Teachers Unions are a State thing....it doesn't matter if your county wanted 100% full opening.I dont understand how your mother was only working half a year...here at least contracts/salary's are based on certain # of days. I do agree teachers get paid pretty decent in my area...but this does vary from area to area. One of the biggest issues with the pay, is the lack of raises...your mom was making 60k, but just a quick google search shows that starting salary is 32-45k, depending on district. Making 60k after 30 years of work isnt good pay...also, your mother had a good deal with pension...back in the day pensions were very well paying...today, not so much.

It's easier said than done. First of all, every kid comes with a price tag. The more students a public school has, the more money they receive from the State. So a lot of schools try to get in as many students as possible whether they are fit for the school or not. Also, there is increased pressure on teachers to pass kids whether they deserve it or not. A school would rather get rid of a teacher than rowdy students because it means less salary to pay a teacher. Also no matter what the circumstance, the blame will fall squarely on the shoulders of a teacher if students are failing the class even if it is out of the control of a teacher. I've had kids (and their parents!) who did not do a single piece of work for the whole semester and when they get a failing grade (55%), they had the nerve to argue with me and claim that since they didn't do any work, then I can't grade them because no work was produced, thus no work existed. And when you go to the Prinicipal for help, he said just give the kid some project or assignment and if they pass it, give them a passing grade.

It's this kind of nonsense you have to put up with in public schools. Private schools are sometimes no better because some parents feel that since they are paying tuition then than gives them the right to treat teachers like servants and make all sorts of demands like not giving their kids homework, or taking vacation during school time, or cursing at you because their kid failed a test etc.

I don’t understand why teachers get a bad wrap on here. Maybe it’s just from the no kids crowd who don’t know what it’s like to have a kid much less teach that kid.

All the teachers I know only get off half the summer the kids do which equals maybe a month or so. They also work over 8 hours a day for crap pay. Yeah it’s not a physical job but I sure in the hell wouldn’t want to be around 20+ brats all day.

What is “crap“ pay?

Teachers get winter break - 2 weeks
Spring break 1 week
Summer break 10 weeks.

So 13 weeks off a year not including holidays.

Teachers get a tax payer funded pension for life.

Mostly THIS.

Teaching can be very diffucult, but there are also amazing days where the kids are great during lessons, we laugh, it's actual joy.

I've had a few business world jobs. The moral is SUPER low, unless you are busting your freaking A$$ FOR 60+ HOUR weeks, all year, plus checking email constantly.

F that noise. I'll make 60K a year as a teach, continue to add rental properties over the years, and retire with some sanity. I hope.

I addressed this earlier in the thread but in the south teachers don't get crap pay compared to everyone else. They make more than the majority of white collar workers with 13 weeks off instead of 2 and full pension which no one else has. In high wage earning areas it might suck but down here it isn't bad. Tons of people go back to get their teaching certs when they realize what chit the pay actually is for most jobs here. To put it in perspective the starting salary for a civil engineer for the DOT here starts out at 5k more per year than a teacher and has smaller raises per year.

She just retired a few years ago so "back in the day" doesn't really apply. She was only a teacher for 20 years. Yeah, starting pay is low, i guess? I mean, how many 22 year olds do you know making 32-45k in Arkansas? 45k is what people working annalist positions and other white collar office jobs in Arkansas make after 10 years with a company. You can also buy a really nice home for under $150,000 there.
Teacher contracts are 180-190 days. 365/2 is 182.5, so yes, she worked half the year. To be fair most people get weekends, vacation and some hollidays off so they end up working about 240-260 days. Which is why i said in the previous post that teachers work 60 days, or two full months, less than everyone else yet still get salaries WELL above the average income for the area. Unless you live in an extremely wealthy area being a teacher is a good gig and very well compensated.