Our Nation’s Teachers Are Hustling to Survive

[Timjoebillybob]

Yes location is paramount salaries vary even by county here, teaching in the 2nd wealthiest county in the state one would think, that salaries would be more competitive here.

My wife is considering teaching at the college level versus staying at the daycare.

You'd think, but oftentimes those are more "prestigious" positions that pay less than the middle of the road jobs. Heck some of the worst places have better pay than the best, simply because they have to to get anyone to work there. Less pay vs a higher chance to get shot? I knew someone that subbed in Gary, their first day there they had 2 students have to go to the office after lunch to report in to their probation officer to make sure they didn't take off during lunch. Both were for violent crimes.

I don't think the number of days worked a year has changed though? Just spread around a little more. Spring break, fall break, every other week seems to have some odd excuse to have some sort of holiday? After the scamdemic, it seems as though they can declare an "e-learning day" at will? This last year, every hint of a chance of a weather threat, school was called off for e-learning the day before.

It was happening around here before covid. Although from talking to a few teachers, they hate the e-learning. They would rather be in the classroom.

 

[bobzilla]

I believe it is alive and well.

New INPRS Member Resources

www.in.gov

Very much so. Just a different form than the old days.

 

[bobzilla]

Not sure where you motion of no nights or weekends came from? Certainly not the case here! Summers off no not quite there either. No working in the bitter cold ok maybe, no working in hot weather no not quite.

Let’s talk about unpaid hours there are plenty of those as,well, professional development hours yeah those are with out pay, prep periods, no not those either, then throw it the having to deal with the let’s be Gay crowd( the LGBT club that will not accept that not everyone is pronoun)

volunteer hours as well, so yeah that $45k a year that is living large.

Don’t even start. Wife is special Ed. She’s there before everyone else and usually there after. Writing IEP’s on a constantly changing state program on evenings and weekends. Summer comes she’s out, period. Standard elem Ed show up 15 minutes before the kids and are gone right after the last bus leaves. They get a paid prep in the day to get ready. They’re teaching the same stuff at the same time every year so after year 1 it gets pretty simple.

To have a 185 day work year, make 90k a year? Yeah. Sorry. Not dealing sorry for you. I’ve been working 40+ hour weeks since I was 18, never had more than 2 weeks off at any one time ever. Are there **** school districts? Yep. Are there their opposites? Yep. Make your own choices. Live with them and stop expecting me to cover your poor choices.

 

[wcd]

You'd think, but oftentimes those are more "prestigious" positions that pay less than the middle of the road jobs. Heck some of the worst places have better pay than the best, simply because they have to to get anyone to work there. Less pay vs a higher chance to get shot? I knew someone that subbed in Gary, their first day there they had 2 students have to go to the office after lunch to report in to their probation officer to make sure they didn't take off during lunch. Both were for violent crimes.

It was happening around here before covid. Although from talking to a few teachers, they hate the e-learning. They would rather be in the classroom.

My wife used to teach in the Rouge, so Gary really doesn’t have anything that was just as bad if not worse there.

 

[wcd]

Don’t even start. Wife is special Ed. She’s there before everyone else and usually there after. Writing IEP’s on a constantly changing state program on evenings and weekends. Summer comes she’s out, period. Standard elem Ed show up 15 minutes before the kids and are gone right after the last bus leaves. They get a paid prep in the day to get ready. They’re teaching the same stuff at the same time every year so after year 1 it gets pretty simple.

To have a 185 day work year, make 90k a year? Yeah. Sorry. Not dealing sorry for you. I’ve been working 40+ hour weeks since I was 18, never had more than 2 weeks off at any one time ever. Are there **** school districts? Yep. Are there their opposites? Yep. Make your own choices. Live with them and stop expecting me to cover your poor choices.

What are you talking about went off the rail did you? If your wife is special Ed you should have a really good idea of the crap teachers put up with.

As an aside I work long hours as well, I am not going to discuss my salary. Suffice it to say it came along after years of sacrifice, and my wife being 100 supportive. In reality my wife does not have to work due to choices we have made, and how we have chosen to live our lives. Not sure where you getting that she makes $90k a year try half that.

Furthermore have you ever been in situations for your job where there was a question if you were going home to your family? When you have perhaps you can make nonsensical comments such as yours “expecting me to cover Your poor choices”

Not sure where simply stating their are good teachers out there that are underpaid and have to tolerate a lot of stuff triggered your rude response but what ever does it for you.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Teachers are victims of additional work burdens just like docs. "Oh, now you can email every studen and every parent (patient) and can deal with all of that too"

Can I get reimbursed for it?

"no! , I'm not asking to to work longer hours, just speed up 50% in the time you are working"

 

[wcd]

You'd think, but oftentimes those are more "prestigious" positions that pay less than the middle of the road jobs. Heck some of the worst places have better pay than the best, simply because they have to to get anyone to work there. Less pay vs a higher chance to get shot? I knew someone that subbed in Gary, their first day there they had 2 students have to go to the office after lunch to report in to their probation officer to make sure they didn't take off during lunch. Both were for violent crimes.

It was happening around here before covid. Although from talking to a few teachers, they hate the e-learning. They would rather be in the classroom.

E learning has been statically proven to be a failure aside from adverse social impact it has on students.

 

[wcd]

Teachers are victims of additional work burdens just like docs. "Oh, now you can email every studen and every parent (patient) and can deal with all of that too"

Can I get reimbursed for it?

"no! , I'm not asking to to work longer hours, just speed up 50% in the time you are working"

Exactly just like some other callings they are not doing it for the money.

 

[JCSR]

I have always had multiple revenue streams and I was a union scale HVAC tech. If you want more, you go out and get it. That means working more.


I believe summer break is closer to 2 months now.

Still not a bad gig with spring break, fall break, Christmas break and every holiday known to man.

 

[bobzilla]

What are you talking about went off the rail did you? If your wife is special Ed you should have a really good idea of the crap teachers put up with.

As an aside I work long hours as well, I am not going to discuss my salary. Suffice it to say it came along after years of sacrifice, and my wife being 100 supportive. In reality my wife does not have to work due to choices we have made, and how we have chosen to live our lives. Not sure where you getting that she makes $90k a year try half that.

Furthermore have you ever been in situations for your job where there was a question if you were going home to your family? When you have perhaps you can make nonsensical comments such as yours “expecting me to cover Your poor choices”

Not sure where simply stating their are good teachers out there that are underpaid and have to tolerate a lot of stuff triggered your rude response but what ever does it for you.

If they’re under paid go to a district that isn’t underpaying. The rest of us have to if we want better pay. Why should teachers be different?

I can tell you for a fact that multiple districts in the central Indy area pay tops out around $90k a year after 10 years with a masters. $90k for 185 days, with minimal prep needed for the vast majority. Hell the reason mines tolerated it this long IS the pay, the insurance and the retirement. It’s a good gig that most working stiffs can never have.

 

[Clark & Addison]

I'm a mid-career, public school teacher (not a union member--too liberal for me). I also work jobs other than teaching. Teaching pay is not bad (not great either), especially if you're part of a dual income household. Like most other careers, if you're smart with your money you'll be fine. I work side jobs not because I have to, but because I like just like having extra money.

As far as the liberalness of most public school teachers, I'm glad to say that while there are some at my school, they're not the majority. I take my NRA cup to school hoping to trigger some liberal, but it's yet to happen.

 

[churchmouse]

Still not a bad gig with spring break, fall break, Christmas break and every holiday known to man.

True.

 

[churchmouse]

Teachers are victims of additional work burdens just like docs. "Oh, now you can email every studen and every parent (patient) and can deal with all of that too"

Can I get reimbursed for it?

"no! , I'm not asking to to work longer hours, just speed up 50% in the time you are working"

Yeah I fired my Oncologist for this. No info . In and out and just a prick the whole time. All he cared about was did I buy this and wear my mask properly. Getting a call back or setting anything up was pulling hens teeth.
See-Ya.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

My wife used to teach in the Rouge, so Gary really doesn’t have anything that was just as bad if not worse there.

I'm sure it was. But for curiosity I looked up the Gary contract. Pay is 47.2-81.6k not including any increases to the base salary, it's actually 48.6-81.6K. Plus a few other increases that are available such as 3k attendance bonus for taking one or less sick/personal days a month. They get 10 sick days, 3 personal days, and up to 2 additional "recognized religious holidays". If they have to work during their planning hour, they get paid $37.50 per hr. Same goes for remediation, grant, and after school hrs worked. You mentioned professional development hours, if they have to have any required hours outside of their regular work hours, it's paid at $30 per hr. Oh and their pay doesn't include the 3% of their salary that the teachers are supposed to pay into the retirement fund that the school corp pays instead.

https://www.garycsc.k12.in.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/20211227094815502.pdf

 

[actaeon277]

What's a "sick day"?
Or "personal day"?

 

[hoosierdoc]

What's a "sick day"?
Or "personal day"?

Those are days you show up and try not to let others know you feel awful

 

[actaeon277]

Those are days you show up and try not to let others know you feel awful

Nah.
If I'm feeling awful, everyone's gonna hear about it.

 

[rob63]

I have worked a career as a mechanical engineer, and as an elementary school librarian, so I have had a view of working in industrial settings as well as in schools.

The average person in an industrial setting doesn't work even half as hard as a typical school teacher. They literally have no idea what it is like, simply finding time to use the bathroom is a challenge. Those of you who think it is so easy probably wouldn't last a week.

Starting salaries are woefully inadequate both for the prerequisites and for the actual job, it is simply not worth it.

All of that said, the dirty little secret is that it is the teacher's unions that are to blame for the situation.

As I said , starting salaries are horrible, but it increases each year. Once you have 10 years in you are making pretty decent money, 20 years and you are overpaid. Guess who are the officers in the union? Yep, teacher's with 20 years in. Guess which group gets the lion's share of any additional money negotiated with the school district?

It is the teacher's union that negotiates a system where two teachers doing the exact same job have wildly different salaries based on seniority. It allows them to always get the media to report on how woefully inadequate starting salaries are, which is true, but hides the facts about how much the veteran teachers are actually making.

It's certainly not unheard of for companies to pay different people different salaries based on seniority, or whatever reason, but it is out of the ordinary for two people with the exact same job title and the exact same job responsibilities to be in a situation where one of them is making twice as much money as the other. That is not uncommon in schools.

I, personally, have attended union meetings where the leadership outright lied to the membership about salary negotiations where the bulk of the money went to the senior teachers, which was easily verified if you did the math on the salary schedules. It's all a shell game.

The previous comments about the administrations is also right on target. I have witnessed steadily increasing medical insurance costs passed on to teachers, while the admin continued to receive free health care. Layoffs of teachers while admins that served no purpose kept their positions.

It's truly a shame. There are a lot of outstanding young teachers that leave the profession because they are so poorly paid, while older teachers that are just waiting for their pension to kick in are doing quite well. Likewise, a lot of great mid-range teachers get priced out because they moved due to a spouse changing job and they can't compete with the cheap salaries paid to beginning teachers and the union rules don't allow them to work for less than seniority dictates.

It would be great if the administrations and the teacher's union put the needs of the kids first, but that is all too often not the case.

 

[Bugzilla]

Time to start connecting the dots people. Before Department of Education, USA tops in the world in education, man on the moon, nuclear bomb, skyscrapers, etc. Post DOEd, kids can’t even make simple change at McDonalds. DOEd, like every other fed agency, created to communize the country by the infiltration of their anti American “values” and government money teet. If there is any fed department, and there are many, that should be eliminated, the DOEd tops the list. Look at all the fed agencies that have given us results that are disasters.

 

[Knight Rider]

If you think you’re being paid what you’re worth, it’s likely you’re overpaid.

This is true for all occupations.