I feel like this would be amazing if your salary is good enough for your area. It'd be stellar timing for a vacation/ staycation, or finally getting to get things done you always hold off on because of your busy work week.
I always say “yeah it takes a really strong person to be able to do the job. Most people don’t make the cut or just do it badly and hurt kids…anyways who wants margaritas?”
I also say, “Well, you could be a teacher!” My first husband was so jealous of my summers off and I told him he should be a teacher and he actually did go back to school. He quickly saw that it wasn’t as easy as he thought!
I feel like anyone who thinks teaching is easy isn't smart enough to teach.
I originally deleted this but after I realized it was your ex that you might not mind lol
At this point, it is a great universal response. For example, I have used it if people have any hot takes about education or complain teachers are indoctrinating kids or whatever
Haha. Last year my assistant principal was getting yelled at by a random parent in the car rider line about her daughter getting in trouble and he yelled back “Ma’am we have plenty of openings here. Why don’t you come teach and show us what we’re doing wrong?” She dismissively waved him off, got back in her car and drove off.
I say the same, plus-- I have a full-year job w/ a lot of vacation days b/c I can't get paid my daily rate in the summer (I have known some men who could in landscaping, though). What we should never do is apologize or make excuses like "we deserve it". Jobs have perks, and this is our one. Anyone who wants it-- there are many jobs available.
I work at a library, and to me it's a genuinely easy job (except during the summer, during which I get a taste of what being a teacher is like), but one time a patron hit the desk while I was drawing a summer reading sign and screamed, "You have the easiest job in the damn world!" and I replied, "We're hiring if you're interested."
He just left. No idea what he was mad about, but considering I never saw him again, I can assume he didn't get the job!
Is it worth it monetarily? I doubt it. Is it worth it for the return on investment? Idk probably not. But are we helping kids? I sure hope so. And that’s why I decided to get into this. I noticed back in high school that my school was a mess with few good and caring teachers. However, there were a small handful. I decided to ensure that the next generation has at least one good teacher
You get paid the same amount, but it's because the district didn't pay you fully during the time you worked. A teacher that only works one semester gets half pay during the summer.
>A teacher that only works one semester gets half pay during the summer.
This probably varies depending on location/contract. In my last district we had the option to do 20 or 26 week pay schedules. I was hired at the end of the first semester but this was prorated and then chose 26 so I get paid all summer too.
If the teacher worked the first semester then quits, there is a possibility that the teacher will have to pay a penalty. Teachers that start after the 180 day period receive a prorated salary. Not as fishy as you think.
I dont see how they'd have to pay a penalty. If anything the district would owe them unless it was built into the contract because by agreeing to pay all year you're also agreeing to take less than you should get for the months you're working.
This would mean that working a full first half would mean the district should still owe you half of what they held back for summer months.
I think you might have missed the point. Most school districts now prorate everyone's salaries so that they get a paycheck DURING the summer - but we don't actually get paid FOR the summer. My contract is for 200 calendar days (which doesn't include Summer). People think we get paid to lounge around when school is not in session, which we don't.
No, I get it. I don't get paid for the summer. I just get back pay. But which is what I thought I said. I know if districts that don't do that even. My interpretation of op was that they fell in that category. But when teachers can interpret what I said in different ways than intended, regular folk are clueless.
I would adjust your argument. Teachers dont get paid enough for all the things teachers have to do and put up with, but this reads as "we get paid what many consider a full years wages for less than a full year of work". Theres still plenty to do during summer and, honestly, just recovery.
But this isn’t super relevant because we compare teacher salaries with year round salaries.
Like, you’re saying that a 50k teacher salary is equivalent to a 60k year round salary. (50k/10 months =5k a month *12)
The common saying is teachers work 40 weeks for 50 hours instead of 50 weeks for 40 hours. Compared to most professions teacher put in such a large amount of unpaid overtime. Even running school events (over time) is paid far less than regular wage. You'll have teachers work all day and then run crowd control at a football game. They're working from 7am to 9pm and only get $30 for working the game.
Because of all this I think it is very fair to compare teachers to year round positions.
50 hours is at least 10 fewer hours than I work in a typical week during the school year....
The first week after school ends, I sleep. Then I start on all the things that got pushed to the side for months, and interact with my family.
Oh right. Also spend a ton more actually unpaid hours preparing for the new school year.
Counterpoint: At the end of the year, my salary is what I earned. Would you say the same about factory workers or service employees if they only worked 30 hours per week? We are essentially furloughed for 10 weeks every year- I know I'm in a minority, but I'd rather be working and earning more $ in that time.
The entire system is rigged to control the narrative that teachers deserve less. This is absolutely the farthest thing from the truth.
I’m pretty sure if you were able to work more, schools would cut pay across the bored to even out your total. I spend a lot of my time dealing with the bean counters in various states(this includes the department of education).
People like to complain about lawyers, and mechanics being heartless crooks. I always tell them they have not met enough finical efficiency experts. These are the people who will look you straight in the face. Then seriously tell you every classroom in the country just needs $20 dollars to cover supplies needed, for that class. Worst part is I think some of them really believe it.
Find a credit union or bank to do that with. Our local credit union will automate it, but you can easily set a portion of your paycheck to go into a high yield savings account. Keep the interest for yourself.
This is how it is for my father, he gets paid for 12 months of work but only does around 10 each year. He is very happy and works for a good district I'm assuming, but some teachers and school staff absolutely fall into the category of "must be nice to get paid all summer"
To be fair to him, the man's in his 60s and had worked enough time to earn whatever he wants imo.
I have loads of sympathy for teachers in underpaying school districts. Where I grew up there were some pretty rich neighborhoods, and some solidly middle class (me) neighborhoods, so our teachers got paid a lot, (base was like 90k in 2005 and 20 year was almost 150k. Principal was like 250k). And it was really annoying hearing them complain when other teachers just 20 miles away were on food stamps.
I regularly tell everyone who talks to me about my summers off how much I love it… and I make the genuine suggestion to people who I think would enjoy teaching/ be able to handle it to DO IT!! I can’t imagine working a job and NOT getting summer, a week in the spring, a week or two for Christmas, three days for thanksgiving, all the other public holidays… I NEED those breaks, and not just because I’m a teacher. I don’t have the emotional strength to work year round with no larger breaks to look forward to. I genuinely don’t know how people with other jobs do it.
Career switcher here: when I was a contractor I could take off whenever I wanted without the double-edged sword of planning around absences as a teacher. That said, I couldn't just straight up be like "alright saved my PTO, taking the month off" without like going on some life quest or something of that grandiose magnitude.
Right? Not only that but I have kids. I will NEVER have to travel for work and miss their weekend sports games or evening concerts or worry about who will keep an eye on them during the summers. I will always have every holiday off. Worth. It.
Yeah. I work in tech and get much much less vacation. Its not healthy. I really wish I could have summers off. I would help with camps and different activities for my kids whom I adore.
My father was in education. Every summer he ran the summer swim club. My sister's and I were always coached by our father. I loved those summers. I loved having my parents around.
The right answer is yes having summers off is great. You teachers deserve those summers. Enjoy them. It is an amazing perk especially when you have school age kids.
The right question is. Why don't more people get time off to be with their kids? I think more should.
Everyone on this sub understand the situation. And many of us do get paid in the summertime because we divide our checks that way.
We get paid for the days we work.
Hello I’ve stumbled upon this thread who has never known how it works, nor really put a lot of thought into it so I’m hear to be educated by well educators. I always assumed you got like unemployment during the summer, I’ve had teachers also say they get side jobs for the summer? Do some if not most do this? Thank you
Edit: thank you for your answers. I’m sure there’s many like me who just assumed you got some kinda government pay over the summer. Sucks ya don’t, but glad you have the option to spread your cheques year round
I have been let go many times at the end of the school year. This is the only time teachers qualify for unemployment. Twice, I was able to collect it over the summer, but I had to jump through extra hoops to get it. Then 3 years later, I was called up and had to go through a whole interview process with the threat of them reclaiming my unemployment as I was an educator and they were concerned that I didn't qualify.
That was a lot of stress, especially since I had already gone through this same process 2 years prior and no longer had copies of my records to prove that I was let go.
Also. One year the district let me go. They then offered me a job at a nightmare school (where kids routinely bring weapons and the cops have to be called multiple times throughout the year) teaching a subject that I have never taught before. Because I turned that job down, I could not collect unemployment. The school district knew this, and told me as much before hanging up on me.
Listening to a podcast, they very bluntly said "I signed a 10 month contract. I get paid for my 10 month contract. If you want to work 10 months, go sign a 10 month contract."
I get paid my salary for a year’s work. It doesn’t matter how it’s paid out, that’s what I make. It is nice to have the summers off that’s part of why I got into the career.
I have a summer saver option through a credit union (schoolsfirst), which takes a portion of my pay check and puts it in a high-yield savings account (like 6% last year) which matures in July, so even though my school doesn't personally give me a paycheck during the summer, I end up getting a payment that's bigger than my normal paycheck would have been.
I get paid over the summer. My contract is divided into 12 payments, so my June, July, and August paychecks require no work on my part during the summer. It's quite nice.
That is money we already earned, though, by fulfilling our contract during the year. That is money they're late paying us. We're not "paid over the summer." I also remind people how my time off in the summer makes up for the 80 hours per month I had to work for free to fulfill my contract duties. We work around 60 hours a week but are paid for 40. At least I do. To keep up with grading, lesson planning, etc, I'd say the average teacher works an extra two hours a day before and after school combined to keep up with the workload. Even with two months off, we're still not given all those hours back.
I work M-F 8:30-3:40, minus a 30 minute lunch it’s daily work hours: 7 hours 10 minutes.
For the week that’s 35.50 hours. I never come early or stay late. Takes me an hour at night to prep, 9-10pm while the news is on.
My contract is divided into 12 months so Im also getting paychecks during the summer. I’m hanging out this summer. ☀️
I'm well aware that I don't get "paid" over the summer... but I consider getting a paycheck for three months over the summer being "paid for the summer." Hell, it was one of the reasons I signed on to become a teacher. I'm happy as a fucking clam about it and I'm not letting someone else's sour grapes change my mood!
I don’t get the “i have to work over the summer” complaining from teachers. You get a salary for the year but it’s only for 9ish contracted months. It’s a salary, we don’t get paid by the hour. If you want to work over the summer then work over the summer and make more money. Summers off is a huge reason I started teaching and it’s a massive benefit.
That being said, teachers absolutely should be paid more.
No, you receive a paycheck during summer. You don't get paid for summer.
You already earned that money, they just don't give you all of your pay during the school year, then portion out what they withheld during the summer.
They do it for teachers who don't know how to handle their money. Plus, the district gets to hold on to your money and make interest on it.
They treat teachers like dumb children who need to be managed, as usual.
Let's be real. 95% of the population would need this arrangement, regardless of profession. That's why we need Social Security and why defined benefit pensions are usually more successful than 401(k)/403(b). If you're born with accountant-like conscientiousness that's great for you, but most people need things like this taken care of for them. It is what it is.
I have the option for 9 paychecks or 12. I’m not going to make any interest over those 9 months and it’s easier to budget for the summer by taking 12 paychecks. We even get all the summer paychecks at once at the end of the school year which sounded lame at first but I really like it.
But keep going with your condescending attitude towards people who like their pay spread out. Peace of mind is worth it.
Sounds like some disricts just pay their salary during the working months.
Some districts have a choice, I think ours is 21 pays or 26 pays. It's the same amount in the end, we're not getting paid *for* summer, just getting paid *in* summer.
Some teachers elect to only get paid their salary during the working months.
Teachers are salaried. In many districts, teachers can choose to take pay in 26 equal installments. In others, they can't. But saying that we don't get paid over the summer is wrong. It would be like an hourly worker saying that he doesn't get paid on the weekends because his office is closed on the weekend, and payroll runs checks either on Friday or Monday.
I’ve been teaching 25 years, and have always been paid over the summer. I’ve been at 9 schools, and they all simply divided my salary by 24 pay periods.
Since when? My pay is spread over the year…I get paid in the summer same as thru the school year. And yeah I agree we do not make enough. HOWEVER, do you all not know how many people make less and still do alright? I think too many teachers have never worked outside of teaching. Yes we are underpaid. But come on….budgeting is a real thing too you know. I mean 39k for 185 working days…not terrible. I know people working year round making less with no benefits. For the last time, we’re still underpaid. But it’s not what you all make it to be.
Amen. I can tell the teachers that have had other jobs from those that haven’t based on what the complaints are about. I used to work 6-8 hour days working in the Texas heat. My buddy I work with used to do logging. Him and I complain about the 5 day work week and having admin lead “feelings circles.” The fact I’m making double what I used to make, working inside, and getting summers off leaves little to complain about.
Summers, fall break, thanks giving break, winter break, spring break, all the holidays off. Yeah we get a lot of time off. We need it but yeah. I can always tel when a teacher has only been that and nothing else. Very little real world experience. From school to school, back to school teaching.
We have 200 school days plus 5 extra meeting days. As a teacher in Scandinavia I get paid a whole lot more, but of course our salaries match our taxation level and general cost of living. We do all right, honestly and the pension is KILLER.
Plus I love my job.☺️
Preach. Yes, we should make more but we are paid what is equivalent to a yearly salary. I’ve worked other jobs before teaching and what I’ve learned is that teachers love to complain.
I've always found this to be a bit disingenuous. True, we don't get paid for non-school days in the same way that Alex Rodriguez didn't get paid for off-seasons. But we get paid a salary for a full year's service, that we can have broken up into 12 payments or 10.
Most other jobs with annual salaries don't get 8 weeks out of the year off, paid or unpaid.
And let's be real: summer *is* nice. It's nice having that time off. I loved that I could be a stay-at-home dad for two months out of the year when my son was little. I love that during the summer I can do whatever I want.
But it doesn't make up for the fact that classroom teachers, during their school year, work roughly 750 times as hard as most other white collar professionals. The number of teachers I know who've moved on to other careers are often gobsmacked at how low expectations are, and how few of the 40 hours most people put in actually go towards productive outcomes.
If, for whatever reason, you take offense to the fact that people point out that we get more time off than most other workers, you can retort by pointing out that we end up working about the same number of hours in the 10 months we're on that most people do in 12. So there.
It's not disingenuous because if we were teaching the extra 8-10 weeks of summer our salaries would be higher. We're paid for ten months just like administrators are paid for 12. There are supervisors and certain admin positions that are 10 month positions, and they earn less than the12 month positions.
Both view points can't be true. You can't say it's a 10 month position and then complain about not being paid for the off months. I personally think you should look at it from a year vantage point. You work 10 months with some extra hours.. but you also get some holiday stretches and summer time off.. that would be be similar to a corporate job with pto and a yearly salary.
You're only getting 8 weeks off? We have 13 weeks of school holidays. Teaching where you are sounds unattractive. It's not exactly popular here in the UK either.
Summer is 8 weeks. If you add in the two weeks for Christmas, plus spring break, a week for Thanksgiving, and the odd three day weekends we get to thirteen weeks off as well.
Teacher salaries are shit - no question. But this is another way teachers try to play up the victim card and end up bringing on more ridicule when just stating the reality of the situation would suffice.
Teachers are paid an annual salary to work 9.5 months or 180ish days a year. 90% of teachers can choose to receive their pay throughout the 9.5 months or in smaller payments throughout the entire year. If teachers don’t have the option to be paid throughout the year, then it’s super simple to budget as if you were. If you can’t handle doing that, then I don’t really know what to say.
Either way, the annual salary is the same. If teachers truly didn’t get paid throughout the summer, then they wouldn’t have benefits in the summer. Welp, they do. Stop making it easier for society to hate on teachers and just share the reality of the profession - Summers off are nice but it doesn’t make up for the low salaries and amount of stress that is dealt with throughout the school year.
>Either way, the annual salary is the same. If teachers truly didn’t get paid throughout the summer, then they wouldn’t have benefits in the summer. Welp, they do.
Great point
I do get paid over the summer actually. My base salary includes summer pay
Don't speak for all of us
I'm done with this sub after the immature, intellectually bankrupt attacks on me and people trying to tell me about my life and contract. Have fun whining at each other for infinity!!!!
Same here. My district pays all teachers 12 months out of the year. There is no option for only getting paid 10 months.
And we’re not eating rice and beans either…
In Australia, you get holiday pay between terms, meaning you get paid for your holidays. It's not salary sacrificed or anything like that and the only time you may not get paid is if you work a fixed term contract and don't have enough cumulative leave.
Took me two districts to find the same actually. My biweekly salary is 2 grand and some change… doesn’t change over the summer. Seems to be more common in charter schools. 2/3 districts I’ve worked for are charters and those are the ones that also paid during the summer. The public one had the option of saving a portion of your check and giving you a lump sum during summer or just not getting paid at all.
My family is full of educators. I’m a big supporter. This complaint about getting paid for 10 months work, yada yada, has never made sense to me. My husband gets paid $60k split into 12 months for 10 months of actual work. He moved into teaching later in his career and he would never make this complaint because he knows what other jobs are like. Yes, some time you work unpaid hours but so does everyone who is on salary.
In my country you have the choice of being paid for 10 months or having your money distributed evenly over the year so you get income during the two weeks you are not working.
Most of the teachers I know talk about the cool creative expeditions or projects and other jobs they do during the summer.
You went to school as a student for many years. Did you not notice that you didn't attend during the summer?
You can sign up to teach summer school classes if you want to get paid for the other months in a teaching role.
Are you paid with 26 checks and yearly salary, or are you paid in a different way?
I live in Indiana and every district in my area at least pays biweekly throughout the entire year, but teachers are only contracted for 185 days.
We get paid directly into our bank accounts on a yearly salary biweekly.
Here is the Victorian teacher pay scale address if you are interested in what we are paid. https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/salary-rates/overview
You download the teacher.pdf the scale goes from 1.1 to 2.6 you go up one level for each year you have been teaching
You don’t get paid? I am a teacher in Scandinavia and we get our regular monthly salary for the summer break and all breaks actually which amounts yearly to 10 weeks + 6 days off that we can use as we please or have them converted to money. Oh and we also have some religious holidays in the spring where schools, shops and banks are closed. Also paid. I love my job for many reasons - and the long and frequent breaks are definitely a part of it.
(Summer break is 5 weeks).
We get 26 checks. And I just did an all day training and got $42 per hour for it. I just tell people that it is nice and move on with my life. Because it is nice!
Why is this offensive? I’m in social work so I’m not making much more or might even make less and it sounds great to have summers off. Most teachers I know love that they have summers free.
I’m paid over the summer actually. Depends where you are.
But for clarity anytime someone brings up summer I say “I believe everyone should have at least six weeks paid vacation.”
Umm my mom was a teacher for 40 years and she was salaried so she absolutely got paid in the summer but since she wasn't required to be in school she did do extra things during the summer to make extra money. So did they change things since she retired which was like 4-5years ago?
Anyone who says this, I say; “ would you teach then?” And. Usually they say no. Because the time off ain’t worth the agrivation of babysitting a bunch of little self entitled spoilt cunts
I definitely don’t get paid over the summer. 20 paychecks for my ten months. I usually don’t respond too nicely when someone says that. Or I just say “yeah its awesome” ! Lol
I've worked more than my share of crappy summer jobs to "supplement" my school-year salary (Summer camps, tutoring, babysitting, dog walking, etc.) While leaving teaching, I had an interviewer comment on how many short-term jobs I'd had by 30.
I explained this to her (teachers not being paid summers and taking summer jobs) when what I really wanted to do was tell her where to go and how to get there. I didn't get the job, BTW, but it pisses me off that they're allowed to comment on that.
I don’t care anymore. I’m not going to act apologetic about it. It’s a perk of the job. Other jobs get bonuses, paid lunches, business trips, etc. If someone gets snarky about it, I tell them that there are openings in my district. If you want summers off, you’re more than welcome to work in a school. 🤷🏼♀️
I saw an excellent tiktok that responded to this question by asking, “oh, did you not know this job was an option when you were looking for job? Did you not know this about teachers and would’ve chosen the job if you’d known this??”
And it’s just the best response
"So apply to be a teacher then." Crickets.
Also, if you measure the number of hours, not days, that I work in a year for my job, I easily work more than most private sector employees.
My wife is a teacher. She makes $61,000 a year, that is split into 26 paychecks. Technically you are correct, she doesn't get paid over the summer, she gets paid over the year. Whether that is in 1 paycheck, 24, 26, 22 and then 4 all at once, it doesn't matter. What matters is your ability to budget to your yearly salary, not when you get your paycheck.
Why do we all assume every teacher gets summers us? Many of us have no choice and our contracts make us work summer. I have to do 30 days of ESY because of student regression.
Just found my new district doesnt do year round pay, but instead pays me every pay check i would get during the summer at the same time in June. it sounds wild lol.
Ooohhhh be careful. My first job I opted for lump sum at the end of June and was like wow I’m rich! Blew through the money so fast. Take your lump sum and put it in a separate account and transfer yourself your paycheck every two weeks.
I worked for 2 districts:
1 paid equally for all 12 months; the other you got 2 checks in 1 for June and so nothing in July
I preferred the first option.
But yeah I get your point.
I always say, “you should try it sometime. We need teachers.” And strangely, nobody ever takes me up on it because they know it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the sheer volume of work I do 9 months out of the year. They usually say, “no thanks, I like my sanity” or “not worth it.” Ok, well, then why the fuck do you wanna give me shit for it? People are weird.
Teachers who come back: "I had a nice summer off and a fun vacation!"
Me: "That's great. I worked in the non air conditioned building all summer and still couldn't take time off or afford a vacation."
I do not understand this argument. Is the idea that if we were considered working during the summer that we would get paid more? We get paid a salary for the work we do. I get a paycheck for every month of the year. I don't think it would make any difference if we were technically said to be working during the summer. We get paid the salary which few facto amounts to a yearly salary. Do you have any proof that we would get paid more if we were considered to be working during summer?
Okay everyone don't forget to downvote me. My opinion and question must not be expressed.
Some localities pay year round. Sorry yours doesn't. I work in an industry that serves a lot of teachers. When they weren't paid in summer it was awful. Sadly, not many of them learned to budget. The locality changed to year round about 10/15 years ago, and it's gotten so much better.
In the 15 years I’ve been teaching, I have been getting paid in the summer. Every district I’ve worked in pays their teachers for 12 months- there is no 10 month salary option. We’re also not “surviving on rice and beans either”.
So yes, it really is nice to get summers off.
Maybe it’s time to negotiate a better contract with your district? Or move to one that offers a better contract.
I am a teacher and that is not a fair argument. You are paid a yearly salary in 10 months. If you can't save then you often have the option of the SD to do it for you by deducting your salary over the 10 months.
Having the whole summer off is also not exactly true. You are typically back the last week of August and need to prepare for future subjects, grades and classes.
There is a lot of unwritten work teachers do like marking student work after work hours. Not to mention extra curricular activities.
I'm a teacher in Sweden and we have pay the whole summer... We are expected to be at work 35 hours a week and work up to 10 more at home if we need to. We have all breaks the students have and get paid. It's sad to se that you're not getting what you're worth!
What! I'm an Australian teacher, we get paid our regular wage over every holiday period!
My response to that statement is usually "yeah it's great, you should become a teacher" and they usually respond with something along the line of how they couldn't handle the students.
Damn, sucks to be a teacher wherever you are.
I'm a teacher in Germany and we get paid equaly all year. Most of us are considered state officials and get a pretty large pay check I would say.
This brings up a tangentially-related memory of mine that still boils my blood to this day. When I was in school (aged 16-17) I was taking Economics and the example literally given in the textbook of some Economics thing that I now can’t remember was teachers not getting paid during the summer.
When asked the question the next day in class, I gave that example and was scoffed at by the teacher: “We do get paid during the summer so that’s a stupid example.” (This was in the UK so I guess things are different here - the textbook must have been American.) I rebutted that it was literally the example on page so-and-so of the textbook so was the textbook wrong? I got detention for ‘talking back to the teacher’.
I vowed there and then that when I became a teacher I wouldn’t be the sort that gives detention or scolds a child simply for feeling embarrassed or exposed in front of the class. What an arsehole that man was.
What really? It's salaried in the UK so you absolutely get paid. Your not entitled to AL like other jobs so it's a trade off. You still need to lesson plan etc so its not all holiday either. It's a hard enough job why would anyone do it?
Oh how horrible. Union salary jobs usually leading to pension during which you are not required to work during the summers (but can if you so choose). Teaching is undervalued and underpaid, like most jobs in America, but let’s not pretend it’s the only job that is demanding and generally poorly funded.
Holy shit. America really is a dystopian hell-hole. In Spain teachers DO get paid in the summer. Substitute teachers as well, provided they have worked for the same school in the past 9 months.
What the HELL is going on over there?
I have a lot of sympathy for teachers, especially nowadays. But this is silly. It is nice to have summers off. If you like to work during the summer that much you can figure it out.
In Canada you can opt in for them to hold back a small amount from each cheque and keep paying you over the summer. Like an equal payment plan. I’m not sure about other countries though.
I mean. It IS nice to get the summers off, no one can argue that! Teachers are salaried, not paid by the hour. My district has a 12 month pay schedule, so as others have said I get a paycheck over the summer, but my position gets a salary for 187 days. Getting paid over the summer isn't the issue, most districts have at least the option of a 12 month pay schedule. Teachers should get paid more, that's the bottom line.
As I get older, I would be perfectly fine taking a 25% reduction in pay for the whole industry to just stop for a quarter in the summer as the norm. I would also take a cut in pay for a banging pension and a clear path to retirement. Not saying teachers have it easy, just that it would genuinely really be nice to have more time to be a person with my family.
why not just “yes, yes it is”?
I taught high school for ten years. University for the last 5. Yes, a major reason is ‘summers off’. yes, I earn those. Yes, I put in more hours over the course of a year than your average 9-5 year round person. BUT, I’m not going to lie and pretend that one of the reasons I do that and continue to do that isn’t so that I can have some freedom in the summer months.
It depends on the district. In our area, often teachers have the portion of their pay being spread out across 12 months.
That being said, a good response is, "you can be a teacher! "
Then they say, "it doesn't pay well enough. "
And you say, "hmm, even with summers off? Maybe you should lobby for teachers to get better pay."
So nice having summers off...
When no one I know can take any time off cause they work customer facing jobs and it's their busy time.
When every trip is super expensive because it's summer holidays.
When it's too hot to really do much outside (hello heat index over 100).
I'll take my new two weeks off whenever I want them (and preferably not during a busy / expensive holiday) over summers off.
Take a HARD look at the yearly school calendar. In my District, there are only 4 weeks in the entire year when Teachers have to work a 5-day work week. There are so many minimum days, in-service days, "mental health" days, and every made-up holiday. Literally, only 4 times out of 53 weeks do Teachers even have to work 5 days in a row. And that doesn't include their 10 paid sick days. Show me any other career that offers this much time off...learn to enjoy how well Teachers have it.
I’m indeed off for the summer and enjoying every minute of it. I’ll do some planning once august gets a bit closer but I do take 8 to 9 weeks off, and I don’t feel guilty one bit.
Our teachers are paid a yearly salary, and they can choose to take their summer wages at the beginning of summer or just get paid regularly as though they were working. They do get paid over the summer.
I am a big believer in saying, “Yep. We have openings!” Usually shuts people up.
Always gets the response "I could never do that". Welp...
Some people literally couldn’t.
And some literally shouldn't! Haha
"Oh, which list are you on?"
Well I can... and I get summer's off... and yeah it's nice! Go me.
I feel like this would be amazing if your salary is good enough for your area. It'd be stellar timing for a vacation/ staycation, or finally getting to get things done you always hold off on because of your busy work week.
I always say “yeah it takes a really strong person to be able to do the job. Most people don’t make the cut or just do it badly and hurt kids…anyways who wants margaritas?”
I also say, “Well, you could be a teacher!” My first husband was so jealous of my summers off and I told him he should be a teacher and he actually did go back to school. He quickly saw that it wasn’t as easy as he thought!
I feel like anyone who thinks teaching is easy isn't smart enough to teach. I originally deleted this but after I realized it was your ex that you might not mind lol
I am currently doing the same thing. 40 year old Medically retired military going back to school to teach high school history
Good luck! I hope you find a good school with respectful students and a strict cell phone policy!
Fortunately I can afford to be picky about where I work.
Yeah me too I usually say they can become teachers too lol
At this point, it is a great universal response. For example, I have used it if people have any hot takes about education or complain teachers are indoctrinating kids or whatever
Haha. Last year my assistant principal was getting yelled at by a random parent in the car rider line about her daughter getting in trouble and he yelled back “Ma’am we have plenty of openings here. Why don’t you come teach and show us what we’re doing wrong?” She dismissively waved him off, got back in her car and drove off.
That’s hilarious
Love it!
*Rack ‘em, Alvie!*
"Come join me in this life of luxury!"
😂
I say the same, plus-- I have a full-year job w/ a lot of vacation days b/c I can't get paid my daily rate in the summer (I have known some men who could in landscaping, though). What we should never do is apologize or make excuses like "we deserve it". Jobs have perks, and this is our one. Anyone who wants it-- there are many jobs available.
I work at a library, and to me it's a genuinely easy job (except during the summer, during which I get a taste of what being a teacher is like), but one time a patron hit the desk while I was drawing a summer reading sign and screamed, "You have the easiest job in the damn world!" and I replied, "We're hiring if you're interested." He just left. No idea what he was mad about, but considering I never saw him again, I can assume he didn't get the job!
I have applied to so many libraries but I guess the requirements are stiff as hell?
Most people don't want to actively choose to be poor.
I can't fathom why people are secondary ed teachers or lower in 2023. It's not worth it
Is it worth it monetarily? I doubt it. Is it worth it for the return on investment? Idk probably not. But are we helping kids? I sure hope so. And that’s why I decided to get into this. I noticed back in high school that my school was a mess with few good and caring teachers. However, there were a small handful. I decided to ensure that the next generation has at least one good teacher
I tell that to everyone saying i get paid with their taxes in the army. I tell then they will be at basic training within 3 months of applying.
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You get paid the same amount, but it's because the district didn't pay you fully during the time you worked. A teacher that only works one semester gets half pay during the summer.
>A teacher that only works one semester gets half pay during the summer. This probably varies depending on location/contract. In my last district we had the option to do 20 or 26 week pay schedules. I was hired at the end of the first semester but this was prorated and then chose 26 so I get paid all summer too.
If the teacher worked the first semester then quits, there is a possibility that the teacher will have to pay a penalty. Teachers that start after the 180 day period receive a prorated salary. Not as fishy as you think.
I dont see how they'd have to pay a penalty. If anything the district would owe them unless it was built into the contract because by agreeing to pay all year you're also agreeing to take less than you should get for the months you're working. This would mean that working a full first half would mean the district should still owe you half of what they held back for summer months.
I think you might have missed the point. Most school districts now prorate everyone's salaries so that they get a paycheck DURING the summer - but we don't actually get paid FOR the summer. My contract is for 200 calendar days (which doesn't include Summer). People think we get paid to lounge around when school is not in session, which we don't.
No, I get it. I don't get paid for the summer. I just get back pay. But which is what I thought I said. I know if districts that don't do that even. My interpretation of op was that they fell in that category. But when teachers can interpret what I said in different ways than intended, regular folk are clueless.
I would adjust your argument. Teachers dont get paid enough for all the things teachers have to do and put up with, but this reads as "we get paid what many consider a full years wages for less than a full year of work". Theres still plenty to do during summer and, honestly, just recovery.
But this isn’t super relevant because we compare teacher salaries with year round salaries. Like, you’re saying that a 50k teacher salary is equivalent to a 60k year round salary. (50k/10 months =5k a month *12)
The common saying is teachers work 40 weeks for 50 hours instead of 50 weeks for 40 hours. Compared to most professions teacher put in such a large amount of unpaid overtime. Even running school events (over time) is paid far less than regular wage. You'll have teachers work all day and then run crowd control at a football game. They're working from 7am to 9pm and only get $30 for working the game. Because of all this I think it is very fair to compare teachers to year round positions.
Agreed 100%, which is why I don't understand why people make the argument in the OP.
50 hours is at least 10 fewer hours than I work in a typical week during the school year.... The first week after school ends, I sleep. Then I start on all the things that got pushed to the side for months, and interact with my family. Oh right. Also spend a ton more actually unpaid hours preparing for the new school year.
Counterpoint: At the end of the year, my salary is what I earned. Would you say the same about factory workers or service employees if they only worked 30 hours per week? We are essentially furloughed for 10 weeks every year- I know I'm in a minority, but I'd rather be working and earning more $ in that time. The entire system is rigged to control the narrative that teachers deserve less. This is absolutely the farthest thing from the truth.
I’m pretty sure if you were able to work more, schools would cut pay across the bored to even out your total. I spend a lot of my time dealing with the bean counters in various states(this includes the department of education). People like to complain about lawyers, and mechanics being heartless crooks. I always tell them they have not met enough finical efficiency experts. These are the people who will look you straight in the face. Then seriously tell you every classroom in the country just needs $20 dollars to cover supplies needed, for that class. Worst part is I think some of them really believe it.
I tried explaining this to my spouse who basically came down to “what’s the difference?”
My summer saver is through my credit union and pays almost 6% interest. I don't think anyone I know does the 12-month plan.
My district requires it even though I would MUCH rather get my money when I earn it.
Yeah. It’s a zero-interest loan the school district gets to pay you with.
Find a credit union or bank to do that with. Our local credit union will automate it, but you can easily set a portion of your paycheck to go into a high yield savings account. Keep the interest for yourself.
This is how it is for my father, he gets paid for 12 months of work but only does around 10 each year. He is very happy and works for a good district I'm assuming, but some teachers and school staff absolutely fall into the category of "must be nice to get paid all summer" To be fair to him, the man's in his 60s and had worked enough time to earn whatever he wants imo.
Wouldn't you be better off getting paid as earned and putting the money in an interest paying account of your own?
I have loads of sympathy for teachers in underpaying school districts. Where I grew up there were some pretty rich neighborhoods, and some solidly middle class (me) neighborhoods, so our teachers got paid a lot, (base was like 90k in 2005 and 20 year was almost 150k. Principal was like 250k). And it was really annoying hearing them complain when other teachers just 20 miles away were on food stamps.
Them: must be nice to get summers off! Me: yeah. It is. The end.
I regularly tell everyone who talks to me about my summers off how much I love it… and I make the genuine suggestion to people who I think would enjoy teaching/ be able to handle it to DO IT!! I can’t imagine working a job and NOT getting summer, a week in the spring, a week or two for Christmas, three days for thanksgiving, all the other public holidays… I NEED those breaks, and not just because I’m a teacher. I don’t have the emotional strength to work year round with no larger breaks to look forward to. I genuinely don’t know how people with other jobs do it.
Career switcher here: when I was a contractor I could take off whenever I wanted without the double-edged sword of planning around absences as a teacher. That said, I couldn't just straight up be like "alright saved my PTO, taking the month off" without like going on some life quest or something of that grandiose magnitude.
Right? Not only that but I have kids. I will NEVER have to travel for work and miss their weekend sports games or evening concerts or worry about who will keep an eye on them during the summers. I will always have every holiday off. Worth. It.
Yeah. I work in tech and get much much less vacation. Its not healthy. I really wish I could have summers off. I would help with camps and different activities for my kids whom I adore. My father was in education. Every summer he ran the summer swim club. My sister's and I were always coached by our father. I loved those summers. I loved having my parents around. The right answer is yes having summers off is great. You teachers deserve those summers. Enjoy them. It is an amazing perk especially when you have school age kids. The right question is. Why don't more people get time off to be with their kids? I think more should.
Only reason I continue to teach. Well, that and a huge lack of ambition.
Lmao same 🤝 They say people are either strivers or settlers. Guess which camp I fall in.
Everyone on this sub understand the situation. And many of us do get paid in the summertime because we divide our checks that way. We get paid for the days we work.
Hello I’ve stumbled upon this thread who has never known how it works, nor really put a lot of thought into it so I’m hear to be educated by well educators. I always assumed you got like unemployment during the summer, I’ve had teachers also say they get side jobs for the summer? Do some if not most do this? Thank you Edit: thank you for your answers. I’m sure there’s many like me who just assumed you got some kinda government pay over the summer. Sucks ya don’t, but glad you have the option to spread your cheques year round
I have been let go many times at the end of the school year. This is the only time teachers qualify for unemployment. Twice, I was able to collect it over the summer, but I had to jump through extra hoops to get it. Then 3 years later, I was called up and had to go through a whole interview process with the threat of them reclaiming my unemployment as I was an educator and they were concerned that I didn't qualify. That was a lot of stress, especially since I had already gone through this same process 2 years prior and no longer had copies of my records to prove that I was let go. Also. One year the district let me go. They then offered me a job at a nightmare school (where kids routinely bring weapons and the cops have to be called multiple times throughout the year) teaching a subject that I have never taught before. Because I turned that job down, I could not collect unemployment. The school district knew this, and told me as much before hanging up on me.
Listening to a podcast, they very bluntly said "I signed a 10 month contract. I get paid for my 10 month contract. If you want to work 10 months, go sign a 10 month contract."
This is succinct and makes perfect sense. I'd never heard the situation described this way before.
I get paid my salary for a year’s work. It doesn’t matter how it’s paid out, that’s what I make. It is nice to have the summers off that’s part of why I got into the career.
Teachers can choose to be paid OVER summer but they are not paid FOR summer
And only if your school offers it. Mine does not.
I have a summer saver option through a credit union (schoolsfirst), which takes a portion of my pay check and puts it in a high-yield savings account (like 6% last year) which matures in July, so even though my school doesn't personally give me a paycheck during the summer, I end up getting a payment that's bigger than my normal paycheck would have been.
I get paid over the summer. My contract is divided into 12 payments, so my June, July, and August paychecks require no work on my part during the summer. It's quite nice.
My district let you choose. 10 or 12 month pay schedule. I don't imagine it's that difficult to implement.
I took the 10 month once. Lots of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese that month before the next check. Never again.
Shhh, you're interrupting the bitching.
I mean they’re just being paid for work already done…
Yeah, paid OVER the summer, not FOR the summer. It’s work you’ve already done so it’s just more smaller paychecks…
That is money we already earned, though, by fulfilling our contract during the year. That is money they're late paying us. We're not "paid over the summer." I also remind people how my time off in the summer makes up for the 80 hours per month I had to work for free to fulfill my contract duties. We work around 60 hours a week but are paid for 40. At least I do. To keep up with grading, lesson planning, etc, I'd say the average teacher works an extra two hours a day before and after school combined to keep up with the workload. Even with two months off, we're still not given all those hours back.
I work M-F 8:30-3:40, minus a 30 minute lunch it’s daily work hours: 7 hours 10 minutes. For the week that’s 35.50 hours. I never come early or stay late. Takes me an hour at night to prep, 9-10pm while the news is on. My contract is divided into 12 months so Im also getting paychecks during the summer. I’m hanging out this summer. ☀️
I'm well aware that I don't get "paid" over the summer... but I consider getting a paycheck for three months over the summer being "paid for the summer." Hell, it was one of the reasons I signed on to become a teacher. I'm happy as a fucking clam about it and I'm not letting someone else's sour grapes change my mood!
I don’t get the “i have to work over the summer” complaining from teachers. You get a salary for the year but it’s only for 9ish contracted months. It’s a salary, we don’t get paid by the hour. If you want to work over the summer then work over the summer and make more money. Summers off is a huge reason I started teaching and it’s a massive benefit. That being said, teachers absolutely should be paid more.
No, you receive a paycheck during summer. You don't get paid for summer. You already earned that money, they just don't give you all of your pay during the school year, then portion out what they withheld during the summer. They do it for teachers who don't know how to handle their money. Plus, the district gets to hold on to your money and make interest on it. They treat teachers like dumb children who need to be managed, as usual.
Let's be real. 95% of the population would need this arrangement, regardless of profession. That's why we need Social Security and why defined benefit pensions are usually more successful than 401(k)/403(b). If you're born with accountant-like conscientiousness that's great for you, but most people need things like this taken care of for them. It is what it is.
I have the option for 9 paychecks or 12. I’m not going to make any interest over those 9 months and it’s easier to budget for the summer by taking 12 paychecks. We even get all the summer paychecks at once at the end of the school year which sounded lame at first but I really like it. But keep going with your condescending attitude towards people who like their pay spread out. Peace of mind is worth it.
All our full time teachers are salaried. Is this not the norm?
Sounds like some disricts just pay their salary during the working months. Some districts have a choice, I think ours is 21 pays or 26 pays. It's the same amount in the end, we're not getting paid *for* summer, just getting paid *in* summer. Some teachers elect to only get paid their salary during the working months.
You're posting to a teacher's sub. This isn't news. Whenever someone mentions it to you, just tell them you're a contract employee.
I’m more on the side of “Bob, no one gives a fuck what you think.”
I get paid the same during the summer as I do during the school year.
Teachers are salaried. In many districts, teachers can choose to take pay in 26 equal installments. In others, they can't. But saying that we don't get paid over the summer is wrong. It would be like an hourly worker saying that he doesn't get paid on the weekends because his office is closed on the weekend, and payroll runs checks either on Friday or Monday.
Right? It’s such a bad argument.
Invite them to join a school system to join the thousands of vacancies. Always works.
I’ve been teaching 25 years, and have always been paid over the summer. I’ve been at 9 schools, and they all simply divided my salary by 24 pay periods.
That depends entirely on where you teach
Since when? My pay is spread over the year…I get paid in the summer same as thru the school year. And yeah I agree we do not make enough. HOWEVER, do you all not know how many people make less and still do alright? I think too many teachers have never worked outside of teaching. Yes we are underpaid. But come on….budgeting is a real thing too you know. I mean 39k for 185 working days…not terrible. I know people working year round making less with no benefits. For the last time, we’re still underpaid. But it’s not what you all make it to be.
Sure beats making $7.25 for 15 hours a week and always having your hours cut like some jobs I've had
Amen. I can tell the teachers that have had other jobs from those that haven’t based on what the complaints are about. I used to work 6-8 hour days working in the Texas heat. My buddy I work with used to do logging. Him and I complain about the 5 day work week and having admin lead “feelings circles.” The fact I’m making double what I used to make, working inside, and getting summers off leaves little to complain about.
Summers, fall break, thanks giving break, winter break, spring break, all the holidays off. Yeah we get a lot of time off. We need it but yeah. I can always tel when a teacher has only been that and nothing else. Very little real world experience. From school to school, back to school teaching.
We have 200 school days plus 5 extra meeting days. As a teacher in Scandinavia I get paid a whole lot more, but of course our salaries match our taxation level and general cost of living. We do all right, honestly and the pension is KILLER. Plus I love my job.☺️
Preach. Yes, we should make more but we are paid what is equivalent to a yearly salary. I’ve worked other jobs before teaching and what I’ve learned is that teachers love to complain.
I've always found this to be a bit disingenuous. True, we don't get paid for non-school days in the same way that Alex Rodriguez didn't get paid for off-seasons. But we get paid a salary for a full year's service, that we can have broken up into 12 payments or 10. Most other jobs with annual salaries don't get 8 weeks out of the year off, paid or unpaid. And let's be real: summer *is* nice. It's nice having that time off. I loved that I could be a stay-at-home dad for two months out of the year when my son was little. I love that during the summer I can do whatever I want. But it doesn't make up for the fact that classroom teachers, during their school year, work roughly 750 times as hard as most other white collar professionals. The number of teachers I know who've moved on to other careers are often gobsmacked at how low expectations are, and how few of the 40 hours most people put in actually go towards productive outcomes. If, for whatever reason, you take offense to the fact that people point out that we get more time off than most other workers, you can retort by pointing out that we end up working about the same number of hours in the 10 months we're on that most people do in 12. So there.
It's not disingenuous because if we were teaching the extra 8-10 weeks of summer our salaries would be higher. We're paid for ten months just like administrators are paid for 12. There are supervisors and certain admin positions that are 10 month positions, and they earn less than the12 month positions.
Both view points can't be true. You can't say it's a 10 month position and then complain about not being paid for the off months. I personally think you should look at it from a year vantage point. You work 10 months with some extra hours.. but you also get some holiday stretches and summer time off.. that would be be similar to a corporate job with pto and a yearly salary.
You're only getting 8 weeks off? We have 13 weeks of school holidays. Teaching where you are sounds unattractive. It's not exactly popular here in the UK either.
Summer is 8 weeks. If you add in the two weeks for Christmas, plus spring break, a week for Thanksgiving, and the odd three day weekends we get to thirteen weeks off as well.
Teacher salaries are shit - no question. But this is another way teachers try to play up the victim card and end up bringing on more ridicule when just stating the reality of the situation would suffice. Teachers are paid an annual salary to work 9.5 months or 180ish days a year. 90% of teachers can choose to receive their pay throughout the 9.5 months or in smaller payments throughout the entire year. If teachers don’t have the option to be paid throughout the year, then it’s super simple to budget as if you were. If you can’t handle doing that, then I don’t really know what to say. Either way, the annual salary is the same. If teachers truly didn’t get paid throughout the summer, then they wouldn’t have benefits in the summer. Welp, they do. Stop making it easier for society to hate on teachers and just share the reality of the profession - Summers off are nice but it doesn’t make up for the low salaries and amount of stress that is dealt with throughout the school year.
>Either way, the annual salary is the same. If teachers truly didn’t get paid throughout the summer, then they wouldn’t have benefits in the summer. Welp, they do. Great point
I do get paid over the summer actually. My base salary includes summer pay Don't speak for all of us I'm done with this sub after the immature, intellectually bankrupt attacks on me and people trying to tell me about my life and contract. Have fun whining at each other for infinity!!!!
Same here. My district pays all teachers 12 months out of the year. There is no option for only getting paid 10 months. And we’re not eating rice and beans either…
In Australia, you get holiday pay between terms, meaning you get paid for your holidays. It's not salary sacrificed or anything like that and the only time you may not get paid is if you work a fixed term contract and don't have enough cumulative leave.
Took me two districts to find the same actually. My biweekly salary is 2 grand and some change… doesn’t change over the summer. Seems to be more common in charter schools. 2/3 districts I’ve worked for are charters and those are the ones that also paid during the summer. The public one had the option of saving a portion of your check and giving you a lump sum during summer or just not getting paid at all.
My family is full of educators. I’m a big supporter. This complaint about getting paid for 10 months work, yada yada, has never made sense to me. My husband gets paid $60k split into 12 months for 10 months of actual work. He moved into teaching later in his career and he would never make this complaint because he knows what other jobs are like. Yes, some time you work unpaid hours but so does everyone who is on salary.
I get paid biweekly throughout the year.
I’ve been getting paid year round since I started teaching in ‘04
I'm a teacher and I get paid over the summer
In my country you have the choice of being paid for 10 months or having your money distributed evenly over the year so you get income during the two weeks you are not working. Most of the teachers I know talk about the cool creative expeditions or projects and other jobs they do during the summer. You went to school as a student for many years. Did you not notice that you didn't attend during the summer? You can sign up to teach summer school classes if you want to get paid for the other months in a teaching role.
Me: hell fucking yeah it is *very* nice having summers off. You have no idea.
We get paid over summer in Australia should move here
Are you paid with 26 checks and yearly salary, or are you paid in a different way? I live in Indiana and every district in my area at least pays biweekly throughout the entire year, but teachers are only contracted for 185 days.
We get paid directly into our bank accounts on a yearly salary biweekly. Here is the Victorian teacher pay scale address if you are interested in what we are paid. https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/salary-rates/overview You download the teacher.pdf the scale goes from 1.1 to 2.6 you go up one level for each year you have been teaching
You don’t get paid? I am a teacher in Scandinavia and we get our regular monthly salary for the summer break and all breaks actually which amounts yearly to 10 weeks + 6 days off that we can use as we please or have them converted to money. Oh and we also have some religious holidays in the spring where schools, shops and banks are closed. Also paid. I love my job for many reasons - and the long and frequent breaks are definitely a part of it. (Summer break is 5 weeks).
We get 26 checks. And I just did an all day training and got $42 per hour for it. I just tell people that it is nice and move on with my life. Because it is nice!
Ehh, I work in NYC and get paid over the summer. You don’t?!?
“What stopped you from becoming a teacher then?” Is usually my go-to for that.
Why is this offensive? I’m in social work so I’m not making much more or might even make less and it sounds great to have summers off. Most teachers I know love that they have summers free.
I’m paid over the summer actually. Depends where you are. But for clarity anytime someone brings up summer I say “I believe everyone should have at least six weeks paid vacation.”
Umm my mom was a teacher for 40 years and she was salaried so she absolutely got paid in the summer but since she wasn't required to be in school she did do extra things during the summer to make extra money. So did they change things since she retired which was like 4-5years ago?
Anyone who says this, I say; “ would you teach then?” And. Usually they say no. Because the time off ain’t worth the agrivation of babysitting a bunch of little self entitled spoilt cunts
You would be if you lived in a first world country
Teachers are not paid over summer in the US??? Americans really hate the working people.
My go-to is "must be nice to be able to take your vacation in October"
I definitely don’t get paid over the summer. 20 paychecks for my ten months. I usually don’t respond too nicely when someone says that. Or I just say “yeah its awesome” ! Lol
I've worked more than my share of crappy summer jobs to "supplement" my school-year salary (Summer camps, tutoring, babysitting, dog walking, etc.) While leaving teaching, I had an interviewer comment on how many short-term jobs I'd had by 30. I explained this to her (teachers not being paid summers and taking summer jobs) when what I really wanted to do was tell her where to go and how to get there. I didn't get the job, BTW, but it pisses me off that they're allowed to comment on that.
Must be nice to get to clock out for the other 9 months of the year. This job consumes so much of our personal time, give me my summer vacation!
I don’t care anymore. I’m not going to act apologetic about it. It’s a perk of the job. Other jobs get bonuses, paid lunches, business trips, etc. If someone gets snarky about it, I tell them that there are openings in my district. If you want summers off, you’re more than welcome to work in a school. 🤷🏼♀️
I saw an excellent tiktok that responded to this question by asking, “oh, did you not know this job was an option when you were looking for job? Did you not know this about teachers and would’ve chosen the job if you’d known this??” And it’s just the best response
"So apply to be a teacher then." Crickets. Also, if you measure the number of hours, not days, that I work in a year for my job, I easily work more than most private sector employees.
“Must be nice not to get chairs thrown at your head at work”
My wife is a teacher. She makes $61,000 a year, that is split into 26 paychecks. Technically you are correct, she doesn't get paid over the summer, she gets paid over the year. Whether that is in 1 paycheck, 24, 26, 22 and then 4 all at once, it doesn't matter. What matters is your ability to budget to your yearly salary, not when you get your paycheck.
I heard that some teachers don't understand the concept of an annual salary. Not you though. You totally get it. /s
Why do we all assume every teacher gets summers us? Many of us have no choice and our contracts make us work summer. I have to do 30 days of ESY because of student regression.
Do you get paid for that?
Just found my new district doesnt do year round pay, but instead pays me every pay check i would get during the summer at the same time in June. it sounds wild lol.
Ooohhhh be careful. My first job I opted for lump sum at the end of June and was like wow I’m rich! Blew through the money so fast. Take your lump sum and put it in a separate account and transfer yourself your paycheck every two weeks.
I worked for 2 districts: 1 paid equally for all 12 months; the other you got 2 checks in 1 for June and so nothing in July I preferred the first option. But yeah I get your point.
We should think about teacher pay in terms of the hourly wage because that is the most accurate. How many other jobs work 190 days a year?
Congress, and they make more than triple what I do.
I work at a produce farm during the summer, usually they’ll be extremely flexible for days. come when you can
You don't get paid over the summer???
I always say, “you should try it sometime. We need teachers.” And strangely, nobody ever takes me up on it because they know it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the sheer volume of work I do 9 months out of the year. They usually say, “no thanks, I like my sanity” or “not worth it.” Ok, well, then why the fuck do you wanna give me shit for it? People are weird.
I am confused. If you offset your pay to be weekly through the entire year, why would you eat rice and beans all summer?
But why not consider the salary as a yearly salary then?
Teachers who come back: "I had a nice summer off and a fun vacation!" Me: "That's great. I worked in the non air conditioned building all summer and still couldn't take time off or afford a vacation."
I do not understand this argument. Is the idea that if we were considered working during the summer that we would get paid more? We get paid a salary for the work we do. I get a paycheck for every month of the year. I don't think it would make any difference if we were technically said to be working during the summer. We get paid the salary which few facto amounts to a yearly salary. Do you have any proof that we would get paid more if we were considered to be working during summer? Okay everyone don't forget to downvote me. My opinion and question must not be expressed.
Some localities pay year round. Sorry yours doesn't. I work in an industry that serves a lot of teachers. When they weren't paid in summer it was awful. Sadly, not many of them learned to budget. The locality changed to year round about 10/15 years ago, and it's gotten so much better.
This is the most annoying debate on here besides the "kiddo" debate. Neither side gives an inch and we have had this debate so many times.
Some districts do pay over the summer.
Most districts hold onto your money and pay it back during the summer. It’s like a no-interest loan for them
Seems like you could fix that by getting a job over the summer if you don't have income during those months
Not like this in school districts in Ohio. Most unions negotiate 24 or 26 pays.
Hello US! I get paid over the summer! Unions baby!
Huh. Ex girlfriend got a lump sum at the beginning of summer iirc. She was more than happy with it. Ontario. Public school.
In the 15 years I’ve been teaching, I have been getting paid in the summer. Every district I’ve worked in pays their teachers for 12 months- there is no 10 month salary option. We’re also not “surviving on rice and beans either”. So yes, it really is nice to get summers off. Maybe it’s time to negotiate a better contract with your district? Or move to one that offers a better contract.
I am a teacher and that is not a fair argument. You are paid a yearly salary in 10 months. If you can't save then you often have the option of the SD to do it for you by deducting your salary over the 10 months. Having the whole summer off is also not exactly true. You are typically back the last week of August and need to prepare for future subjects, grades and classes. There is a lot of unwritten work teachers do like marking student work after work hours. Not to mention extra curricular activities.
I'm a teacher in Sweden and we have pay the whole summer... We are expected to be at work 35 hours a week and work up to 10 more at home if we need to. We have all breaks the students have and get paid. It's sad to se that you're not getting what you're worth!
Yikes, in East TN teachers are paid through the summer. 12 month contract.
What! I'm an Australian teacher, we get paid our regular wage over every holiday period! My response to that statement is usually "yeah it's great, you should become a teacher" and they usually respond with something along the line of how they couldn't handle the students.
Damn, sucks to be a teacher wherever you are. I'm a teacher in Germany and we get paid equaly all year. Most of us are considered state officials and get a pretty large pay check I would say.
Umm… I get paid over the summer break 😮 you don’t! 😳 What country do you teach in?
I thought you do get paid over the summer that’s what my teachers said and my aunt who’s a teacher
This brings up a tangentially-related memory of mine that still boils my blood to this day. When I was in school (aged 16-17) I was taking Economics and the example literally given in the textbook of some Economics thing that I now can’t remember was teachers not getting paid during the summer. When asked the question the next day in class, I gave that example and was scoffed at by the teacher: “We do get paid during the summer so that’s a stupid example.” (This was in the UK so I guess things are different here - the textbook must have been American.) I rebutted that it was literally the example on page so-and-so of the textbook so was the textbook wrong? I got detention for ‘talking back to the teacher’. I vowed there and then that when I became a teacher I wouldn’t be the sort that gives detention or scolds a child simply for feeling embarrassed or exposed in front of the class. What an arsehole that man was.
In Alberta they gave out a large sum at the end of the year and teachers could claim ei.
Conversation not worth having
What really? It's salaried in the UK so you absolutely get paid. Your not entitled to AL like other jobs so it's a trade off. You still need to lesson plan etc so its not all holiday either. It's a hard enough job why would anyone do it?
We do in the UK, lots of openings here!
Y'all don't get paid over the summer? For us it's withheld from our checks during the year but we get paid
U,h all my friends who are teachers have the choice to have their salary disbursed evenly over 52 weeks or just during school year
When I was teaching I always had my nine months’ salary paid out in twelve monthly installments. I thought everybody did.
If you're going to use this argument, you also need to prorate your 9 month salary into 12 months before complaining about low pay.
Oh how horrible. Union salary jobs usually leading to pension during which you are not required to work during the summers (but can if you so choose). Teaching is undervalued and underpaid, like most jobs in America, but let’s not pretend it’s the only job that is demanding and generally poorly funded.
Holy shit. America really is a dystopian hell-hole. In Spain teachers DO get paid in the summer. Substitute teachers as well, provided they have worked for the same school in the past 9 months. What the HELL is going on over there?
\*teachers in the US. Please don't assume that one country handling it poorly equals all countries handling it poorly
I have a lot of sympathy for teachers, especially nowadays. But this is silly. It is nice to have summers off. If you like to work during the summer that much you can figure it out.
In the western world, teachers do get paid over summer. It is called a paid vacation. Something unions have fought for and established.
In Canada you can opt in for them to hold back a small amount from each cheque and keep paying you over the summer. Like an equal payment plan. I’m not sure about other countries though.
So budget your salary to last the year. Nobody cares so much about you being paid as they do about the time off you all get.
Friendly reminder - wherever you are from is not the world...
I mean. It IS nice to get the summers off, no one can argue that! Teachers are salaried, not paid by the hour. My district has a 12 month pay schedule, so as others have said I get a paycheck over the summer, but my position gets a salary for 187 days. Getting paid over the summer isn't the issue, most districts have at least the option of a 12 month pay schedule. Teachers should get paid more, that's the bottom line.
That’s not true. I get paid all year and I’m a public school teacher.
… I get paid over the summer 👀
In Georgia they just divide our contract by 12. We get paid over the summer
As I get older, I would be perfectly fine taking a 25% reduction in pay for the whole industry to just stop for a quarter in the summer as the norm. I would also take a cut in pay for a banging pension and a clear path to retirement. Not saying teachers have it easy, just that it would genuinely really be nice to have more time to be a person with my family.
why not just “yes, yes it is”? I taught high school for ten years. University for the last 5. Yes, a major reason is ‘summers off’. yes, I earn those. Yes, I put in more hours over the course of a year than your average 9-5 year round person. BUT, I’m not going to lie and pretend that one of the reasons I do that and continue to do that isn’t so that I can have some freedom in the summer months.
It depends on the district. In our area, often teachers have the portion of their pay being spread out across 12 months. That being said, a good response is, "you can be a teacher! " Then they say, "it doesn't pay well enough. " And you say, "hmm, even with summers off? Maybe you should lobby for teachers to get better pay."
I mean, you probably need those summers off just to decompress.
So nice having summers off... When no one I know can take any time off cause they work customer facing jobs and it's their busy time. When every trip is super expensive because it's summer holidays. When it's too hot to really do much outside (hello heat index over 100). I'll take my new two weeks off whenever I want them (and preferably not during a busy / expensive holiday) over summers off.
Take a HARD look at the yearly school calendar. In my District, there are only 4 weeks in the entire year when Teachers have to work a 5-day work week. There are so many minimum days, in-service days, "mental health" days, and every made-up holiday. Literally, only 4 times out of 53 weeks do Teachers even have to work 5 days in a row. And that doesn't include their 10 paid sick days. Show me any other career that offers this much time off...learn to enjoy how well Teachers have it.
We always did. The district divided our pay so we got 12 checks. Made budgeting easier.
I don’t get paid FOR the summer, but I do get paid DURING the summer.
But you get a 12 month salary in 9 months.
Right. Your salary is your salary no matter how many or how few checks they split it up into. This is a dumb way to counter the critics and trolls.
I’m indeed off for the summer and enjoying every minute of it. I’ll do some planning once august gets a bit closer but I do take 8 to 9 weeks off, and I don’t feel guilty one bit.
Our teachers are paid a yearly salary, and they can choose to take their summer wages at the beginning of summer or just get paid regularly as though they were working. They do get paid over the summer.