T.C. Roekle is a highly respected educator who has solid leadership experience with a focus on innovative strategies to raise student and staff performance at the building and district level. T.C. is a member of the National Speakers Association; she has addressed thousands of educators at State and National Education Conferences, Technology Conferences and school communities.
I'm not in agreement with Amy Jeter and Deirdre Fernandes blanket statement, "Public school teachers used to earn less than just about everyone else with a college degree. No longer." The statement was taken from their article in the The Virginian-Pilot on August 7, 2006.http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=108788&ran=82238
I do, however, agree with their statement, "Few political priorities locally or nationally trump the desire for good schools and qualified teachers." So, I would like to introduce a couple of points they might want to ponder before they continue their public discussion on the topic.
The authors refer to the "average" teacher salary, which may not be "average" at all. As educators know, the largest number of classroom teachers, (those darn baby boomers,) are at the top of the pay scale with many holding out on retirement until they are sure of a strong economy. This recent trend is inflating their "average"” figure. So much for numbers!
Let's look at a statement from the article: "On average, professionals work 232 eight-hour days a year, including paid holidays and vacation, the federal survey shows. Teachers work an average of 187 days, 7.5 hours a day." I ask them to probe a bit further.
Amy, Deirdre...interview a business manager or executive who is about to give a four-hour presentation, and ask: How many hours did you take to prepare? My guess would be a day or two. When do the authors think the classroom teacher prepares? When do they think he or she corrects student independent or group work from class? When do teachers review and comment on individual homework assignments? When do they study student data and reflect on changes to be made to their classroom instruction? When do they make those changes?
Just one more quick comment before I ask for your thoughts on this topic. Let's not forget to add in the holidays and paid vacations those "other" professionals receive. Let's see, 187 teacher days + 12 holidays + 10 vacation days + professional development days, now that is a least a better starting point from which to begin.
I believe good teachers work twelve months a year in a nine-month timeframe. How about you?
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