3 ms·

I would argue that when considering a job, most people don't write out and include these sort of benefits in their cost-benefit analysis. I personally consider

I would argue that when considering a job, most people don't write out and include these sort of benefits in their cost-benefit analysis. I personally consider benefits to be a service that's cost neutral, rather than factoring it into my overall pay. I know that's not accurate, but that's just how my mind works. Also, any self-respecting teacher (especially new ones) will tell you that short official working hours are a mask for quite decent hours spent preparing for the teaching hours.

yummyfajitas 17y ago
I'm not sure what you mean by "quite decent", but in general teachers work a little bit less than other full time professionals 9 months out of the year. The other 3 months they work dramatically less. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/03/art4full.pdf http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/03/art4full.pdf
- HistoryInAction 17y ago
  Sorry for the lack of precision, I mean 40+ hour weeks, much of it unpaid. The rule of thumb that I was told was that you're working about 8 hours of prep for every hour of teaching the first year. Drafting lesson plans, putting together projects, laying out longer term units of study, things like that. They're only paid for the 8 am - 3 pm (35 hours or so a week, though the pay is per hour better), but most teachers I know show up early and work at home grading, preparing dittos, stuff like that. Add in requirements for Continuing Education, administrative tasks, and non-teaching related requirements that most unions/tenure programs require, and I'd still say it's a surprisingly low paid position for the time that goes into it and the long-term effects on the students.
  - yummyfajitas 17y ago
    That doesn't appear to be the case in general. According to the link I posted (which gets it's data from the American Time User Survey), even young teachers tend to work less than 40 hours. Note that this survey asks the question "how many hours did you spend working yesterday, how many hours sleeping, etc", not "how much time were you paid for yesterday". The study does however suggest that teachers do show up early and work at home more than other professionals. Regarding total working hours, I'm guessing the teachers you know are either highly atypical or else they have unrealistic ideas about how much they really work.

yummyfajitas 17y ago

I'm not sure what you mean by "quite decent", but in general teachers work a little bit less than other full time professionals 9 months out of the year. The other 3 months they work dramatically less. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/03/art4full.pdf http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/03/art4full.pdf

HistoryInAction 17y ago
Sorry for the lack of precision, I mean 40+ hour weeks, much of it unpaid. The rule of thumb that I was told was that you're working about 8 hours of prep for every hour of teaching the first year. Drafting lesson plans, putting together projects, laying out longer term units of study, things like that. They're only paid for the 8 am - 3 pm (35 hours or so a week, though the pay is per hour better), but most teachers I know show up early and work at home grading, preparing dittos, stuff like that. Add in requirements for Continuing Education, administrative tasks, and non-teaching related requirements that most unions/tenure programs require, and I'd still say it's a surprisingly low paid position for the time that goes into it and the long-term effects on the students.
- yummyfajitas 17y ago
  That doesn't appear to be the case in general. According to the link I posted (which gets it's data from the American Time User Survey), even young teachers tend to work less than 40 hours. Note that this survey asks the question "how many hours did you spend working yesterday, how many hours sleeping, etc", not "how much time were you paid for yesterday". The study does however suggest that teachers do show up early and work at home more than other professionals. Regarding total working hours, I'm guessing the teachers you know are either highly atypical or else they have unrealistic ideas about how much they really work.