I went broke teaching your kids...

[Miss Tequila]

Oct 19, 2015 22:02:48 GMT -5 gooddecisions said:

I don't see the bashing. It would just be refreshing for a teacher to just for once say, yeah- I have a pretty sweet gig which is why I went into it. You should come teach, too. And, not always feel the need to demand everyone agree that it is the hardest most underpaid position. But hey, what do you expect from a profession of mostly women.

I catch myself sometimes too when people tell me I'm lucky. And, then I stop myself and say, you're right I am lucky and my life is awesome. No need for a pity party. 

My good friends fess up and tell me how sweet their hours are. There are other frustrations that are valid (parents who act like their kids are angels, administrators, etc) but hours are not one of the frustrations. 

[MJ2.0]

I have quite a few teacher friends on FB and I have yet to hear them complain about anything job related, really.

[Miss Tequila]

Oct 20, 2015 9:38:42 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

I have quite a few teacher friends on FB and I have yet to hear them complain about anything job related, really.

All I see are "sigh, so sad that summer break is over"....doesn't seem they are working that hard over their breaks since they don't want it to end!

I do see memes posted about how overworked and underpaid teachers are but I don't see that posted from my actual friends that are teachers...more so from people I should block but just don't care enough to do it.

[Lizard Queen]

For some reason, I have a ridiculous percentage of teachers as facebook friends.  Maybe teachers tend to use FB more?  I joined FB primarily to keep up with family, so everyone else just sort of found me.  My SIL (upper elementary/sometimes middle school math teacher) totally admits that she gets paid well for what she does and the hours she works. The most vocal FB bitcher is my old HS band teacher (who found me) on FB, because, you know, band teachers have so much homework to grade all of the time.  He moved overseas (teaching, remarried to someone over there), and travels the world every summer.  I read somewhere that my state has the highest teacher pay as related to COL, though, and I suspect my SIL's state is similar.  Florida, I know from talking to a former co-worker, has really crappy teacher pay.  I don't know if it's a total North/South thing or what, but the attitude spreads even if it isn't justified in all areas.  In some areas, no doubt it is justified.  In my area, it's really, really not.

[midjd]

I suspect that there are more articles bemoaning careers like teaching, practicing law, and writing simply because writing is a more comfortable medium for people in those professions. I know a lot of disgruntled engineers and accountants (I live in a town crawling with them), but they don't have the drive or desire to write about it in a blog post.  

[mojothehelpermonkey]

My teacher friends are all on Facebook, but I don't see much complaining from them. Back when we were in our 20s, they were really paranoid about someone posting a picture of them doing something un-teacher-like on Facebook though.

[Miss Tequila]

Oct 20, 2015 10:03:57 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

For some reason, I have a ridiculous percentage of teachers as facebook friends.  Maybe teachers tend to use FB more?  I joined FB primarily to keep up with family, so everyone else just sort of found me.  My SIL (upper elementary/sometimes middle school math teacher) totally admits that she gets paid well for what she does and the hours she works. The most vocal FB bitcher is my old HS band teacher (who found me) on FB, because, you know, band teachers have so much homework to grade all of the time.  He moved overseas (teaching, remarried to someone over there), and travels the world every summer.  I read somewhere that my state has the highest teacher pay as related to COL, though, and I suspect my SIL's state is similar.  Florida, I know from talking to a former co-worker, has really crappy teacher pay.  I don't know if it's a total North/South thing or what, but the attitude spreads even if it isn't justified in all areas.  In some areas, no doubt it is justified.  In my area, it's really, really not.

I'm in the Northeast and our teachers get paid well.

[8 Bit WWBG]

Oct 16, 2015 10:39:11 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Ok, but wait, it is NOT a zero sum game for the no-kids/empty-nester property owners.

The effect of good schools on property values isn't in dispute. It is more a question of whether people want to stay in an area where their taxes are high to pay for something they don't use anymore.

[formerroomate99]

Oct 15, 2015 11:52:51 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I can't ever tell if these types of articles are designed to make me sympathize with their plight or if it's part of a conspiracy to keep me focused on whiney people like him while distracting me from the real issues going on in this country.

I think I've spent too much time over on P&M.

You've got a point there.

I tend to lean conservative, but in some ways, I'd love to see Bernie Sanders get in, because he seems genuinely interested in dealing with campaign finance reform and other issues that are rotting this country from the inside out.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Oct 15, 2015 11:52:00 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

$32,400 for 2 in private school even with a staff discount....

I am pro-education as the next person, but if you are complaining you are broke, maybe spending $16,200 after discounts per child in private school is not the way to go.

Since you are paying $17,000/year for a great public school you seem to like for your disabled child, maybe you can send the other 2 kids there too.

There, I just saved you $32,400

[TheHaitian]

In regards to Catholic school, below are the rates for the Catholic school my wife 3 little cousins (siblings) are attending:


1 Child ​ $4994​
2 Children​ $7,568​
3 Children​ $8,932
4 Children ​ $9,460

Basically Child 3, 4 and up attend the school for free!

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Oct 15, 2015 11:16:38 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

I wonder if this guy read his own article before he published it?

www.salon.com/2015/10/10/i_went_broke_teaching_your_kid_the_real_story_about_life_on_a_teachers_salary/

Did he really go broke teaching our kids or did he go broke by letting his lifestyle creep up? Kids in private school?

No, he really didn't. If the goal was to drain what little sympathy taxpayers have for their adversaries in the NEA, who are the 6th highest paid teachers in the world, but whose performance puts them near the bottom of industrialized nations-- he did a splendid job.

Among the lowest paid teachers?  Asia-- the highest paid teachers in Asia are in South Korea-- 21st on the list of teacher pay.  And by the way-- these charts look at salary & benefits, they do not even take into consideration that many American teachers (especially union members like him) retire as early as age 50, most retire at 55.

educationbythenumbers.org/content/us-teachers-6th-highest-paid-world_982/

$17,000 a year in property taxes says it all.  Imagine his neighbor's who don't make "well more than double $48,000 a year" who are going broke paying his salary. 

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Oct 15, 2015 12:24:38 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

We don't have kids but we live in a good school district and the taxes reflect it. We live here bcuz it's safe and bcuz the people who can live here take care of their homes. It's not always about the school system.

They can afford to pay for it. Until they can't.  

[zibazinski]

Like all professions, there's good and bad and good and bad people. When I went into teaching the pay was good enough but the respect was there, from admins and parents and most students. When my teachers were teaching it was the same way. It's not that way anymore. Anyone going into teaching, I can't understand it. But if I had a union, I'd be fighting for respect and discipline from my students, parents, and admins. Not money. But maybe money is the only thing they have the ability to bargain for.

[zibazinski]

Nov 1, 2015 8:10:50 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

Oct 15, 2015 12:24:38 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

We don't have kids but we live in a good school district and the taxes reflect it. We live here bcuz it's safe and bcuz the people who can live here take care of their homes. It's not always about the school system.

They can afford to pay for it. Until they can't.  

Then they can sell. The house I was living in with DH will sell within 48 hours of going on the market.

[beergut]

Lacking the credentials to teach in public school, I was lucky to land my current post; from the start I believed that it would likely be the first and last real job I’d ever be offered. White, male, old, and overpriced in a market that prizes youth and diversity, I’m probably unemployable anywhere else.

If he is self-aware to realize this, he should have been intelligent enough to appreciate what he has, and start saving immediately. He isn't going broke because he is teaching someone else's kids, he is broke because he is a financial moron who continuously makes bad choices. 

[imanangel]

I don't understand articles like this. This guy is a serious whiner. In most areas of this country, teachers are paid well.  I was paid well at my last teaching job.  The school districts here in Texas start first year teachers off at $50k. That is a good paycheck in my humble opinion. 

[zibazinski]

That IS a good starting salary!

[973beachbum]

That is the starting salary around here too.  They don't move up that quickly but once they hit some number (ten years maybe?) they start moving up pretty good.   Thruthfully the engineers and architects we know don't start at much more and some not even that.  And that new fresh grad civil engineer we just hired as an inspector is going to be expected to work outside rain or shine at least 50 hours a week, 50 weeks a year. 

Isn't a YM approved stem degree wonderful?

[formerroomate99]

One big problem with teachign is that they have an easy degree that doesn't weed out the lazy and stupid, and leads to a rather stressful job.  

My stepdad started teaching before the NEA came to power.  According to him, it was the NEA that lobbied to remove discipline and standards from the schools.  It kinda makes sense.  Without discipline, the job becomes a lot more stressful and political, which would make anyone in that line of work cling to the union.   

[formerroomate99]

Oct 24, 2015 11:51:19 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

Oct 16, 2015 10:39:11 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Ok, but wait, it is NOT a zero sum game for the no-kids/empty-nester property owners.

The effect of good schools on property values isn't in dispute. It is more a question of whether people want to stay in an area where their taxes are high to pay for something they don't use anymore.

Of course, the amount of property tax you pay has a very big affect on how much house you can buy, which also affects the property values.  For example, the houses in the Chicago suburb we were considering were about as much as the houses where we ended up, but we never could have afforded a house like we have now in a nieighborhood as nice as ours because the Chicago property taxes are 3 times as much.  

[whoisjohngalt]

hey formerroomate99 - where have you been??

[tskeeter]

Nov 1, 2015 8:34:17 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Like all professions, there's good and bad and good and bad people. When I went into teaching the pay was good enough but the respect was there, from admins and parents and most students. When my teachers were teaching it was the same way. It's not that way anymore. Anyone going into teaching, I can't understand it. But if I had a union, I'd be fighting for respect and discipline from my students, parents, and admins. Not money. But maybe money is the only thing they have the ability to bargain for.

I think that the unionization of teachers has a lot to do with the lack of respect some teachers talk about.  The union is promoting the poorly paid, over worked teacher concept.  And the union promotes behavior by it's members (picketing, Chicago teachers blocking streets and public transportation at the end of the work day) that is more commonly exhibited by blue collar unions than by professional associations.  (She was the last time you saw picketing lawyers on the national news?)  If the education community wants to improve it's image, the union that represents it has to change tactics and start promoting education as a great job for the best and brightest, where they can improve kids futures.  Not as a job where you are over worked, under paid, and victimized by the administration, the school board, and the taxpayers.

[zibazinski]

I agree

[formerroomate99]

Nov 8, 2015 23:16:21 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

hey formerroomate99 - where have you been??

Moving across country.  Getting worked to death at jobs right before and right after the move.  Training for a better job.  The usual.  

[8 Bit WWBG]

Did you ever see that Simpsons gag where the school districts get together and exchange bad teachers that they can't fire.