Teaching Not A 'Part Time Job,' In Case You Were Wondering

The Wisconsin budget battle has provided an occasion for people to say a lot of wrongheaded things about the teaching profession -- such as the contention that teachers are too generously paid for a "part-time job" with a long summer vacation. "Daily Show" viewers will recall host Jon Stewart ridiculing such arguments. But how about hearing from a teacher at the heart of the conflict? Over at the Awl, Abe Sauer speaks to one who provides some much-needed clarity on this labor-intensive profession:

As a teacher whose husband works in the private sector, I try to keep an open mind about how "outsiders" perceive the teaching profession. There is some merit, I suppose, to the arguments that teachers deserve cuts because they only work nine months a year, and have pretty appealing benefits for working in a profession that doesn't "immediately affect public safety and well-being"--something I hear so often. However, as a teacher, I work seven days a week (averaging 10-12 hours a day) to ensure that my students are exposed to relevant, rigorous and engaging lesson plans and substantive qualitative and quantitative feedback. In addition, my summer breaks are always consumed with courses, workshops, trainings and professional development (that I pay for) in order to improve my teaching skills. When I graduate with my masters degree in Education this Spring, I will enroll in another graduate level program to earn another certification in order to remain marketable in a job where contract renewal is rather tenuous. The vast majority of the time, I come home feeling like I have made a positive impact on the lives of young people; this, not the benefits, is why I went into teaching. It's an indescribable feeling, how much I love my job. I don't think that I can put it into words; I don't know many teachers that can. But I wish that more parents and community members would take advantage of my open invitation to visit my classroom. Just as I would never make assumptions about another's profession, I contend that it is a sign of ignorance for anyone to make judgments about the quality and value of my profession unless they truly have an understanding of the pedagogical and personal skills I utilize every day.

Emphasis mine, because I don't think it's widely known how often and how hard teachers work at obtaining new certifications and skills, not just to advance in their careers, but to maintain them.

In some circles, it's held as an article of faith that six-figure salaries and generous compensation packages are vital to attracting "the top talent."

RELATED:
A Wisconsin Teacher on Teaching After Unions [The Awl]

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Comments

[Jon Polm]

03:40 PM on 04/03/2011

Well said!!! My father and three uncles are educators and ALL are extremely dedicated and passionate teachers. Speaking from behalf of the son of a teacher, teaching is a very full-time job. My mom was a nurse in the ER in Tacoma, then a surgeon's nurse since. My father consistantly worked FAR more than my mother, with the ONLY exception being the summers, where he was in nearly always at training conferences for the 2 months of break. It really angers me to see folks attempting to punish teachers for their incredible service.

The only thing preventing me from considering a career in education is the lack of funding, and the low wages/high hours. I would never be able to pay of my student loans.

[uvymopka]

03:01 PM on 03/25/2011

A claim that Wisconsin ranks second in combined SAT and ACT scores is based on 12-year-old data and flawed methodology. Even the author of that report says it shouldn’t be taken "too seriously."

[Wisco-libertarian]

10:31 PM on 03/23/2011

And I'm from Wisco, and I can name plenty of teachers who sit around all summer. There are great teachers out there, but there are also terrible ones who abuse the system by letting the unions use their muscle.

[sarajames2]

10:36 PM on 03/28/2011

And please tell me where you are that enables you to "name" so many teachers who sit around all summer? I was a teacher for over 32 years,and can not "name" plenty that sat around all summer. But if they did so What??? Teachers work hard all year and deserve the rest. However, I can remember few summers in which I did not have to teach summer school, attend workshops, or take a summer course. The summers this was not required you bet I got a good rest for the first weeks, yes I said weeks. After that it was time to work on projects so that I would be organized for the fall.

Teachers work hard all school year and should not feel guilty for relaxing in the summer. You worked for it and deserve it.

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

04:16 PM on 03/31/2011

Sara
Sorry to get back to you so late, end of quarter, etc. I started public school teaching late in my career. Prior to that I was a corporate trainer. One of the things we told our sales reps was that "A lie left unchallenged becomes the truth." so I have been on an little adventure to protect the truth about teaching. I am glad that I have inspired you, but each of us knows our true inspiration comes in the classroom. Keep up the good work. The students know who makes a difference in their lives and in many cases we are the only adult that cares about them.

[DEStern]

09:22 PM on 03/23/2011

I found teaching classes of 40 to be a huge burden, and not in the students' interest. It is bad pedagogy, but many are being forced into it by the cuts to education. I found that it was a sure sign of the low interest in advancing our children's future while billions are being poured into wars and tax breaks for the rich and the corporations. I would like to think that America's leadership would uphold the public interest to a much greater degree than that. I'm also sorry at the readiness of people to attack the teaching profession (how many are qualified to professionally assess the teaching profession?). Teaching can be very demanding and requires additional schooling (often additional years and funds put into masters and doctoral degrees), and thus teaching salaries, which are at best decent middle class wages, are genuinely earned. University professors need their summers for research which is required of their profession, some teach summer school. Sad to see teachers being begrudged what they've earned. Better to foster smaller class sizes, respect the teaching profession, and give everyone greater opportunity through following the model of countries such as Finland which are ahead of the U.S. in public education. In fact, the U.S. is not even in the top ten for education. More education means more creativity, more opportunity for the children. Aren't they worth society's support, or do we really want leaders who favor only the military and corporations?

[LDF]

07:23 PM on 03/23/2011

I was wondering why HP kept this thread going for so long, but then I realized HP was doing it as a service to the psychiatric profession. It allows all the h8ters to vent their spleen about something the know nothing about (but they think they know everything about) without doing any physical damage to anything.

[SangZe]

10:13 AM on 03/23/2011

Teaching is overpaid babysitting, thanks to the politicians you elected into office.

[Ortho Stice]

11:45 PM on 03/23/2011

Written by someone who got F's in high school, no doubt. It's always the bitter slackers who make the most noise.

[teachohio]

12:28 PM on 03/24/2011

Overpaid babysitting? What is the going rate for a babysitter these days? 5 bucks an hour per kid? Do know what, as a teacher I'll give you the bargain rate $3 an hour per kid. Let's do the math on this. $3 an hour per kid x 100 students, I see each student one hour per day. So I should make about $300 dollars a day. $300 x 180 day school year = $54,000 per year. I only make $38,000 at my teaching/babysitting job not including the countless hours every night and weekend I spend grading papers and planning lessons for my students (not to mention the tens of thousands spent on gaining my degrees and mandatory continuing education credits). Who is an overpaid babysitter? Certainly not me.

[sarajames2]

08:08 PM on 03/28/2011

As. a teacher you deserve respect. Just a thought for those who do think teachers are over paid: A person who runs a daycare center only has to take a three week program to open a center in their home and charge $150.00 a week for a baby. Let us just say the center has 10 babies. They then make $1500.00 a week, and $6000.00 a month. Now if the center has the ten babies for a year that is a whopping $ 72,000 a year. Yes that center owner must have additional help which are paid the minimum wage of what 7 or 8 dollars an hour.BUT if the center has extra help they can also MORE children of preschool age, and after school care and make over $100.000 a year.

NOW JUST COMPARE WHAT THE DAY CARE CENTER OWNER WILL MAKE WITH "3 WEEKS OF TRAINING TO THE TEACHER WHO HAS AT LEAST 4 YEARS OF COLLEGE AND HAS MAYBE 30 KIDS IN HIS/HER CARE?

As DESern said in a few blogs before me aren't our young children worth our support?

[IUAlumna]

06:40 PM on 03/22/2011

The impulse to defend themselves must be irresistible, but teachers need to stop overselling the job they do before they lose all credibility. People are not stupid. They know that all teachers do not work 10 hours a day seven days a week. They know that for every teacher crowding her summer with professional activities there are many others earning extra money painting houses or being home with their kids who are also on summer break. The holier-than-thou strategy will not work, unless the goal is to annoy taxpayers, many of whom work 10-hour days themselves all year long. I support teachers and vote in favor referendums, etc., but even I roll my eyes when I read things like this.

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

03:32 PM on 03/23/2011

I understand what you are saying, but prior to becoming a public school teacher, I did sales training. One of the things we always stressed was, "A lie left unchallenged becomes the truth." Sadly there are individuals who believe evertything from fox news, beck, limbaugh, hannity and the other talking heads. ""Thug, lazy, and part-timer or not exactly morale builders, when you are working underscale for the education required and dealing with issues that would rip your heart out. Most teachers take pride in their profession and their contribution to enlighten the next generation. It's about respect. No one is fighting the battle for us, so we are fighting the battle ourselves.

[Ortho Stice]

11:53 PM on 03/23/2011

I am writing this at 10:46 p.m. I just finished composing an essay test, my last task of the day. I took two hours off for dinner and a quick nap after getting home at 6 p.m. from my cushy 8-3:30 job.

Roll your eyes all you want, but this is the life of just about everyone that I know, at least in my district.

By the way, did you ever consider that teachers might make extra money painting houses because they don't make enough to survive the rest of the year? You make it sound like a leisure activity.

[Jodi Veritas]

02:52 PM on 03/22/2011

Though I've never worked as a teacher, I have a friend who is one -- she sleeps like 4 hours a day just to keep up with her responsibilities. Hardly a part-time job; more like a job-and-a-half (or more).

http://www.jobvirtue.com

[broui]

11:14 AM on 03/21/2011

My first teaching job was an Emergency Credencial in Compton in Los Angeles. 70% Latino/30% African American. 4 rival gangs in my classroom. 4 preps (meaning 4 different classes). And get this: NO TRAINING.

Mind you, I managed to get my students to raise their state assessment scores by an average of 20% over the previous year without knowing what I was doing.

In those first two years, I was also working on a legitimate credential, doing summer school, and doing long hours with the drama classes (one of my preps).

I calculated that in those first two years I made just less than $7/hr.

But, I also know that I saved lives.

Part time job my A$$.

[Nikolai Curtis]

10:20 AM on 03/21/2011

Part time job? Heh, I wish it was like that. Summers off. Not likely. Try prepping for the upcoming school year knowing that your class size has increased from 30 - 40 students. No whining from me. Just a demand for respect and the resources to address the needs of all my students. Buy hey, who cares about the children as long as others can make a buck off of them. Most of you pundits attacking teachers wouldn't last three weeks in a traditional classroom. Could care less about the money as well. I make enough in my job since don't possess the need to own everything. Money, greed, and power. That's most Americans, not just unions. In fact, that's politicians in general. Yeah, so many people have a clue about education without actually being a part of the process. Pansies.

[Rory Canfield]

10:18 AM on 03/21/2011

How about this. One of the reasons we are falling behind other countries like Japan, China and India, even Russia is the value we put on education. Those countries treat education as a priviledge and throw all efforts behind those who make the effort and show promise. They don't use the classroom to teach "social education", they use it to teach the sciences, math and language and it sure isn't used as a daycare like we use it for or a quasi jailhouse for thugs. If you aren't in school to learn or are not at a level "they" deem good enough, you are channeled to another direction or left behind. Teachers in those cases are allowed to actually teach because every kid there wants to be there and they are supported. They don't worry about discipline problems, the administrators take care of those problems and those problems get removed. Stop catering to teachers who can't teach, stop catering to kids who don't want to learn, stop catering to groups who want to teach "social education" at the cost of core education, get rid of problem kids and make education a priviledge not a right.

[Carmen Madonna Campos]

02:00 PM on 03/21/2011

please stop h8ing.
in this country, education is a right. we expect and accept all students age 5-18 (k-12) regardless of their socio-economic status (which IS the greatest factor in determining classroom success [ Freire,P. 1970. "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" New York:Bergin and Garvey; Simon, R. 1987 "Empowerment as a Pedagogy of Possibility" Language Arts 64:pp 37-89] i really could qoute some more..) and we take in English Language Learners, regardless of their level of English language development.
we educate the emotionally disturbed, the emotionally abused, the sexually abused, the physically abused, the poverty stricken, those brought up in the culture of bigotry and hate. the United States remains, as Lincoln puy it, "the last best hope". and it is our determination to educate ALL children in our country - THAT is not the same as other countries who claim high levels of education - many have a peasant class that is not even allowed to attend school. other countries have tests to determine who can continue on to higher education.
you mention Japan, where the teacher is an individual worthy of the utmost respect. that respect goes a long way in the classroom. i would like to know what it is that the average American parent communicates to their children about the average American teacher.
have a pleasant day RORY, and remember, knowledge is power (even for "thugs" - i haven't given up on one yet).

[Longtallsally]

07:44 PM on 03/21/2011

I mostly agree with your post Carmen, except that if the kid doesn't want to learn , and the parents don't care,there is nothing you can do about it.

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

03:11 PM on 03/21/2011

I wept for the electron that gave its life so your statement could be posted. What happens to those kids we tag as unteachable? One way or another we have to deal with them either in school, juvenile or legal system. It has been my experience the ones you refer to; do not sign up for honors classes. Who makes the determination who is teachable or not. BTW I searched my school today for underperforming teachers and I could not find any.

[sydneymoon]

04:38 PM on 03/21/2011

You are fanned.

[sarajames2]

10:55 PM on 03/28/2011

@Obi Wan Kenobi:
"BTW I searched my school today for under performing teachers and could not find any."

Thank you for your positive comment about teachers. After reading the many attacks on our professions, you have made many teachers feel so much better. God bless you.

[winstonian22]

02:11 AM on 03/21/2011

Fire all the whiny teachers. Lets start with a clean slate and hire non-union workers who arent in bed with Everything Thats Wrong With America i.e. unions driven by money, greed, and power.

[Carmen Madonna Campos]

02:06 PM on 03/21/2011

you are very wrong.

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

03:19 PM on 03/21/2011

Sounds like you are talking about Wall Street and not unions. I don't think you will find many of the top 2% of money earners carrying a NEA or AFT card. I haven't heard of unions shipping jobs overseas or causing financial collaspes. We are tax payers too. Suggestion: Don't wait too long for that wealth to trickle down to you because it is not going to happen. I have heard the broken record play since 1980.

[LPH]

09:22 PM on 03/20/2011

If teaching were easy then so many people wouldn't leave the job each year.

"The supply and demand for public schoolteachers in the United States varies each school year. For the 2010-11 school year, there are 3.7 million full time equivalent public and private schoolteachers. Johnson, Berg, and Donaldson (2005) noted over 450,000 teachers left the classroom in 2000. By 2003, the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2008) stated over 621,000 teachers left the classroom."

http://www.retainingteachers.com/

[am10]

06:36 PM on 03/21/2011

If teaching were easy and cushy, why aren't all these people saying it is go into it?

[skyewriter]

01:55 PM on 03/20/2011

Interesting crop of angry folks here griping about teachers-as-overpaid-freeloaders-manically-bent-on-destroying-the-U.S.

My comment to all the nasties here: if you can read this and can respond in writing, *THANK A TEACHER.*

[Longtallsally]

11:18 PM on 03/20/2011

I learned to read and write before I ever stepped inside a school. So I don't have to thank a teacher for that.

[Nikolai Curtis]

10:20 AM on 03/21/2011

Yeah but your teacher helped you refine those skills, didn't he or she?

[skyewriter]

01:32 PM on 03/21/2011

And you still read and write like a five-six year old?

[winstonian22]

02:12 AM on 03/21/2011

Correction: If you live anywhere but Wisconsin and can read, thank a teacher. If you live in Wisconsin and can read, thank a teacher, and then spend the next 30 years paying for her union retirement package with your hard earned dollars.

[Nikolai Curtis]

10:22 AM on 03/21/2011

I have a question, do they pay into social security? In my state, I don't so I have to rely on my pension program to cover me. So where is the equity in pulling that money that I've earned away from me? If I paid social security and had complete control over those funds, then an extra pension isn't necessary. By the way, politicians get a nice pension courtesy of taxpayers along with lifelong medical benefits (at least at the federal level). I don't see you questioning them.

[Carmen Madonna Campos]

02:10 PM on 03/21/2011

winstonian22, i will accept your thanks for paying into social security for 20+ yrs (while i was teaching & working a second job) that will support you the next 30 yrs. while i don't collect a dime of that money. stop h8ing!

[Tom Joad]

09:13 AM on 03/20/2011

...Thank you for this, Jason...as a teacher, I thank you. Those who oppose teachers seem unable to comprehend that their own functionality in our society is due largely to a cadre of teachers who nurtured them throughout their childhood and young adult years...

[skyewriter]

01:59 PM on 03/20/2011

I'd fan you again if I could!

[historyrepeatsitself]

03:02 PM on 03/20/2011

Another teacher here who says thank you as well!

[Tom Joad]

05:15 PM on 03/20/2011

...fist bump, teach!...