, assuming they're doing a good job. However, that's not the reality of the current economic environment. Even people who get *great* reviews are not all getting raises because the company, or the taxpayers, can't afford it.

I have been ranked in the highest tier every year at my job on my performance evaluations. I got my first raise in 3 years this year (3%). I have 10 years of service.

Yes, the economy is bad but a lot of people ARE still getting raises and the contracts that most teachers are working under were negotiated before the economy tanked. They also have to be aware that their contracts span many years so that needs to be taken into consideration as well. I am sorry you are not getting raises but that doesn't mean others are not. If you are not getting raises that is the fault of YOUR company, not the teachers in your area.

 

[NotUrsula]

I think we've beaten the adequacy-of-pay and days-worked horses pretty much to death at this point ... time to move on, don't you think?

Anyone have any OTHER myths to contribute?

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Um, the step IS the raise. We don't get a raise and a step increase. I am currently (for the 2009-2010 school year) on Step 8 (my district redid our steps one year so time of service and steps don't match. I just finished my 10th year).

As of September 1st, I move up to step 9 (year 11) on the new salary guide (the 2010-2011 one). The salaries are set for each year when the contract is initially made. My district usually does a three year contract. I don't understand why anyone would think that teachers should remain on the same step from year to year. If you've completed another year of service, you should be moving on the guide. The only time people don't move in my district is as a punishment when teachers don't get their master's in time. We have 3 years after tenure to get it and if we don't, you freeze on that step.

I understand the step IS the raise. So why, during contract years, do the Teachers and the Unions try and play the martyr, saying they are taking a 0% raise, when they just is not true. Certainly the 0% means that the entire amount of salary available is not increasing, but it does not freeze the steps. Someone going from Step 9 to Step 10 IS still getting a raise, usually in a % range that is more than what most people are getting.

A PP mentioned about the contracts being in place prior to the economic collapse. That is true, but TWO districts in my area went on strike in each of the past 2 years, WHILE the crisis has been going on. They still sought increases in the realm of 8%-9% (total salary schedule increases ). This would have put some of the step increases, that are already 5%-12% as high as 18%. How can you honestly say that taking an 18% raise, just because you worked an extra year is fine? Especially when that 9% salary increase would have been placed on the shoulders of the taxpayers, who, themselves were ACTUALLY taking 0% raises and even pay cuts!

 

[torinsmom]

But if you know you are contracted to work for 10 months of the year and you are paid to actually work for 10 months then why do you need to stretch your salary? You could get a job for the other 2 months of the year. Then you would have a 12 month salary. You (a general you) don't want to do that because you want to be home with your kids in the summer. While I think that is great how can you expect your job to pay you to be home every school vacation with your kids? No job does that! You are getting paid for what you actually work. Nobody is going to pay someone to take every summer off. You are not working for 12 months so you shouldn't be paid for 12 months. In your example you use 40K as the amount of money. Plenty of people make that over a 12 month period of actually working. They don't get 2 months off every year.
I don't dislike teachers and the ones by me make very good money. Most make 80-100K a year. I support them having a good salary because I want quality teachers. However, I do think they have a lot more time off than the average person. I am okay with that as that is the way it is in their profession but I hate listening to whining about how hard they work and they don't get paid enough. They get plenty of perks that most people will never get. Still- I support them.

It is not that easy to find a job for 2 months of the year, especially if you have workshops to go to during that time. That's why many school districts give the option of spreading your pay over 12 months.

I actually couldn't get another job in the summer, because I have a second afternoon/evening job I work year round and a third job I work every Sunday. Most teachers I know also have second jobs. Of course, here in NC, teachers don't make near what some of these posts are saying. Once I get my Masters and National Board certification, I will be up to $50,000 with 12 years experience.

Marsha

 

[Kath2003]

Back to the topic. It's a myth that teachers are a walking stationery shop. No I do not have a pen/pencil/ruler/eraser/stapler/sellotape....

 

[schmitty]

Anyone who tries to argue that teachers make to much money are dumb. Its a well known fact that teaching is one of the lowest paying job you can get after getting a 4 year degree.
Last time I checked teachers also had to pay taxes so they are paying for their own salary, so take away another couple thousand that they make.

 

[Robindianne]

One week is the average vacation time of a beginning employee for most Americans. Now granted, Minnesota seems to be the land of honey , so maybe things are different there.

2 weeks after 2 years-many Americans cap at 2 weeks a year

3 weeks after 10(DH got this at only one company)

Where did you find this data?

 

[golfgal]

Myth*

Papers should be graded within a day or two being turned in...

DW teaches HS English and when she assigns a 10-page research paper, that means she ends up with 1,200+ pages to grade. Sorry, that's not getting graded overnight...

Is that even physically possible

 

[Mimi1965]

Yes, the economy is bad but a lot of people ARE still getting raises and the contracts that most teachers are working under were negotiated before the economy tanked. They also have to be aware that their contracts span many years so that needs to be taken into consideration as well. I am sorry you are not getting raises but that doesn't mean others are not. If you are not getting raises that is the fault of YOUR company, not the teachers in your area.

Actually the two pay cuts everyone at DH's company got this year was direct result of the economy.
And the second one was a direct result-a trickle down effect if you will- of the oil spill in the gulf.

 

[okeydokey]

Yes, the economy is bad but a lot of people ARE still getting raises and the contracts that most teachers are working under were negotiated before the economy tanked. They also have to be aware that their contracts span many years so that needs to be taken into consideration as well. I am sorry you are not getting raises but that doesn't mean others are not. If you are not getting raises that is the fault of YOUR company, not the teachers in your area.

My DH haven't had raises in 6 years and we never get step increases. I think it has to do with the economy.......

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I see a lot of posts saying that teaching is not hard. I

I would like to disagree. As a teacher, I am evaluated by how well somebody else performs. I am expected to teach K-5 in my room (I'm a self contained sped), and they are all on completely different levels. Due to budget cuts and the fact that one of my paras quit, I'm short an adult this year and it's been a challenge figuring out how to make sure every student gets the curriculum they need in the time available. I'm always having to come up with new ways to teach a concept or manage a behavior.

It's also physically very difficult. I have to be restraint trained for my position and I do use it. I'm very petite- some of my kids are bigger than I am and I have had to restrain and carry them when they are thrashing. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. I have also been physically injured by my students and have multiple scars from last year where I was bitten. I have also been choked, had hair pulled out, spit in the face, etc.

Don't get me wrong, most of that (other than the spitting/hitting/kicking) does not happen on a daily basis. For the most part, I absolutely adore my job and my students. Other professions have it hard as well. Every profession has things to love and things to complain about. You just have to decide if the positives outweigh the negatives. For some people it does, for some it doesn't.

I think we get defensive because this is our life people are talking about and nobody likes to hear negative things about themselves.

As for the raises: Due to budget cuts we are frozen at our salary step. So instead of moving up for years of experience, I am still being paid as a first year teacher. I am okay with that since my district had to lay off and I think it would be just plain cruel to lay off and then give the other teachers raises.

 

[ilovesugar]

I see a lot of posts saying that teaching is not hard. I

I would like to disagree. As a teacher, I am evaluated by how well somebody else performs. I am expected to teach K-5 in my room (I'm a self contained sped), and they are all on completely different levels. Due to budget cuts and the fact that one of my paras quit, I'm short an adult this year and it's been a challenge figuring out how to make sure every student gets the curriculum they need in the time available. I'm always having to come up with new ways to teach a concept or manage a behavior.

It's also physically very difficult. I have to be restraint trained for my position and I do use it. I'm very petite- some of my kids are bigger than I am and I have had to restrain and carry them when they are thrashing. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. I have also been physically injured by my students and have multiple scars from last year where I was bitten. I have also been choked, had hair pulled out, spit in the face, etc.

Don't get me wrong, most of that (other than the spitting/hitting/kicking) does not happen on a daily basis. For the most part, I absolutely adore my job and my students. Other professions have it hard as well. Every profession has things to love and things to complain about. You just have to decide if the positives outweigh the negatives. For some people it does, for some it doesn't.

I think we get defensive because this is our life people are talking about and nobody likes to hear negative things about themselves.

As for the raises: Due to budget cuts we are frozen at our salary step. So instead of moving up for years of experience, I am still being paid as a first year teacher. I am okay with that since my district had to lay off and I think it would be just plain cruel to lay off and then give the other teachers raises.

I think your job is a whole different beast than most and you should be commended for your efforts. I cannot image doing that and it really does take a special kind of person to do what you do.

I think what makes a lot of people so angry is that *some* teachers have this aire about them and they seem to think that they are godlike because they are teachers. They act as if people OWE them something because they are teachers and they act as if they work SOOOO much harder than everyone else. Nobody wants to hear someone constantly tell you that your job is not as important as theirs. Then there is the what seems to be constant argument about pay. I am pretty sure that every teacher knows that going into teaching is not going to make you a millionaire. But they are not the only profession that NEEDS a degree that makes what they consider to be very little. I work with engineers, and you need at least a 4 year degree to be one. They make very little starting out and need to go through at least 2 different extremely hard test to really be taken seriously and make a good living. And the world NEEDS engineers too! If we did not have them, we would be in a world of hurt and living like a 3rd world country.

So I think that a lot of the anger comes from those teachers who think that they are the only ones who work hard and their jobs are so much more important than everyone elses.

 

[Acklander]

I see a lot of posts saying that teaching is not hard. I

.

It's not that I don't think teaching is hard, I just don't see it as being harder than a lot of other jobs. For the most part, every job has it's hard parts, every job has it's rewards.

The reality is, there are a heck of a lot more teachers than there are teaching postions, so that in itself shows a few things
1) While it may be hard, it's not unusually hard in that many can't do the work
and
2) While you'll never get rich being a teacher, obviously the pay is fair. If it wasn't a fair wage for the work peformed you'd have lots of open postions, but no one applying.

 

[golfgal]

I think your job is a whole different beast than most and you should be commended for your efforts. I cannot image doing that and it really does take a special kind of person to do what you do.

I think what makes a lot of people so angry is that *some* teachers have this aire about them and they seem to think that they are godlike because they are teachers. They act as if people OWE them something because they are teachers and they act as if they work SOOOO much harder than everyone else. Nobody wants to hear someone constantly tell you that your job is not as important as theirs. Then there is the what seems to be constant argument about pay. I am pretty sure that every teacher knows that going into teaching is not going to make you a millionaire. But they are not the only profession that NEEDS a degree that makes what they consider to be very little. I work with engineers, and you need at least a 4 year degree to be one. They make very little starting out and need to go through at least 2 different extremely hard test to really be taken seriously and make a good living. And the world NEEDS engineers too! If we did not have them, we would be in a world of hurt and living like a 3rd world country.

So I think that a lot of the anger comes from those teachers who think that they are the only ones who work hard and their jobs are so much more important than everyone elses.

I don't know one single teacher that acts "Godlike" or has a superiority complex. The only time I see teachers "complain" about pay is when people post on websites how over paid and underworked teachers are and how teachers should be available 24/7 to accommodate everyone elses' work schedule.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

Teachers are always complaining, though. Geez. Even here, compare the teacher complaints with any other field. If you don't like the field, don't like dealing with the parents and administrators, don't like the pay, get another job. Never has a group strung out the martyr behavior like teachers.

They want to be treated like professionals but will strike if they don't get their way. What kind of professional does that?

Eeyore's, bless you for what you do. Restraints are one of the hardest procedures out there.

 

[DisTeach1]

Count me as a teacher who cannot complain about my job, and thinks teachers that do are whiners...

I have been teaching for 6 years, and have two credentials and a Master's degree in Special Ed. I make $62,000 a year in special ed. My hours are 8-3:15, but I get a 30 minute lunch and a 90 minute prep every day. I have 14 weeks, plus holidays off.

Yes, I grade papers, but I do that at home, on my couch, in my pajamas, so it's not so bad.

Yes, it's stressful, but what job isn't? All jobs have there ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade this for anything.

 

[ilovesugar]

I don't know one single teacher that acts "Godlike" or has a superiority complex. The only time I see teachers "complain" about pay is when people post on websites how over paid and underworked teachers are and how teachers should be available 24/7 to accommodate everyone elses' work schedule.

Of course you don't. They are all over the place and in fact, there are several right here on the DIS. You just choose not to see it, and that is your right. But it does exist.

 

[ilovesugar]

Count me as a teacher who cannot complain about my job, and thinks teachers that do are whiners...

I have been teaching for 6 years, and have two credentials and a Master's degree in Special Ed. I make $62,000 a year in special ed. My hours are 8-3:15, but I get a 30 minute lunch and a 90 minute prep every day. I have 14 weeks, plus holidays off.

Yes, I grade papers, but I do that at home, on my couch, in my pajamas, so it's not so bad.

Yes, it's stressful, but what job isn't? All jobs have there ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade this for anything.

THANK-YOU!

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

Count me as a teacher who cannot complain about my job, and thinks teachers that do are whiners...

I have been teaching for 6 years, and have two credentials and a Master's degree in Special Ed. I make $62,000 a year in special ed. My hours are 8-3:15, but I get a 30 minute lunch and a 90 minute prep every day. I have 14 weeks, plus holidays off.

Yes, I grade papers, but I do that at home, on my couch, in my pajamas, so it's not so bad.

Yes, it's stressful, but what job isn't? All jobs have there ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Special Ed teachers have a special place in Heaven, imo. My son didn't go to school, but i had several SE teachers who I knew who helped me make the most of his education.