Teachers and Pro-D
 

It may be only relevant to BC, Canada (current events wise?), but I think the writer had an interesting suggestion.

He's suggested that teachers use PDD (professional development days) to check out the private sector and see how fun it is over there. Don't worry, it's only kinda scathing. :P

So yeah, discuss?

It's fairly clearly just more partisan shrieking. It suits his agenda to paint teachers as privileged and naive, so that's what he does. The fact is that for value added to the economy over the long term, you're hard pressed to beat good teachers. And they have to deal with a lot of bull from students, the government and . They are being asked to do increasingly more with the same, if not less, resources they had before. Plus, PD days are actually for them to take seminars or otherwise educate themselves to keep up with the modern requirements of the profession. They can't really take the day off to shuffle papers in an office or something.

That guy's misinformed or trolling. In teaching, the private sector is considered the easy way out. Private schools get you kids from better homes, higher pay, better benefits, and an employer who might actually care about your quality of life.

Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Seriously, my mother is a teacher, and she literally is babysitter, social worker, and a teacher. She leaves for work at 7 in the morning, and gets home anywhere between 4 and 6 (so a nine to eleven hour day). She deals with angry parents, difficult kids, and incompetent administrative staff day in and day out. Oh - and she makes pretty mediocre wages, to the point where she frequently tutors during the summer to help save for retirement.

I work 9 hours days for 10% above minimum wage as an inbound internet tech support agent. Compared to the angry, difficult, incompetent people I deal with, she has it easy.

I'm a chef. I work for peanuts (actually LESS than minimum wage, if my salary is prorated over my actual hours worked) usually 10, often 12 or more hour days. At night. On weekends. And holidays. In a dangerous, probably unhealthy environment. With the angry, incompetent, difficult kind of people that wash out of schools, often.

I agree teachers are important, but let's not kid ourselves that they've got a tough row to hoe, relatively speaking. Now, maybe it's different, here in Ontario, than other places, but I've had a few teachers in my family and friends. They don't do so badly. You know how they spent their paid summer vacation? Other jobs. My uncle did roofing. Made a killing, plus got paid for being a teacher. I strongly believe summer-time wages ought to be regulated the same way employment insurance is: you make over X amount in a pay period, we start deducting your government wages.

Actually, I think the writer was referring to private industry and the economic/frantic hardship they must deal with, rather than private education.

And also, it's much easier to get wage hikes, considering teachers work for the government. That's the gut of the issue right there. Everyone on the right in BC is basically against government and unions, etc.

I work in the summer!

Seems like the owning classes have done their jobs well if the response of the working man is to say that another working person's hardships don't mean shit next to their hardships.

You're both kind of missing the point, which is that all three of the professions you cite should have better conditions and better pay. Instead of dealing with that, though, the powers-that-be have diverted people's attention to piling on teachers, because they were smart enough decades ago to lobby collectively for somewhat better conditions.

Teacher-bashing is pretty international, it seems.

To all that complain, one answer: you are free to start teaching and "enjoy all the goodness" yourself. What is stopping you? The situation could be different in other countries, but over here there is a shortage of teachers. Especially for mathematics or sciences, there is a big problem, because which engineer wants to spend his time with a bunch of arrogant kids giving the same material over and over, and that for a fraction of the wage he could get at any other job he can choose from?