Teachers and spouses of teachers unite!

[tvguy]

I think the impetus to this suggestion is that teachers are not free to travel year round and hence can not pick their timing for the cheapest cruises as could fast food workers, retail sales clerks, grocery baggers, law enforcement, high school dropouts, illegal aliens, and snarky forum posters. Teachers can only easily cruise during peak holiday demand times.

And was pointed out the parents of their 30 or so students are in the same boat as the teachers on when they can take vacations. Maybe even tougher because most working parents get between 2 to 5 weeks vacation a year, the average according to Google is just 11 days.

 

[Kwami]

True, but those are extremely specific discounts to set groups of people (like the OP's proposal), and are not available to most. But go to most other major cruise lines and you are offered discounts on all sailings for simply breathing. Which, statistically speaking, all people booking a cruise do. And they plaster it across the front of their web page making it impossible to miss, whereas with Disney you have to go searching for it. Right now Royal Caribbean has 'buzzer beaters,' Carnival has 'fun in the sun', etc. So I think it's fair to say Disney's approach to discounts is different from most other cruise lines. I haven't tracked the other cruise lines enough to know if they follow the same overall pattern in pricing such that the by product is its higher when teachers have time to cruise.

If the cruises are always on sale, then the sale price is the real price and any other numbers are just marketing BS.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

And was pointed out the parents of their 30 or so students are in the same boat as the teachers on when they can take vacations. Maybe even tougher because most working parents get between 2 to 5 weeks vacation a year, the average according to Google is just 11 days.

I humbly disagree. Also as pointed out, teachers can NOT chose to take off during those times because of contractural obligations, and while most parents do NOT take children out, and some schools don't allow it, some parents can chose to and do, as every ship I have been on during school times has been heavily populated by children. They can't all be home schooled. The argument regarding amount of vacation time isn't valid as the extra vacation time teachers may have is the peak cruising times. Point is parents do have a tough time of it, but not tougher than teachers.

We give teachers responsibility of our most precious resource, underpay them, and many corporations recognize that with discounts. I think its a valid question.

 

[Cfabar1]

And was pointed out the parents of their 30 or so students are in the same boat as the teachers on when they can take vacations.

I would push back on this. Parents can make choices as to whether they wish their children to miss school or not.

As someone in the young parent demographic, I can tell you many of our friends are reassessing the work/life and therefore school/life balance. I don't think parents feel the same apprehension about pulling kids out of school - especially younger kids - that they used to. As so many jobs are moving to flexible work arrangements, parents are doing this more and more.

On the other hand, teachers are employees, and are governed by terms of their employment - which are often contractual, and in the case of public school teachers are subject to heavily regulated collective bargaining agreements. The rare occasions I am aware of teachers getting substantial time off not during the school year have typically be in private schools where there can be a little more leeway if the employee is of value to the organization and/or where in some instances teachers can receive paid sabbaticals. And there is no remote work/work from home for teachers... Yet another reason why I feel young people are loathe to want to become teachers. It is a job that is low paying, in some states with steep educational requirements (costs), and requires you to be present in the office every day you are working.

I suppose a different counter argument would be, nobody forced these individuals to be teachers, and if their vacation needs don't line up with their employment needs, perhaps they should find other employment that allows for a better work/life balance. I don't really subscribe to that as a solution in an already challenging environment to recruit and retain teachers, but it does make more sense.

 

[tvguy]

I humbly disagree. Also as pointed out, teachers can NOT chose to take off during those times because of contractural obligations, and while most parents do NOT take children out, and some schools don't allow it, some parents can chose to and do, as every ship I have been on during school times has been heavily populated by children. They can't all be home schooled. The argument regarding amount of vacation time isn't valid as the extra vacation time teachers may have is the peak cruising times. Point is parents do have a tough time of it, but not tougher than teachers.

We give teachers responsibility of our most precious resource, underpay them, and many corporations recognize that with discounts. I think its a valid question.

Well, to be honest, I don't know when school breaks are any more. Today is the first day of school in public school in Stockton, California. And the fifth biggest school district in California, Elk Grove Unified has a year round schedule with four tracks, so on any given week 25% of the students are on vacation. And one I learned about on the DIS Boards, JERSEY WEEK, the week of November 4 this year when WDW is apparently overrun with kids from New Jersey.
Of course, we all bring our personal experiences to the DIS Boards. I worked in TV News for 42 years, an industry where 2, 3 and 4 weeks of vacation are the norm and holidays are not days off. We lose a lot of staff with school age children to teaching jobs because of the child care issues they face, so being on the same schedule with their kids is helpful, and here, teacher pay ($62,966 starting fresh out of college with no experience) is better than TV pay ($58,011 Bachelors degree and 1-3 years experience.) , and I realize that is not the case everywhere in the U.S.

https://www.scusd.edu/sites/main/fi..._eff_7.1.2024_updated_6.3.2024.pdf?1719622380

https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/tegnainc/jobs/4332733007

 

[tvguy]

I would push back on this. Parents can make choices as to whether they wish their children to miss school or not.

As someone in the young parent demographic, I can tell you many of our friends are reassessing the work/life and therefore school/life balance. I don't think parents feel the same apprehension about pulling kids out of school - especially younger kids - that they used to. As so many jobs are moving to flexible work arrangements, parents are doing this more and more.

On the other hand, teachers are employees, and are governed by terms of their employment - which are often contractual, and in the case of public school teachers are subject to heavily regulated collective bargaining agreements. The rare occasions I am aware of teachers getting substantial time off not during the school year have typically be in private schools where there can be a little more leeway if the employee is of value to the organization and/or where in some instances teachers can receive paid sabbaticals. And there is no remote work/work from home for teachers... Yet another reason why I feel young people are loathe to want to become teachers. It is a job that is low paying, in some states with steep educational requirements (costs), and requires you to be present in the office every day you are working.

I suppose a different counter argument would be, nobody forced these individuals to be teachers, and if their vacation needs don't line up with their employment needs, perhaps they should find other employment that allows for a better work/life balance. I don't really subscribe to that as a solution in an already challenging environment to recruit and retain teachers, but it does make more sense.

Depends where you live. It is truancy here because it is an unexcused absence. Parents can be jailed and fined. And worse for many students, if they are in a special program, they lose their slot, so they may not be able to go back to their school when they return.

 

[drew64]

I think the impetus to this suggestion is that teachers are not free to travel year round and hence can not pick their timing for the cheapest cruises as could fast food workers, retail sales clerks, grocery baggers, law enforcement, high school dropouts, illegal aliens, and snarky forum posters. Teachers can only easily cruise during peak holiday demand times.

That is true of many people and professions so why should one group deserve a discount because of it? Many people such as those you snidely mention do not get paid vacation time so maybe DCL should subsidize their cruise for them.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

That is true of many people and professions so why should one group deserve a discount because of it? Many people such as those you snidely mention do not get paid vacation time so maybe DCL should subsidize their cruise for them.

Do not credit that list to me, that honor goes to the response I was replying to. I just replied using his exact terms, because I agree, it's a less than helpful list. It smacks of today's divisive politics that aren't helping anyone. I thought that was clear from my response. Sorry. context.

As for other professions/groups being deserving, let them make their own case. I mean that seriously. This isn't about a new system, it's about whether teachers should be given consideration. And to me, teachers deserve all the support we as a society can give them. Not sure why this has to be who deserves what kind of thing. Do the teachers have a good case? I think so.

 

[Hubalorian]

That is true of many people and professions so why should one group deserve a discount because of it? Many people such as those you snidely mention do not get paid vacation time so maybe DCL should subsidize their cruise for them.

Teachers do not get paid vacation time. They are paid for their contracted days. They simply do not work in the summer, but definitely aren’t paid to have the time off. However, most of the time teachers can have their paycheck split over 12 months

 

[supergirl04]

Teachers do not get paid vacation time. They are paid for their contracted days. They simply do not work in the summer, but definitely aren’t paid to have the time off. However, most of the time teachers can have their paycheck split over 12 months

This!

 

[brentm77]

Do not credit that list to me, that honor goes to the response I was replying to. I just replied using his exact terms, because I agree, it's a less than helpful list. It smacks of today's divisive politics that aren't helping anyone. I thought that was clear from my response. Sorry. context.

As for other professions/groups being deserving, let them make their own case. I mean that seriously. This isn't about a new system, it's about whether teachers should be given consideration. And to me, teachers deserve all the support we as a society can give them. Not sure why this has to be who deserves what kind of thing. Do the teachers have a good case? I think so.

This is wells said. Giving teachers a discount isn't taking away from someone else's pie. Tribalism and "whataboutisim" is out of control. Can't we recognize how important and underpaid teachers are in our society without taking away from other groups who also sacrifice? Where will it end? I don't know, that would be up to Disney, but recognizing a group of people who make sacrifices for a huge percentage of the Disney customer base (kids) wouldn't hurt anyone. Whether Disney should offer a discount is, or course, up to Disney, but it wouldn't hurt any of us non-teachers in any manner They could even limit it to x-number of discounts on any particular summer sailing on a first-come-first-serve-basis, but it would be a nice gesture, like they do with the military discounts, and would make for great marketing material. Maybe even recognize one great teacher a year with a free cruise - the marketing they could do from that would be worth the lost fare. The connection between Disney and teachers seems pretty obvious to me versus other professions.

 

[Cfabar1]

The connection between Disney and teachers seems pretty obvious to me versus other professions.

I would say particularly in the Eisner years that was the case. Since COVID the educational programs have been cut, Nat Geo has eliminated much of the staff, EPCOT has become far less edutainment based, etc. Not saying it is better or worse, but there was a time under Eisner that he really tried to make Disney into a true "experiences" company - and that aspect of the firm has been downplayed and in many instances eliminated (in some cases like the Disney Institute because it just didn't work).

 

[MomOTwins]

Have you considered waiting to book last minute with GT rates? Since you know you'll be off all summer, that gives flexibility on choosing a sailing on a date that lets you get those rates.

I think every job has its pluses and minuses when it comes to scheduling vacation. My current employer is pretty limited on vacation days, so I often try to get cruises on holiday weeks like juneenth/fourth of july to be able to take advantage of the extra day off. I am also expected to request time off for vacations about 6 months in advance. And 9 times out of 10, I need to log on and work or join work calls on vacation, plus responding to email 24/7, so I never fully get to relax on vacation. I say this just because maybe it'll help you see a "glass half full" to being a teacher. My husband worked a while as a teacher, and I definitely envied how simple it was for him when it came to scheduling vacations and then actually being able to avoid work on them.

 

[brentm77]

.

 

[RangerPooh]

I work in higher education (student services/accessibility) and we don’t get breaks off. With middle and high school kids it’s often summer break for vacations, sometimes spring or fall breaks. As someone said, the workload to make up and a district with a strong truancy policy makes off peak time travel difficult.

I’d be all for a smaller educator discount.

 

[TXDCLfan]

Let's rally for a teacher discount on cruises! My husband is a teacher and the only months he could go on a 4 night, 5 night, or 7 night cruise is in the most expensive months. We are limited to June, July, half of August, spring break and the week between Christmas and New Years. During the school year he can only take 3 days vacation and cannot schedule those days next to a holiday or day already scheduled off. This leaves us with the most expensive times to cruise I reached out to Disney to suggest a teacher discount. Does anyone else want to join me and reach out to Disney as well?

Sorry but NO! we are all in the same boat as we have kids in school and have the same time slots available as teacher so why should teachers get a discount and not the parents of kids who are in school?

 

[ray3127]

My wife is a middle school teacher, and I teach at a local university (previously taught high school). One of the (many) reasons we chose to teach was the family-friendly nature of the job. Our schedule generally aligns with our kids, and we know we have holidays and summers off. However, it also means that we have may have to travel at more expensive/busy times.

The trade-off is worth it for us ... but I think a simple solution could be to give teachers more flexibility with their days off. There are many, many ways that districts handle teachers' days off, but here is what my wife's district does.

All teachers get 12 days per year.
- Two are 'personal' days (no reason needed)
- Two-three are 'business/emergency' days (i.e. closing on a house, or legit emergency)
- The rest are sick days
Any unused days roll over to the following year as sick days.

* Side note: If you want to take PAID maternity/paternity leave, these come from your bank of days. You can take full FMLA, but only get paid for the days in your bank. So if you plan to have kids, hopefully you aren't sick much for a few years ahead of time!

Basically, if we want to take a trip more than 2 days out of the school year, she has to fib. For example, she might pre-schedule a whole week off, using the 2 personal days and 3 pre-planned sick days (i.e. scheduled doctor's appointments, procedures, etc.).

In practice, this is what a lot of teachers in her district do. We've done it, and saved (literally) thousands of dollars on a DCL cruise compared to summer fares.

Rather than a teacher discount, I would simply like to see our teachers receive their days to be used as they see fit. This allows teachers to plan accordingly (think pre-planned subs). I know that some districts do this, but we do not live/work in one.

If you want to take a full week trip, then you are down to 7 days for the rest of the year. I'm sure there should be some rules/limitations, so a teacher can't bank weeks of time over the years and then take a two-month vacation during the school year ... but I think allowing teachers the option to take a legit week during a school year is more than reasonable.

Another issue is spring break. I read about it on the boards all the time, and feel like many assume that there's 1 or 2 weeks where this occurs. It doesn't. Different school districts have spring break from mid-February to mid-April. Some have multiple weeks (i.e. Feb AND Apr). I'm sure some weeks are more popular, but it can vary widely.

In fact, my family usually experiences three different spring breaks. Our kids attend school in a different district than my wife teaches in, and their breaks have only lined up once in six years. My university break is almost always different as well. So we can't simply take a trip over "our" spring break: it is literally three different weeks.

What we typically do is travel over my wife's break, pull the kids from school, and I cancel class (because I teach in college, I have more flexibility here). Unless there's huge savings to be had, in which case she pre-schedules her week off, as outlined above. Then we aren't using ANY of our breaks!

As teachers, we have absolutely no qualms about kids being pulled from school. Dedicated family adventure time is far more important than anything we can teach them. We applaud the parents that do so. "It gets harder when they get older." Sure, fine, ok. Like I said, I teach in college ... I am more than happy to work with my students who are still taking family trips. GREAT for them! As long as they get their work done, I'm certainly not going to stand in their way. Academics are important ... but not as important as family memories.

Bottom line: I think giving teachers a little more autonomy/ownership of their days off would be more effective than teacher discounts. That puts them in the same position as every other profession.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

Bottom line: I think giving teachers a little more autonomy/ownership of their days off would be more effective than teacher discounts. That puts them in the same position as every other profession.

While I would love to see teachers get more ownership of their days off, between the two choices of A) teachers discount or B) teacher's allowed vacation time gets changed, Disney can only bring about A. It's big, but not that big as to influence B. And if they did grant it, on a trial basis, they could always pivot if whoever is in charge gets off the butt and brings about B.

 

[Hubalorian]

The problem with teachers getting more autonomy over their days isn’t just the national teacher shortage, it’s the substitute shortage as well. How can teachers have autonomy over theirs days if they can’t find a substitute?

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

The problem with teachers getting more autonomy over their days isn’t just the national teacher shortage, it’s the substitute shortage as well. How can teachers have autonomy over theirs days if they can’t find a substitute?

You have a point, but that argues on why we need to do more for our teachers yes? The shortage is not due lack of dedicated people, its due to the economic and time pressures that forces good people to decide Teaching is not a viable career decision for them. All the more reason why Disney making life a bit easier for Teachers might be a good thing.