Seven of Nine

[Airwolf]

OT

Here is some data from Salary.com on teachers in the Chicago area.

A typical Teacher High School working in Chicago, IL earns a median base salary of $48,671, according to our analysis of data reported by corporate HR departments. Half of the people in this job earn between $38,564 and $57,169.

Job Description
Prepares lesson plans and instructs adolescents. Evaluates and monitors student's performance. Requires a bachelor's degree and 2-4 years of experience in the field or in a related area. Some states require that teachers be certified. Familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field. Relies on limited experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of tasks. Works under general supervision; typically reports to the principal. A certain degree of creativity and latitude is required. Note: Median base salary figures represent teachers with 15 years of experience. Moreover, standard geographic adjustments utilized may not fully reflect regional differences in pay. See methodology for more detail on geographic adjustments.

 

[KnowTheToe]

Look up the saleries for Downers Grove, Wheaton, Naperville, St. Charles, Geneva and other affluent school districts in the area. These saleries do not include the excellent 401K plans, excellent medical plans, a pension plan for retirement and after a teacher in tenured they are nearly impossible to fire and do not forget over three months off a year and seven hour work days that include lunch and a planning period. There incomes are rarely effected by economic strife.

Teachers in Chicago City proper make slightly less, but still reap the other benefits. Teachers also get significant raises as they get more degrees, it does not matter that they carry no more responsability within their job, or if their performance stays the same.

I am not getting down on teachers, I am just stating that I think Chicagoland teachers are more than amply compensated. I know teachers in other states such as Kentucky have horrible pay scales and deserve more than they get.

An example of income. Six years ago the starting salary for a grade school teacher in St. Charles was $32,500. That is not bad for a recent college graduate working 9-9.5 months a year. That was six years ago.

 

[Ranger REG]

You know in the Chicago Suburbs teachers average saleries for many districts are 60K +. Not bad for a part time job. Needless to say, much of the country may suffer from lack of teachers, but Chicagoland does not.

Sounds like that's where the good teachers go, and other places like Hawaii suffers.

As I said, teaching is a calling, especially if you want to teach in a paradise with a high cost of living.

 

[KnowTheToe]

I agree, you have to want to teach, but do not get good pay mixed up with quality. If our teachers had the distractions of paradise, then I think our test scores would suffer, well everyone but Chicago's because they have one of the worst school districts in the country. It may even be the worst, but I am not sure.

 

[Mark]

Hmmm... Sounds like it is only a tad less than Toe had said but much more than I was lead to believe by the folks I had spoken with. Thanks for the stats, A-Wolf (and sorry to doubt you, Toe.)

I suppose a bit of that can be attributed to cost of living for the areas, but not so much that it should be that high, eh?

 

[Umbran]

...and do not forget over three months off a year and seven hour work days that include lunch and a planning period.

Er. No disrespect, but anyone who expects a grade school teacher to get their job done in a 7-hour workday is probably smoking something funny. In seven hours you cannot prepare lessons to keep kids occupied for a school day, teach those lessons, and properly review and grade the resulting work.

 

[KnowTheToe]

Actually, the seven hours include lunch and a planning period (Gym, Music or Art) and a new teacher will spend an hour or two 4-5 nights a week planning. An experienced teacher has many of their plans done and does not need as much time. I work across from a school and when I show up at 8, there is virtually an empty parking lot and at 5, it is an empty parking lot.

I also take work home or work late several times a week. I speak from experience, I have taught, I have many teacher friends, my sister is a teacher, my wife is a teacher. Many teachers play the martyr, but I don't let them fool me. Again, I am only speaking about local (Chicago Suburb) teachers. I have said before many teachers across the country are under compensated for their dedication.

 

[Umbran]

I work across from a school and when I show up at 8, there is virtually an empty parking lot and at 5, it is an empty parking lot.

Right, but as you noted, frequently these folks are takign work home with them. The fact that they're at school for 7 hours does not mean they only have 7 hours of work.

I speak from experience, I have taught, I have many teacher friends, my sister is a teacher, my wife is a teacher. Many teachers play the martyr, but I don't let them fool me.

I also speak from experience - teacher friends on the high school level, and I myself teach on a collegiate level. Generally, if a teacher is doing their job right, they can't do it with only the time they're in the building. Teachers have homework, too.

 

[KnowTheToe]

I am not saying they do not have homework, teachers work hard. I am just saying, in my area they are very well compensated.

If you take the 3.5 months of annual vacation into account, teachers do not work an average of 8 hours per day unless they are working around 600 hours past an 8 hour work day. That is not including the lunch period in the 7-7.5 hr work day, so they can on average work 1.5 hr a day at home and still only be working an 8 hr day. Teacher's often play a "we are poor under appreciated professionals" pitty card, an I think it is wrong.

Again I am not ripping teachers, I am just defending that local teachers are well compensated.

 

[Darius101]

I do not really want to start an argument or get people mad..
Most of the people that I would consider great teachers do not think of their job as just a job. They feel it is a profession just like a doctor or lawyer.
I have not heard the pity card played by any of my friends who are teachers. They enjoy teaching most of their kids. Some kids nowadays just need a little more attention sometimes. I have always felt that the reward of a teacher should be in the giving of knowledge and the encouragement of discovery. It is not by any means monetary and if that is why someone went into it, then they went into it for all the wrong reasons. They will feel bitter and unrewarded over time. Remember the mean old teacher that has been a teacher for 30+yrs and is about to retire? That was why they were that way allot of the time.

Back to our regularly scheduled postings please.....
Darius