teachers are overpaid?

[tonksy]

kind of a tongue in cheek kind of email i got.....damn shame really....

Teachers' Pay

Teachers are paid too much! I'm fed up with teachers and their hefty salaries for only 9 months work! What we need here is a little perspective. If I had my way, I'd pay teachers babysitting wages.

That's right. Instead of paying these outrageous taxes, I'd give them $3.00 an hour. And, I'm only going to pay them for 5 hours, not 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. Even if they have more than one child, it's still cheaper than private daycare.

Now how many children do they teach a day - maybe 20? That's $15.00 x 20 = 300.00 a day. But remember, they only work 180 days a year! I'm not going to pay them for all the vacations: $300.00 x 180 =$54,000. (Just a minute my calculator must need batteries.)

What will teachers say about those who have 10 years of experience and a master's degree? Well, maybe (just to be fair) they could get the minimum wage. We can round that off to about $6.00 an hour, times 5 hours, times 20 children. $6.00 x 5 x 20. That's $600 a day times 180 days. That's only $108,000.

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

 

[Gonz]

They're working on it.

Teachers salaries

 

[Rose]

Man, Fox23 local news reported last night how the state of Oklahoma is basically screwing the teachers.

From what I gather, the State offered teachers who took their certification tests and passed - they would receive an additional $5,000 a year for ten years.

However, now the State is saying they can't afford this promise.

Why? Apparently the State didn't anticipate so many teachers taking, and passing, the national certification. So many teachers, in fact, that Oklahoma is now ranked 8th in Nationally Certified Teachers (or something along those lines).

Bastards. I hope they raise money somehow, these teachers worked hard for the testing and it cost somewhere in the range of about $2,000 (pd by the teacher taking the test) not to mention their time.

Grrrr

 

[Uki Chick]

Teachers nowadays deal with a lot more stress and such than they use to. A good friend of mine is a teacher. She has kids that try to hit her, they swear and yell at her, throw things, half of them are on medication for ADHD, it's crazy. I have a lot of respect for what she does. It's not an easy job. I myself teach dancing to kids. The parents drop them off and expect us to discipline them. It's crazy!

 

[Gonz]

Teachers nowadays deal with a lot more stress and such than they use to. A good friend of mine is a teacher. She has kids that try to hit her, they swear and yell at her, throw things, half of them are on medication for ADHD, it's crazy. I have a lot of respect for what she does. It's not an easy job. I myself teach dancing to kids. The parents drop them off and expect us to discipline them. It's crazy!

But, if you actually do discipline them, you'll get sued. We need to teach our kids to respect authority (did I just say that???) & allow the teachers to handle the problem. We don't, they can't, too bad.

 

[CydCharisse]

teachers deserve to be paid more than they are now. Being a teacher is probably the hardest job in the world. Their responsible for the future (the kids)

 

[Uki Chick]

But, if you actually do discipline them, you'll get sued. We need to teach our kids to respect authority (did I just say that???) & allow the teachers to handle the problem. We don't, they can't, too bad.

Exactly. We get the parents giving us crap for yelling at their child or something, but they're not around to do the job themselves. Then, the older they get, the less respect they have for authority. I'm not old, but I expect my students to listen to what I say and not give me attitude. My husband thinks I'm too hard on them at times, but I'm not gonna let some punk kid tell me to fuck off or something either.

 

[paul_valaru]

Exactly. We get the parents giving us crap for yelling at their child or something, but they're not around to do the job themselves. Then, the older they get, the less respect they have for authority. I'm not old, but I expect my students to listen to what I say and not give me attitude. My husband thinks I'm too hard on them at times, but I'm not gonna let some punk kid tell me to fuck off or something either.

to hard? I've seen you teach, I'd beat the kids to death.

I think you need to be harder, and start telling them to go home when they act up, that way the parents are punished too, and maybe the stupid parents will teach them what respect is.

 

[Gonz]

Nice thought Paul. In todays world you'd get sued for violation of the contract & the parents would win 540 gazillion dollars & Uki would have to be their maid-servant for life.

 

[paul_valaru]

Nice thought Paul. In todays world you'd get sued for violation of the contract & the parents would win 540 gazillion dollars & Uki would have to be their maid-servant for life.

2 things

1. Canada...law suits are not as a common thing.

2. no contract, no nothing, she volenteers her time, nobody makes any real money out of this. And send them home for the night, "suspend" them in a sense.

these kid she teaches aren't PROBLEM kids, they are just spoiled brats

 

[Uki Chick]

these kid she teaches aren't PROBLEM kids, they are just spoiled brats

Ain't that the truth. Unfortunately, sending them home is easier said than done. we have them sit on the benches until they cool down and such, but that doesn't always help either. The parents don't care though. We've spoken to them in the past, numerous times and they don't do anything about it.

 

[outside looking in]

While I also feel that good teachers should be paid more, I can't help but think of the age old saying:

If you can't.... teach.

Meaning if you aren't capable of doing anything else, you can always teach. Now, I know there are a lot of teachers who chose that profession because they have a genuine desire to educate others. But I can't help but think of all my friends in college that majored in education. Almost all of these were about as sharp as a bowling ball. I mean, they took classes called "real numbers" and really struggled (I had to tutor several). Struggled to do simple word problems and add three numbers together. Same for many of their other classes.

And if this is in any way representative of the intelligence and quality of teachers that will be educating my children... I should want to pay them more because....???

I'm pretty torn on the issue. On the one hand, elementary ed. degrees are waaaay too easy to get. Practically anyone can graduate college with an elementary ed. degree. So it attracts people not intelligent enough to pass in other areas of study. On the other hand, current salaries are so low that most people of greater intelligence won't go anywhere near the profession, because they know they can earn twice that doing something else. Chicken and egg, I suppose.

Which part must be addressed first? I say do them both at the same time, through a certification program similar to the one Oklahoma screwed their teachers on. A certification that is very demanding, but passing it earns a substantial increase in salary. Additionally, up the standards in education departments around the country and include the certification as part of the curriculum, such that new teachers coming out of college are already "certified" (I know, there is already a certification process in place for new teachers, but it is too easy and means nothing regarding expected wages... it is something they all must pass anyway).

In short, make the degree much more difficult to get, and increase the wages substantially for any new teachers who earn the more difficult degree. Offer a retroactive certification test for existing teachers so that they can qualify for the increased wages. For existing teachers too dumb to pass, tough cookies... you'll still earn what you always did.

 

[freako104]

can you kick the bad kids out of your dance class? i dont think they are paid enough and not taken seriously enough. But there are teachers who get the respect of the kids and these teachers are usually considered the best as they know what htey are doing, relate to the kids, and are willing to take control if need be. and parents as gonz said need to teach their kids to respect authority. question it but not disrespect it

 

[Uki Chick]

can you kick the bad kids out of your dance class?

If they really cause a problem, we can. We did kick one out a couple of years ago. It's hard though. We gave a warning to another last week, but this time it wasn't a child, but an adult.

 

[paul_valaru]

If they really cause a problem, we can. We did kick one out a couple of years ago. It's hard though. We gave a warning to another last week, but this time it wasn't a child, but an adult.

ahhh yes, the freak

(no offense freako)

 

[PT]

 

[freako104]

ahhh yes, the asshole

(no offense freako)

thats better none taken but dont affiliate me with the jerk

 

[rrfield]

While I also feel that good teachers should be paid more, I can't help but think of the age old saying:

If you can't.... teach.
...
But I can't help but think of all my friends in college that majored in education. Almost all of these were about as sharp as a bowling ball. I mean, they took classes called "real numbers" and really struggled (I had to tutor several). Struggled to do simple word problems and add three numbers together. Same for many of their other classes.

God, how true...

 

[MrBishop]

Have a freid who works there

Average starting (unionized) salary for a truck driver for Molson (the beer maker).

$57,600.00/year plus 3 weeks vacation.

A fuckin' truck driver!

Teachers should be making $75k in comparison. Either that...or the drivers should be at min.wage plus $2/hr...no more.

 

[Gonz]

A fuckin' truck driver!

Excuuuuuse meeeee. Without us, you'd have to drive to the factories or the coast to get your shit. Without us leaving our families for days or weeks at a time you'd have no car to drive to teh factories or the coast to get your shit. Without our ability to drive over 100,000,000 miles without accidents, you'd have no gas to put in the car that a truck driver brought to a place near you to go to astore to get EVERYTHING you use.