Email between teacher and legislator have created a buzz
Published May 14, 2014
by ABC11 news, May 13, 2014.
An email exchange between a North Carolina teacher and a state senator is generating a lot of buzz.
It began when Sarah Wiles sent a letter to all 170 members of the North Carolina General Assembly voicing her frustration.
"My students know that no one cares about education, because they frequently ask me why I ever made the decision to become a teacher," Wiles said in part in her four paragraph email written last Tuesday.
She ends by saying, "I am embarrassed for you. I am embarrassed by you. And, save for my students, I am embarrassed by being a teacher in North Carolina, the doormat of society."
Click here to read Wiles' letter (.pdf)
"It seems as though there are these cycles of when everybody cares about public education, and election season is a top season for caring about education," said Wiles to ABC11.
State Senator David Curtis of Gaston County says he thought about Wiles' email for three days before writing back.
On Monday, Curtis responded to Wiles and the General Assembly, saying in part, "My concern is that your students are picking up on your attitude toward the teaching profession."
"I think the teachers union has kind of sold the public on a somewhat erroneous idea that their total compensation is just extremely low," said Curtis.
He offered Wiles four suggestions for what she should tell her potential new private sector employer after she leaves teaching, which included expecting to be paid more money than she made as a teacher and expecting eight weeks paid vacation per year because that's what taxpayers gave her.
Click here to read Curtis' reply (.pdf)
Despite his take on the situation, Wiles said he plans to support a teacher pay raise, but that he just wants to "balance the conversation."
On a side note, the president of the North Carolina Association of Educators says teachers do not actually get that eight weeks paid time off.
May 14, 2014 at 9:42 pm
Norm Kelly says:
Don't actually get eight weeks paid time off? What exactly does the NCAE president call that? Traditional schedule teachers get off, this year, part of June, all of July, part of August. Sounds like 8 weeks, or darn close to it. So, if you get paid for the weeks during the summer when you aren't working, what else is it called?
And, add to the time off during the summer for traditional schools, let's not forget that teachers also get every major holiday off, some minor holidays, spring break, Christmas break (that can't be called by this name!). Any other days off? Seems like it, but I can't say for sure.
I know year round schools operate on a different schedule, but even then the school is closed for a certain number of days during the summer. And then there's the 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off part of the schedule. So when someone leaves teaching to get a 'normal' job, they better plan to work more than 9 on, 3 off. Only after working 15 years or more do private sector employees get 3 weeks off. And usually NOT all at the same time.
I've been self-employed for more than 15 years now. Not only am I not getting great raises, as the teachers complain about, but I also haven't had 3 weeks of paid vacation in at least 15 years. Who can I bi_ch to about getting more money? The only choice I have is to pay the higher fuel costs, partly due to the sales taxes added by the state and feds. I can pay higher utility costs when Duke says they need a raise. I can pay higher cable tv bills when the company decides they aren't rolling in enough dough. I can pay for the tea cup museum through my state taxes. But I can't get 3 weeks off during the year, let alone 3 weeks at one time. How do I compensate for all the increases when I have to raise my prices in order to get a raise? Then it's the old supply & demand play. Unless I am worth more, I can't demand more. My customers would drop me if I charged too much. But when the cost of health insurance goes up because of socialized medicine, I can't simply pass that cost onto my customers. So I'll probably end up with a pay cut in the long run (short term!) because of someone's idea that it's important for me to pay for someone else's health insurance.
I am NOT trying to say that teaching is an easy job; it's not a cakewalk. But some of the benefits are hard to beat. And some of the benefits will NOT be found in the private sector. How many private sector jobs pay 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars per year, plus benefits, where the employee works 9, gets 3 off, then gets holidays and parts of summer off? Pressure? Yes. Part time? Some would say so, though it is full time when it's on. But since it's so many days off, it really can be considered part time. Add in things like tenure, and the benefits can't be matched in the private sector until you hit upper-upper management in a private company. You know, something like an executive vice president of an international company. Then you get benefits like teachers. But not before.
So, while some may overplay the part time aspect of teaching, the NCAE is overplaying the underpaid, under-appreciated aspect of it by a looooong shot. It's also true that teachers are on the job before the kids show up and are still on the job after the kids leave. But this doesn't add up to full time employment either.
Then there's the need for continuing ed. Some private sector jobs require this also, so this is not unique to teaching. Do these private sector jobs pay extra because continuing ed is part of the job? Not usually. Not above & beyond paying normal for days spent in training/education classes. It's not like the employee is sitting in class and not getting paid. But, then, neither are the teachers.
There are days during the school year where teachers are limited in their ability to take vacation days. In one respect this is a pain for them. But since they get to accumulate vacation days and cash them in at retirement or retire earlier, they haven't lost that much. And if you are a year-round teacher, it just might be possible to wait for the end of the 9 weeks and you'll have 3 off so you don't have to worry about taking vacation days - you can let them ride to early retirement.
Cakewalk? No. But it's a job and not many of them are cakewalks. Teaching isn't any different from that perspective. Good benefits? Generally speaking.
May 17, 2014 at 7:27 am
Pat McFadyen says:
How sad that so many citizens still criticize teachers over an absolute lie. The truth: Teachers are essentially unemployed for two consecutive months each year. You know, no paycheck.
How many other professions would think it funny to go two consecutive months without a paycheck? Teachers do have this option: we can cut our paycheck by 15-20% each month to save for the summer months. How many other professions could live with a cut like that? On a salary that has already been cut - without a raise in many years - on a scale that is the laughingstock of the country? With the unwritten expectation that you spend hundreds of dollars a year to purchase materials to do that job?
To those who believe that teachers are well compensated for what we do, I suggest you find a real teacher and talk to him or her for a few minutes. It might open your eyes.
