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MotorboatingSofaB t1_iu48bo5 wrote

Teachers are literally the backbone of this country and they are treated like shit. It makes no sense whatsoever. They are the ones shaping kids lives and they get little to no respect and not enough compensation for the work they put in

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Kabloomers1 t1_iu4y007 wrote

Honestly, I'm a teacher in NJ and I think we get paid all right, depending on the district. They are gutting benefits which is a huge bummer, but we get paid better than most other states. The thing that is harder to fix is the burnout. We need more support, more subs, more paraprofessionals, more co-teachers. Meanwhile there are more responsibilities being heaped on teachers on top of just doing their jobs. Districts aren't going to pay for more teachers and paras, and aren't going to pay enough to attract new subs. Teachers are exhausted and are now being forced to use their prep periods to cover for their fellow teachers who are out. Why kill yourself working nonstop and getting 20 minutes to whorf down a salad while you grade papers when you could join the private sector? Summers off are obviously great but for a lot of people it's not enough to deal with the stress of the school year. People are leaving in droves.

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AllThoseSadSongs t1_iu583xo wrote

Teachers in NJ absolutely get paid well, but not well enough for what we are expected to do. I do almost the work of two teachers, but I'm not being paid as such. How many teachers are taking on extra responsibilities without a resulting increase in pay? How many younger teachers are propping up older teachers in technology without even an acknowledgment? Things aren't the same as they even were five years ago with the amount of extra, unseen work heaping on us.

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cassinonorth t1_iu5d0t8 wrote

I want to punch anyone who says teachers only work 180 days or just 8-3 daily. My wife works basically 7 days a week between grading papers, prepping lessons and going to grad school because that's the only way to make decent money in the profession.

They routinely take away her prep periods to cover other classes too. It's a mess. I try to make her life super easy on weekdays, cooking most nights but it's tough. There's only so much I can do.

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idiosyncrisia t1_iu62du3 wrote

Are you me? My wife is also going through grad school and dropping underpaying extracurriculars like yearbook to stay sane. Teaching sucks, and we’re not sure if she’s going to continue past paying off the degree.

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AllThoseSadSongs t1_iu5lo9a wrote

Same with my husband. I work in daycare so it's less at home, but it's a forty-five hour week with screaming kids. So it's a trade off from hell.

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Satanic_Doge t1_iu5j0hx wrote

The fact that NJ teachers get paid better than anywhere else in the US just makes us the thinnest kids at fat camp.

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Certain_Minimum_8862 t1_iu68upb wrote

I’m a teacher and we get paid crap. We live in one of the most expensive states in the country so our salary might be higher than other states but it doesn’t match the cost of living. Especially in North and Central jersey

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deluxepepperoncini t1_iu5crrc wrote

We’re moving to NJ from NY and my wife is looking to change to NJ schools eventually. I told her to get in now while she can because of the shortage. She’s worried about pay changes.

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mjabed600 t1_iu5yzl3 wrote

Well apparently they're giving out a sign on bonus

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deluxepepperoncini t1_iu5z4ze wrote

That’s news to me. I’m actually curious how much they are.

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mjabed600 t1_iu62974 wrote

https://nj.com/education/2022/09/nj-school-district-offers-7500-signing-bonus-to-fill-135-teacher-jobs.html

But make sure you get it in writing from HR because HR and admins are liars

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mjabed600 t1_iu6tdrm wrote

As I'm sharing this I'm realizing how the state is willing to pay bonuses to attract teachers instead of trying to retain existing ones lol.

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Jake_FromStateFarm27 t1_iu7a991 wrote

Short term>long term benefits works everytime. I don't want a sign on bonus, I wanna be paid a living and fair wage in this state.

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Jake_FromStateFarm27 t1_iu79mka wrote

Your wife has a masters and experience coming from NY (a masters her district most likely paid in NY). Schools everywhere are being extremely cheap, but they are not likely to turn her down.

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deluxepepperoncini t1_iu79xll wrote

I guess she can demand some money when she goes for an interview.

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Jake_FromStateFarm27 t1_iu7cjay wrote

Demand is a bit strong lmao but ya it really depends. Colleague of mine came from teaching finance at a university as an adjunct for years and has a masters. He decided to move into the high school setting, and very much regrets it. It's very sad as well he loves teaching, kids love him, and is good at what he does but despite all that admin hires him to teach even more sections than core curriculum and started him at step 1 on the salary guide since it was his first year teaching high school despite a decade of teaching in universities. Our other Colleague who is a bumbling bitchy idiot teaches the easiest sections, complains about it all the time because they are freshmen, and yet she makes more than the rest of us despite it's her first year (not fresh out of college either she's in her mid 40s teacher by alt route) teaching ever! The system is so fucked up its laughable.

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daedalus_was_right t1_iue6aa0 wrote

Not in a union state she can't; salaries are determined by collective bargaining agreements, there is no individual salary negotiations. Nearly every district will give a slight stipend for having a MA degree, but she can't just waltz in and negotiate a different salary compared to another teacher with the same years and qualifications. That would defeat the entire purpose of having a union.

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kinsho t1_iu6hyh2 wrote

>Meanwhile there are more responsibilities being heaped on teachers on top of just doing their jobs

Please go into more detail here.

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Jake_FromStateFarm27 t1_iu7bq94 wrote

Additional unpaid duties, taking on more students despite union terms on classroom sizes, filling in for other teachers despite losing either our prep period or lunch (often times both unpaid), having to be more involved in the IEP and 504 process (writing these accommodation plans which counselors and admin are supposed to do), SGOs, weekly lesson planning as opposed to monthly plans, Professional development, department meetings forced by admin, more PD but now with HOMEWORK FOR TEACHERS, playing actual therapist for students, and the list goes on. It's largely a lot of administrative duties that the actual admin is supposed to do not teachers, all unpaid outside of contract hours of course. This isn't accounting for all the things we already do on a regular basis that is required of our duties, it's a lot and the expectations keep on rising and suddenly new responsibilities get tact on.

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[deleted] t1_iu4x60t wrote

[deleted]

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uller999 t1_iu51b1x wrote

Right there with you man, I will lose 3 of 5 plan period this week, and I'm really curious how long that's going to continue. I coach, so I'm working 10 hour days with no breaks everytime I cover. I'm going to ditch the career, it's not worth it anymore. I've been doing this 11 years and the parents and kiddos have gotten astronomically worse.

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ChefMike1407 t1_iu4xpjw wrote

It’s been rough. I’ve never seen it so bad. I am in my 12th year, pay has been stagnant, resources are few and far between, and buying your own supplies has become the norm. I decided to go back to university at 36 in hopes of finding something new, because teaching for another 30 years is not an option.

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daedalus_was_right t1_iu4zvb3 wrote

>Buying your own supplies has become the norm

This has always been the norm.

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murphydcat t1_iu59drd wrote

I was married to a teacher. We had to purchase paint and paint her classroom over the summer.

She often emails me assignments, quizzes, etc and asks me to run off copies at my office because the one copier that serves the entire school is broken.

My brother makes over $200k as a middle manager for an insurance company and often rants how teachers are overpaid and hardly work because they "get summers off."

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ChefMike1407 t1_iu5m5tw wrote

I’ve never had a summer off in 12 years. And let’s be honest, most of the teachers not working are taking care of their families.

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Linenoise77 t1_iu5ahls wrote

What district in NJ is letting teachers paint their rooms.

My wife is an educator, I've been in tons of schools in my course of work as well.

The shitstorm that would cause with the union would be insane.

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[deleted] t1_iu51es7 wrote

[deleted]

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daedalus_was_right t1_iu51okw wrote

Lol, idk what fancy ass district you attended as a student, but when I was in elementary and high school (back in the 90s) we would get classroom points or extra credit for bringing in tissues, printer paper, etc... because teachers weren't supplied with these things by the district.

Buying your own supplies has always been the norm for teachers.

Edit; it appears some of you are interpreting this comment as being dismissive of teachers having to shell out of their own woefully low salaries for classroom supplies. I am one of those schmucks who is constantly having to pay out of pocket for classroom supplies. I've spent over 100 bucks just this school year so far on my own classroom. All I'm saying is this problem is not new. Educators in this country have been ridiculously abused for generations.

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Fryceratops t1_iu5468r wrote

No it was not. In the 1970/80s when I was in school teachers were supplied what they needed.

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Soggy-Constant5932 t1_iu5xk7b wrote

I am constantly saying this to my husband. Throw a bat or ball and you get millions. Teach the children of our future and you need a second job to make ends meet. It’s awful.

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KeyWest- t1_iu659yx wrote

The country literally doesn't have a backbone.

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[deleted] t1_iu63wh3 wrote

You kind of answered your own question. Because teachers mold the intellect (and morals, to an extent) of children, they become vulnerable to cynicism, scapegoating. Conspiracy theory. So on and so forth.

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