West Virginia Teachers on Strike, still make sure hungry students are fed

[Cecelia]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/26/us/iyw-st...index.html

In West Virginia teachers are on strike because their wages and benefits aren't adequate.  Of course the conservatives will quickly point out that the teachers don't really care about the kids or their education, they're just selfish.  Because you know, they should have to work for slave wages because teaching isn't a 'real job' as they'll quickly tell you (and in the next breath mention they need to arm us so we can take up guns against a school shooter)

Teachers on strike do care about the students education.  Which is why they're on strike.  Imagine if they all simply left instead, going to jobs with better wages so they can support their families.  As teachers we have mortgages too.  We have children to feed, and there comes a time where it's not economically feasible to be a teacher.  Imagine these teachers leave, and have to be replaced.  Who's going to want to take the job?  Costs of living rise, and if pay doesn't rise with it, then eventually it gets to the point where you can't take care of your family.  

Of course these teachers also care about the students who go hungry, and have reduced price lunches at school.  They can't get those when schools are closed due to a strike.  So these teachers took time to make sure those students were fed. 

The strike will continue tomorrow, as schools remain closed.  Hopefully these teachers get their raises, and the benefits they need.  So new educators will be attracted to the profession, so that they can go home and feed their own families, and so that students can get the educational experience they deserve.  It's always odd how if they want to build a bomber, they have enough money.  But if a school needs computers, or teachers need raises, or schools just need more teachers, there's never quite enough money for that.

[LadyForCamus]

If only they were carrying firearms...then they would see those bonuses. 😏

[brewer]

I know very few single young/new teachers that make it more than 5 years or don't have a second job. 

There's just to many employers out there offering better money for the education.

[Minimalist]

Imagine if they all simply left instead, going to jobs with better wages so they can support their families.

That's a good question, Cecilia.  It happens a lot in Arizona.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/...967075001/

866 Arizona teachers have already quit this year

The Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association says 627 teachers have resigned. Another 83 never showed up and 156 flat-out abandoned their classrooms.

[vorlon13]

Can we fast track DACAs thru the teaching certificate system?

Trump is willing to allow almost 2 million to stay, but they need jobs as they age into their twenties.

[RoadRunner79]

While I don't know about the specific conditions of this strike; and I'm not commenting on the merit thereof.

I do remember, reading in the Chicago Tribune about how school teachers was one of the highest paying bachelors degree's per hour. 
While I would assume, that the calculation did not include work taken home, but only hours on campus; it is an interesting figure.  I know I would love to have school teachers hours, although I am sure, that my boss would also want to adjust my pay.  Heck, I would love to be able to take a month off just one summer, and go for a nice motorcycle ride.

[Fireball]

Teaching seems like an easy job from the outside. I taught geometry, analysis and physics for two years. There is always prep work to be done; I also had to either set up any demonstration for physics the night before or in the morning. Since the lab was also used for art, the late-in-the-day setup time was out the window. I also was on the Grounds committee and had to do yard duty (in the Lower School- grades 1-3) two afternoons a week.   Yard duty sucked. Some of those little kids are spawn of the putative devil.

[Minimalist]

I have to wonder where you read that, RR? 

http://www.12news.com/article/news/local.../395529368

Arizona ranks dead last in teacher pay

Arizona teachers make an average salary of just over $40,000.

Of course that is an average and does not consider the starting salary.  But they do give some comparisons.

Here's some perspective: Food service managers ($55,010); retail supervisors ($40,870); mail clerks ($42,510); post office clerks ($53,010); and utility meter readers ($44,760) in Arizona have higher average salaries than teachers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And these jobs do not require college degrees.

Oh, and that summer you get off?

https://www.payscale.com/career-news/201...ummers-off

1. Teachers aren’t compensated for the summer months.

Even the teachers who don’t work in the summer aren’t really on vacation the way some think they are. Teachers are paid, and contracted, for the months that school is open. It’s part of the reason that teachers make less than other professionals. In other words, teachers aren’t enjoying a paid vacation in the summer; instead, they have a job that runs nine months a year.

And for the privilege you get to go get a master's degree which will drive them even further into debt.

We treat teachers like shit and then the WLB expects them to carry guns, too?  Fuck him.

[Foxaèr]

Even the teachers who don’t work in the summer aren’t really on vacation the way some think they are. Teachers are paid, and contracted, for the months that school is open. It’s part of the reason that teachers make less than other professionals. In other words, teachers aren’t enjoying a paid vacation in the summer; instead, they have a job that runs nine months a year.

Which is why many teachers have to get summer jobs, to supplement their incomes, when they shouldn't have to if they were paid enough. No one should have to work more, essentially working one's self to death, to just to live comfortably.

[brewer]

Even the teachers who don’t work in the summer aren’t really on vacation the way some think they are. Teachers are paid, and contracted, for the months that school is open. It’s part of the reason that teachers make less than other professionals. In other words, teachers aren’t enjoying a paid vacation in the summer; instead, they have a job that runs nine months a year.

Which is why many teachers have to get summer jobs, to supplement their incomes, when they shouldn't have to if they were paid enough.  No one should have to work more, essentially working one's self to death, to just to live comfortably.

I disagree with this. They are paid for the contracted time. This does not mean that they are not underpaid for their contracted time.