This isn’t foolish.
speaking specifically to teachers in the state of WV with my replies.
Compare those in the private sector with an advanced degree and 20 years of experience to a teacher with an advanced degree and 20 years of experience. Daily, teachers are working about 8 hours per day. They then average at least an hour a day on lesson plans, grades, communication with parents, etc. Basically, they work about as much as somebody in the private sector on days they work.
teachers get a planning period within the work day and they work 7 1/2 hours a day, not 8, which actually varies by county, i.e. some counties do make teachers work 8 hours, some doesn't. so, the idea they work more than 8 hours a day is horseshit. now, are there dedicated teachers that do? sure, but those are far and few in between. in fact, most times a teacher has to work over, they're paid an additional stipend. so, spare me the bullshit about them working over and above 8 hours or what they're expected to work.
Yes, teachers get more vacation time. It’s not quite a quarter of a year like you claim. But lets compare the daily life of each.
teachers get more than a quarter of a year off work, although it's not all paid vacation. they're on a 200 day contract and there's 261 week days in a year. 31% of the year they're not on the job. and, of the 200 day contract, they get as many as 4 personal days, upwards of 15 sick days, and 6 free days where schools are closed yet it's counted as a day worked - WV legislature gave them the free days, called OS (Outside School Environment) in lieu of a raise years ago. so, assuming they take the 4 personal and the 6 OS days, that's 5% of their contract they're not on the job but getting paid. count 'em up: they work 190 days, at most a year, and could work as few as 175 and still be paid for 200 days. and, there's more and more teachers calling in sick when they're not sick . . . and, fwiw, i don't blame them. teachers hired prior to a couple/three/four years ago get to use their sick leave balance when they retire toward purchasing insurance or increasing their retirement. the infinitely knowledgeable state legislature thought it'd be a good idea to save money by removing this benefit for teachers hired after that date, and these new hires are using those sick days whether sick, or not. and, fwiw, the healthy young kids out of college who've had everything given to them are too shortsighted to understand there could come a point in their life where they may be injured or get sick and may need 10 or 20 or 50 or 100 days off, so they're burning their sick days up annually and are part of the crowd working no more than 175 days a year, getting paid for 200.
In the private sector, one can easily browse online and post on message board for hours of the day. As a teacher? No way. Private sector, you can easily take a 90 minute lunch. Teachers? No way. Private sector allows leaving the office a few hours early to golf. Teaching? Nope. “Work” for salesman encompasses taking clients golfing, drinking, to businessman special day baseball games. Teachers? They’re still stuck doing actual work. Private sector? You can come in late, start the day off by “doing salescalls” before heading to the office (called sleeping in later). Teachers have no chance to do any of that. Agreed.
Now, reality is that teachers could about 2 months more of vacation time than private sector. But for what they’re paid compared to an equal in terms of education and experience in the private sector, they aren’t compensated the same. Teachers are paid for 200 days. So, look at their daily rate. If a teacher was on a 261 weekday salary, prorate it out from 200 days to 261 days, i.e. a $47K 200 day contract equates to a $61K 261 day contract. Not bad money for the number of employees in that specific business sector. on the flip side, this goes back to what you were saying above regarding vacation.
And for the health insurance/protesting . . . a key part is that these teacher unions have agreed to certain deals with the promise and assurance that benefits would be maintained at a reasonable cost. That promise has been tossed out the door. And, they should be pissed.
Imagine if you were hired with the agreement that your commission would be tiered. Then, when you hit the certain tiered levels, they changed their mind and reneged on the promise by not increasing the commission, even though you took lower salary for years building up to that commission with the promise that it would pay off once you sell more.
