<p>Teachers’ workload is not constant. Where did you get that idea? Tenure does not magically come to anyone, it takes a lot of work.</p>
<p>girl- I ask again, have you ever been a teacher or worked for one and/or a school district in general? I ask because you really do seem to have a lot of misconceptions about what it is like to be a teacher and I am curious as to where this thinking comes from. </p>
<p>Teachers’ workloads change constantly, especially lately. Class sizes are increasing rapidly and more and more is being asked of teachers. Additionally, in many states, teachers have to go to conferences and take classes in order to keep their certificates and jobs, on top of their regular work. Additionally, the clock does not step when the bell rings. There are meetings, grading papers, planning, etc. </p>
<p>Furthermore, with all of this added strain is the general public opinion that teachers are just glorified babysitters. People forget the fact that they hold the key to our future in their hands. With this attitude, many intelligent and gifted people who want to be teachers are being pushed in another direction because they’re “too good” or “too talented” to lower themselves to something like teaching, again the key to our future.</p>
<p>ETA: Also the average teacher’s salary (not starting salary) can range anywhere from ~$33k per year to ~$60k per year, depending on the state. This is barely the starting salary for most engineers.</p>
<p>You guys must also take into account the location, a lot of states budget Education differently so salaries can fluctuate. as well as job markets in some regions are better or worse then others.</p>
<p>If you want an easy life, get to dreaming. Even winning the lottery would be stressful. How many statistics are there that say these people go bankrupt in less than X years.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>When the teacher routinely comes in and says, “I don’t have a lesson plan today, so we aren’t going to do anything” and “I don’t know what I want to do with my life, and until I do, I’ll just stay here”, or uses class time as a venting session, I can see where the stereotype comes from. That isn’t to say that here aren’t some amazing teachers out there; there are just a LOT of bad apples.</p>
<p>“How many statistics are there that say these people go bankrupt in less than X years.”</p>
<p>that’s cos most lottery winners are broke dudes who have no concept of money management. the very first thing I’d do after getting my winnings would be to put most of it in savings and hire a wealth management specialist from somewhere like MorganStanley.</p>
<p>“On average teachers are pretty well paid given what they do (unions take care of that).” </p>
<p>No teacher pay is abysmal and only a very small percent (42.3) of teachers nationally are in a union. [Union</a> Members Summary](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm]Union”>http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm)</p>
<p>In fact there are 5 states where union membership for teachers is illegal: South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia.</p>
<p>engineering –> dealing with numbers</p>
<p>teaching –> dealing with (potentially whiny) kids</p>
<p>Depends on what you’re better at. I prefer not to be surrounded by people all day, every day. I’d much rather work in my own space. I would pick engineer.</p>
<p>Engineering is not just dealing with numbers, lol. You have to deal with all sorts of people for projects, proposals, etc.</p>
<p>The consensus seems about even -.-</p>