EricHoefler.com

A few quotes from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research about teacher pay are listed below, and I’m annoyed enough to want to list some clarifications from a personal perspective. I don’t really want this to be just a rant, though … I also hope it will be informative to people who don’t work in the classroom (if any of those people are listening).

First, an easy one:

… teachers typically are contractually obligated to work nine months out of the year, while other white-collar workers and professionals are 12-month employees … Whether teachers use those free weeks to make additional money or simply to enjoy their time off, that time is worth money and cannot simply be ignored when comparing earnings.

I agree that there are a number of benefits to teaching from a purely time/money perspective, the greatest of which is the roughly nine-month contract length. Nevertheless, nine months of contracted time does not allow for any other employment of substance, despite claims to the contrary.

As for the 12-month professional employees–not only is paid vacation provided, but the additional benefits and monetary compensation are substantial. It’s nothing for some of my friends to mention $500 or $1,000 holiday bonuses, paid trips, signing bonuses, fully-funded additional education, and the like.

In the meantime, professionals who work as educators must continue their education throughout their career but must pay for it on their own with little or no financial support (an irony that never stops astounding me), may hold Masters degrees but still make half of what other professionals can make with only a Bachelors, and cannot afford to support a family without secondary income. I’ve personally known a number of excellent teachers who left the profession because they needed more money in order to raise a family.

Virtually all teachers worked from 30 to 40 hours per week, which included paid lunch and rest periods, as well as preparation and grading time if such activities were considered by the school to be a part of the teacher’s workday.

I’m contracted to work 35 hours per week, 7:15 am to 2:15 pm. (Yes, getting off at 2:15 does sound nice, but did you catch the start time? And anyway, I’m not really “off” at 2:15 … keep reading).

My “paid lunch” consists of running upstairs to the break room, microwaving something, eating, and running back down in the 25 minutes we have for lunch. This is not comparable to the hour-long lunches of most white-collar professions, particularly for those who eat out or order in. For me, that’s not an option.

As for paid “rest periods,” I don’t even know what that means. What people who have never taught don’t understand is that, as a teacher, you are always “on.” From the moment I walk into my room, I have students coming to me to talk about grade concerns, to ask for help on papers for other classes, to ask what they should do about the guy who won’t call them, or–on the really emotionally draining days–just talk about getting kicked out of the house because mom was having another “angry drunk” evening.

When I’m not dealing directly with students, there are also “other duties as assigned,” which usually means about 45 minutes of office/administrative work, hall duty, or the like. With whatever time is left, I have to check my mail and email, answer important correspondence, contact parents, make lesson plans, and update online resources so parents and absent students can know what’s going on in the classroom.

At some point, I have to grade the assignments students submit and update the gradebook. One set of brief essays takes, on average, three hours to grade (assuming I spend only two or three minutes on each essay and work, non-stop, like a machine). For any effective writing instruction to happen, students need pretty consistent, pretty immediate feedback, so this means I have to do this at least once a week. Then there are other assignments, standardized tests (which my county requires throughout the year), and student or parent conferences.

Given that I have to also conduct class for 5 of those 7 contracted hours, it should be obvious that much of my work happens after the contracted time. If I had to guess, I would say I average 10 hours a day on something or other related directly to teaching. (And no, I’m not including my blogging.) But let’s shoot low and say 45 hours per week.

This doesn’t include after-school obligations. I sponsor a Film Club that meets for about three hours every week after school. I attend information nights and parent meetings for the school, the specialty program, and other activities. I help with the school’s literary magazine some afternoons, and chaperon monthly “coffee house” events that run from 6-10 pm. When I can, I attend student events and activities to show my support (and because they feel slighted if I don’t). None of this earns me any extra money.

All else being equal, anyone working fewer months per year will have a lower annual salary.

This is the justification offered by the Institute for “not looking at annual earnings” in its comparisons. This is ridiculous. Teachers must live on annual earnings. Teachers get approved for loans based on annual earnings. Teachers pay taxes based on annual earnings. Cut it any way you like, but at the end of the year, I still make at least $30,000 less than I could make with similar experience and education in other white-collar professions.

I’ve taught for eight years, I hold a Masters in English, two BA’s in English and Religion, am a National Board Certified Teacher, have been nominated multiple times for various “Teacher of the Year” awards, and work for the Northern Virginia Writing Project as a consultant and technology liaison. Translate that to any corporate or government job and you’re talking an easy $80,000. I know. My friends who left education because of financial concerns are proof.

I love Dave Egger’s book Teachers Have It Easy, and the excerpt “A Day in the Life” sums up humorously (and accurately … fess-up corporate workers) the differences.

I love my job most of the time. It’s difficult, stressful, draining … but the students I’ve worked with and have come to know have made it worthwhile. However, this is not an excuse for the lack of professional treatment–monetary and otherwise–that I have to endure.

I’m reminded of a new teacher that came to our school a few years back. He was retired from the military and had been teaching at a private military school for a while. Three weeks into his work with us in public education, and he was walking down the halls saying “I wasn’t this stressed out in ‘Nam!” He quit after the second year.

The bottom line is this: if we want better teachers, we will have to pay for them. TMAO writes about this here, and I can’t say it better. Give it a read. [And in an update, also see this post on salary trends for teachers ... doesn't look good.]

I invite anyone from any other profession to come and teach in my classroom for just one week. I’ll even write the lesson plans. Then talk to me about salary and how much “time off” teachers get.

But I fear I’m only preaching to the choir … echo … echo …