Health & Fitness
Don't Cry for the Teachers; They're Doing Better Than You
La Mesa Middle School teachers should stop complaining about their workload and compensation, and just do their jobs, like the rest of us.
It sickens me when I hear that La Mesa-Spring Valley School District middle school teachers are complaining about their workload and compensation. Everyone is doing more with less, especially at work, and teachers should not be any different.
For the 2011-2012 school year, the work “year” is 177 days. (35½ weeks of work per year.)
177 days of work = $66,790.00 average salary for teachers at La Mesa Middle School.
177 days of work = $80,050.00 for top 25% of teachers at La Mesa Middle School.
177 days of work = $97,084.00 for top 10% of teachers at La Mesa MIddle School.
(FYI - elementary school teachers make even more (10% over $100,000.00.)
177 days, not counting “minimum days.”
177 days, not counting 10 paid sick days and 3 paid personal days.
177 days, where the time required at school is 7 hours, minus ½ hour for lunch, and 1 hour of the remaining 6 1/2 is a prep period - no teaching.
177 days, where the taxpayers pay 100% of their health care insurance premiums
177 days, where the taxpayers pay 100% of their childcare costs (ESS program is free)
177 days, where, at age 55, with 30 years experience, you can retire with a defacto full salary pension. (This issue is another complete discussion.)
(Salary info for above, and below, according to teachersalaryinfo.com. Other details from the Employment Agreement of 2008-2009, modified in 2/2011, and the California Education Associations’ retirement calculator.)
“But, we do a lot of work at home,” say the teachers. Yeah, so do the rest of us. And we work long hours, for about 250 days a year (50, 5-day work weeks), not 177.
From “20 Something Finance” - In the U.S., 85.8% of males and 66.5% of females work more than 40 hours per week.
From Huffington Post - June 30, 2011. 37.9% of male professionals work more than 50 hours a week (2006-2008 surveys). 22.9% of male “middle income” earners do the same.
Per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics - 36% of workers with a Bachelors Degree and above do some work at home in an average day (2005-2009)
How much does an American with a Master’s Degree earn? According to the US Census, 2006, an American with a Masters Degree earns a median income of $61,273.00. The median income for teachers at LMMS: $65,160.00.
How about the taxpayers paying those teachers’ salaries and benefits?
Per Capita income in the LMSV School District: $21,432.00
Median FAMILY income in the LMSV School District: $51,603.00
Not to mention healthcare, childcare, and retirement savings costs. We don’t get over 7% of our “work year” as paid sick time and personal time, either.
177 days vs. 250 days
$66,790.00 vs. $21,432.00
It is insulting when teachers complain about their workload and compensation, when clearly, even compared with similarly educated Americans, they’re doing a whole lot better than most of us, and we're paying for it.
Teachers, stop complaining and do your jobs.