Hi:

I just got this from a former student, and thought you might like it :

"Tired of Those High Paid Teachers?

I, for one, am sick and tired of those high paid teachers.  Their hefty
salaries are driving up taxes and they only work nine or ten months a year!

It's time we put things into perspective and pay them for what they
really do, baby-sit!  We can get that for less than minimum wage.

That's right.  I would be willing to pay them $3 an hour, for only the
hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time.  That would be $15 a day.

Each parent should pay $15 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their
children.  How many do they teach in a day, maybe 25?  Then, that's 15 x 25 =
$375 a day.

Though remember, they only work 180 days a year!  There is no way I'm
going to pay them for any vacations.  Let's see . . . that's 375 x 180 = $67,500.

(Hold on, my calculator must need batteries!)

Oh, yeah, we have those special teachers, or the ones with masters
degrees?  Well, we could pay them minimum wage, just to be fair.  Let's round it off to $6 an hour.  That would be $6, times 5 hours, times 25 children, times 180 days = $135,000 per year.

Wait a minute . . . never mind.  I guess their hefty salaries are a good
deal after all."

I would wear an apron, buy AND change diapers, warm bottles, put bows in my own hair, eat strained peas and carrots, and play Candyland all day if teachers were allowed to move to THAT salary plan!! This, of course, after making 6-point lesson plans that follow the NC Standard Course of Study and satisfy the National Standards. As long as we're talking about teacher salaries, has anyone heard any outstanding pros and cons about the 12 month salary as opposed to the 10 month salary? I know a couple of teachers representing each plan but was wondering if you guys have thought much about it.

See you at 3.
-Jack

Jack,

For those that have a difficult time saving money and those that would like to have a reliable salary over the summer the 12-month paycheck is the way to go. However, if you can be sure to put aside money for the summer or are sure of a job over the summer you could go for the 10-month paycheck. I am a big fan of the 12-month plan. I in my humble opinion I think that we should move to year-round school, which would give us 12-month pay.

Just a quick note about the 10 vs. 12-month paycheck plans. I've heard that a really good reason for choosing 10 is because it keeps the state from earning interest on the extra 2 months when you could earn the interest or invest it. Food for thought...

I agree with Natalie! For one, I dont think that they should be making interest on our money... I trust myself enough to save money, so far I have done fairly well. I'm not sure that I would be for every school being a year round school, because I think that it takes alot of time to backtrack and pick back up from where you left off three weeks prior... however, I can see that it would work out better for some people... just a personal preference thing.

Here is a website you all should check out about teacher salaries and what people think of it. Hope you enjoy!
http://members.shaw.ca/alappel/salary.html

That website is wonderful. I believe that we deserve more pay, but I don't sit and worry about it. I have a passion for teaching art. I would much rather teach what I LOVE and alter my spending life style, then make a higher salary and be in a miserable line of work that is not my passion. There are so many trade-offs in life, and this for me is a worthy one!

I thought the website was really great. It really irritates me when people say that teachers are simply "glorified babysitters." I think it's really sad that people expect so much from teachers and the education system, want a system of accoutability for teachers, yet have so little respect for the profession. I think teachers deserve to make higher salaries than they do. People repeatedly sayn that teachers only work 9-3, 180 days a year, or whenever the students are there. They do not take into account teachers getting to school earlier and staying later, the time it takes to plan lessons, time to develop relationships with families, time for parent-teacher conferences, arriving before students in the fall, staying later in the summer, and continuing their own education during summer and throughout the year. I think this profession should be highly respected, however I don't know if it will change or how to go about changing society's attitude.

It just boogles my mind that we are intrusting the education of our future generations to one of the lowest paying professions. It makes you think, what does our society really value.....entertainers and athletes!!!

I totally agree with you Derek. What has our society come to? We do value other people's lives more than our own. We would much rather watch all of these reality shows than concentrate on ourselves and what we are getting out of school. And are they saying that we as teachers aren't doing a good enough job so we should get paid less? We are building people's futures, come on now. We should be one of the highest paid professions out there!

the 12-month plan doesn't give you any more money, it just spreads it out over 12 months instead of 10.

well i mean, MOST of them.

you can get contracts to work for 12 months, but that generally entails not having those "breaks" which combat the "burn-out" that you were referring to earlier, and the 12 month contracts are often reserved for special subjects like band or animal-science teachers.

at least this is the information i've always gotten in regards to 10 vs. 12 month salaries