Why Do School Teachers Strike?
68
First I want to say that I'm not Anti-teacher. Actually, I have 2 friends of mine who are school teachers, 1 3rd grade teacher and the other a 5th grade teacher. I've spoken in depth to both of them regarding this subject and they are both on both sides of the fence, and with that heres my side of the fence.
There is a strike going on right now where the average teachers salary is $43,000 a year, up to $81,000 a year. They pay $10.00 a pay, $20.00 a month out of there own pockets for healthcare for their family. They don't work weekends or major holidays, but do have to go in on minor holidays when the children are off. They teach approximately 9 months out of a calendar year and technically have paid summers off. With all that being said lets break it down, because the breakdown is what gets me.
$43,000 a year divided by 9 months is $4,777 a month
They physically teach 6.5 hours per day out of a 8 hour day.
Their weekly Gross Pay at $43K is $1.194.00
Thats $238.00 per day
At 6.5 working hours per day thats $39.66 per hour!
Except for professional sports teams, I'm not aware of any other profession that pays you full pay for the summer till the next term starts. I'm also not aware of any company who is going to pay you for 8 hours of physical work while you work only 6.5 of those hours. What distresses me is the fact that they are striking because of a .2% pay difference between what they want and what the district wants to give them. The school board has gone to the community and asked them to voice their opinion and they have all pretty much said they love the teachers and appreciate all they do for their children, but they pay enough taxes and don't think the strike is justified.
Facts:
Most working people nowadays don't get cost of living or scheduled raises.
Very few average people make $39.00 per hour
Very few people get paid a full years salary working only 9 of those months
Many people pay way more than $20 a month for family healthcare coverage.
In closing I'd like to say that without teachers we would all be lost in life, their job is vital. Not everyone can teach, it takes a special person who has put the money out to be schooled, and then pass on the knowledge to forming young minds. I would like to assume that teachers read the papers, go food shopping, drive cars, and do the regular things we all do. With that being said, and looking at the state of the economy right now, does it make sense to you to portray a stance thats almost "greedy like"? I wish you all could consider yourself fortunate that you have such high paying and benefit filled jobs, something just about all of us would like to have.
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
I'm going to have to agree with Bonnie on this... what teachers are getting that sort of salary? Not my mother, who has been teaching for nearly 40 years. You also have to take into account all the time after the students go home that they are still working. My mom's students leave at 3, and she rarely gets home before 6 pm. That doesn't even include time spent grading papers, or making up tests at home.
In many places, uneducated city workers, such as garbage men make more than teachers.
Most teachers have a choice to have their pay spaced out over the 9 working months, or to receive lower checks for the full 12.
With the numbers you are looking at, I can understand why you would think it is being greedy to want more... In houston, starting salary for a teacher is $25, which amount to around $11 an hour. I know baby sitters that charge more than that.
Public schools and teachers in general should not be forcing people to loose there homes! This system is immoral and terminally flawed!!!
Face it the majority of everyones property taxes goes for public schools, everytime i hear of someones home being auctioned off by tax foreclosure, forceably taken from them by thier town i cringe, this is not American!!
HOW CAN YOU JUSTIFY THIS!!!
I went to school like the rest of you and i can asure you most teachers don't even know what a hard days work is.
Unless you have walked in their shoes you have no idea. If you can read this, thank a teacher.
Oh by the way, just because you have been through the school system does not make you a professional educator. The majority of the teachers have a MASTERS degree in education.
You are completely side stepping the main point of my comment!
Stay on point.
Why should anyone's home be at risk? Forceable take'in from them for not paying school teachers? Is this fair? How is this benefiting society?
If parents are not home for their child because they are working 2 jobs usually
that child gets into trouble, you can say well if the parents where better educated
they would be able to afford to pay their high property tax bills guess what things
are constantly changing people get sick, lose jobs or just get tired and need a break to rest so they can stay physically and emotionally balanced the school property taxing system is terminally flawed.
****We need to change funding for schools by property taxes over to sales taxes on non-essential items purchased and also on items coming from over seas.
I have respect for teachers they have an important job, however their method
of compensation is out of step with most homeowners,the folks
paying their salary. I never claimed to be a "professional educator"
I realize there is time spent in college to get the credentials to
obtain the job maybe too much time, but truth be told most people work in more dangerous and dirty environments and it is much harder
to survive for them without nearly the compensation and benefits and job security.
I learned how to read at home. Most people can believe it or not teach a child
how to read it is not like diagnosing a fuelinjection system or safely driving a class A tractor trailer, please take the time to see how much is required to drive a class A truck or paint a car, roof a house, run a small business, reupholster a couch, move furniture, deliver refridgerators or fix them with little benefits or compensation for thaty matter. What i'm trying to accomplish here is communicate a new awakening to what is occuring here in the USA so we can correct this injustice. I'm lucky enough to still own my home many fellow americans are sleeping in their cars. Do you care about your fellow Americans or not?
Bludgers, complaining, lazy, greedy, winging, excessive holidays... These are just a few of the many words that spring to mind when I hear "Teachers Strikes" Get over it and do some work and stop complaining and trying to get even more holidays!!!
Most kids are packed up and doing nothing by the end of school year BEFORE DECEMBER! Because the teachers are too dam lazy to even teach to the end of the school year! I think exams should be the last week of school for children and they shouldn't spend the last 2wks of school doing art and watching videos!
You teachers have enough holidays and are paid well for the LACK OF HOURS you do so deal with it like the rest of us and start teaching our children properly before the next generation destroys this world or end up a bunch of winging bludgers like yourselves. you haven't worked PROPERLY for almost 2months now get back and do some work before your next holiday!!!
I am a certified public accountant. I have a Masters degree. I graduated in 2005. My starting pay as an accountant was $8.00.
I was making $8.00 an hour even though I already passed the CPA and I had a Masters. I was also working 70 - 80 hours a week. I had always heard the myth that teacher did not make much so even though I wanted to be a teacher I became an accountant. After I started working I realized how I had worked so hard to make a decent living. Being an accountant is a lot harder then being a teacher. All of my teaching friends started at 45K and 50K and all they had was a four year degree. I worked my but off to pass the CPA and get a masters and I was making $8.00 an hour with crapy insurance. I finally worked my way up to $49K but I have to work more then 40 hours and with all the effort I put in I am pissed at my pay. I researched other careers and teachers are one of the highest payed proffessions and it is not just in certain areas. I live in a pretty small town and the teachers pay in the town I live in is better then my pay even though I work in a large city.
BOTTEM LINE PEOPLE NEED TO STOP LYING ABOUT HOW MUCH TEACHERS MAKE. ALSO STOP SAYING THEY HAVE TO PUT UP WITH A LOT OF CRAP AND THAT IS WHY THEY MAKE SO MUCH MONEY. AT MY JOB - ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE THAT HAS A DEGREE - PUT UP WITH A LOT OF CRAP. MY WORK IS VERY STRESSFUL. IF I DON'T MEET DEADLINE I WILL BE FIRED. MY WORK AS A ACCOUNTANT/AUDITOR IS VERY DIFFCULT. I NEVER DO THE SAME THING TWICE - I ALWAYS HAVE TO DEAL WITH NEW LAWS AND MAKE SURE CONTRACTORS ARE OBEYING THEM. I DON'T HAVE A NICE LITTLE LESSON PLAN THAT I FOLLOW EVERY YEAR AND MAY CHANGE SLIGHTLY EVERY BLUE MOON. IF TEACHERS NEED A RISE THEN SO DO ALL THE NURSES, ACCOUNTANT/AUDITORS, FRAUD AGENTS, FINANCE EXECUTIVES. OUR JOBS ARE HARDER, WE WORK MORE HOURS, AND HAVE TO DEAL WITH TONS OF STRESS. I APPRECIATE TEACHERS BUT I AND MANY OTHERS ARE MUCH MORE UNDERPAID THEN TEACHERS. I HAVE A TWO WEEK VACATION AND MY INSURANCE WHICH I PAY FOR SUCKS.
SO EVERYONE STOP SAYING TEACHERS ARE UNDER PAID. LOOK AT THE FACTS. I WOULD LOVE TO MAKE THAT MUCH AND BASED ON MY EDUCATION AND EVERYTHING I PUT UP WITH AT WORK I SHOULD.
hehe stupid teachers
Philip Salesky lives in my neighborhood and has a widely known reputation for being an immense freaking a-hole.
He is nothing but a big windbag and a coward who takes his frustrations out in forums because he doen't have the guts to do it to anyone in person.
Other people on this message board should pay him no attention at all.
Bonnie Ramsey says:
2 years ago
First, let me say that I am not a teacher. That being said, I would like to point out that the salary you mentioned for teachers are in very few areas. There are many states that teachers make much less. Also, there is more to being a teacher than just standing in front of a class talking for a little over 6 hours per day.
In most cases, that teacher is responsible for close to 30 students at once, attempting to give personal attention to the needs of any who need it. Also, there was a day when a teacher could maintain control of her classroom with the full support of school authorities. Now, teachers are expected to teach 30 students in a classroom where they have absolutely no control over any discipline whatsoever.
Violence against teachers has been rising steadily and there is nothing the teachers are allowed to do to keep control of their classrooms when students become unruley.
As for the pay, I also know several other professions that make this much and more without having to take responsibility for 30 children at once! I say that teachers deserve a pay raise long before the sports figures, screen writers and politicians! They literally hold the future of our country in their hands with these students and I fully believe that they deserve much more than what they are getting now!
As for the health insurance, while it may cost them less per month, chances are the coverage is not what many of the higher priced insurances would pay. If it is with Blue Cross, which many state employees have, then I know it isn't!
Granted, they are off during much of the summer. However, their day doesn't stop when the school is dismissed. Do you think that those homework and tests papers grade themselves? Do you think that daily lesson plans just magically appear on their desks each morning? No, this is done by the teachers at home after school.
While many of us think of their jobs as easy when compared to a 9 to 5 job, how many employess have to take their work home with them at night to prepare for the next day?
I believe that there is much more to teaching than meets the eye and we should be working on getting these teachers a raise and giving them authority to take back control of their classrooms so that their teaching efforts will be more effective and beneficial to the future of our country.
Bonnie Ramsey