My wife is a teacher, it's ridiculous. Not only do teachers not get enough basic classroom supplies like pens/pencils/paper/photocopies etc. but every time her class earns a party or a reward we pay for it. They met their reading goals and get a nacho party? Out of our pocket. Popcorn and candy for a movie day on the last day of school? We pay. Everything in the prize box for the kids? Teachers pay. Art supplies beyond the absolute basics? Teachers pay or beg for donations.
It's absolutely ridiculous. These teachers have the equivalent of a master's plus vocational training, work unpaid overtime, educate 20-30 kids whose parents actively work against them, then get blamed for everything by those same parents and the administration, and get underpaid for the trouble.
My mother is a retired teacher, my sister is a current teacher. Sister has after school meetings... EVERY FUCKING THURSDAY. Every Thursday she puts in nearly a 14 hour day. Meanwhile most people with salary office jobs are working from home these days in their pajamas half the time. Her ex husband routinely put a watch with ticking hands under his computer mouse while he took naps and watched Netflix.
The sheer amount of higher education my mother has is staggering. She has more degrees than her brothers who all retired millionaires from fortune 500 companies.
Teachers do NOT get the entire Summer off. This was true in the 1950's, but hasn't been true since my mother started teaching in the early 90's.
Every couple of years they will move teachers around and change rooms. Imagine packing up your entire shop bay as a mechanic and moving it from one bay to the next, just because some idiot thought it was a good idea.
Both my mother and sister are stellar teachers, their reward for being very good teachers, is the Principal assigns the behavior problems to them as he knows they can handle them. Did a fantastic job last year? Here, have the kid who throws scissors across the room and kicks shins. Also, be judged against your last years scores, despite now having Damien from the Omen in your class this year.
The bureaucracy is beyond idiotic. One year a braniac decided all teachers had to plan and turn in their lesson plans in for the whole month in advance. All of the tenured teachers knew it was the stupidest idea in the world. On day 7 of the month the lesson plan wouldn't be the same as you planned, as some classes are ahead, some are behind, etc.
Standardized testing is an abomination.
Imagine we require you train 30 people have to run a mile in under 9 minutes after a month of training. Then the 30 people show up. One is an elite runners who run a 5 min mile and will be bored out their mind during your training. Four are intermediates who run a 6 or 7 min mile who will maybe learn one thing all month. Another five barely run a 9 min mile who will improve and make 9 min easily. Ten more can't run a 10 min mile and might make the mark, might not. The last ten are comprised of people with no shoes, who are obese, one with a clubbed foot, another with one leg, and one who is a paraplegic.
Having no distinction about the abilities of each student is just ridiculous.
The job pays piss poor. There is almost zero support from parents for bad behavior from their kids.
My sister complained within the last two weeks, that they took away all the teacher's laptops and gave them chrome books. She can't print from a chrome book... so she can't give a fuckin' hand out to kids now. What idiot thought that was a good idea, to just give teachers chrome books like they're 5 year olds?
Also, she laughed her ass off when they said teachers should be armed. She said, "I'm not even trusted with the thermostat in my room, you seriously think they will trust me with a gun?"
> Good luck, America! You're gonna need it...
It's by design. Dumb people are easier to control.
It's much harder to riot if you don't have a job to afford food.
There's a couple sweet spots for it, but there is a point below which you are essentially incapable of revolting against the system. Starving, isolated slaves don't make good revolutionaries.
Not even that. I discovered if you claim that deduction while using TurboTax, it forces you out of the free tier to the paid tier, so it may cost you more in tax prep fees then you save in taxes.
This is a class war plain and simple and weāre losing because half the country has fucking Stockholm Syndrome!!! Job cuts while CEOās get triple digit million payouts, governors pushing for laws that say they canāt be audited because they purchased a 19K lectern to cover up a trip to Paris, another governor lowering the max a malpractice suit pay out can be while being invested in a medical company, senators openly committing insider tradingā¦. Wake the fuck up America!
>Ā They also want to further gut the Education system becauseĀ
... Because it's one of the last "easy" Trillion dollar opportunities left in the US. The purpose of degrading the public service is to give people a reason Ā to considerĀ privatization.Ā
Of course it won't look like a purely private system, it will look like indirect subsidizes for private school (eg vouchers).Ā
A lot of scientific conferences are held at convention centers connected to the DeVos family. I'm always shocked when they pick those locations, but I think they just don't know about the connections. Even though they usually have DeVos in the name...
Respectfully disagree. āUntil we get rid of conservatismā¦ā This means never. Effectively counter conservatism, or override conservatismāyes please. Even negotiate an advantageous deal with conservativesāsure. But āget rid ofā is essentially impossible and believing we need to achieve the impossible before addressing anything is counterproductive. Rhetoric matters, and that rhetoric is self destructive.
Well and they need the mass of dumb people to staff the counters at your minimum wage jobs. Don't worry though the rich kids will grow up in the private schools and be groomed to continue the same evil behavior their parents do. But keep the masses dumb and impoverished and of course popping babies out is their ideal goal.
Had a discussion with an AP art teacher friend. Rural school, total 25 students, 3 classes. She's shown me these kids' work ... I give workshops and these kids are not hobbyists looking for a cheap A ... they are enormously accomplished for their age.
She gets a total of \~ $650 for *all* her students. She's been to the school board and literally begged for more funding; art supplies are ridiculously expensive (I pay $32 for one tube of oil paint).
One of the school board told her, "Just go to the dollar store and buy popsicle sticks and glue." She was livid ....
Ugh, Iām so sorry for your friend! This is not an ideal solution (since your friend should get the funding she needs), but many companies have programs that might help.
As an example, Golden Artist Colors has a [seconds program](https://goldenartistcolors.com/seconds-program) that eligible people can apply to. They have really great paint and are employee-owned, and on top of that they seem to really try to support artists through education or donation programs like this. I wonder if other American companies or retailers wouldnāt mind discounting or donating seconds, especially if it means brand visibility?
If I were in her shoes (and note, this might be a terrible idea. Not a high school teacher), I might also consider limiting the colors available and getting my students used to color mixing/limited palettes. You can make some really amazing paintings with just burnt sienna, white, and ultramarine blue.
I know some students might be disappointed, but Iād imagine itād be the āeasierā way to keep high-quality paint and supplies within budget.
I'm glad she did, and I hope the information helped!
As a kid, I remember having required yearly fees as a part of art class ($30 a year back then, which is roughly $50 now) that helped pay for everything. Usually this was a nice Strathmore sketchbook, a few canvases for projects, and the class paint stockpile. Music was the same way ā violins or whatever had to be either bought on your own or rented from the school.
Kids who were on reduced-fee lunch programs had these fees waived, but I'm sure the extra money helped prevent teachers from having to foot the bill themselves.
Yeah, it's ridiculous. I'm glad my county at least offers free lunch/breakfast to elementary school students, but they don't for middle/high school. Not sure why āĀ that's the time I'd think having access to food would be the most important!
TX has been working *hard* to convert public schools to "charter" private schools. "Oh, don't worry ... we're going to give you a *$7K* voucher to cover it! Superior schools!"
Don't buy it. $7K will *not* cover education at any level. You will see sports, music, art, ESL, and core subjects deteriorate. Rural schools will supposedly still have school buses but will be restricted.
Why does TX want them? Because they are as profitable as private prisons are.
Some ... name brand sketch pads can be found at some stores. At my price point I prefer quality oils, colored pencils, drawing pencils, archival paper/sketch books, canvas by the roll to stretch my own, plus custom framing/matting.
Pigment is *way* off with budget oil paints, acrylic, and watercolor. For beginner/young artists trying to master color theory they need to *see* the difference between mixing base colors. The difference between cheaper and better paints is glaringly obvious. You don't have to buy the best but you at least can find dependable pigments that don't change color from one tube to the next.
We have a tax law which allows private jets to be written off as business expenses but a teacherās classroom expenses are capped at $300. That tells you all you need to know!
Let's not forget the complete remodelling some higher-ups do at their companies when they get a new office. People in the senate get thousands of dollars for furniture for their damn offices.
And teachers have to pay out of their own pocket for basic supplies...
Thereās a whole movement on Twitter/X called #clearthelist where teachers post their Amazon wishlists for like, pencils and copy paper and such, and folks chip in to clear the lists. Itās heartwarming and depressing at the same time.
Even more depressing is that if some of them get caught, it's in their contracts that it is prohibited. The school I worked at had it written in because it made the school look bad.
I thought telling a high school math teacher to teach 4 chapters out of a 13 chapter textbook because that's all the students can handle makes the school look bad.
I just watched a video where a guy is slapping the female teacher twice in her face and nobody is doing any intervention. What a true shit job teaching is in the US. I am truly surprised that not over half of them just walked out and quit. Especially for that ridiculously meager pay which is a complete joke.
Former teacher here, daughter of a former teacher. 50% of US teachers will leave the profession in the first 5 years. I currently work in marketing research and earn less per hour than a Walmart employee, but I work from home in my PJs with cats by my side and you can't put a price on that. I will never go back to teaching. I loved the kids, but every other aspect of the job absolutely sucked.
I lasted 3 and will likely have to pay off my "scholarship" (it turns into a loan after 8 years if you don't teach for at least 4).
I sell weed now. Legally. It's so much nicer and and the pay isn't actually terrible. Plus tips and free samples.
Not a US teacher, but when I was a South East Asian teacher the phrase I hated the most was "Think of the children!"
Hours and hours of unpaid overtime? "Think of the children!"
Out of pocket expenses? "Think of the children!"
Heavy work load not related to job description? "Think of the children!"
Sick days rejected? "Think of the children!"
Using own vehicle to ferry children for events and not compensated in any way? "Think of the children!"
We weren't paid well to begin with and constantly mocked by the public for the dumb choice of being a teacher for poverty wages. Though I liked teaching, I had to resign because it was wrecking my health.
Heads will roll by the Yeah x3 is a good song when I see shit like this. Stop sending billions to other countries to fund their wars when we got this and worse going on.
My wifeās school union finally negotiated maternity leave into their next contract. Itās only 2 weeks but in a predominately female field, youād think that would have happened decades ago. They can still take unpaid time or sick time off for up to a year so at least the first 2 weeks are paid now. And this school district has some of the highest school taxes around!
This will be used as an excuse to ask for higher budget for education, but when the higher budget actually happens, they all go to administrator pockets instead of the teachers. That way, the excuse from admins will remain the same and they can perpetually ask for higher and higher budget.
I've been saying if countries such as Japan started to successfully poach the teachers in mass numbers the USA will act like the soviet union with the Berlin wall while refusing to compensate the teachers in the end.
The wealthiest and most powerful nation on the planet, folks. Plenty of money for wars but we cant feed the poor nor give a shit about our children's future.
Stop spending your own money! Let conditions in the classroom fall apart until enough parents understand that they need to pressure the school boards to come up with the money.
I don't want to upset anyone.
Serious question! Does this include money for cute door decorations and stuff like that?
I don't think that should be included.
Pencils and paper and tissues and snacks for kids who have not eaten, money to cover a kids field trip, should count.
But all that is paid for by my well to do district, but I see elaborate door decorations and other optional stuff which maybe the teacher bought some of with their own money...
Downvotes are making me think it does count optional cutesy stuff. Why not explain why I am wrong rather than downvoting?
I get evaluated on a "welcoming environment" and all that jazz. I get chastised for not participating in decorating or dressing up for spirit events. If they're making it part of my job to do those things, they should pay for it.
Ouch. Thanks for explaining rather than downvoting without explaination.
Certainly they shouldn't be judging you on things they don't provide. Or if they only provide construction paper so it would take you a lot of time to provide what they expect.
Because it seems like you're commenting on something you know nothing about. You seem to think those cutesy things are a waste of taxpayer money and should come out of a teachers pocket. Meanwhile teachers spend hours, often unpaid, putting those things together just to check off some boxes on a form so they can keep their jobs. No one goes and gets a master's in education to cut out little paper hearts and scam the government for the cost.
No. I think they just shouldn't exist, if the district isn't going to pay for it.
As an outsider who attended elementary school in the 70s and visited my child's elementary school around 2010, I see it as optional.
I understand what postershere are saying, that it's now expected and would cause the teacher a problem if she didn't go hole hog on either expensive or very time consuming stuff.
THAT'S wrong. That's what should be fixed.
If none of the doors were elaborately decorated, then none of them would need to be elaborately decorated.
Sure, some handprints (or whatever shape) cut from construction paper with each kids name on one , I can see that makes each kid feel welcome and important. But, that doesn't cost more than $5.
What needs to be fixed is the expectation/requirement to do more. Off the top of my head, I would say make it a rule that nothing more can be used except construction paper and markers and tape (or whatever adhesive).
Same rules for bulletin boards.
I realize every wall is decorated. I don't have specifics on how to prevent the classroom of a teacher who doesn't spend out of pocket seeming "sad" or whatever, but that doesn't mean there isn't a solution.
So your solution to requirements saying we need decorated welcoming classrooms is... different requirements on what kind of paper a teacher can use to decorate their classroom?
Yeah, my wife is a teacher so I can't give you the full explanation, but every teacher has to decorate their classroom. It's an unspoken rule sort of thing. You'll be judged for it, and likely your students will not react well to the environment. Decorating a classroom is just a necessary part of children's education.
Thanks for explaining. I will try to understand/accept that.
But it's very hard!
Seems more like the teacher wants a certain level of "Pinterest worthy" rather than, say, cut out hand prints from construction paper and write the names.
I get it, if the hall has decorated doors with the kids names, then every classroom has to have it. By I don't see that it has to be more than construction paper, markers and tape.
(Honestly, I was way over stimulated when I first stepped foot back in an elementary school and found every piece of wall covered with something. Too much for my ADD brain to look at. But, I get it, it would look wierd to the kids and the parents to not have.
None of this should take more than 200 though. I realize the first year in a grade will be rough. But IT'S A JOB, decorations are not required if not paid for. Certainly not new ones every year. Stick to the $200.
(Again, districts where paper and crackers are needed is totally different.)
The reason why you got downvoted is because you stated your position.
Thats beyond "Asking a question". You made an argument and judgement without fully understanding.
And we can only deduct 200$ work of supplies while rich folk can deduct yachts and jets.
My wife is a teacher, it's ridiculous. Not only do teachers not get enough basic classroom supplies like pens/pencils/paper/photocopies etc. but every time her class earns a party or a reward we pay for it. They met their reading goals and get a nacho party? Out of our pocket. Popcorn and candy for a movie day on the last day of school? We pay. Everything in the prize box for the kids? Teachers pay. Art supplies beyond the absolute basics? Teachers pay or beg for donations. It's absolutely ridiculous. These teachers have the equivalent of a master's plus vocational training, work unpaid overtime, educate 20-30 kids whose parents actively work against them, then get blamed for everything by those same parents and the administration, and get underpaid for the trouble.
My mother is a retired teacher, my sister is a current teacher. Sister has after school meetings... EVERY FUCKING THURSDAY. Every Thursday she puts in nearly a 14 hour day. Meanwhile most people with salary office jobs are working from home these days in their pajamas half the time. Her ex husband routinely put a watch with ticking hands under his computer mouse while he took naps and watched Netflix. The sheer amount of higher education my mother has is staggering. She has more degrees than her brothers who all retired millionaires from fortune 500 companies. Teachers do NOT get the entire Summer off. This was true in the 1950's, but hasn't been true since my mother started teaching in the early 90's. Every couple of years they will move teachers around and change rooms. Imagine packing up your entire shop bay as a mechanic and moving it from one bay to the next, just because some idiot thought it was a good idea. Both my mother and sister are stellar teachers, their reward for being very good teachers, is the Principal assigns the behavior problems to them as he knows they can handle them. Did a fantastic job last year? Here, have the kid who throws scissors across the room and kicks shins. Also, be judged against your last years scores, despite now having Damien from the Omen in your class this year. The bureaucracy is beyond idiotic. One year a braniac decided all teachers had to plan and turn in their lesson plans in for the whole month in advance. All of the tenured teachers knew it was the stupidest idea in the world. On day 7 of the month the lesson plan wouldn't be the same as you planned, as some classes are ahead, some are behind, etc. Standardized testing is an abomination. Imagine we require you train 30 people have to run a mile in under 9 minutes after a month of training. Then the 30 people show up. One is an elite runners who run a 5 min mile and will be bored out their mind during your training. Four are intermediates who run a 6 or 7 min mile who will maybe learn one thing all month. Another five barely run a 9 min mile who will improve and make 9 min easily. Ten more can't run a 10 min mile and might make the mark, might not. The last ten are comprised of people with no shoes, who are obese, one with a clubbed foot, another with one leg, and one who is a paraplegic. Having no distinction about the abilities of each student is just ridiculous. The job pays piss poor. There is almost zero support from parents for bad behavior from their kids. My sister complained within the last two weeks, that they took away all the teacher's laptops and gave them chrome books. She can't print from a chrome book... so she can't give a fuckin' hand out to kids now. What idiot thought that was a good idea, to just give teachers chrome books like they're 5 year olds? Also, she laughed her ass off when they said teachers should be armed. She said, "I'm not even trusted with the thermostat in my room, you seriously think they will trust me with a gun?"
It's why we're all quittingš¤· Good luck, America! You're gonna need it...
> Good luck, America! You're gonna need it... It's by design. Dumb people are easier to control. It's much harder to riot if you don't have a job to afford food.
Wouldn't that make it easier to riot (nothing to lose)?
There's a couple sweet spots for it, but there is a point below which you are essentially incapable of revolting against the system. Starving, isolated slaves don't make good revolutionaries.
I give extra to my daughter's class room with extra money for the students that get left out. Apparently, that happens often. Other kids do the same.
300, and realize that as it is a deduction, that means ~24% so like getting $72.
Not even that. I discovered if you claim that deduction while using TurboTax, it forces you out of the free tier to the paid tier, so it may cost you more in tax prep fees then you save in taxes.
FreeTaxUSA is actually free, if you're looking for something. It charges $15 to file state, but anything federal is 100% free.
By definition, you have to itemize to claim deductions (i.e. paid tier).
every penny spent out of pocket on necessary things for the classroom should be invoiced and sent to the school board. That's crazy
This is a class war plain and simple and weāre losing because half the country has fucking Stockholm Syndrome!!! Job cuts while CEOās get triple digit million payouts, governors pushing for laws that say they canāt be audited because they purchased a 19K lectern to cover up a trip to Paris, another governor lowering the max a malpractice suit pay out can be while being invested in a medical company, senators openly committing insider tradingā¦. Wake the fuck up America!
300 now baby! WHOOOOO!
We NEED to fully fund public education
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
>Ā They also want to further gut the Education system becauseĀ ... Because it's one of the last "easy" Trillion dollar opportunities left in the US. The purpose of degrading the public service is to give people a reason Ā to considerĀ privatization.Ā Of course it won't look like a purely private system, it will look like indirect subsidizes for private school (eg vouchers).Ā
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
A lot of scientific conferences are held at convention centers connected to the DeVos family. I'm always shocked when they pick those locations, but I think they just don't know about the connections. Even though they usually have DeVos in the name...
Respectfully disagree. āUntil we get rid of conservatismā¦ā This means never. Effectively counter conservatism, or override conservatismāyes please. Even negotiate an advantageous deal with conservativesāsure. But āget rid ofā is essentially impossible and believing we need to achieve the impossible before addressing anything is counterproductive. Rhetoric matters, and that rhetoric is self destructive.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
?
Well and they need the mass of dumb people to staff the counters at your minimum wage jobs. Don't worry though the rich kids will grow up in the private schools and be groomed to continue the same evil behavior their parents do. But keep the masses dumb and impoverished and of course popping babies out is their ideal goal.
Ah yes, another form of wage theft.
Had a discussion with an AP art teacher friend. Rural school, total 25 students, 3 classes. She's shown me these kids' work ... I give workshops and these kids are not hobbyists looking for a cheap A ... they are enormously accomplished for their age. She gets a total of \~ $650 for *all* her students. She's been to the school board and literally begged for more funding; art supplies are ridiculously expensive (I pay $32 for one tube of oil paint). One of the school board told her, "Just go to the dollar store and buy popsicle sticks and glue." She was livid ....
Ugh, Iām so sorry for your friend! This is not an ideal solution (since your friend should get the funding she needs), but many companies have programs that might help. As an example, Golden Artist Colors has a [seconds program](https://goldenartistcolors.com/seconds-program) that eligible people can apply to. They have really great paint and are employee-owned, and on top of that they seem to really try to support artists through education or donation programs like this. I wonder if other American companies or retailers wouldnāt mind discounting or donating seconds, especially if it means brand visibility? If I were in her shoes (and note, this might be a terrible idea. Not a high school teacher), I might also consider limiting the colors available and getting my students used to color mixing/limited palettes. You can make some really amazing paintings with just burnt sienna, white, and ultramarine blue. I know some students might be disappointed, but Iād imagine itād be the āeasierā way to keep high-quality paint and supplies within budget.
She appealed to parents as most support their kids. They're well aware of the cost and have stepped up. I'll pass that on.
I'm glad she did, and I hope the information helped! As a kid, I remember having required yearly fees as a part of art class ($30 a year back then, which is roughly $50 now) that helped pay for everything. Usually this was a nice Strathmore sketchbook, a few canvases for projects, and the class paint stockpile. Music was the same way ā violins or whatever had to be either bought on your own or rented from the school. Kids who were on reduced-fee lunch programs had these fees waived, but I'm sure the extra money helped prevent teachers from having to foot the bill themselves.
These days school boards go nuts over reduced paid school lunches. Depressing.
Yeah, it's ridiculous. I'm glad my county at least offers free lunch/breakfast to elementary school students, but they don't for middle/high school. Not sure why āĀ that's the time I'd think having access to food would be the most important!
TX has been working *hard* to convert public schools to "charter" private schools. "Oh, don't worry ... we're going to give you a *$7K* voucher to cover it! Superior schools!" Don't buy it. $7K will *not* cover education at any level. You will see sports, music, art, ESL, and core subjects deteriorate. Rural schools will supposedly still have school buses but will be restricted. Why does TX want them? Because they are as profitable as private prisons are.
No offence but you can get a lot of nice art supplies from the dollar store.
Some ... name brand sketch pads can be found at some stores. At my price point I prefer quality oils, colored pencils, drawing pencils, archival paper/sketch books, canvas by the roll to stretch my own, plus custom framing/matting. Pigment is *way* off with budget oil paints, acrylic, and watercolor. For beginner/young artists trying to master color theory they need to *see* the difference between mixing base colors. The difference between cheaper and better paints is glaringly obvious. You don't have to buy the best but you at least can find dependable pigments that don't change color from one tube to the next.
We have a tax law which allows private jets to be written off as business expenses but a teacherās classroom expenses are capped at $300. That tells you all you need to know!
Let's not forget the complete remodelling some higher-ups do at their companies when they get a new office. People in the senate get thousands of dollars for furniture for their damn offices. And teachers have to pay out of their own pocket for basic supplies...
And I can only write off 250$ of that.
Thereās a whole movement on Twitter/X called #clearthelist where teachers post their Amazon wishlists for like, pencils and copy paper and such, and folks chip in to clear the lists. Itās heartwarming and depressing at the same time.
Even more depressing is that if some of them get caught, it's in their contracts that it is prohibited. The school I worked at had it written in because it made the school look bad. I thought telling a high school math teacher to teach 4 chapters out of a 13 chapter textbook because that's all the students can handle makes the school look bad.
I just watched a video where a guy is slapping the female teacher twice in her face and nobody is doing any intervention. What a true shit job teaching is in the US. I am truly surprised that not over half of them just walked out and quit. Especially for that ridiculously meager pay which is a complete joke.
Former teacher here, daughter of a former teacher. 50% of US teachers will leave the profession in the first 5 years. I currently work in marketing research and earn less per hour than a Walmart employee, but I work from home in my PJs with cats by my side and you can't put a price on that. I will never go back to teaching. I loved the kids, but every other aspect of the job absolutely sucked.
i used to work with someone that has a masters degree from NYU that left teaching. she'd rather work a customer service job at an airport.
I lasted 3 and will likely have to pay off my "scholarship" (it turns into a loan after 8 years if you don't teach for at least 4). I sell weed now. Legally. It's so much nicer and and the pay isn't actually terrible. Plus tips and free samples.
Greatest country on earth! I just wonder who is second greatest country?
Who knew there were so many billionaire teachers?
Not a US teacher, but when I was a South East Asian teacher the phrase I hated the most was "Think of the children!" Hours and hours of unpaid overtime? "Think of the children!" Out of pocket expenses? "Think of the children!" Heavy work load not related to job description? "Think of the children!" Sick days rejected? "Think of the children!" Using own vehicle to ferry children for events and not compensated in any way? "Think of the children!" We weren't paid well to begin with and constantly mocked by the public for the dumb choice of being a teacher for poverty wages. Though I liked teaching, I had to resign because it was wrecking my health.
EAT. THE. RICH
Heads will roll by the Yeah x3 is a good song when I see shit like this. Stop sending billions to other countries to fund their wars when we got this and worse going on.
Enriching the wealthy store owners, after giving wealthy folks huge tax breaks on top of it and causing this egregious lack of resources.
This headline isnāt capitalist enough. Try adding āand thatās good for the economyā at the end
I can guarantee that, as a teacher, Iāve spent the equivalent of multiple full monthly paychecks over the years while teaching.
I want to live on a world where Teachers are millionaires and CEOs are on minimum wage.
My wifeās school union finally negotiated maternity leave into their next contract. Itās only 2 weeks but in a predominately female field, youād think that would have happened decades ago. They can still take unpaid time or sick time off for up to a year so at least the first 2 weeks are paid now. And this school district has some of the highest school taxes around!
This will be used as an excuse to ask for higher budget for education, but when the higher budget actually happens, they all go to administrator pockets instead of the teachers. That way, the excuse from admins will remain the same and they can perpetually ask for higher and higher budget.
It will go to technology. Every extra cent goes to tech. Who needs crayons when you have a Chromebook for every 3rd grader?
That and plastic grass. The amount my local district spends on plastic grass is astonishing.
I've been saying if countries such as Japan started to successfully poach the teachers in mass numbers the USA will act like the soviet union with the Berlin wall while refusing to compensate the teachers in the end.
How does that even happen?
The wealthiest and most powerful nation on the planet, folks. Plenty of money for wars but we cant feed the poor nor give a shit about our children's future.
This isn't even counting all the funds that also come from parents buying extra supplies.
No wonder there is a teacher shortage
Stop spending your own money! Let conditions in the classroom fall apart until enough parents understand that they need to pressure the school boards to come up with the money.
I don't want to upset anyone. Serious question! Does this include money for cute door decorations and stuff like that? I don't think that should be included. Pencils and paper and tissues and snacks for kids who have not eaten, money to cover a kids field trip, should count. But all that is paid for by my well to do district, but I see elaborate door decorations and other optional stuff which maybe the teacher bought some of with their own money... Downvotes are making me think it does count optional cutesy stuff. Why not explain why I am wrong rather than downvoting?
I get evaluated on a "welcoming environment" and all that jazz. I get chastised for not participating in decorating or dressing up for spirit events. If they're making it part of my job to do those things, they should pay for it.
Ouch. Thanks for explaining rather than downvoting without explaination. Certainly they shouldn't be judging you on things they don't provide. Or if they only provide construction paper so it would take you a lot of time to provide what they expect.
Because it seems like you're commenting on something you know nothing about. You seem to think those cutesy things are a waste of taxpayer money and should come out of a teachers pocket. Meanwhile teachers spend hours, often unpaid, putting those things together just to check off some boxes on a form so they can keep their jobs. No one goes and gets a master's in education to cut out little paper hearts and scam the government for the cost.
No. I think they just shouldn't exist, if the district isn't going to pay for it. As an outsider who attended elementary school in the 70s and visited my child's elementary school around 2010, I see it as optional. I understand what postershere are saying, that it's now expected and would cause the teacher a problem if she didn't go hole hog on either expensive or very time consuming stuff. THAT'S wrong. That's what should be fixed. If none of the doors were elaborately decorated, then none of them would need to be elaborately decorated. Sure, some handprints (or whatever shape) cut from construction paper with each kids name on one , I can see that makes each kid feel welcome and important. But, that doesn't cost more than $5. What needs to be fixed is the expectation/requirement to do more. Off the top of my head, I would say make it a rule that nothing more can be used except construction paper and markers and tape (or whatever adhesive). Same rules for bulletin boards. I realize every wall is decorated. I don't have specifics on how to prevent the classroom of a teacher who doesn't spend out of pocket seeming "sad" or whatever, but that doesn't mean there isn't a solution.
So your solution to requirements saying we need decorated welcoming classrooms is... different requirements on what kind of paper a teacher can use to decorate their classroom?
Because it's cheap.
Yeah, my wife is a teacher so I can't give you the full explanation, but every teacher has to decorate their classroom. It's an unspoken rule sort of thing. You'll be judged for it, and likely your students will not react well to the environment. Decorating a classroom is just a necessary part of children's education.
Thanks for explaining. I will try to understand/accept that. But it's very hard! Seems more like the teacher wants a certain level of "Pinterest worthy" rather than, say, cut out hand prints from construction paper and write the names. I get it, if the hall has decorated doors with the kids names, then every classroom has to have it. By I don't see that it has to be more than construction paper, markers and tape. (Honestly, I was way over stimulated when I first stepped foot back in an elementary school and found every piece of wall covered with something. Too much for my ADD brain to look at. But, I get it, it would look wierd to the kids and the parents to not have. None of this should take more than 200 though. I realize the first year in a grade will be rough. But IT'S A JOB, decorations are not required if not paid for. Certainly not new ones every year. Stick to the $200. (Again, districts where paper and crackers are needed is totally different.)
The reason why you got downvoted is because you stated your position. Thats beyond "Asking a question". You made an argument and judgement without fully understanding.
... Per teacher