Quote:
Originally Posted by ASUADPi
More and more schools are going year round. When I worked year round I started back late July/Early August. I got 1-2 (depending on the district) weeks off in October. 2-3 (again district) weeks off for Christmas and then 1-2 weeks off for spring break. We then had 6 weeks off for summer vacation (if that as most teachers tried to work over the summer for extra money).
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(Note: ASUADPi.. the entire post to follow is not only directed at you.. I didn't want you to get that impression!)
So at the least you had 10 weeks off, and at the most you had 14 weeks off. At my first job, I had NO weeks off. And I worked at a law firm as a paralegal, where you met deadlines.. period. If you had to stay until 9pm to meet a deadline, you did.
At my current job, I get 4 weeks off, and I work 10-12 hour days, every day. I travel, and it can be exhausting. A big part of what I do is train people in an electronic filing system, and while most days I like my job, it can also be the most frustrating thing ever. I have people who refuse to participate, people who are on their phones the entire time, people who bitch, try to get away with not working in the system, then ask every question in the book a month later because they don't know what they're doing.. and I have no parent to go to in order to straighten them out. I make a decent amount of money, but not for where I live. If I was still in PA, I'd be living large. But I started here at a decent amount, I received a 12% raise last year, and an 11% raise this year, and I STILL live at home. Jersey is EXPENSIVE.
I'm not trying to start anything.. I'm just pointing out that yes, teachers do get a lot of time off.. and I don't feel bad for them if they "only" get 10 weeks off. And I don't feel bad because they work long hours... welcome to America. We work more than any other country, and that goes for many professions. To anyone who suggests that the rest of us don't understand.. some of us do. We all deal with on-the-job stressors.. we just deal with different ones (although I think that a lot of mine are strangely similar to teachers').
I do sympathize with teachers, however, in that they have to deal with parents who will always take their child's side. It happens, and I believe this article is only directed at those particular parents. Mine went to conferences, and they listened. Parents don't have to believe the teacher, but as a fellow human being, they should respect them. Even if the parent wants to listen to nothing of what the teacher has to say, then they don't have to.. but they shouldn't come at them in an aggressive manner after they turn to their child to ask them what happened, and they respond, "Nothing."
There are some teachers who are amazing, and some that aren't. Some teachers get paid a lot, some don't. Again, it's the same with many professions. While I've never worked in the educational system, I know many people who have - some of my friends are teachers, my mom served as the president of the Board of Education when we lived in NH, my best friend's entire family is in the profession.. I've heard all of the stories, the good and the bad. And I could go on and on about the sucky teachers getting paid more than the good ones.. and teachers getting tenure too easily.. and kids being more unruly/disrespecful than ever before, and teachers receiving pensions.. and on and on and on.
The long and short of it is that parents should respect teachers, teachers should respect parents, and everyone should understand the need for a good relationship between both of those parties and the child they share responsibility for.
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