Of course it isn't. I mean, if you don't count the fact that teachers have to have a master's degree and work 100x harder than the vast majority of other professions, it's not a real job. I mean, c'mon...preparing our kids for life??? Sooooooooo not important. Teachers don't even get rich, so how can they be real professionals? :rolleyes:

I want to smack someone every time I hear that.

Teachers have to have a masters degree?

In some states it's now required. I have heard New York for sure.

In Ohio, you have 10 years (12 if you count your initial 2 year provisional license) to get your Masters (or the hours equivalent) or you cannot recieve another license. After the initial provisional 2 year license, Ohio gives out 5 year licenses and at the end of your second 5 year license, you have to have the Masters (or equivalent hours) or you lose your license to teach.

We do here in Kentucky. You can start teaching with just a bachelor's and they give you a little time to get your master's, but ultimately, you have to or you can't teach anymore.

In Michigan, you have 3 years to acquire 10 grad credits and another 3 to complete 18 (total). Once you're that close to a Master's, you might as well finish, especially since there is a great financial benefit in doing so.

Ditto in California. Here there are two kinds of credentials- Preliminary- for those right out of their credential and bachelor's programs, and Professional - which is at least 30 units in excess of your credential. You have 5 years after the preliminary to get your Professional. It's basically getting a Master's degree. Most districts highly encourage Master's degrees(plus your pay scale goes slightly higher) and the vast majority of the staff that I work with have them.

In addition to the 30 units, you also have to do 150 hours of professional development every 5 years. I also think California has some of the highest university requirements to get a credential. For me it was 30 units of coursework (now more I think since they just enacted a new credentialing process again) and 15 units of student teaching, plus in the district where I work there is a BTSA program where if a new teacher you must be in it for at least 2 years, and it's a lot of running around and conferences.

And yes, we get summers off, but we also don't get paid for 3 months. 9 paychecks a year if you're a bad budgeter can be scary.

Don't you have the option to have your paychecks cut and recieve 12 instead of 9??? I've seen a few districts give that option to teachers, but i can't think of which ones they are at the moment, lol.

Teaching isn't an easy job, to be sure, and masters degrees are required in many states, but I wouldn't necessarily make this statement.

Not in mine, nor the one I worked at before. Normally what people do is join the credit union and do a "summer saver" account where they do the math and put the equivalent into an account that you can't touch until summer(starting July 1st) meaning they charge ridiculous fees if you want to take out any money

It might come as a surprise, but teachers regularly pull 11- or 12-hour days, then go home and do more lesson plans and get materials ready for the next day, grade papers, go to lots of professional development, parent-teacher conferences, and staff meetings, and somehow find time to get together make-up work for absent students, sponsor an extracurricular activity or two, meet with students who are behind, and maintain a personal life--and that's after standing on their feet and running around all day. I'm sure there are teachers out there who hit the door as soon as the last bell rings and who do nothing with their whole summers off, but 99% of the ones I know are still doing work while all their friends in other jobs get to go home and sit on their butts.

Many other jobs have similar responsiblities and time commitments. What you stated does not make teaching "100x harder than the vast majority of other professions." Everyone's jobs have different requirements and different things that are difficult, there's nothing that particular to teaching that makes it 100x harder that most other professions.

As for the pay thing that's been mentioned in this thread.... that's not a problem with your profession, that's a problem with your ability to manage your money.

Sorry...I forgot to mention that we also have the responsibility of educating America's children. That's a lot of pressure! :p

"Pressure" and what profession is harder than another are all relative. What exactly is the measurement being used?

EXACTLY.

I respect what (most) educators do, but there comes a point where a lot of the arguments fall flat.

I have the pressure of making sure buildings don't fall down and kill people.