A Teacher's Summer

What do teachers do in the summer? Perhaps they vacation for three months. Or they finally get to watch Oprah everyday. Well, surely they sleep in, have a leisurely brunch, and stroll around the neighborhood, giggling as they pass all the storefronts with people working at a feverish pace?

I'd love to say that's it. I EVEN hoped that would be it when I got into teaching. If you want to maintain that illusion, I don't blame you. I'm doing my best to TRY to make it a reality, but it just ain't happenin'. Instead, let me break it down for ya. First there are always weeks of P.D. (that's teacher lingo for "Professional Development") in the summer. The good news is, it's optional. The bad news is, there's lots of pressure to do SOME P.D. during the summer. Lots of the required trainings are given over the summer so you can "get it out of the way" and not be stuck doing weeks of lesson plans for the subs that will cover your class when you go to P.D.

Next are all the enticing "sales" at the office supply and teacher stores. Many teachers I know are busy stocking up on next years' school supplies at whatever discounted rates they can find. Donna told me that Staples was selling the little pencil sharpeners for 9 cents a piece, though you could only buy 5 at a time. She took her sister and they went into the store 2 times each, but still not enough for a class set. I was just picturing myself bringing my costume box that's full of capes, wigs, glasses, and mustaches and making 7 trips into the same store, each time with a different disguise in order to outfit my classroom with pencil sharpeners.

What's the world coming to? I am still outraged at the fact that teacher's spend thousands of dollars on their classrooms each year. We hope the PTA will give us $100 - $200 to help offset the cost. Then sometimes the government gives us a $250 write off on our taxes. But that's it. So while on vacation, and making no money, teachers are spending money on their classrooms.

Now, I'll tell you. I've been reluctant to do lots of trainings in the summers and I try not to spend too much money on my classroom each year, because it never seemed "right" to me. But regardless, out of our 10 weeks off in the summer, I have spent 2 weeks in trainings for two summers each and I discovered at tax time that I spent over $1000 on school supplies last year. I got a $250 deduction on my taxes and $150 from my PTA. You do the math. I'm out a bundle. YES, I love the kids. YES, I want my curriculum to be engaging. But how many other jobs can you think of where people spend over $600 a year out of their own pocket to service their clients without being reimbursed.

Something has got to change.

Lastly, there are many teachers that work over the summer. Some teach summer school, while others do something unrelated to education to sort of give themselves a break. This year I did 2 weeks of P.D. and 2 days a week of summer school because I needed the money. So as much as I'd love to be kicking back and loungin', it's not in the cards for me this year.

So next time you meet a teacher and you don't know what to say about their crappy salary, please don't make that uninformed, infuriating comment, "Well, you have three months off."
DOH!!!