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Across the country, teachers are fighting for their rights to a fair salary, and for good reason. If you think teachers don’t deserve better pay because you truly believe that they only work from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon, you’ve clearly never met a teacher. Teachers today do so much more than just teach, so it makes me so angry when I hear about our long breaks and summer vacation. And the sad part is, this lack of consideration for the time teachers need to adequately plan for their students while also receiving the same breaks during the day that people in regular jobs get doesn’t just happen in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the Conservatives are moving to have school for 9 hours a day with shorter breaks on top of that. Very little is understood about what teachers do during the day and why that shorter work day is merited along with a pay raise.

7 Hidden Reasons Teachers Deserve a Pay Raise

1 – Staff Meetings – While your children ride home on the bus at 3 p.m.(or earlier) teachers go to staff meetings and professional development after hours. Sometimes these meetings last until almost 6 p.m., and that’s after we arrive at school between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. to get ready for the day and act as holding tanks for children whose parents drop them off before school begins so that they can get to work.

2 – Lesson Plans – Although it may seem like lesson plans wouldn’t take up much time, the truth is that any good teacher spends hours developing lesson plans and then revising them constantly as they monitor student progress. This happens during planning periods, but many teachers, especially special education teachers, lose their planning time to meetings and wind up doing these after school hours.

3 – Parent Meetings – We always appreciate it when parents are involved with the education of their children, but that also means meeting with parents either during the fabled “planning” time and after school. Sometimes parents just drop in without notice and want a meeting, but most of these meetings are planned.

4 – Working Lunches – Elementary and most Middle School teachers eat while supervising children because lunchtime would otherwise be a time for a great amount of chaos and poor behavior choices to occur. There are a lot of students who cannot handle this unstructured time without adults present, so we eat while we work. Sometimes that means our food gets cold while we deal with situations that happen during lunch, and sometimes that means we go without eating lunch at all.

5 – Counseling Sessions – While we’re not certified counselors, if we’re doing our jobs correctly, students develop a deep sense of trust in us and confide in us about a variety of topics ranging from an argument with a friend to much more traumatic events. What we do with this information depends on the situation, but we take that time out because we care about and nurture our students.

6 – Free Tutoring Sessions – Some students struggle with school more than others, so as teachers, we set aside extra time before or after school to help these students. It often pays off for all of us when it comes to student success, but it also means more must be done at other times to keep up with grading and lesson plans.

7 – Behind the Scenes – Hey, this desk doesn’t stay this immaculate on its own! If you see a clean desk in a classroom, that means the teacher has either built a lot of time into setting up an organizational system or has spent some time straightening up after a long day of teaching. No matter what I do, my desk always winds up looking like a disaster at the end of the day, and this means I have to get it ready for the next day. Don’t forget that this means I have all of the other things (see #1-6) to do on top of this task.

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It’s time to start thinking of teachers as the professionals they are. It is a disgrace that a teacher who provides for his or her own family in a single-income home could be qualified to receive government aid. We have been through four years of college so that we turn children in this country into great future citizens who will hopefully find their way to a great job that utilizes the skills they’ve been taught. It’s unfair to ask that we do it on a salary that is far less than any other professional with a college degree. If you haven’t talked to a teacher about what he/she does on a daily basis, take the time to do it, and soon. We love our jobs, we love our kids, and we love knowing that we’re shaping the future of America one child at a time, and while we may joke that we didn’t get into this profession for the pay, but that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve a pay raise.

To help teachers in your community, stay informed about who is running for office and what their opinions are about education. Contact governors and legislators in your area and tell them that you value public education and want to see them show they value it too. We cannot do this without the support of a positive, supportive community. Be the force behind change. Take action today. Demand a pay raise for teachers commiserate with the important work they do.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Teresa Cooper is a 30-something divorced mom and teacher from North Carolina. She has a Masters of...

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9 Comments

  1. You forgot 504 meetings, RTI meetings, and ARDs all mandatory. Most take up my tutorials times within the school day so I have to schedule tutorials outside the school day. I have been at school until 6 pm.tutoring. We then attend events throughout the year to support our students. They are so excited that I came out to their extracurricular activity like football games, soccer, theatre even if my kids are not there. We are not mandated but if you are a good teacher you attend a few through the year. What about paying for supplies? I pay well over the 250$ that the govt. allows me to deduct for teachers expenditures. Pencils, markers, glue, paper, scissors, etc. all come out of my pay. So do science supplies to do experiments. How about committees like scholarship, safety, principal’s council, prom, sponsors for all the clubs and activities? Most of us do not get paid for that or if we do it is not at hourly rate. I just wish every parent was obligated to volunteer at the school at some point in the school year or substitute and I think more people would open their eyes to the professional duties and behaviors that teachers have to display.

    1. You’re so right, Debra. I put so much money into my students and do things after school with events, etc., and I didn’t even think of that!! Maybe the next one could be titled The “After School” Hours of a Teacher lol

  2. Pastors make less, and we have to go to school for a longer period of time (MA Th or MDiv versus BA). We are on call 24/7, having to serve an all- ages population, on a culture that mocks and disparages our work. I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

    1. Not a good comparison Delwyn. Churches are tax-free despite having direct state dealings. Not only do we get taxed, but we have to serve everyone regardless of behavior, income, and religious beliefs.

    2. Many teachers have their Masters degree, National Board Cerifications, etc. Many of the pastors that I know live in a parsonage and have no rent, house payment, utility bills, and get insurance at no charge to them. This may not apply to all pastors, but it does apply to ones with whom I am familiar.

    3. Not all churches require a degree. I know several Baptist pastors who have no degree at all much less any divinty degree

  3. We were doing pretty well in my state despite a high cost of living until the legislature enacted a law that had us paying an increasing percentage of our previously negotiated health benefits at the same time mandatory pension payment increases were enacted. The districts get the windfall from the health benefits, and can spend it on anything they want. Because negotiated pay raises, when they happen, are not keeping pace with the costs we are bearing, we are experiencing negative net, and taking home less each year while our bills and responsibilities increase. I am fearful of who will continue to do this job once the lifetime career teachers are retired, because Many schools are going longer without contracts, as well because trying to negotiate a break in that Chapter 78 law is very difficult. And the 7 reasons above are very real. We also have a much for stressful and time consuming evaluation system that was enacted. The morale in my district is at an all-time low, and I have been there 30 years.

  4. I love teachers, and they do work hard and are underpaid in most areas of the country. What I want to point out is that when you are comparing these types of hours, etc. you are comparing them to county desk jobs where people show up at 8, leave at 5 and that is all. MOST jobs are not like that.

    In the corporate world, almost everyone works far more than 40 hours a week and is not compensated for those extra hours. I work a salaried position that requires upwards of 60 hours a week, all year, with no paid maternity leave and a very small amount of vacation/sick time each year (two weeks). I work through lunch all of the time, meetings go until 6 p.m., and I work again on my laptop at night after my kids go to bed. It’s just a part of life. Jobs that actually require 8 hours a day and pay well are few and far between, if there even are any. Lawyers, doctors, professionals, they all work their butts off. My point is, we are all working hard and most of us are not rewarded in a way we feel we deserve. That’s the American way.

  5. Everything in the article are the obligations of the job…and they are mandatory because of our responsibilities. I’d lean more toward more pay because teachers are purchasing classroom supplies, student clothing, student lunches/snacks/milk, technology, and paying for advancement in degrees. Someone above talked about everyone working more hours than we know. I agree, but in the corporate world they either train you or pay you to train. All too often, this is all on the teacher.

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