Why aren’t teachers valued as the “best people?”
I asked Monique Kluczykowski, a college teacher from Winder, to turn a letter she sent into a guest column. Her op-ed appears on the Monday AJC education page. Here’s a preview of the piece.
I think she raises a good point: The state defends its higher pay to administrators – whether in education or any other area – as a necessity to attract the best people. Why isn’t the same true for teachers?
By Monique Kluczykowski
As a college teacher beginning a new school year, I am tired and discouraged: tired because I taught extra classes all summer long, and discouraged because of the public’s perception of my profession.
Most people believe teachers enjoy a three-month vacation every summer; I’d enjoy that too, but my children have become accustomed to luxuries like food and shelter. Our last vacation was a three-day trip to Tybee Island in 2003; this year’s grand excursion was a trip to Zoo Atlanta.
When I chose my profession, I knew I’d never become wealthy, but I believed I’d be able to support a family. I was wrong. A 2000 report by the Southern Regional Education Board states, “Faculty salaries have not grown at rates as high as those of all workers, regardless of level of education, over the past 25 years.”
Combine low raises (or none at all) with ever-increasing insurance premiums and out-of-control inflation, and most of us are making less year after year. Yet whenever an economic crisis looms, the first place our elected officials look to cut costs is teacher salaries.
It may strike some as insensitive to complain about salaries at a time when so many people are out of work, but there never will be a good time to raise this issue. For the past 10 years, teachers have been told to “tighten our belts” and to “remain optimistic” because “things will be better next year.”
But every next year is economically worse than the one before, and many of us are on our last belt hole.
Yet while faculty salaries have stagnated, a quick glance at www.open.georgia.gov reveals that the salaries of administrative personnel are quite robust: a good number of administrators in the education field earned over $100,000 last year, with some exceeding $500,000.
When teachers question the discrepancy in salary amounts, we are told that administrators have many responsibilities and that it takes competitive pay to attract the “best” people. Really?
What a compliment that is to those of us who “just teach.” Administrators may juggle multiple responsibilities, but so do I. Each year I guide over 200 students through composition classes, helping them to acquire the skills they will need to be successful in their academic disciplines and career fields, but my job duties don’t end at the classroom door.
I also perform myriad administrative tasks and do my own filing. Yet, my annual salary is less than a tenth of the amount of some administrators’ pay: is my contribution really worth that much less?
And if the first place the budget experts look to cure their budget woes is teacher/faculty salaries, are they really the “best” people? The motto on the University System of Georgia’s Website reads “Creating a More Educated Georgia,” while Georgia’s Department of Education has adopted the phrase “Improving Student Achievement.”
Who do they suppose is accomplishing those goals every day in the classroom? Administrators with Ph.D’s in Organizational Leadership?
I love my work, but it’s time to stop romanticizing the teaching profession. When a student says, “I loved your class” or “You’re a wonderful teacher,” it’s a terrific compliment at the end of a semester, but it doesn’t pay the electric bill.
I am an educated and dedicated professional: just because my job is emotionally rewarding doesn’t give the state the right to treat my income as its own personal piggy bank.
Oh, and Gov. Perdue, please don’t call them “furloughs.” A furlough is a vacation or a leave of absence: what we teachers are getting is a pay cut. Good luck with attracting the “best people” to a profession that is valued so little.
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43 comments Add your comment
Maureen's accountability metric
August 15th, 2009
9:10 pm
Maureen,
Now that I see you are posting on the weekend, it’s all the more disappointing that you haven’t addressed the question posed concerning-no pun intended-your tenure on the editorial board.
I’d like to refer to a quote from Crosby since you brought him on your blog and it directly relates to the question at hand:
“The only reason to pay lots of money for children to go to private school is to make sure they aren’t in a classroom with hoodlums. Let parents deal with their problem kids by expelling the bad apples with a zero tolerance policy.”
The point this raises, and I haven’t seen a single reader say this isn’t a legitimate question to ask, in all the AJC editorials written on education, why hasn’t a single one been devoted to advocating teachers have more authority when it comes to chronically disruptive students?
Not only do I think it’s a legitimate question, your very own colleague Ken Foskett, thinks so as well. When it was posed to him, he responded, online in the AJC that it was indeed a legitimate question, one he honestly didn’t have an answer for, as he went back to the year 2000 and didn’t see a single editorial devoted to the topic.
Not one.
In close to a decade.
Maureen, I realize it’s a tough question, one that to invoke a cliche, holds you accountable to the readers. But instead of looking at it as a tough question, I would encourage you to look at is as a golden opportunity to address your critics that say you have had a decidedly anti-classroom teacher bent to your editorials. What better way to prove you don’t than to address this head on?
Since your very own paper has documented instances where teachers have complained of lack of support, up to and including actual physical assaults of teachers; since your very own colleague Ken Foskett has admitted online in the AJC that he honestly can’t find a reason that this issue hasn’t been addressed, are you willing to at least admit that the AJC editorial board has failed teachers, and by extension students, in this state by not advocating for more systemic support for the teacher’s authority in regard to disruptive students?
And if you are willing to address this, in an honest, open, and forthright manner with your readers, could you please explain some of the thought processes that went into the AJC editorial board’s refusal to address the issue?
Again, it is a tough question, but I think it has been phrased in the most civil of tones. If anybody can think of a compelling reason that this isn’t a legitimate, valid question to ask, I would ask that they post it.
But if it is, as I suspect most people think it is, a valid, legitimate question, then I would encourage you Maureen to address it.
After all, we are here to engage in constructive debate, aren’t we?
yawn
August 15th, 2009
10:02 pm
yawn…
College Teacher, Too
August 15th, 2009
10:16 pm
Although I am disappointed about the furlough and low salary, I don’t quite share the sentiment. I think it is an exaggeration to say that teachers’ salaries (college or K-12) are the “first” to be cut. Furthermore, I don’t get upset because I don’t make as much as administrators – I could have become an administrator, but I chose not to. I look at some of my closest administrators (chair and dean), and I sure don’t want their jobs. I think they deserve their pay – besides, their pay is a 12-month pay, while mine is a 9/10 month salary.
I enjoy my work and I like the flexibility it offers. I decided to go into a higher education because it offered an opportunity for me to satisfy my own intellectual curiosity. So, I wanted to be a resident of an ivory tower, and I am perfectly willing to sacrifice some luxuries I could have enjoyed had I gone into a different profession.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 15th, 2009
10:35 pm
If yawn is in response to the question posed above, can you provide one compelling reason that this isn’t a legitimate question to ask?
Can you provide one compelling reason that addressing the teacher’s authority when it comes to chronic and severe disruptions isn’t a legitimate, or important question to discuss?
Dr. John Trotter
August 15th, 2009
11:29 pm
I want to give kudos to “MAM” about the lack of support for discipline but I am sure all of my comments are now being forbidden. Let’s see…
Dr. John Trotter
August 15th, 2009
11:50 pm
Gun (aka known as jim d, ScienceTeacher671, xnxnxnx, Mindy, et al.): Wow, your attempt to subtly criticize via feint praise is underwhelming. I have observed that in the past few months on various blogs (the AJC’s and others), you have been attempting to be an anonymous “Jimmy Hoffa” for teachers on the internet. You appear to be romancing your “real union.” You appear to be infatuated by your “real union.” You basically seem to be fascinated by a “bargaining unit.” Georgia and most Southern states are light years away from this. Yes, it is against the law for teachers to strike, but do you not think it was also against the law to strike in Florida in 1968 when Florida teachers did indeed walk out and strike and earned collective bargaining rights? I am not advocating this at all. In fact, do you think that even you (thou great man of “real unions”) would have the nerve to walk out on strike? Not. I am just trying to enlighten you as to how collective bargaining comes about. It is not given freely to teachers. LOL. [New paragraph.]
I have been a member of a bargaining unit. Different set-up. Same problems. The leaders of the bargaining unit quickly get co-opted by the management, and the rank-in-file members suffer. The management still violates the spirit and letter of the collective bargaining contract just like the management violates at will the Constitution and Statutes now. What makes you think that management then respects the collective bargaining contract more than the U. S. Constitution or Georgia Statutes? What makes you think that the arbitrators will not be co-opted by the superintendents and their minions? I know that “collective bargaining” sounds so romantic to you, but look at Florida (the only Southern state to have collective bargaining statewide; Florida is really like a Northern state). Teachers in Florida make much less than teachers in Georgia. Their teaching conditions are awful. I know. I have visited many Florida schools and have talked with Florida teachers. Yes, they have certain rights like being able to leave a faculty meeting if the long-winded principal runs over the time limit, but don’t you think that the principal “will get the teacher back” (Gunny, you like this split infinitive?) in the evaluation process? [New paragraph.]
I use whatever language that I want to use. Words are just vehicles by which thoughts and ideas are conveyed. (I always try to never to use the Lord’s name in vain.) If you are so squeamish that my “vehicles” offend you, then fine. Don’t read what I write. I suspect that you are like one of the police officers (three showed up) in DeKalb who was called to the DeKalb Central Office a few years ago when I refused to lay and let the DeKalb Administration roll over a DeKalb teacher (one of your colleagues, by the way) in a grievance hearing. When one of the police officesr realized that he was called intemperately and unwisely by the administration simply because I held the ground for the teacher and engaged in a little “robust speech” (as it is called by the U. S. Supreme Court), he became more plaintive in his appeal: “Sir, can’t you do this in a different way?” My reply: “I started this teachers union from scratch without a single member, and now we have members all over Georgia. I don’t think that I need your advice about how to run MACE.” The same goes for you, Gunny (or, have you truly changed your name to “xnxnxnx” like “Ocho Cinco”?). If you have a better idea of how to organize teachers and fight for them, then I will humbly suggest that you will never accomplish a scintilla of “organizing” by blogging anonymously under a myriad of different silly names. Like me, you will have to go to jail a few times fighting for teachers. Then, perhaps you will have some “street cred.” At MACE, we protect and empower teachers “one member at a time.” MACE is not perfect, but you and others clearly know that there is a world of difference between MACE and the other organizations. MACE is passionate. MACE is not a charitable group. MACE takes care of its members. Presumably, that’s why you were a member for years and years (and regularly praised MACE). But, as you know, I will not allow MACE to be pimped. [New paragraph.]
Virtually every week, we get calls and inquiries (via emails or walk-ins) from teachers who had been paying GAE or PAGE for years and are disappointed with the service of GAE or PAGE (this is so true and can easily be documented). MACE is not the Statue of Liberty. We don’t have the resources to take care all of GAE’s and PAGE’s jaded and disappointed members. We take care of MACE members. We have to create a “constructive membership” for these lost sheep of GAE and PAGE. I don’t want to be so cold and callous and say: “You are just out of luck. You cannot join MACE. You should have joined MACE in the beginning.” We try to create some kind of arrangement for these teachers to pay years of “back membership.” If they do not want to do this, then fine. But, in this case, MACE will not take care of these job conditions which “pre-exist” their membership. This is why we say “Don’t wait too late to join.” Trust me: When a teacher is being abused by an administrator or has his or her career on the line, then they all hear about MACE. It is an interesting phenomenon. Now, success also has its negatives. It engenders jealousy and envy. This comes with the territory. Also, teachers ask to be able to “work for MACE.” I think to them “working for MACE” is romantic. But, when they “work for MACE,” they realize that it is very hard work with very long hours. (Especially during the school year, it is not unusual for some MACE Staffers to leave the MACE Office after midnight.) One or two of these people who insist on “working for MACE” have brought their pathologies to the MACE Office, trying to manipulate others and resenting me when I don’t “recognize” their skills so as to “promote” them. When these one or two disgruntled persons quit “working for MACE,” they may even get on the AJC Blogs and other blogs and constantly post comments against me and/or MACE, but their words are hollow because “action speaks louder than words.” Their words fall on deaf ears. If a teacher was being abused daily by one or more administrators, and when these administrators realize that this teacher is a MACE member and abruptly cease their abuse, do you think that this teacher pays any attention to any person whose apparent mission in life is to try to smear MACE on the blogs? LOL. [New paragraph.]
I could never join together with any groups which have administrators and supervisors in their membership ranks. This is classic conflict-of-interest. I am not anti-administrator per se (as, I think, Maureen may think that I am). My father and brother are retired Georgia principals (very good ones too). (In fact, my brother is now a member of a Georgia school board.) I earned my first doctorate in administration from UGA at a very young age and became an assistant principal of a large high school at the tender age of 27. I later taught a couple of more years before becoming an administrator again at age 30. Ask around, and you will find out about my skills as a teacher and an administrator. My problem was always “out-shining” my bosses. This can be a real problem, especially if your boss thinks that you are going to run for superintendent (remember the good ole days when the electorate actually decided who led the school system?). I just cannot go along with any movement or organization which tries to represent both the supervisors and the supervised at the same time. Now, G., when you understand this clearly, then you will begin to understand organizing and unionism. A man cannot serve two masters. [New paragraph.]
Maureen, I hope that this “brief” post will be published when I hit “submit,” but I doubt that it will. Being “John Trotter” has its distinct advantages (one thing is that people think that you are crazy, and this can truly be advantageous), but it also means having my comments subject to “waiting for moderation.” (c) MACE, August 15, 2009.
Maureen's accountability metric
August 16th, 2009
12:10 am
One would think, since Maureen seems to be actively seeking input, she would reach out to Dr. Trotter.
Our educational leaders, and many in the media may not agree with him, or at least admit it publicly, but one thing that’s hard for anybody to disagree with is that, as much if not more than any educator in Georgia, he is uniquely positioned to speak openly and honestly about teaching conditions in Georgia.
And, I think it’s fair to say, he has shown a virtually unmatched willingness to directly address educational and political leaders when they engage in actions that lack integrity or fail to serve the best interests of teachers and students.
One would hope some of the more colorful references he makes wouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle, especially given that he is willing to speak openly about issues that should concern not only teachers, but all citizens, issues that all too often are ignored by our political and educational leaders, and for that matter, all too often ignored by the media.
Like they say, if you want to make an omelet you have to break some eggs, and Dr. Trotter doesn’t seem to be one who shies away from the heat in the kitchen. Does the AJC?
Craig Spinks /Augusta
August 16th, 2009
2:07 am
Teacher must assert their professional authority. Legislators must INCENTIVIZE all aspects of the public educational experience for all of its participants.
Maisy
August 16th, 2009
5:57 am
An interesting and worthy topic but once I see the name “Trotter,” it’s an automatic dead-end for me. Bye!
InAtlanta
August 16th, 2009
8:41 am
How stupid of teachers to complain of administrators when most administrators are ex-teachers. Look at the Ph.D. in education lecturing white candidates on the evils of Jesse Helms rather than interviewing them. Imagine how the job candidate felt, D.B.A. certifed, four year degree in computer science 18 years experience not qualified enough for even a $14.00 per hour job with the state dept. of education. Substitute teachers, not being paid on average 3.5 days peryear for their work, the school book keepers too stupid to enter the information. Their is less accountability for administrators and their staff than for teachers. This has been true for the last 15 years. IT is only when teachers are not paid do they start to complain. Ridiculous!
Lee
August 16th, 2009
8:43 am
The writer laments about the salary disparities between herself and administators.
I question the salary disparities between myself and that herd of VP’s and the CEO above me.
c’est la vie (such is life…..)
Regarding college professors – a story I like to tell.
Back when I was an eighteen year old college freshman, I was in awe of those professors with their phd’s and fancy words. Years later, when I returned to college for my MBA, I realized how full of shit MANY of those professors really were.
You’re trying to tell me how to manage a business but you have never worked outside acadamia? All you know is what you read in a book? A book that was written by someone else who never worked in the ‘real world.’ Givemeafreakingbreak.
Michael in Decatur
August 16th, 2009
9:10 am
There would be more money for teacher salaries if the teachers would agree to a “Drug Free Workplace” Being a DFW brings many cost saving benefits for the school district. Look it up. And then ask yourself, ‘why would teachers be so adamantly against a DFW”?
InAtlanta
August 16th, 2009
9:17 am
Once again, most administrators are ex-teachers. Some experiences with Ph.D.’s in education. Receiving a lecture on the evils of Jesse Helms rather than an appropriate interview. Qualifications: 4 year degree computer science, 18 year experience, D.B.A. certified will not get a $14.00 per hour job with the state dept. of education working on their database, for they lack a education degreee. Substitute teachers on average are not paid 3.5 days. Reason, the book keeper will not enter the information into the computer, they are not properlya trained, really too stupid. Look at ALvin, firing blacks, crippling women while all the time chasing teachers down who he thinks voilated their oaths. Ridiculous.
Administrator
August 16th, 2009
9:17 am
I agree that teaching is a demanding profession and that teachers are not paid nearly enough for what they do. I taught for 18 years. However, in my current role as an administrator, I get tired of the generalizations regarding administration. To be honest, I took a pay cut to go into administration, if you base it on the hours I now work (just ask my husband). Yes, I graded papers at night and on weekends as a teacher, and I stayed after to work with extracurriculars and help struggling students. But all of that was on my terms. Now, I am required to attend meetings on days I am off contract. I am required to supervise events at the school nights and weekends. I worked all but 2 weeks this summer and was paid for 4 days of it. I do not make substantially more money than I did as a teacher but I work substantially more hours. I am nowhere close to $100 K a year, and I know that that is the case for MOST administrators. If you are talking about superintendants and the like, fine. But please know that most of us in administration are getting the same paycuts and working insane hours with minimal compensation just like teachers.
ScienceTeacher671
August 16th, 2009
9:39 am
No point in posting more…I still have 2 or 3 posts being held by the BlogMonster, even after Maureen showed up yesterday to post this….
Gwinnett Parent
August 16th, 2009
10:14 am
Let’s face it, Georgia does not value education. For example, Gwinnett chose to open a stadium with its “rainy day fund”. Then the county decided close the Dacula Library due to lack of funds. This library is in within walking distance of 3 schools and highly utilized. We also have expanded our parks. The Bay Creek expansion alone could fund several teacher’s salaries. There are 4 parks within 5 miles of my home. Two of these parks are brand new and one of the older parks has new 2009 equipment. Teachers are not valued because they don’t have important political connections and the politicians have their priorities elsewhere.
Shannon, M.Div.
August 16th, 2009
10:22 am
Monique Kluczykowski is a college teacher. That’s a whole different animal from county classroom teacher. There are four types of college teachers.
1) Tenured professors. These enjoy a great benefits package and a great deal of intellectual freedom. They also enjoy frequent potshots from the public who don’t understand that at this level, professors need the intellectual freedom to be honest (and not subject to political whims). These positions are increasingly rare.
2) Full-time faculty who are not tenure-track. These are very rare, but there are some. They usually enjoy livable conditions.
3) Graduate students (of which I am one). At least at my university, we teach three classes a year as part of our stipend package (free tuition plus a little bit of money). We can teach extra classes for a couple of thousand per class per semester. We are required to purchase health insurance unless we can prove we have it. But this is part of the gig, and we all know that going in. What we all *don’t* realize is that for many of us, this will be the pinnacle of our career, because what’s increasing in colleges is…
4) Part-time faculty. This is *evil*. Part-time faculty, the fastest-growing segment of faculty at colleges, can teach three or more classes per semester–but they are paid peanuts for it. It is definitely not a living wage, and it is definitely not right. There are no benefits. It’s sad. I believe this is the biggest problem facing college education right now. Part-time faculty usually hold other jobs. They can’t be there for their students outside of a couple of office hours. They can’t help create the community of learning that colleges ought to be.
Now, I admit. I have an unusual view of what college should be. For instance, I don’t think it’s about getting a good job (though that is, hopefully, a happy byproduct). I think college is about learning to be a well-rounded, thoughtful *person* who is culturally, socially, and intellectually literate.
Colleges who are hiring increasing numbers of part-time faculty are no different than stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot, hiring two part-timers instead of one full-timer so they can avoid paying benefits. Just one *more* reason health insurance needs to be divorced from employment…
Seen it all
August 16th, 2009
12:23 pm
MAM,
Boy you are good!!! This is definitely on point. First off, as for Maureen’s post on the weekend, maybe she was trying to get a head start for Monday.
Second, the editoral was from a COLLEGE PROFESSOR, NOT A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER. There is a HUGE difference. The question we need to ask is why Maureen and the AJC won’t publish/discuss issues that concern REAL CLASSROOM TEACHERS. Teachers, not “faculty”. “Faculty” is the term used to describe college PROFESSORS. You know, people who are correctly described as “instuctors, adjunct professors, lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors, and professors.” You know- people who teach one, maybe two, 80-90 minute classes a day. You know- people who spend more time with “office hours” than in the classroom. You know- people who don’t have to deal with disrespectful students, belligerent overbearing parents, lots of silly paperwork, etc.
In fact I remember the one of the FEW times I ever saw an instructor have to deal with a disruptive student. This was at a junior college (this NEVER happened at any senior college I attended). Some students were talking while the instructor was trying to teach. He told them to be quiet or leave. It never happened again. But if they had kept on, the campus police would have been over there in two minutes an put those clowns out!!!! Students who couldn’t cut the mustard were pressured to drop the class or they got an F. In junior college!!!!!!
Teaching in college is ICE CREAM and CAKE!!!!! Sure they make have students complain over grades, but everytime I visit my old college professors, they are always happy and smiling and telling me how good things are. They complain over minor things, like renovations disrupting perfect life in university heaven. Some parking spaces were blocked because of construction. They replaced the lounge Coke machine with a Pepsi one. You know, those sorts of things.
Speaking of which, have you noticed how beautiful college is and how ruddy the public school campuses are? I have never seen a college hold classes in trailers. I don’t know of many state colleges or universities with filthy, decrepit buildings. In fact, my alma mater built a BIG university building, an athletic building, renovated/added on to an existing building, and built huge student dorms in just the past few years. The campus is gorgeous. And their still renovating/building more. We have schools in the metro area that look like something out of Guatemala or Honduras (ie, Cross Keys High School).
Maureen, when are you and the AJC going to talk about teachers and public schools and come to their defense?
Been There. . . Done, well. . . just done!
August 16th, 2009
12:28 pm
To ‘Administrator’, you come across like a true professional; however, UNlike you, 2/3 of the schools where I once taught (for now, I’m out of the profession) have administrators who fall in one of the following categories: 1) The administrator who has been at the same school for longer than the average tenure per school site {one admin. had been at the same place for OVER ten years, and had NOT been appointed principal anywhere!} and has a power base that allows the person “the run of the place” and the REAL influence as to whom a principal will keep or ask to leave; 2) The “newbie” administrator who owes his/her position to one principal {same school, of course}, one who has taken on this newbie as a protegee’ and/or championed this newly-appointed administrator on a career path the PRINCIPAL sees as proper; 3) The newly-appointed administrator to the school who was NOT brought in by the incumbent principal, but by the district’s main office and who comes to be considered by the school’s staff {in general} as the “future” of the school but who has seemingly FORGOTTEN what it’s like to be in an actual school and FORGOTTEN what new “administrivia” the teachers continually ADD to their duties list {this new administrator, by-and-large, has come from a central office position from another district and hasn’t been in the classroom in YEARS}; and 4) The semi-professional administrator {a small minority} who GENERALLY acts positively towards his/her appropriate staff members, BUT goes through periods where he/she infuriates and does NOT support his/her grade-level charges due to the AYP concerns, or lack of AYP success in a recent year(s) at the school, or due to not getting a principal position somewhere else. Unfortunately, the “right-to-work” status of Georgia generally pits MANAGEMENT vs. RANK-AND-FILE EMPLOYEES wherever tension exists at schools with “lightning rod” principals. We’ve seen/heard of this type: they’re either WELL-connected with the district higher-ups and super., they have the district’s main office “right where they want them” in terms of any concerns that may have been expressed over the principal’s methods, or high staff turnover, etc., and will almost NEVER be sanctioned for anything questionable due to their power base/wild cards they hold. Until the environments and the dictatorial principals at these “troubled” or “tense-environment” schools are demoted (generally unheard of in Georgia or other parts of the Deep South) and/or “promoted” to a district office position where they have a cushy title/salary and can harm NO ONE, my 2/3 generalization may continue to hold firm. While it’s considered a five-letter curse word in this state, an actual teacher’s UNION may level the playing field SOME. Yes, there are examples of unions in other professions/fields which operate as close to communist-like sub-groups as anything in this country, BUT we need to remember unions, in general, were responsible for ending child-labor here, the 40-hour work week, and for employees having some benefits associated with their jobs.
Seen it all
August 16th, 2009
12:37 pm
Mayeb I need to teach at the university. I can do like some of my old professors and have a work load of teaching 2 classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, 1 class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and be off Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I would make just as much as I make now and have three times as much free time. Those people never have faculty meetings either. All pertinent information is sent by e-mail. And the university administration treats those people like PROFESSIONALS. The instructors are NEVER, NEVER, EVER micromanaged.
In fact I have NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER heard of any college, two year school, four year school, or university doing classroom observations, walk thoroughs, inspections, or anything of the kind. The administration lets the people teach. They hire good people and let them work. The only require for the classrooms in college is that an exit sign is posted at the door, the teachers don’t let the whiteboards get ruined, and that they don’t let students bring drinks in the computer lab.
I remember principals requiring/pressuring me to
1) Arrange my classroom in a certain way
2) Arrange bulletin boards a certain way
3) Post student data a certain way
4) Write and post academic standards/goals/objectives/”essential questions” a certain way
5) Teach lessons a certain way
6) To schedule my instructional day a certain way
I could go on and on and on.
Been There. . . Done, well. . . just done!
August 16th, 2009
12:54 pm
For everything I stated in my first post to the blog of this article, teachers are being minimized and/or given the shaft at some schools. Once one adds the state mandates, the federal pressure, and the lack of enough budget $$ being appropriated for simple fixes such as more copy paper, repairing the copier, and for other supply needs – those increasingly being paid for out of teachers’ own pockets. So, unless a teacher works at a school site where the principal AND other administrators are supportive of their charges, the support has degraded to such a minimal state people are having to move to careers where fewer “land mines” exist, where the work environment is less politically charged, and where there is simply a greater overall feeling of stability – even if one only gets a general feeling “in the air” from a new work site.
Reality Check
August 16th, 2009
2:03 pm
Administrator, this is not about you. The topic is teachers, and why they are not valued as they should be. But, as most administrators do, you have managed to make it about you. I guess this answers Maureen’s question.
joe
August 16th, 2009
2:44 pm
This woman needs to get a life. College professors make a ton of money–I was one. How many courses(classes) a week does she teach?? I taught one 4-hour class a week–ONE & it was taught for 4 hours on one day. The rest of the week I was supposed to be doing RESEACCH. Yeah–sure.
There are teachers on campus making over 100 thou a year. And summer teaching is usually optional.
Remember what they say–”Those who can–do; those who can’t teach.”
Additionally, when I was @ UGA the requirements for the entrance into the College of Education were the lowest on campus–the LOWEST.
The education school’s doctoral program is a joke–a real laugher. For folks who don’t like it and want to gripe about it all the time don’t like it–then try this–GO OUT & GER A “REAL” JOB. Guess what?? You will come running back quickly.
Joe in Athens
Larry
August 16th, 2009
2:47 pm
Monique, welcome to the real world from which you have apparently been isolated for some time. You do, however, need some facts to help you adjust.
The reason government entities are slashing budgets is the taxpaying public is in far worse financial shape than you. Pay cuts, actual layoffs and decreased benefits have been part of the real world for a few years, even if you didn’t notice.
Your three day pay cut amounts to 1.5% on a 190 day year. Ask your neighbors, IF they still have a job, if they would be happy with such a minuscule pay cut. Since the median income of taxpayers (these are the folks who fund your pay check) is less than the median income of teachers in Georgia, don’t anticipate a lot of sympathy about how you can’t make ends meet.
Your “out-of-control inflation” is pure fiction. The CPI has been *negative* every month since February, which increases your purchasing power. I find it very disturbing that any educator wouldn’t know such a basic, easily verifiable fact.
Teacher/faculty salaries were hardly the first place budget experts looked to reduce expenditures. That fact that you missed ten years of state “austerity cuts” doesn’t mean they didn’t happen.
Comparing your salary to that of a top administrator is childish. If you truly feel you can accomplish what top administrators do, prove it. For example, GCPS opened ten new schools this year (again), all debt free. This was a direct result of Alvin’s efforts to enact a constitutional amendment and legislation. If you can provide Gwinnett taxpayers with 20 schools for less than what you make to educate 400 kids, just present your ideas to the BoE.
They will hire you in a heartbeat.
xnxnxnx
August 16th, 2009
3:05 pm
Teachers are paid what the market demands. The fact is that with the exception of some areas like special ed and high school math, and some districts with very bad reputations, few schools start the year with more than a few teacher vacancies. (And in this economy–most had no vacancies.) In some states (Ohio for example) there are huge surpluses of teachers who cannot find work at all.
That’s the long and short of it–people continue to get education degrees despite the low salary because there are other intangibles: job security, benefits, retirement, family friendly schedules, no travel, no weekend or evening work (for the most part), and the required college degree is within the range of intellectual abilities of most people of average intelligence. So the fact is that the salary offered doesn’t have to attract the “best people,” it just needs to attract the average, intelligent, educated worker looking for a living wage in a career that is challenging but not overly demanding. I’m a teacher and I weighed the pros and cons of the low salary and lack of prestige against the benefits, and I think I made the right choice.
Having said all that, I think the wages of administrators at every level are out of line with the profession. There is no reason that teachers in my county should max out at $60,000 after 30 years, but three people in our central office make more than $160,000 per year. I bet they could attract the “best people” for those jobs with a substantially smaller salary.
As for furloughs, I really think we need to be grateful for what we have and stop whining about “the rogue tax on teachers.” Yes, furloughs are awful, but I would rather take a few days off with no pay or even work a few days with no pay than be laid off entirely or have one of my friends and coworkers laid off. This economy will turn around and in the mean time, we all have to make sacrifices. Many of my students have parents who have lost great jobs after years of loyalty and they see no hope of finding employment in Georgia any time soon. We have to remember times are hard for everyone.
Professor X
August 16th, 2009
3:06 pm
I’m a college teacher, and I don’t share Monique’s envy for the administrator. In fact, I think it is very silly for teachers (college or K-12) to whine about their pay in comparison to administrators. If you want to get paid the administrators’ salaries, then become one. I chose NOT to become an administrator, and at that point I had no intention of complaining about their salary in comparison to mine.
I also think it is absolutely silly for teachers (again college or K-12) to claim that they are the first ones to get cut whenever the economic hardship hits a state. That is an exaggeration at best. We fact 6 days of furlough at state colleges this year, but that was after many days of furloughs other state employees faced. Furthermore, furlough is fundamentally different pay cut in that it is “temporary” pay reduction. We are not losing our base salary figure, so if/when we come out of this hardship, X% pay raise will be based on the current base salary.
One thing I do not understand about furlough is how they are going to determine our daily salary. Unlike school teachers, I don’t think our contract is based on a specific number of “school days.”
xnxnxnx
August 16th, 2009
3:07 pm
Larry:
Well said!
BravesLover
August 16th, 2009
6:44 pm
As a teacher of 32 years the best lesson I’ve learned is not to count on administrators. I’m great at teaching and don’t get them or myself in trouble. I do what I do and don’t count on administrators for help, support, or encouragement. The best part of teaching is going into one’s room and closing the door. The rest is unnecessary. I can live without administrators, the faculty meetings, and other time stealers.
teacher and parent
August 16th, 2009
6:50 pm
Larry and xnxnxnx – you both clearly missed where she said that she is a COLLEGE teacher, and therefore much of your argument to her post is off base, but hey, when the opportunity comes to jump on the teacher-bashing bandwagon, let’s take it!
The economy is bad, and it’s bad for just about everyone. Teachers at all levels are not immune to either the knowledge or the first-hand experience of this. We’re parents, spouses, children and friends of others in the workplaces who HAVE lost their jobs. Trust me, we know.
Seen it all
August 16th, 2009
6:50 pm
My goodness, I lost a post!!! What’s up this blog?
Mrs.E
August 16th, 2009
7:27 pm
BravesLover I agree with you. It is not about admin. but the children. Close the door and do what you were hired to do. I do not not know where the reward is I can only guess it is somewhere in the future. I am a thirty year veteran and have raised three adult children on a teacher’s salary. We always had a roof over our heads,food to eat,and a car.I guess we can always thank God for those things that some people that work still do not have.I would love to have a comfortable retirement to look forward to but I guess it was not not in the cards for some of us. One thing I will be proud of and that is that I was given the opportunity to be a teacher…..A very good one too….
First
Grade Teacher
Seen it all
August 16th, 2009
8:43 pm
I hope everyone read the editorial in the Sunday AJC about the education budget cuts. The editorial was telling teachers to “get over it”, “be grateful you have a job,” and “do what you went into the profession to do- teach children.”
Who wrote the editorial? The executive director of PAGE. I told people years ago that PAGE is a sellout organization. NO self respecting teacher would have ANYTHING to do with PAGE. PAGE actually undercuts its members.
PAGE- A dirty word.
xnxnxnx
August 16th, 2009
10:30 pm
teacher and parent:
I don’t get your point. How does being a “COLLEGE teacher” make her situation so different? Does she not enjoy a good job, with benefits, time off, limited travel, job security, etc., etc., etc.? Define your terms.
xnxnxnx
August 16th, 2009
10:37 pm
teacher and parent: I had another thought, perhaps you think there is a shortage of COLLEGE professors out there? Think again. There’s a surplus there too. Check out one of the recent posts in Get Schooled detailing all the university teaching possibilities, with part time lecturer being the “great evil.”
Sorry, its the market. When there is a shortage of teachers and COLLEGE professors, salaries will go up. Until then, the wage will stay low–at equilibrium with supply and demand. Simple economics.
Larry said it best. The “tax paying public is in far worse financial shape” than teachers–K – 12 or university level. Stop whining, drop to your knees, and thank God for your good fortune.
N. Ga Teacher
August 16th, 2009
10:52 pm
In the general culture, teachers are not highly valued for three reasons. First, teaching is a traditionally female occupation, and those occupations have historically been less respected. Nurses, secretaries, and teachers have been for too long been viewed as lower-level workers to be bossed around and not respected as much as people in traditionally male occupations, like accounting, engineering and law. Second, in a market economy, those in demand command more respect. Let’s face it, folks, there are TOO MANY teachers on the job market. I can’t believe the hoopla about needing more teachers in the next 10 years bla bla bla….Already teachers in history, English, physical education, and even science are having trouble finding a job. Only special ed seems to be a good situation right now. Many districts have laid off teachers or refused to hire teachers , instead increasing class sizes. Up north teachers have had a tough time finding jobs for an entire generation. It is very easy for administrators or school boards to consider us disposable if we dare to be a “problem” for them. Third, people respect you when you have power. I respect someone who can cause me negative consequences for my actions. This might mean physically punishing me, or getting me put in jail or thrown off premises. Teachers have less power than virtually any employee anywhere. Our classroom authority has almost totally eroded over the last generation. In the 1960s I remember a teacher grabbing a 7th grade troublemaker kid by the collar and reading that kid the riot act in class one day, and that kid was never a problem again. I was thrilled because that kid disrupted tha classroom every day because he wanted attention. Today, that teacher would be fired, sued, and brought up on criminal charges. If a teacher even says some innocuous comment that a kid claims “hurts their feelings” that teacher is threatened by administrators with being fired or actually does get fired. Kids know this, and so do parents, and the irresponsible ever-growing legion of these people plays it for all it is worth. Like some bloggers here say, this is the biggest pink elephant in the room. That said, thank God many people of my generation (the current parents of teens) did not turn to the dark side, and kept the morals and work ethic of OUR parents. These parents DO value teachers who are energetic, fun, individualistic and inspirational to their children. They strenuously back teachers who contact them about discipline or academic issues. And they, of course, tend to be the parents of honors kids in public schools and of the majority of kids in private schools. What worries most teachers is that these parents seem to be a shrinking group. Maybe we don’t say it enough, but we THANK the good parents for all they do to help make their child teachable.
teacher and parent
August 16th, 2009
11:05 pm
My terms were simply that she was not a 190 day contracted k-12 teacher, therefore the original poster’s comment (and your subsequent agreement with such) are off base. And your comment “Does she not enjoy a good job, with benefits, time off, limited travel, job security, etc., etc., etc.?” is off-point as well – I know very little about college professors and how they are paid, but you are assuming, based on your question, that they have these benefits and therefore she should just suck it up.
And to “Larry said it best. The “tax paying public is in far worse financial shape”” – I guess Larry forgot that teachers ARE part of the tax paying public. I’m so sick of that ludicrous attitude. The economy is bad, and we are all suffering. I see nothing wrong in being human and complaining about it.
Turd Ferguson
August 17th, 2009
7:59 am
Most teachers dont care. Oh they ACT and ACT and ACT like they care about your kids but they dont. Initially, they believe they are so noble and without question in their cause to change the world.
Truth be told they just look forward to their summers off and thinking “oh this teaching job will be easy”. Then they find out its real work.
Too bad teachers. SUCK IT UP and DO YOUR JOB.
motherjanegoose
August 17th, 2009
8:22 am
Mrs. E…thanks for being a teacher. You sound like a great one. BravesLover…you too.
I taught for 15 years before I left and started my own consulting business. It is refreshing to meet teachers who do have a passion about what they can offer. I still run into them once in a while….
Turd Ferguson
August 17th, 2009
1:00 pm
Attention people. If ya cant say it in a paragraph or less then dont waste our time.
I want to be a sub
August 17th, 2009
4:52 pm
I completely agree with the editorial by Monique Kluczykowski.I just counted the folks that made over $100,000 in a county with only 25,000 kids. There are 30 people that received that kind of salary! I didn’t even bother to count the $90,000 people. The one that caught my eye was that an “substitute teacher” was paid $109,000!
Charlotte
August 17th, 2009
4:58 pm
I know Monique personally… She is a tenured professor. She even has post-tenure, the qualifications for which are difficult to achieve and worthy of admiration.
Having discussed her economic situation in depth with her, I know for a fact that her husband is laid off and she nets under $30,000 after having taxes, health insurance, and retirement removed from her seemingly comfortable gross salary in the $50,000s. She and her family (which includes a daughter who just left for college) are living below the poverty line… Not so simple to “get over it and do your job,” now is it?
The administrators she wrote about are members of the Board of Regents, not grade school principals. While Monique and other professors like her are told there is no money for travel, members of this Board have taken tens of thousands of dollars in travel expenses… While Monique and her peers are forced into furlough days, the Board delights in their half-million dollar salaries.
Most of the people here seem to be woefully deluded about the life of a college professor. Had you any idea the stresses that people like Monique endure while accepting pay cut after pay cut while trying to provide a life for her family, you would think twice before dishing out your unwanted anonymous internet advice to “get a life,” when her life now is just trying to get by.
Anna
August 17th, 2009
6:30 pm
People do not understand anything these days, ALSO THEY STATED that they ASKED her, which of course means what she feels, goes through, and thinks PERSONALLY. These people who are trying to single her out and hate on her entire piece are miserable people who, if they have kids, needs to take them away from such “ungrateful monsters” as they make it seem and see how far they can get in life without a proper and complete education (not applying to home-schooled children). What Monique, as well as any educator, does is very noble and under-respected, and I HATE how some people think that she is just complaining when what she says comes from a very honest and true place.
Anotherteacher
August 17th, 2009
9:41 pm
Turd, your name says it all. And, speaking of sucking, so do you.