Friday, May 20, 2011

SASK TEACHERS ON STRIKE FOR 2 DAYS NEXT WEEK

Sask. teachers on strike for 2 days next week - Saskatchewan - CBC News

Here's my comment:

katecross give your head a shake.

First of all, teachers are, perhaps, paid over the full 12 months; but they are not paid for the summer. Most teachers, in order to maintain consistent income, take less during their months of teaching so that they can continue to collect the same pay cheque over the summer.

Secondly, these people that complain about the number of days or the number of hours worked have their heads in the sand. Teachers do not walk away from school at 3:30 and leave the job in the building until 8 the next morning. They mark tests, answer emails from parents, do preparation work from home, etc. My wife is a teacher and spends a good week or more at school during the summer to get the classroom ready for kids. She also spends countless hours at home preparing the academics.

Any teacher that truly only puts in 5.5 hours a day should be canned. Forget the raise.

Thirdly, anyone that tries to associate a salary with hours worked is clueless. You pay teachers to do a good job. For some, it takes more hours than others. I don't care how long it takes you to educate my kids. Just make sure it's done well and I have no problem.

Think of a professional firefighter. Do we pay them to be ready to fight for our lives and possessions when the time calls? Or do we pay them 'hours worked'? If it takes you 3 hours to fight a fire at my house and save my wife and kids...I'll pay you 75-thousand a year if it means you do nothing for the rest of the year other than to be ready for when that emergency call comes in.

The same applies to teachers. Educate my kids. Prepare them for life as an adult. If it takes you 6 hours or 10 hours a day....I don't care. Just do a good job.

Pay these people.

3 comments:

  1. Mike, well said. Teachers are so underappreciated. Even as a camp counselor for two years, dealing with those kids was so draining. I couldn't imagine doing it all day, every day, let alone having so much responsibility to society.

    Definitely on the teachers' side here.

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  2. Ryan in LloydminsterMay 21, 2011 at 9:17 AM

    Hey Mike, thanks for the positive comments. Not seeing a lot of positives from media people here lately.

    Ryan in Lloydminster

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  3. I'm on neither side of the fence on this issue, as I do not have children in the school system, but this is worth a look and the 2 minutes of your time...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDtgftfRAhM

    ReplyDelete