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Question......

dgb's picture

From a teacher's point of view, why is it that Little Johnny, whose parent's swear in every conference that you've had with them, NEVER does this kind of thing at home, are ALWAYS THE ONLY KIDS THAT ARE MADE TO GO TO SCHOOL THE LAST TWO DAYS OF THE YEAR WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS AT HOME? It's amazing, but I always can tell who is going to be coming to school every day until the last bell of the year sounds! Oh, and my sympathies to all of you stepmoms who get to stay home with your stepchildren for the summer. I can't tell you what a joy it is to walk through Walmart during the summer and hear parents and steps yelling at their kids. And you think TEACHERS have the good life because we have two and a half months off during the summer? How long did it take you to start yelling at your kids/steps this summer? A day? Three? I'm sorry, but we are terribly underpaid, and if you checked most of our credit scores, it would produce less than desirable results! The end of my rant. Have a happy summer! = )

Comments

DASKRA's picture

are kids not supposed to go to school the last two days? I am confused. Those were the best days to go if I remember correctly.

3familiesIn1's picture

I feel for the teacher of SS6 every day - she was amazing and boldly tried to get DH and BM to pull their heads out of their asses. Unfortunatley, she didn't succeed and their heads are still stuck. But she passed him so lucky her - no SS6 next year.

Kudos to that teacher for putting up with him.
Kudos to her for calling him on his bullshit and pointing it out almost daily to DH and BM through constant notes sent home.

Oh - and DH looking over the progress report with 17/41 items marked Falls Far Below Standard... Just so you all know - the first grade marking system is flawed and doesn't accurately reflect what SS6 really is capable of. He is not below standard - the system is wrong, its not his fault, and hopefully next year the system will work properly.

Thank you SS6's first grade teacher - you tried, I was cheering for you just so you know.

Anywho78's picture

LMBO...picturing you spending free time in Walmart during the summer just enjoying the sights & sounds!

My Skids go until the last day of school...I wasn't aware that it would be okay to keep them at home...does this annoy teachers, really?

Thank you for all you do as a teacher dgb! I dread summer...I'd hate to have to deal with some of the kids I've seen for the whole school year. Hell, my own Skids teacher is getting a pretty hefty gift card for Starbucks AND flowers (my SS was a PITA this year for her)...but now they are MINE to deal with (minus 1.5 whole weeks that their BM has them in July).

LilyBelle's picture

I am a teacher too. A lot of families opt to keep their kids out if they know they haven't missed too many days.....

I have been in the situation where I planned a nice "end of year" event for the last day, and the only kids who showed up were the ones who are hellions.... they come to school even when they have 102 temperatures because their parents can't handle them.

I had one mom in a parent conference tell me her kid never misbehaved at home. So, I suggested that since he was so out of control that he was disrupting school, perhaps the school could give him home based services. Then, she cussed me out because she doesn't want to have to deal with him at home.

People are strange.

BSgoinon's picture

My kids go to school every single day of the year. I didn't know it was customary to keep them home the last two days?? That's when they pass out report cards! :?

My hats off to teachers though! I could NEVER do that for a living. I can't even stand half of the ADULTS I work with that ACT like children!!

dgb's picture

Equifax? Experian? Transunion? You know, credit reporting agencies? Our scores are reflective of our pay unless we depend on spouse to make the money in the family.

dgb's picture

For your child's teacher, the last two days of school are spent double checking report cards, writing certificates of accomplishment, unloading everything from every flat surface in your room (our rooms are completely emptied during summer so they can wax the floors), covering computers, printers, tv's, locating lost books, making Johnny complete his math assignment that he has been working on for the last week and a half so he won't fail, returning found library books, dusting every surface in your room, packing up your desk items, stacking student desks on top of each other, and making sure everything in your room is covered and out of sight so it won't be stolen during the summer. So yes, we DO have a lot to do the last few days of school. We usually wind up using the kids that do come for physical labor to help get everything done. Yes, it's a job, but somebody has to do it. I just don't understand why we aren't paid more for educating the people who will one day be in charge of our Social Security System.

forestfairy's picture

I feel your pain. I work in the social work field and I don't get paid crap, even with a college degree and many years experience in the field. Teachers make far too little money, as do many jobs with great importance. It's our screwed up culture and way of placing value on all the wrong things.

DeeDeeTX's picture

If a school district couldn't get any teachers to work for the salary and benefits they paid, they'd have to raise the salaries or lower the requirements.

Since at least where I live, there's about a hundred people applying for every teaching job, why should they pay more?

I used to be in the military. The pay and benefits were ok, but they weren't worth all the crap I had to deal with, so I left when my time was up.

I didn't stay in, then spend my time whining about how the military was SOOOOOO unappreciated and we needed to be paid more.

Just because your job is hard, thankless, and provides a benefit to society doesn't mean you should be paid through the nose.

DeeDeeTX's picture

Jobs will only pay what the market will bear. Just because it's a hard job that you personally think should make over 35K, if there is a qualified person willing to do it for that salary, then that is all that the job should pay.

If I'm an employer, and I find two equally qualified people to do a job, I'll go with the one willing to be paid less.

Blame your fellow teaching applicants for being willing to work for peanuts as the reason you don't get paid more.

Again, just because it's a hard job that provides a public service doesn't mean it should be well paid.

Maybe the qualifications for being a teacher should be more onerous? Part of the reason there are so few, say, chemical engineers, is because so few people can handle the coursework. Maybe if they made education as difficult a degree to get as chemical engineering, the salaries would rise as the pool of available teachers would shrink. That's a thought.

DeeDeeTX's picture

Go ahead and look up chemical engineering professors. Do they have degrees in education, or chemical engineering?

I actually find it a little disturbing that an educator seemingly cannot grasp the concepts of supply and demand and market forces.

You are not being underpaid. You are being paid what you're being paid because that's what the market will support. The degree to which you perceive your job to be hard is absolutely immaterial. We don't pay people based on how hard they think their jobs are.

dgb's picture

Paid through the nose? I'd be happy just being paid through one nostril! Chill out DeeDee, this was meant as a humorous post. Sorry, but tomorrow is my last day of school and you're not capable of getting on even one of my nerves right now. CHEERS!!

dgb's picture

We have one day, which is tomorrow. It will be spent in faculty meetings, grade level meetings, retirement lunch, etc. It is impossible to get everything done in one day. After tomorrow the air conditioning will be turned off for the summer......hot and humid! Yuck! The high temperature today was 93.....

dgb's picture

Our student's parents have to come to the school to pick up the report cards on the last day to make sure they actually see the report card and are aware of whether or not their child has passed or failed.

imjustthemaid's picture

My DD10 loves the last day of school. They bring home their report cards and on it it tells them who their teacher is for the next year. I do not envy the teachers at all. DD10's teacher has the patience of a saint. I brought BD3 with me to one of the school nights and she was so good with her and took time to show her things around the room and even taught her how to use the smartboard!!

stormabruin's picture

Yep, for the last 4 years or so my raise/bonus has come in the form of taking on the work of those they lay off & the opportunity to keep my job.

3familiesIn1's picture

Yep - we outsourced 40 people and kept 3. Those 3 basically inherited the jobs of the 40 they laid off to outsource becuase the oursourced people were junior, no experience.

I quit and now contract back offering my expertise at 4Xs the hourly rate they could have kept on as an employee along with my co-workers if they hadn't outsourced to save money. Eventually the outsourced folks will get trained (year 5 on that) but what they are finding is once trained - they leave for higher paying jobs - LMFAO

I'll continue as long as they find reasons to use my experitise for the 'heavy lifting' tasks as they call it.

DeeDeeTX's picture

If people think they are being overworked and underpaid, then they can go get a job somewhere else that will presumably pay them correctly for their talents.

If they wouldn't be able to quit and find higher paying work elsewhere, then....they are probably not being underpaid.

I would agree they might perceive they are being underpaid, but perception is a lot different from reality. If the market says you won't be able to find another higher paying job elsewhere, then you are not underpaid.

herewegoagain's picture

So, you don't have two months off in the summer?

PS - most people today need two incomes to make ends meet...not just teachers

PS - and with your comment about special needs kids, THANK GOD I homeschool...it is because of "underpaid" teachers like you that I do...the same ones who later complain that "they have it so hard and want people's sympathy"...you can't even have sympathy for special needs kids who had NO CHOICE how they were born, but you made a decision to be a teacher and want sympathy? Just in awe.

herewegoagain's picture

PS - I worked at a daycare and had the after school age kids (ages 6-12 back then!) ...for over 8 years. Guess what that pays? A heck of a lot less. Guess what? I did have to deal with changing diapers when moved to the little ones room and then the ADHD kid who kicked me so many times it wasn't even funny...and you know what? I still did it and loved my job and the kids...not once did I complain about the pay.

herewegoagain's picture

In Texas a starting salary for a teacher is 33,775...for working 187 days a year. That is 180.50 per day for work.
Most jobs in Texas have only 1 week for when you start off, some for the first 5 years...that means that most people that are NOT teachers have to work 255 days a year starting out in a job. If they made the same "peanuts" as a teacher, that would mean they would make 46027.50 a year. You know what? I bet you anything that there are thousands of people out there that make less than that. The AVERAGE income in Texas is 42,500...guess what? Yes, teachers technically make more than the average person in Texas. Of course, we don't even get into the fact that teachers in Texas contribute to their own pension, instead of social security and when they retire they are elligible for THEIR FULL pension plus 1/2 of their spouse's social security. Most of us, making the same or less than a teacher, when WE retire will only get either OUR FULL social security or 1/2 of our spouses, but NOT both.

In addition, most teachers do NOT have to pay daycare at 1K a week or more in many cases the time that their kids are out of school, as normally, so is the teacher mom or dad. Most people making that 42,500 DO have to pay daycare and deduct it from that 42,500 for all the time the kids are not in school.

dgb's picture

Not sure where you're getting your information regarding teachers not having to pay for day care. My boys are 17 and 19, and I PAID FOR DAYCARE TOO!!!! Back then I paid $800/month. Sorry a few of you managed to twist my initial post into a b----fest. Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder unless you choose to turn everything you see into something ugly that you can rant about. Get a grip ladies. Obviously, some of us have some misplaced aggression that needs to be applied elsewhere. I've noticed that it only takes one person to "put someone in their place" on this site, and the rest of the pack of wolves come running to rip off a piece for themselves too. This is supposed to be a site where people come for support or just to talk, not where you have to apply Neosporin and gauze after you post a comment. Try to have a good night.

3familiesIn1's picture

easy is not the word I would use. I don't know how you guys do it, attending the poem reading for my BD7 almost had me slitting my wrists to get out - lol

your patience is something I would kill to have an ounce of...