<p>I used to have 2 teachers who complain about their salaries and about their afternoon jobs at a local community school. The district where I live, the minimum salary is 37k and average at 44k while max is at nearly 70k a year. Having to work for only 1568 hours a year, I don't understand how 37k is a lot. That's 23.59/27.42/28.06/44.6 per hour. My sister make 33k a year as a waitress and she get to spent comfortably while also owning a house. </p>
<p>My opinion is that high school students aren’t really in a position to decide whether adults get paid enough…</p>
<p>Nonetheless, it is bad form for teachers to complain about salaries to students. </p>
<p>After you take Econ, though, you’ll realize that 33k a year isn’t “comfortable” for most people. :-)</p>
<p>Yeah until you enter the working world and have to pay for rent, utilities, food, taxes, and other miscellaneous expenses, you don’t get to have an opinion on this. Also, teachers spend huge portions of their own time (after school hours) grading papers, planning lessons, etc</p>
<p>@jazzcatastrophe and that why they have 2.6 months off.</p>
<p>It’s really not time off, it’s time for designing curricula and units, professional development, and grad school classes (which are required for all teachers to stay current on new teaching techniques, common core, etc)</p>
<p>As in all professions, the level of commitment to the job varies among teachers, but teaching is not a 7:30 to 2:30 job for 40 weeks a year, as many people think. </p>
<p>Many, many teachers have advanced degrees and could be working in fields that pay considerably more (and many have worked in those fields making more before deciding to teach). </p>
<p>Most teachers who have had more than one career will tell you that teaching is a very difficult job and is compensated poorly, comparatively speaking.</p>
<p>You don’t teach for the money, or the time off (which is disappearing, and often filled with prep work, as jazz c says). You teach because you care about the intellectual future of the world. So, you shouldn’t spend valuable class time talking about money. Just MHO. But then, I teach literature. :-)</p>
<p>Doesn’t most school district pay more if teacher get extra degrees ?</p>
<p>It’s inappropriate for your teachers to voice these complaints during class, but your teachers are right.</p>