Teaching Sucks!!!!

I've been a teacher for 15 years; I teach in a good area with a lot of parent support and kids who perform very well on government tests. Actually my situation is pretty much a dream; teachers who get into my school don't leave unless they are made to leave.

I often get emails from kids I taught ages ago who are in University now, and they tell me how much they enjoyed having me as a teacher, and how much they learned. You cannot imagine how good this feels!

I don't have kids of my own; I'm not rich, but I make enough $$ to own my own house, a nice (new) car, and travel to Europe every summer (and stay in hotels for 5 weeks while I'm there).

What's even better, is that I have a lot of flexibility when it comes to running. Sometimes I can run from 4-5 p.m. and then do the rest of my work at home in the evening.

But I don't know of ANY teacher who gets 3 months paid vacation! We only get paid for the time we work. And yes, we do have awesome benefits (which comes in handy for all the time I spend in physio because of running injuries! LOL)

Baller benefits? The insurance is okay not great and as far as retirement goes you have to pay in a lot of your salary, 12 - 15%, which anyone could do themselves and have a nice retirement as well. Not to mention that the retirement money goes away when you die. Lets say you retire and die 5 years later. It's not like the money goes to your kids. What do you have to say to that misinformed jerk?

It's been fun, but there is just too much negative energy here and too many new a$$holes who post bullshit and lots of great people who used to post all the time who have left or gone underground. I'm out. Life is too short. I'll be in kona. Hope to see some of you there. Paulo knows how to find me.

My two cents: I teach social studies and coach and while it is a brutal combination, it is also incredibly rewarding. As for the "part-time" claim... During the season, I work about 12-14 hour days (including the time I spend at home grading, planning, etc.). In between seasons, it goes down to "normal" teacher hours... maybe 50 a week. Yes we technically get summers off, but I usually do a few weeks of summer school teaching and professional development, so the actual vacation winds up being about 6 weeks. If I was to add up total number of hours worked in a school year, I'd be it's close to the normal 9-5 for a full year. Benefits are good, pay is mediocre (I make about 52k). But ultimately, as the teacher above stated, having a student come back after they've graduated and tell you you've made a difference in their lives is priceless.... seeing an athlete work hard and pr, etc.... those are just golden moments that I can't imagine getting in another job. For me, it's all worth it.

2323423 wrote:

Baller benefits, no performance expectations, 3-month paid vacation. Yeah, that sucks. Sure, the pay isn't great, but you really aren't doing much anyways.

__________________________

Typical - non teacher attitude.

Let me enlighten you 232,

Most teachers get to work around 7, and the school opens around 7:50. Do you know any other salary professionals who show up that much before work daily?

Also, the pay is based on an 8-3 day, m-f.

Reality is, most teachers work 7:30-4:30, with the least active teachers volunteering for at least three or four activities a year.

Add in becoming a coach, forget it. xc coaches work tirelessly through the summer, until late November. Say, you do xc, indoor and outdoor track. Ever go to an indoor track meet? 9 am to 9 pm. All saturday, and here in the northeast 9-7 saturday and 10-4 Sunday on some two day invitational meets.

Yes, you get paid to coach, but break it dow to the hourly wage. You will be amazed. I'll bet it's less than $16 per hour. Typical public hs coach here gets $4k for outdoor, and maybe $3k indoor. 4 winter months, 35-50 added hours per week to the teaching. How much is $4k divided by 800 hours? $5 per hour

Do the same for teaching hours. 8-4 = 8 x5 = 40

multiply by 10 months, minus about 1 month for various holidays and spring vacation = 9 months, which is 36 weeks for $46k, the avg. here = 1277 per week, before taxes. This is IF you went out and got a graduate degree during your tenure. If not, probably less salary. AND, the $8k is a median salary for those with 8 or more years exp.

Add to that, the BS a teacher deals with, whether it's a little ba$tard, the f'n parent$, or some school board throwing you under the bus.

Lets' not bring up the females who, today won't think twice about accusing a male teahcer of something if they get a bad grade.

Oh, yes, it's great

I amend and/or correct. The median is meant to read $48k, not $8k

At my school, most teachers arive at 7:30 and leave by 4:15. As far as coaching goes, if it is too time consuming relative to the pay, don't do it. No one is making you. I always try to think about my coaching as volunteer work. If I get paid $1k for something I would do for free, the pay is good.

Rather than complain about your job, leave it. Dealing with moron kids, stupid parents, and an incompetent board is the job. This is not new. You may romanticize your first x years of teaching, but the job really hasn't changed.

Education wrote:

Super Jay Five wrote:

The REASON 95% of kids have a very dull future ahead of them is because the school system is stupid. Instead of teaching a bunch of useless information teach them what they need to know so their future is BETTER! Teach them SKILLS and knowledge to start their own business and make money! It is not money that is the root of evil is the LACK of it!

No matter what you teach, 95% of em will still end up on welfare, in jail, pregnant with multiple baby daddies, or at best working some trade like plumbing or truck driving. Why waste brain power trying to teach them biology.

Teaching students like you mention biology IS dumb. I would change the school system so we teach people how to get off that marry-go-round. Now many people say that can't be done but they are usually dumb narrow minded people. Here in Canada their was a "Dragons Den" TV show last night where "at risk" kids started a business growing herbs and making dressings and they were making money at it. All the "Dragons" except "Mr. Wonderful" gave them money and purchased the product. If they taught stuff like this to ALL "at risk" students they could make a living and get off the merry-go-round.

Conservative Hindu Dentist wrote:

Super Jay Five wrote:

It is not money that is the root of evil is the LACK of it!

The saying isn't that money is the root of all evil, but rather that the love of money (i.e. greed) is the root of all bad things. Given the number of people on here who make six figures and feel as if they live in dire poverty, I'd say that saying is at least somewhat accurae.

But as I am sure you have noticed the big complaint on this thread is NOT the rich people but the ones who are on the never ending welfare/poverty train to nowhere. One big reason this happens is people are told MIXED MESSAGES. On the one hand they are told "money is bad" and on the other hand they have to pay the rent and eat. So which is it? If money is bad they should just live under a bridge. If money is good they should be taught in schools how to get it!

Second Career Teacher wrote:

These kind of stories scare me. In a few years I will retire after 30 years as a military officer. I still don't know what I want to do for a second career, but I have often thought about teaching. One, because I think I'd like it. And two, because I feel it would be a fulfilling way to give back to the community. I have two Master's degrees and a lot of experience. My own kids, all out of high school now, keep warning me not to teach at the high school level because I will hate it.

Listen to this before you get all happy about teaching.

Super Jay Five wrote:

Education wrote:

I have taught before and seriously, it does. Low pay, no respect, and teaching kids where 95% of them have a very very dull future ahead of them.

The REASON 95% of kids have a very dull future ahead of them is because the school system is stupid. Instead of teaching a bunch of useless information teach them what they need to know so their future is BETTER! Teach them SKILLS and knowledge to start their own business and make money! It is not money that is the root of evil is the LACK of it!

Teachers who try to do just that find that the kids have been conditioned by the bad teachers to do rote memorization activities that are on the standardized tests. Those same students rebel against real teaching, even though it works when they are involved.

It is up to you to figure out how to get them ebgaged. If you see them coming in and get a negative attitude before they enter, they will prove you right. If you find ways to get every kid feeling as if he (not merely his learning of your curriculum) is important to you personally, you will find they jump through hoops for you. You also have to remember that there will always be a small minority that will never like you or your material, so stop worrying about it and try to get as many on board as possible.

Having said all of that, you must realize that there are other factors causing your problem. First, it is the last hour of the day, like you mentioned. However, it is the last of seven periods. They are kind of numb after seven classes. Your district must hate kids and teachers. Also, you have to realize that in most districts, the last hour of the day is where the band kids have class. They typically are the most hard-working or honors students and a class without any of them will seem worse because of their absence.

The ones with the agendas are the lobbyists who make bank on providing testing and data. That is why the results show a lack of improvement despite increased budget dollars. Those dollars do not reach the classroom, but are funnelled into the testing companies that are doing the lobbying. Salaries for teachers have not risen much, if at all. The amount allotted to teachers for classroom supplies has not been increased in over a decade, but costs of those supplies have. Capital improvements have become more costly. Security issues have taken away money. Do I really need to go on?

Are you actually advocating that we teach kids how to become businessmen by letting them sell pot? What a looney fellow you are.

Education wrote:

I have taught before and seriously, it does. Low pay, no respect, and teaching kids where 95% of them have a very very dull future ahead of them.

Teaching can be an awesome career. It's a great job if you have a family and like to spend time with the kids. The pay is not horrible, though you don't become a teacher to be rich. While in most states you do provide part of your income for retirement, USUALLY the district throws in a good amount too.

If you like to do other things -- coach, oversee the newspaper, etc. then teaching is a good way to do that.

The biggest thing though, other than the time off during the year, is that you can retire by age 57...that's awesome.

Flagpole wrote:

Education wrote:

I have taught before and seriously, it does. Low pay, no respect, and teaching kids where 95% of them have a very very dull future ahead of them.

Teaching can be an awesome career. It's a great job if you have a family and like to spend time with the kids. The pay is not horrible, though you don't become a teacher to be rich. While in most states you do provide part of your income for retirement, USUALLY the district throws in a good amount too.

If you like to do other things -- coach, oversee the newspaper, etc. then teaching is a good way to do that.

The biggest thing though, other than the time off during the year, is that you can retire by age 57...that's awesome.

Some of what you say might be true in general, but the specifics in one state are different from this picture you paint. In Illinois, my district puts in less than one percent to a state pension where I pay nearly 10%. The state is also supposed to pay into the system but instead has failed to make payments for years or made partial payments in other years, so much so that the system is falling apart. The solution is to try and tear the whole thing apart, a solution that was seeking this problem in the minds of many of the politicians.

Mandatory retirement age of over 60 has also been discussed in my state, which is causing a flood of retirements right now.

Again, not complaining because I would leave if it was that bad, but it's not easy everywhere.

Yes, there are bad states out there.

Seriously? You toss out an inflammatory thread... and then get butthurt and when people respond to your trollbait? Grow a pair, Krabappel.