If teachers just worked an 8 hour day, your student would get:

[Playinghardball]

[pkdu]

1. As the spouse of a local college professor ....A - Fuckin - Men.

Oh , and non- tenured etc, so paid by the class-hour.

[RC]

2. Most people have no idea what goes into being a good teacher.

Or the education, on the teacher's own dime that they need to get, just to keep their job.

[freshwest]

3. Teachers create community bonds that span generations into the future. n/t

[ashling]

10. Great point!

[roody]

4. No family literacy night

No family game night

[liberal_at_heart]

5. K&R

[Michigan-Arizona]

6. K&R n/t

[JI7]

7. and this shouldn't happen but we see in recent years teachers who give their lives

to protect students. in every school shooting that has happened every single teacher who was there would put their own lives at risk to save the students.

[Eleanors38]

8. Thanks for revealing the myth of teachers not working enough.

[gLibDem]

9. As the father of a newly minted teacher,

and the brother of a long-time teacher, and the son of the greatest teacher to serve the public, I can assure you that no teacher works a mere eight hours a day.

This is why I toil the private sector, where I can earn more, working less, and having zero impact on the future of humanity.

[renate]

18. yay for the teachers in your family

I think good, dedicated teachers are AMAZING. I honestly don't know how they do what they do, because as a loving but realistic parent I can honestly say that even the best kids can be a huge pain in the butt sometimes--they're just kids, after all. I think teachers have a special awesomeness chromosome.

[gLibDem]

19. Very kind words! And I agree, there must be a teaching chromosome.

[joeglow3]

11. Do many people really think they don't work 8 hours?

I have yet to meet a professional who works 8 hour days. Last year our company had a huge acquisition and I worked a shit ton two months straight (actually put in 127 hours in one week).

[davidpdx]

12. Very true

My teachers in school always worked long hours and I'm sure they brought work home with them as well. While not all of them were outstanding, the ones who were made a hell of a difference in who I am today: a doctoral candidate.

[kcr]

13. When I see teachers get bashed on, it especially makes me upset

For that reason. And what our country is doing to the profession with union busting and the school reform nonsense is the biggest travesty.

[Beartracks]

14. Is it any wonder that the idea of teachers as overpaid whiny moochers...

... finds fertile ground with so many Republicans? To support that notion, you'd have to have been a slacker that never appreciated the efforts of any of your teachers... and those are exactly the kind of people who find a home in the party that discourages education.

============================

[world wide wally]

15. As a teacher, all I ever really wanted was "adult" wages.

[roguevalley]

16. I remember before conferences my partner and I once went in Saturday at 6 am and didnt

leave until 2 am the next morning. I remember jotting down the number of extra hours I was at school and gave up when it passed 1000

[joeglow3]

21. I hope you found a new job

Clearly teaching, like any profession, is not a 40 hour a week job. However, of all the teachers I know, I have never met one who worked over 80 hours EVERY week. I pray you got out of that district and found a different one.

[LWolf]

22. It's not a 40 hour a week job,

but that's generally what our contract calls for. The catch-22: the contract sets hours and duties, and the duties can't be completed during contractual hours.

All of those extra hours outside our contractual day are unpaid. I average 60 - 70 hours a week for 40 paid hours, plus another 3 unpaid weeks over the summer. If we showed up when our contractual day started and went home when it ended without taking work with us, that poster in the OP is exactly what you'd get. Public education rides on the backs of our extra, unpaid work while we are publicly crucified.

[joeglow3]

25. ALL members of the union need to unify

And work only under the terms of the contact. So long as you are willing to put in the extra hours, they will continue to take from you.

[LWolf]

26. There would have to be an organized movement

at the district level for that to happen. It won't work a few teachers at a time, because if we stop working outside our contractual hours, our contract won't be renewed. I've had this conversation for decades now. My current union leadership doesn't support a movement like this. They are all about "compromise." Just like the white house.

[nikto]

17. Note to America:

Don't let your boys and girls grow up to be teachers.







You wouldn't want them to marry an abusive partner, would you?

You wouldn't want them to move to a country ruled by a corrupt dictator, would you?


Then why would you want them to work in an abusive job, in a field that is
being degraded and dismantled, daily?



Sorry, but that's just the truth.



Don't let your boys and girls grow up to be teachers.

Not if you love them.

[B Calm]

20. K&R

[LWolf]

23. Thank you, and

the person holding that sign.

[sammytko]

24. Don't some get stipends for the after school activities?

I'm in Texas. My niece is the sponsor for two different after school activities and gets paid for that. My first spouse was a coach - stipends and extra pay for that also depending on the sport.

They also have a free period for doing their grading etc and a conference period for meeting with parents or other things.

[SusanCalvin]

29. Oh my gosh

I'd been just reading, but I had to create an account just to reply.

The "free period" is 50 minutes, in which you send and receive emails, make calls, attend meetings, make copies, grade papers, prepare lessons, etc., etc., etc. You don't finish everything you have to do in your "free period."

Oh, and the "free period" and "conference period" are one and the same.

Yes, some people get stipends for activities, but they work out to well under minimum wage for the hours spent. Example: A UIL (academic contests) sponsor gets around $400 for the year. A whole $400 for the entire year. I'd say most sponsors put in at least 80 extra hours for that over the course of the year, some a lot more.

The coaches' stipend looks pretty large, until you look at the hours they put in, the responsibility for transporting and supervising their teams, and the paperwork involved in same.

Most teachers sponsor at least one club, for which they do *not* get paid.

And teachers are always getting emails begging for help with this or that activity, always unpaid.

I don't know what your niece gets paid, but I'd bet it's not enough. If it is, I'd sure like to know what school district.

[progressoid]

30. Welcome Susan

As a child of teachers, I can attest that most additional work goes unpaid.

[SusanCalvin]

31. Thanks and hi!

[narnian60]

32. Thank you for responding to this.

I am a retired teacher in Texas and wanted to respond to this poster but didn't have the time (or desire come to think of it) to stand up once again for teachers.

[sammytko]

33. I was in a teacher training program just two years ago

I was going to teach middle school math. Had to spend 80 hrs a semester in a classroom . This was before even student teaching.

[SusanCalvin]

39. Yep.

It does get old, does it not?

[sammytko]

35. By the free period, of course they would take care of school related issues.

I should have said, no classroom time. Here they have the conference and " free" time as two separate things. And lunch of course.

One of my nieces stipends is 2500. We are in a very poor district.

[SusanCalvin]

37. Really?

Could you please name the district? The working conditions and pay you cite seem so far from the norm. If this exists in TX, I would sure like to know where.

And lunch "of course"? I have maybe 20 minutes by the time I've chased the kids to the cafeteria, choked it down, and gotten back to the room before they return.

Please tell us all where this "poor district" in TX actually is.

[vi5]

27. Bingo! (N/T)

[DetlefK]

28. Four former classmates of mine are teachers. First-hand-experiences:

1. It takes about as long to prepare a lesson as it takes to teach it later to the kids. Especially new teachers will spend long evenings preparing new material.

2. Even if you carefully prepared the lesson, there is no guarantee you will be able to deliver it to the kids in time and the way you wanted.


And as a bonus:
3. 14-16 year-old boys have a really hard time concentrating during school. This especially irritated the female teachers at the beginning.

[KittyWampus]

34. Teachers have to bring in the FREAKING SUPPLIES FOR CRAFT PROJECTS NOW

both my parents were teachers. My mom taught little kids and did lots and lots of crafts with them.

These days, teachers have to bring in the supplies themselves.

It is appalling.

[jimlup]

36. Er yeah sometimes I wonder if I ever get to punch out...

seems like you have to be on 24/7 sometimes of the year.

[lindysalsagal]

38. I just spent 3 hours on school work. Teacher.

They deserve it.

[Lifelong Protester]

40. That sign is from a Madison protest

I took a picture of it then, because no truer words have been spoken.

We get looked down on, bashed, constantly reminded that we are 'over paid' and even told by our Secretary of Education that we are the "bottom of the barrel". Great.

[roody]

41. My experience is that teaching consumes one.

It is a vocation. I love it, and I am blessed with a union shop job.