Teacher's Salaries....my perspective...you decide

Great quote to think about...."my goal as a teacher is to become obsolete to my student".

Recently, we've been reading, in the News-Sun, comments about the teacher’s pay in the Northeastern Local School District. With the number of days a teacher works, getting their summers off, all of the holidays and other benefits, it appears the consensus is that teachers are grossly overpaid. Having never been a teacher, but being around them for the past many years, I researched some of the responsibilities and expectations of teachers in general and compared these responsibilities to their earnings.

Next to School Board members, it is perceived that "teachers have the cushiest and highest paying jobs around. Also, they make way too much money for what they do and don’t produce any goods or services that will benefit the public. Unlike those who work in manufacturing or service industries that make a product or provide a service that people want, teachers only work nine months out of the year, and then only about five or six hours a day. They get off for every holiday and those “calamity days” off is free money! It is obvious teachers get paid way too much."

It is a universal fact that people should get paid according to their responsibilities and expectations. The more responsibility an employee has and the more they are expected to do, then it is concluded the more they should earn. The average pay of a teacher, nationwide, is about $47,000.

I’ve often heard, from the general public, that "teachers are nothing more than baby sitters, and I think their pay is way too much".

So, with that theory in mind,(and tongue-in-cheek), let's say that each parent should have to pay the teacher a babysitter’s wages of say $4.00 an hour. That’s right, instead of paying them these outrageous salaries we are paying them, let’s pay them for what they actually do….babysit.

Now, I’m only paying them for the time they spend with my kid, not coffee breaks. So they will get $4.00 an hour for the 6 hours they have my child. Oh, and by the way, I’ve listed some responsibilities they should have, and the expectations I have as a parent.

So, let’s calculate how much a teacher should earn. I will give them a baby sitter's pay of $4.00 a hour for 6 hours. That comes to $24.00 a day. At $24.00 a day, that's less than I could afford day care! On the average a teacher will teach 25 children, some may have 30 depending on the school district. But we will use a classroom of 25 children. That means a teacher will get paid $600.00 a day. (I can see the eyes of teachers lighting up already).

Remember they only work 180 days a year. I’m not paying them for their summers off, or weekends, or vacation days…just the 180 days they have my child. So the teacher with 25 students will get $600.00 a day times 180 days which amounts to $108,000.00 a year! Where do I sign up! No one is worth $108 grand for 9 mmonths!

Seriously, let’s look at the basic responsibilities and expectations of a teacher. I found these responsibilities and expectations from a website by Judy Lightfoot titled "The Multiplying Duties of a Classroom Teacher". I have added some items and emphasis to the list.

A classroom teacher is responsible for:

(1). Prepare for classes in two or more different courses of instruction,
(2). Teach classes, which means engaging creatively, emotionally and
intellectually with one’s student and with different groups of young people
many times a week,
(3). thoughtfully design, read, and mark paper assignments, tests, and homework,
(4). Prepare for and conduct academic conferences with students,
(5). Develop a strong and, if possible, warm working relationship with each
student, while adapting to each student’s different personality, home life,
attitude and emotional stability,
(6). Assess student’s achievement, track student progress, and keep accurate up
to date records,
(7). Write midterm and end-term comments for each student’s parents and permanent
file,
(8). Do academic research and keep up with developments in one’s subject area,
(9). Work on improving teaching strategies,
(10). Update and refresh course content,
(11). Post and publish student work; put up classroom bulletin board displays,
(12). Deal with minor everyday exigencies – e.g., send home assignments for sick or absent students, or cope with missing student homework, late book arrivals
and minor technology snafus,
(13). Catch students up after absences such as illnesses, family crises, school
trips, and other issues that has kept a child out of school, and if the
child had been through an emotional experience, the teacher must be able to
calm and get through the child’s emotional issue without further damaging
the child,
(14). Track attendance in one’s classes,

IN ADDITION, NEW RESPONSIBILITIES HAVE BEEN ADDED:

(15). Teach a mix of long and short class periods,
(16). Design and implement collaborative and other student-centered learning
experiences in the classroom,
(17). explicitly address issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality while
trying to communicate with those who may not fully understand or speak the
English language, or whose demeanor is fragile,
(18). Infuse multicultural topics and materials into curriculum and instruction,
(19). Address the different learning styles of students in general,
(20). Address the diagnosed learning disabilities of particular students,
(21). Teach students whose prior schooling consisted of miscellaneous “projects”
instead of coherent curriculums of study,
(22). Teach students who read less now and who have read less in the past,
(23). Teach more students who are emotionally needy because more families are
under stress and fewer parents have time for parenting,
(24). Teach students who are distracted and confused by a chaotic, media-driven
culture, and who are not held to standards of ethics or civility at school
or elsewhere,
(25). Use constantly changing new technologies,
(26). Deal with major technology problems – e.g., lost files due to program
failures; viruses nonfunctioning servers; e-mail failures; hardware
malfunctions; idiosyncrasies and incompatibilities in the system; confusing
or contradictory training; overworked and unavailable tech staff; and
machine shortages in the district,
(27). Write an annual self-assessment for Principal, AND,
(28). they must attain a Master’s Degree within a certain period of time.

In addition to all of these responsibilities, parents have the following expectations:

(1). Design and lead special school wide projects,
(2). Check with their students daily; connect with each student’s parents; be
liaison for student, teacher and parents as needed,
(3). Attend their student’s school sports events, art performances, and other
exhibitions,
(4). Chair a department, be a college counselor, or lead a major faculty
committee or student activity,
(5). Chaperone some student social activities,
(6). Supervise 1 or 2 library study halls per week or more often,
(7). Prepare for and attend Open Houses for their schools and other parent nights
as required,
(8). Help move rummage into the sale area and guide groups of students doing the
same,
(9). Write recommendation letters for students,
(10). be an active adult presence on campus and share in ad hoc disciplining of
students,
(11). Spend informal time with students,
(12). Spend time with alumni–letters, calls, conversation during their campus
visits,
(13). Have phone conversations with parents…on the parent’s time frame,
(14). Respond to Principals and Superintendents demands,
(15). Attend monthly faculty meetings,
(16). Attend department meetings,
(17). Attend student review sessions on demand,
(18). Meet with parents, administrators, advisers, counselor, and /or skills
staff when asked,
(19). occasionally supervise a student’s course of independent study, or a senior
project,
(20). Contribute to the summer reading list.

ADD TO THIS LIST THE NEWEST EXPECTATIONS:

(21). Participate in extended, formalized teacher evaluation processes,
(22). Conserve paper, and guide students in paper conservation,
(23). Recycle paper, cans, plastic, and glass, and lead students in the recycling process,
(24). Lead or otherwise participate in student-led days of special activities,
(25). Nurture student leadership, participation and initiative by involving
students in major aspects of decision making,
(26). Attend one more faculty meeting monthly,
(27). Attend Student Court hearings on demand,
(28). Attend the 9th grade family Saturday or chaperone a class retreat in the
fall, winter or spring,
(29). Help newly admitted freshman students and their parent’s sign up for an
appropriate course load and be responsible for getting it correct the first
time,
(30). Respond to dozens of daily phone and e-mail messages and requests,
(31). Share in responsibility for increased campus security and disaster
readiness without scaring children,
(32). Enlist a colleague to co-chaperone every off-campus student activity,
(33). Respond to requests from parent groups,
(34). Respond to directives from increasing numbers of administrators, Boards of
Education, legislators and the Department of Education,
(35). Serve on major task forces, on urgent focus groups, and on increasing
numbers and kinds of committees,
(36). Hold an individual conference and attend a dinner with new students
parents,
(37). Attend regular meeting of department members from both division of K-6 and
7-12 schools, AND as a parent,
(38). Keep your personal views to yourself unless they are the same as mine.

If you’ve taken the time to read this far, then I would ask if you would be capable of fulfilling these responsibilities and expectations for the salary a teacher makes. Compare these with your own job that you punch into at 8AM and punch out at 5PM. Your problems at work may be a product or service issue. With a teacher, it is a child whose future may be affected by what happened at school or will happen at home. For that child, did I cause that "light" come on, or was the darkness still there. Did I allow that student to reach beyond the lesson to search for the truth and better understanding.

Was I able to become obsolete to my student?