Tired of Those High Paid Teachers!

[proud2BlibKansan]

(A Satirical Rant)

I, for one, am sick and tired of those high paid teachers. Their hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year!

Its time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do, baby sit! We can get that for less than minimum wage. That's right? I would give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked, not any silly planning time. That would be $15.00 a day. Each parent should pay $15.00 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children.

Now, how many do they teach in a day?... maybe 25. Then that's 15 x 25 = $375.00 a day.

But remember they only work 180 days a year! I'm not going to pay them for any vacations. Let's see? that's 375 x 180 = $67,500.00. (Hold on, my calculator must need batteries!)

What about those special teachers or the ones with Masters Degrees?

Well, we could pay them minimum wage just to be that fair. Let's round it off to $6.00 an hour. That would be $6.00 times five hours times 25 children times 180 days = $135,000.00 per year.

Wait a minute. There is something wrong here!!!!

There sure is, huh??????!!!!

Send this to any teachers YOU may know. I'm sure they'd gladly accept babysitting rates!

http://www.classbrain.com/artread/publish/article_96.shtml

[sam sarrha]

1. but the cheap babysitters could also teach spanish to the kids..

that is a serious perk... and soon to be a necessary one

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. no hablo espaniol

Well I can say

"mas cerveza por favor"

My friend who is fluent in Spanish told me this is all the Spanish I need to know.

[Cerridwen]

2. pssst, your link is broken - I "fixed" it below

http://www.classbrain.com/artread/publish/article_96.shtml


P.S. Good rant!

:)

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Thanks

I copied it from another thread. So much for my proof reading skills.

[Spinzonner]

3. There's a problem with your calculation

We'll have to charge them for use of the classroom.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Well mine is not air conditioned

and has boiler heat. So rent can't be too high. LOL

[livvy]

4. Linky no worky, but I like the way you thinky!

Do we get to add in time and a half for overtime? Are children with special needs figured in here somehow? How about extra pay for clerical duties, therapy sessions with the kids and/or after hours sessions with mom and dad? And I think an extra bonus should be provided when it becomes necessary to train a new principal. Do housekeeping duties get figured in here somehow or extra needed supplies? And finally, how about a bonus for health related issues...cold's, flu, etc?

Hmmmm....it's beginning to sound like a lucrative career!

I do have to say, I love working with kids, even if I'm not paid as well as I feel I should be. I've been doing this for 26 years, and it's still something I find rewarding for the most part.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Fixed

Sorry about that.

I have also taught for 26 years. And if I didn't love it I wouldn't still be there.

[livvy]

37. There's something pretty special about those moments when...

the light goes on, and that sense of understanding passes across their face. I love to hear kids laugh, too, or the blush on a cheek when they're feeling proud of something they've done.
I know people who don't seem to love it, and I can't figure out why they stay, especially those who don't need to for financial reasons.
A toast to 26 well-spent years!
:toast:

[GoldenOldie]

5. High paid teachers

Just sent to my daughter the teacher who had to go to Russian to teach in order to earn a livable wage.

I have used this cost scenario in speaking to young people about the total costs of smoking.

Many parents have difficulty dealing with 1-3 of their own children yet they expect a teacher to not only teach 25-30 students their ABC's, but all of those other things such as manners, ethics, etc., etc., that the parents are responsible for ie., no hitting, no spitting, no biting, etc. On top of it all parents don't want to hear any bad news about thier Johnny or Janey.

[1monster]

35. 25-30 students per day? That would be ideal. Most of the classes I see

(except in the special or alternative classes) have an average of thirty-five students per class.

Middle school and high school teachers see an average of 150 students per day (sometimes more for certain types of classes).

[donco6]

6. Don't forget benefits.

They'd be required to pay FICA and Medicare at minimum - add another 12% or so.

[applegrove]

7. What job is more important than teaching? Name one? They work all

evening long often. They need their vacation to rebuild some strength for the next year.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. What vacation?

Only teachers who marry wealthy spouses can afford to take summers off. LOL

[applegrove]

39. Exactly. But they get a change of pace - if they are lucky.

[greenbriar]

44. true

summer school starts 4 days after the regular school year ends!

[cami715]

40. Thank you, applegrove!

Taught for 30 years. Few people know how many hours a dedicated teachers really works. And you are right. It takes some time off to get prepared for the next year. Many teachers take classes for renewal credit during the summer. And in my state (NC) the summer vacations are unpaid.

[applegrove]

45. Yes - my experience from all the teachers I have known personally

is that they take their job as a calling and if they are lucky enough to get a 'change of pace' or 'time-off' it comes back in spades to the kids they teach.

The last thing any child needs is someone who is going through the motions. Oh man - I remember one geography teacher who was a sprite as an imp - well into his 60s and taught us all to love the science and allowed kids to write jokes about him on the chalkboard before he walked into class - and then he would casually erase it. Excited mayhem was the order of the day until he walked into class. That man knew what he was doing. Just a little thing. But he had obviously figured out that coming in a few minutes late every day - allowed for recess and firing synapses in young teens .. and really... how smart was that? Quite smart.

We forget how important these lessons from each of our teachers were. That they shared their passions with us and at times identified us as special in some way or if they were really brilliant leadershipwise - led the class alltogether from one amazing lesson (having nothing to do with French really) to the next amazing experience of their choosing.

Really - before the small business owner gets a tax break (and they do) the teachers should have the option of not working for two months a year. They put in double duty the rest of the time.

[longship]

8. Classrooms in SoCal.

In many districts here in Southern California classrooms have over 40 students. The districts justify this by spewing studies that conclude that classroom size is not correlated to quality of education. The teacher's unions here are livid about it but are powerless to fight the too powerful school boards.

A high school at which I was teaching, in an at risk district, was mainlining all 9th grade students through algebra regardless of their qualifications, and regardless of the fact that 3/4 of them were failing. This was a direct result of NCLB. The state of California has adopted a high school exit exam which requires high academic achievement in mathematics. They are going to require *all* students to take math through geometry.

In the year after I was fired (along with 5 other math teachers at my school for not being fully credentialed) the algebra failure rate increased to 92%! The firings were justified by arguing that they needed only "fully qualified" teachers. This, in spite of the fact that we were hired as intern teachers and were in the process of obtaining our credentials.

That same school is now teaching algebra classes with substitute teachers because they cannot find replacements. That means that the substitute can teach only six weeks before another sub must be put in the position. That was done the year I was first hired and the discipline in those classes was a nightmare. There was zero learning happening.

All this in the name of NCLB.

NCLB is a nightmare for our children.

[Ally McLesbian]

12. And Ahnuld is about to...

... punish teachers by making tenure that much harder.

Vote NO on all Ahnuld propositions. Punish politicians (Republican ones especially), not hardworking teachers!

[cami715]

41. California teachers should demand

that Arnold spend one week in a classroom unassisted. He would change his mind!

[ncrainbowgrrl]

46. I agree.

Except he'd probably make it into "Kindergarten Cop part II"

[jazzjunkysue]

47. End tenure, and there's only one reason to "become" a teacher:

Getting paid minimum wage to babysit and turn on the video.

By the way, that won't get your kid into Harvard. I'm just sayin'.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. 40 kids!!!

That is crazy.

And yes, NCLB is the worst thing to happen to our kids in decades.

[longship]

25. Not 40. *OVER* 40.

At my former school they are cramming *over* 40 students in a classroom. Forty was the minimum.

This is the same school which had me teaching algebra to incoming freshmen in a classroom with *no* desks, and no tables, for three months. They gave me 38 chairs. I got rid of the chairs and had the students sit on the carpetted floor. Needless to say, student attitude and discipline was near impossible. They rebelled against me because I was the figure who made them learn in a classroom without desks. When the desks finally arrived the damage had already been done. I achieved my goal of getting as many through the course as possible, but both the students and the parents were pissed. Failure rate that semester in my classes was about 3/4, about the same as it was in algebra classes throughout the rest of the math department.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

29. That's fucking stupid.

FUCKING STUPID. That should NEVER have to happen.

Fucking asshole neocons.

:banghead:
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:banghead:
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:banghead:

[Ally McLesbian]

31. No, they're not stupid

It's their game plan. De-fund and destroy public schools, because they are no longer allowed to brainwash students into the Christian death cult. Let parochial schools take over and finish the job.

There is a reason why school vouchers keep coming up.

[Coastie for Truth]

24. As a "Californian By Choice" (from PA, MI, NY, MD, LA, IL, TX, OH)

40 students in a classroom is a consequence of the "Law of Unintended Consequences", in this case when Saint Ronald Wilson Reagan (by the Grace of God) and his Two Prophets, Jarvis and Cooper had Proposition XIII revealed unto them (similar to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, Jesus' Sermon On The Mount, Mohammed's receiving the Koran, and Joseph Smith's finding the Tablets) things changed in California.

That was then end of good schooling in California

[longship]

26. As a recent CA transplant.

Would you please enlighten me about Propostion XIII?

[Coastie for Truth]

28. Limits real estate taxes

to original purchase price times a partial function of inflation since purchase. (Louisiana is the only other state with a similar provision).

And (I think) it is the basis of the super majority requirement for any tax increases.

It is the "Third Rail" of California Politics

[Ally McLesbian]

30. That's why prop tax is only 1% in California anyway

I think it needs to be progressive taxation... keep it 1% for cheaper homes, more like 1.5% or 2% for multimillion-dollar homes.

Still cheaper than 4% property taxes of other states, plus this will really help solve the school funding problem.

"Saint Ronald"... lol

[Coastie for Truth]

36. A number of states have a "sorta kind graduated" real estate tax

1. Buildings and land are assessed and taxed separately.
2. First several tens of thousands are "Tax Free Homestead"
3. In several states --

* First several tens of thousands above "Homestead" are taxed at a low rate.
* Everything above that is taxed at a higher rate.
There are "multiple brackets" in some states.

4. Some states have different rates depending on the zoning/occupancy.

Really neat - in some Northeastern states - if you have a multi-unit house with 3 or fewer rental units, one owner-occupied unit, you are a veteran or over sixty five or handicapped, and the house is within some distance of either Section 8 housing or "commercial-retail" you pay practically nothing.

[Bigmack]

9. A serious reply....

... to a satirical post.

When I started teaching... when dinosaurs walked the earth... it was a job that was high in "non-monetary rewards". Read: low pay.

The pay remained low for most of my career. I climbed the ladder of experience and got more and more education, and while my pay increased, it was always low in comparison to other jobs I could have taken. Many years my raises were well below the increase in cost of living.

Retirement plan was about the same.. decent, but nothing like the great plans outside of education.

Now times have changed, and a stable teaching position... even with low pay.. is desireable. The pay and benefits actually look good in comparison with a lot of other jobs for intelligent, educated people.

Oh, yes.. starting teachers can't buy houses in the neighborhoods where they teach, and they have monster school loans, but at least they have jobs in their chosen fields.

Their retirement plans, while wimpy, look pretty good in light of the companies bailing out on their retirement obligations.

A neighbor who flew planes for one of the bankrupt airlines is selling his large house and downsizing. His retirement is either entirely dead or badly hurt. My shitty little teacher's pension looks pretty good at this point.

I certainly agree with your post, but I find it depressing that teaching, while it hasn't become the well-paid profession it should be, has become relatively more desireable because of the sea-changes in the US job market.

[Ally McLesbian]

11. Sad, sad, sad...

Either it's a low-paying job with retirement, or a high-paying job with risky retirement.

What has brought us down to such a low level of living standards? Are we a developed country anymore? Or a Third World country where the rich are REALLY rich? I mean, we don't even have healthcare anymore - not because we can't afford it (as is the case in other Third World countries), but because the rich don't want their ideology compromised.

There are some jobs that are grossly underpaid. Teachers are definitely underpaid, considering all the education and training necessary (not to mention patience with kids and adolescents, and the role they play in shaping their lives)!

And since you mentioned pilots, they are a bit overpaid (being the greedy Republicans they often are), but the flight attendants need their pays at least doubled, considering their hard work and training! I'm willing to pay 30%-40% higher airfares if that's what it'll take to get the flight attendants paid decently.

Note that teachers and flight attendants are both overwhelmingly female... You have to love the sex discrimination.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Hey Ally

I love that name. Welcome to DU :hi:

[Ally McLesbian]

33. Thanks...

And anyone who's watched the show knows that Ally McBeal was a closet lesbian anyway. :)

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Very good point

We do have job security many others lack.

[roguevalley]

10. snicker. I think I wuv you.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Why thanks

Cute weiner dog :)

[roguevalley]

42. my tippy. he loves you too. :-D

[Jara sang]

19. The shift in job descriptions

For teachers is going from educators to social workers.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Don't stop at social workers

We are also

parents

nurses

counselors

tutors

etc

[yourout]

27. Oldest son contemplating a teaching career.

He is great with kids......would be a good teacher but he is worried about the financial side of it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. You come in to it knowing you won't get rich

My goal has always been to just be able to pay my bills. And after 26 years, I can. I live in a comfortable home, my kids went to good schools and I have a car that gets me back and forth to work. I have health care and keep food in my pantry. Once a year, I go on vacation somewhere. (This past summer I went to NC and met a fellow DUer!!)

What more does a person need?

Since I do believe there probably is more and I just don't realize it, I keep buying those powerball tickets :)

The rewards are definitely not financial, but they are great nonetheless. It is definitely a worthwhile career.

[ulysses]

34. you know I recommended it.

:) Is that you in the sig pic?

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. me and gwb

in Crawford when I went to see Cindy Sheehan. Don't you love it? :)

Thanks for the nomination.

[greenbriar]

43. I would gladly accept that salary!!! BUT...try 35 in class~

yea,