“I get tired of hearing about the poor teachers…If its so bad then they should find a different job…No one cries for us”
If those positions are so lucrative, if those teachers have such easy jobs, and if your own job is not so good, then the obvious question is…
Why don’t you become a teacher?
Please explain–in detail–why you haven’t applied for one of those cushy education jobs.
What I don’t like about the education business is misplaced priorities and top-heavy administration.
The school in Texas with a 60 million dollar football field which has been closed after 2 years due to construction problems; a.k.a. shortcutting building standards.
The high school I attended which now has about half the student population as it once did but now has 5 principals instead of 2.
The small school my kinds attended which now has a total K-12 enrollment of about 160 students and 4 principals to manage this large, unruly mob.
Not to denigrate all teachers, but there’s a fair number that should not be allowed within a country mile of the teaching profession.
@vdcdriver
If those positions are so lucrative, if those teachers have such easy jobs, and if your own job is not so good, then the obvious question is... Why don't you become a teacher?
In many ways I am a teacher, I currently have two apprentice line workers on my crew. I help them learn a wide range of things, all the way from driving a large truck, to climbing poles, from basic electricity all the way to understanding ferroresonance.
I do not know everything, and I am not the best teacher, but I do a fair job of getting my point across. My classroom is in the field where temperatures range from -20 to 105 degrees. I have taught lessons 50 feet up in the air hanging off of a pole in in ice storm. If I screw up my student and myself can die. At times when I am teaching my lessons there are people out of power depending on us to get it turned back on, my “students” and I are under a great amount of pressure some times.
Please explain--in detail--why you haven't applied for one of those cushy education jobs.
Short answer- I don’t have the diploma, and I am not probably not smart enough to be a good teacher.
Long Answer-
I was born into poverty and college was never talked about. Survival took all we had, and when I was 18 I decided I was going to make the most money I possibly could in a legal manner, I couldn’t take the poverty any longer. (similar to young inner city males that deal drugs, They are actually entrepreneurs. I don’t blame them a bit for what they do, if circumstances would have been a bit different that could have been me slinging meth for a good paycheck.)
When I found line work I was young dumb and cocky, it was a perfect fit for me and by the age of 23 I had a secure job, I was banking money and I was excelling at what I did. I felt like I had made it, I owned my trailer and property, owed no one a penny and had cash in hand and money in the bank. I slept good at night…
Its a secure career field and has been good to me, But I earned every penny I ever made. Its been hard earned. No one cries for me, and I don’t expect them to. No one ever gave me anything and I am a self made man, I did what is almost impossible in this country…sure america likes to believe that a person has no limits in what he or she can accomplish, but if you look at most people…they tend to stay within the same socioeconomic status or if they rise they most of the time only climb up one notch aka from middle class to upper middle class. I moved up a two notches and in my mind I am a success story. I don’t apologize, it took a lot of blood sweat and tears to get to where I am today, in fact there was a time it took everything out of me, it made me feel hollow inside.
Americans are brainwashed by the American “dream”. It simply doesn’t exist. For one, college grads not only come out with mountains of debt, but wages are decreasing everyday. We are losing jobs every day and there’s not enough to go around. We now have MBA grads working at baristas and McDonalds, the same jobs made for the poor. If anything we drop a class, not climb.
No one cries for them.
What about early childhood teachers (daycare workers)? They make minimum wage, no benefits and the kids are learning an exceptional amount of things from those teachers and aides, but no one cries for them.
I have alot of respect for good teachers, as I have great respect for anyone who tries their best at their job.
I am sorry VDC but in my mind a a good janitor is just as important as me or a teacher, they are people who work hard and face challenges also. No one cries for them.
No one cries for them…
“I don’t have the diploma, and I am not probably not smart enough to be a good teacher.”
…and yet, you feel qualified to judge them and their salary levels?
I have visited doctors for my entire life, and I was even a very good student overall–especially in the biological sciences–but I am insightful enough to know that because I am not an M.D., I couldn’t possibly be aware of everything that goes into a typical doctor’s day, nor am I aware of the level of stress that they may experience while doing their jobs day-to-day. In short, because I am not a doctor, I am not qualified to judge whether or not they are overcompensated for their work.
Similarly, because you haven’t been a teacher, you have no idea about what a teaching job actually entails on a daily–and nightly–basis.
My mother was a teacher, and because we had to move from NY to NJ when I was a child, she had to start again at the bottom of the pay scale. Imagine how depressed she was when she learned that, in her 8th year as a teacher in NJ, she was not making as much as the janitor in her school. I suppose that the janitor was more valuable to society than she was…
As to the “nobody crying” line, I think that you are playing the Drama Queen card with those words, as I don’t think that anybody suggests that we “cry” for teachers.
Being empathetic toward them?
Yes, just as we should be empathetic toward anyone who has a stressful job.
Crying for them?
No
And, whether you want to believe it or not, I sincerely wish that every employed person in our country earned a salary that allowed him or her to live above the poverty line. However, the reality of life is that people who devote more time to their education and training are usually the ones who earn higher salaries. Do you really expect things to be different than that reality?
And, I recognize that there is a huge problem with college students who begin their adult lives with a huge student loan debt–unlike people who did not opt to attend college. That is a huge problem that we can lay at the feet of politicians who have cut need-based financial aid consistently for the past 10-12 years and who have lowered subsidies for public colleges to the point where the tuition for a public college can be mind-bogglingly high.
But…for those who have that huge student loan burden, do you suggest that we reduce their salaries if they are teachers?
My mother was a teacher, and because we had to move from NY to NJ when I was a child, she had to start again at the bottom of the pay scale. Imagine how depressed she was when she learned that, in her 8th year as a teacher in NJ, she was not making as much as the janitor in her school. I suppose that the janitor was more valuable to society than she was...
Welcome to the real world. The same thing happens in my field and many others, especially if you move on to a large company. I really dislike where I live, but part of whats keeping me here is the fact if i move I will have to take a cut in pay, it took me years to get where I am in my company and guess what, if I start somewhere else I will start from the bottom.
Same thing for a Mcdonalds worker that worked their way up to shift manager, if they move across the country they are not going to get a job at another Mcdonalds as a shift manager, they will start out on the crew and work their way up.
And, I recognize that there is a huge problem with college students who begin their adult lives with a huge student loan debt--unlike people who did not opt to attend college. That is a huge problem that we can lay at the feet of politicians who have cut need-based financial aid consistently for the past 10-12 years and who have lowered subsidies for public colleges to the point where the tuition for a public college can be mind-bogglingly high.
Maybe if college students spent less time partying and more time working they wouldn’t have so much debt. Our engineering and line department have college interns for the summer. All they talk about is their partying antics, they don’t want to work, and many of them have attitude problems.
But I will agree there is some basis to your comment, Will we see a resurgence in the trades because of this trend of costly higher education? I think we might.
But...for those who have that huge student loan burden, do you suggest that we reduce their salaries if they are teachers?
??? Your salary has nothing to do with how much debt your in, many OTR truck drivers are in debt to trucking schools and nobody cries for them. I am not saying teachers need their salaries reduced but we always leave out the fact they do not work a full year.
Chicago public school teachers start at almost 60k a year and end up well over 100k a year, for 208 days a year. Thats good if you ask me. I know some teachers start at under 30k a year, but so do alot of police officers and fire fighters, and you know what? Apprentice lineman start at under 30k a year and some of them have degrees.
All I hear about is the poor teachers, when in fact many poor teachers have it better than alot of people with the same level of education.
And, whether you want to believe it or not, I sincerely wish that every employed person in our country earned a salary that allowed him or her to live above the poverty line. However, the reality of life is that people who devote more time to their education and training are usually the ones who earn higher salaries. Do you really expect things to be different than that reality?
Community college is still affordable most places, why have college costs at public universitys quadrupled the over the past 25 years, why is school so expensive??? We need to get to the bottom of it.
I agree if you put something into your education and/or training you should make more, what do you feel the minimum amount a year teachers should make? 50k a year, 100k? 150k?
@WheresRick: “…why have college costs at public universitys (sic) quadrupled the over the past 25 years, why is school so expensive???”
Part of the reason is that red states have cut funding for public higher education. Then those same state legislators turn around and point fingers at public universities and blame them for raising tuition to make up for the budget shortfalls.
Most states used to subsidize between 2/3 and 3/4 of in-state tuition at public universities. Now, the states with Republican-led legislatures have reversed that formula. They’re subsidizing between 1/4 and 1/3 of in-state tuition. The money they’ve saved by cutting education funding in higher education and K-12 education is being spent on incarcerating uneducated criminals, and it’s costing more money than the education costs saved. Cutting education funding almost always ends up being a penny wise and pound foolish policy. At least the private prison contractors are getting rich.