LCPS Furlough Days

I believe there is a very good lesson learned from a Broadlands resident on responding to such a request from a Post reporter. Be careful what you say!

 

Cap, I was being sarcastic. My wife works 50 hour weeks, has a Masters in Education, and makes $50K per year. A noble profession indeed.

On the other hand, she truly loves what she does, is passionate about her students, and realizes (as do I) you don't become a teacher to get rich -- and we knew that going in. As she is happy, so am I. I celebrate her success!

 

Teachers get paid well for the time they spend teaching. They get 3 months off per year.

 

Can someone do the math and let me know how much that means our teachers earn per hour and per year?

 

Not to be rude here, but can't you do that yourself? Its not rocket science, ya know? Its straight math!

 

Hey, I'm lazy and following this thread in between laundry, vacuuming, grocery shopping, dusting, bathroom cleaning, and mopping. I have company coming tomorrow!

But really I'm just too lazy and I don't know what LCPS teacher salaries are. I'll try to look it up now...

 

Here's a start:
http://cmsweb1.loudoun.k12.va.us/50990419143725/lib/50990419143725/FY11_Approp_Salary_Scales.pdf

 

on the quick...

$60k for 9 months would equate to $75k a full year

 

Actually, they MUST spread that $60K over 12 months...There's no "equating" to an equivalent salary. Keep in mind that Teachers are required to take courses during the summer to keep their teaching certs/licenses current. For MANY teachers that are single, they can't even afford to buy a townhouse, etc. $60K comes after MANY years of teaching....I believe the starting salary for teachers is like less than $30K if Im not mistaken. Friend of mine had to wait to get a Masters before he could "begin" earning above $35K a year. These guys get paid peanuts, really.

 

You have obviously never taught! I would hate to even try to figure out what my hourly wage would be for teaching second grade. I am sure it is well below minimum wage!!!

 

Doesn't the above provided link show that right out of college with no experience one would make a little over $42k?

 

I know quite a few teachers who work during those "3 months off per year" so that they can make additional money to supplement their incomes. By the way, if you're talking about the time off in the summer, it is actually about 2 months. The additional time during the school year equates to 3 weeks plus holidays...about the same "vacation" as most people in professional positions.

Before becoming a teacher, I worked at for-profit and non-profit companies for 15 years, and I can honestly say that I have never worked as hard as I do as an elementary school teacher. We don't get paid for the additional planning, research, tutoring, after-school meetings, events, training, etc., nor do we have the option of receiving comp time or being able to work from home, etc. The school day is intense...there's no time for doing a lot of things that other professionals do at work: surfing the internet, chit-chatting with associates, making personal phone calls, taking hour-long lunches, going out to run an errand, etc.

I haven't even mentioned all the skill, knowledge, patience, etc. that it takes to be a teacher. However, if you think we are well-paid for all that we do, there's probably no way I'm going to be able to change your mind on this forum.

 

For comparison, the average Administrative Assistant in the Washington, DC area makes about $49,000 per year.

http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-Administrative+Assistant/l-Washington,+DC


Average Salary of Jobs with Related Titles

In USD as of Nov 23, 2010
25k 50k 75k executive assistant

$58,000

administrative support assistant

$44,000

human resources assistant

$42,000

office assistant

$31,000

secretary

$44,000

executive administrative assistant

$47,000

legal assistant

$45,000

program assistant

$41,000

admin coord

$21,000

staff assistant

$55,000

office automation assistant

$40,000

management assistant

$44,000

 

http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-teacher/l-arlington,+va

For Arlington, VA:

Average Salary of Jobs with Related Titles

In USD as of Nov 23, 2010
20k 40k 60k special education teacher

$47,000

science teacher

$50,000

middle school teacher

$47,000

math teacher

$48,000

teacher assistant

$32,000

preschool teacher

$37,000

lead teacher

$23,000

elementary teacher

$48,000

early childhood teacher

$33,000

social studies teacher

$48,000

spanish teacher

$49,000

 

I completely agree with this. For anyone who thinks that public school teachers are overpaid and underworked, well, then why don't you go ahead and try it? Then you can adequately evaluate the compensation teachers receive.

Me, I could never have enough patience (with the children AND their parents) to do what they do. One also needs to be incredibly well-organized and well-versed in their teaching disciplines. If you think it's tough to get the folks you work with at your job to perform tasks effectively, try doing that with a group of 25 kids (and to some extent, their parents)!

I never notice an over-abundance of K-12 teachers looking for employment. It seems to me that if it was such a "cushy" job, then there would be a huge amount of people looking to enter the profession (and unable to find emplyment). As the previous post mentioned, almost every minute of each day is intense. I don't think there's many people who are willing to perform this occupation long-term for the compensation that's generally offered.

 

As a former teacher (I left the teacher profession last year), I did the hourly rate for my last year teaching. It came out to $50.42 an hour (before taxes). I was in my 6th year teaching with advanced degrees. This does not include any time outside of the school day (grading papers, conferences, etc) When you see it broken down like that, it is hard to defend the "low pay".

 

Yes, I have to agree if you are basing salary on contract hours only. My contract hours are from 7:30-2:50. However, my typical day is from 6:30AM-5:30PM. Not to mention the time I spend in the evenings grading papers and weekends doing lesson plans! I have been a teacher for almost 20 years and have rarely known any teachers who work just their contract hours. I suggest you recalculate. Teachers teach because they love what they do, certainly not for the money!

 

Article in today's Washington Post about this issue.

 

Hi, Tutor. Were you teaching for LCPS? The reason that I ask is I figured out how much you were making on an annual basis ($50.42/hour * 7 hours (contract time) = $352.94 per day. Multiply that number by the number of contract days (194) and you have an annual salary of $68,470.36). I don't find that amount on the pay scale until you get to 13 years experience with a doctoral degree.

I figured out how much I make per hour, based on having a Masters degree with 7 years of teaching experience (but I'm only on Step 6). I make $49,947 per year. Using the same equation above, I make $36.77/hour. Of course, that is only my "contract time". As ayayagirl states, I probably work about 50 hours a week...an additional 15 hours beyond my contract. Like her, I teach because I love it and love my students, and my spouse makes enough to fill in the gap. BUT...when I talk about the low pay, I'm thinking about lots of single teachers at my school that have to work additional jobs to make ends meet.

The Washington Post article that vacliff mentions quotes a recent report that shows LCPS at the bottom of the eight largest districts in the area in both teacher starting salaries and average salaries.

 

Perhaps the teachers, en masse, should confront Dr. Hatrick.

It is time to stop blaming shortfalls in the budget as the only reason to not give "his" teachers a raise.