As a state certified teacher I earn $34242.00 gross annually. That is for a 187 day contract. Which is $22.88/hour before taxes/deductions. Take out taxes, retirement, and insurance and that falls to $17.37/hour. Thats for 3 years teaching experience and a bachelors degree +2 years of teacher training. My pay gets broken down into 12 monthly pay checks. Yes I get paid during the summer when I'm "off" but I already earned that money. My work day begins at 7:30 and ends at 4:15. I work an 8 hour day. Can't be late /leave early or the computer will catch you. Besides an 1/2 hour for lunch and 45 minutes of planning period/conference period I am constantly working. Unlike many jobs where you can take a coffee break or slip out to run an errand, teaching demands your full attention.

Thats what we get paid for but our obligations extend far beyond this. We are required to get 150 hours of continuing education every 5 years to retain our certification. Thats 30 hours each year during our summers "off". These hours come from college classes, seminars, workshops, and clincs that we must attend on our own time and our own dime. Then there are school related functions that occur after hours and on weekends that staff are required to be in attendance. We don't get paid for open houses, PTA, dances, plays, athletics, ceremonies, etc...

I did not enter the public sector to get rich. I was earning a better living in genetic research. But like many other public servants, I feel the need to give something back and to make a difference.

Think about the reasons why prayer is not allowed in public schools. I'm sure the answer will come to you.

Ox

 

You can stop at $22.88 an hour as the other deductions don’t really mean anything to anybody since everybody has deductions.

So $22.88 an hour equates to $915.20 a week which is a damn good salary and most people making a “salary” like that usually work or put in MORE then 40 hours a week, so once again, if you put more time in doesn’t really mean anything to anyone in that pay range as the vast majority of us put in MORE then 40 hours a week.

$915.20 comes out to $47,590.40 a year, not a bad salary at all especially for a job where you have a great opportunity to have a guaranteed place of employment, tenure I believe they call it, until YOU are ready to leave which DOES mean a LOT to most of us as we have to continually prove ourselves everyday to continue our decent paying careers…

Don’t misunderstand me as I think teachers is one of the most important jobs but I do get tired of listening (not directed at you) to teachers whine about their pay and working conditions.

My daughter just graduated HS and I have to say even though teachers can’t take off when ever they feel like it, and who generally can in a decent paying job, but they sure in the hell, at least back east, get a LOT of time off for teacher breaks, teacher workshops etc PLUS your normal holidays that us other people sometimes get…

 

01 XLT sport.

1st Your math is all wrong. I get paid $915.20 gross each week for 37 weeks not 52. This is spread out over all 12 months. I get paid during the summer months for work that I already completed. You can't count that twice. Its not an equivalent. I earn $34,242.00 not $47,590.40 and my bank accounts prove it.

2nd There is no guarantee of employment. If you recall from my previous post I am under contract. I am considered a private contractor that works for the school district. My contract is up for renewal each and every year. The school board can vote to renew, not to renew, or table my contract which is the same as not renewing. Tenure is gone. If the administration wants me gone then I'm gone. Texas is a right to work state. Plus we have no teacher unions here to protect us from wrongful termination.

As for the Holidays. Those are unpaid days off. My contract is for 187 days of classroom instruction. Holidays are unpaid breaks just like summer.

I'm not complaining about my work nor my wages. I knew full well what I was giving up and what I was getting in return.

Ox

 

Ox--It sounds like the way your school system is set up is well, for the students. It allows the dead weight to be trimed and the good teachers to remain. Personally I'd prefer to not have the coffee breaks and have the two-three months off in the summer. Somehow I don't think the 30 minute daily coffee breaks works out to 320 hours. I have noticed the "right to work" states typically have lower wages and treat their employees poorly.

The point I was making is in my area the teachers have two solid months off, if they choose not to take the extra teaching in summer school. The wage they earn while teaching summer school is the same as their traditional school wage. During those two months they are free to take a job or start a summer business, but many don't. Several of my teachers in high school had summer businesses. Teachers in my area do not have to pay for thier retirement so that is a big benefit. There is a lot of whining from teachers that they are paid very poorly, but where else can you go and work 9 months and still earn 34,000 per year with only a degree and have very stable traditional hours.

Just to put it in perspective it takes me a whole year to make as much as you. That is with 3 years at my agency (15 total in the business), a four year degree, and very odd hours (no time for the kid's school plays, or watching the kid play sports). I also have had to throw away a perfectly good meal after paying for it, because I received an emergency call. More than once, I've eaten lunch while going from one call to the next. I receive a deduction not a credit on my taxes for anything I purchase for use on the job, unlike teachers. I'm not saying teachers need to lose any of these benefits. I'm saying many of the teachers need to quit complaining, thier gig is not all that bad.

 

Nope, no idea. our national motto this very day is still "One Nation Under God". No idea why our children or teachers are not allowed to pray.

Can't wait until the Muslims want to pray in school, then you will only be allowed to pray to Allah, not Jehovah.

Prayer not being allowed in public schools makes no sense.

 

My wife's a first grade teacher at one of the better districts here in the Houston area. I don't think her pay is really all that bad (I think her contract for the coming school year is around 42k?) and she can easily make a few extra grand in the summer by teaching summer school if she wants to.

That being said, she works her a$$ off for those dollars (certainly WAY harder on a day-to-day basis than I do at my job) even when you consider having Holiday breaks and the summer off. It is correct to say that teaching is a job where you always have to be "on" since the kids are there every day of every week whether you're ready for them or not!

The worst part of her job though, as I see it, are the parents. All I can say is that when anyone complains about "kids these days" they need to look no further than the parents! There are an awful lot of sorry-a$$ adults out there who act more like 14-year-olds and are failing their children miserably in preparing them for the real world....

 

Amen to that! In a nation whose founding papers are literally peppered with references to God, I simply cannot understand the logic of folks who confuse enforcing a "national religion" upon folks with "we must strip every reference to religion out of our society"......

And right on about the Muslims -- look for the nut-jobs on the Democratic side to jump on "Allah's Bandwagon" as soon as some disgruntled raghead decides we should all bow to Mecca before the high school football game......

 

AMEN!

 

As a school administrator, teacher, and coach I'd like to chime in here. My wife is also a teacher, as were my parents. Teaching is a fair profession that pays a fair wage. I was a welder for around 10 years. I had 2 companies shut down within a 3 year period and I decided to go to college. I was putting my wife through and used my 401k money to send myself. I have never once regretted my decision. I fully enjoy my time off in the summer and my breaks through the year. Teaching has allowed me to coach school teams and be available to coach my kids' teams. My wife and myself earn 6 figures/year together. We have a good retirement, a decent home, and anything else we need, and some of the things we want but don't necessarily need.
Our jobs are fairly safe, although the tenure law is not unbeatable by your system. If you're bad, you can be gone. All tenure gives a teacher is the right to due process. You have to be proven as bad. Not hard to do with all the testing going on now.
With teaching you earn more by advancing your education. It takes a 4-year degree, plus passing a battery of expensive tests to get hired. A master's takes a couple more years, and a doctorate around 5 more. It is worth it to get the degrees. If people are whining about their teaching salaries, come see me. I'm not wealthy, by any means. We do; however, do ok.
Rich

 

I don't go to church every Sunday (or Wednesday), but I believe in God, and I accept Jesus as my personal savior.

I believe those who want to pray in school should have that right. Isn't that one of the bigger things this country was founded on?