If you gave me most managerial nursing positions, I would take a 75 grand salary and put in 50 - 60 hours without a doubt. Could not do that if I was working the floor per say pending on the type of patients I was working with. 60 hours per week for many nursing positions is just too much, burn out is common. I know this is just one example.
I thought the average teacher salary was about 42000. I know there are crap teachers out there but there are a lot that give it there all and take the work home with em. I think worrying about teachers and what they make is least of my worries.
Think about this, would you want to be a teacher for 42 grand and the time off.? I could of but no way in hell would I want to do that. What is fair 30 grand per year? :mj07:
Well, let's think about this. Most teachers have a 180 day school year - days that they must be in school (teaching and conferences). So, they are working 180 days. They also get between 5-10 days off for personal time. Let's use 5 days. Most teachers get sick time, but that is tougher to quantify, as some abuse it, and some do not use it at all. So, a teacher works 175 days a year, out of 365 possible days. Which is 47.9% of the year.
A person in private industry normally works 5 days a week, for 49 weeks, assuming 3 weeks of vacation. They also get holidays - normally 7 additional days a year. So, a private full time employee works 238 days a year. Which is 65.2% of the year.
To put the salaries on an equivalent basis, to be fair, teacher salaries would need to be adjusted upwards by (65.2%/47.9%). So, the "average" salary (not including the expansive teacher benefits) results in the teacher making the private industry equivalent of $57,173. Plus better benefits than the private sector.
Yea, I don't think that is a bad deal at all for teachers. And keep in mind, most education students are not academic superstars in college - this is usually their best option, when they try to compete in the math, sciences, business arena. They (to their credit) figure out early on that they can't compete with the brightest students (normally that is clear in high school for them), they realize that they enjoy children, and that this is a great career for them to go into, with no competition from other employees once they have a job for 3 years (due to arcane union rules on hiring/firing).
It is an old adage, and doesn't apply to every teacher, but certainly many of them - "those who can't do, teach!"
In no way, shape, or form do we get the best and brightest in the teacher career (at least at the grade and high school levels). But that's ok, but I don't think the best and brightest are needed at those levels either.
Teaching is a great opportunity for students who do not have the drive, intelligence, and stamina to compete with the best and brightest students in college. It gives them a career with little peer to peer competition.
I've seen studies (maybe someone could find it?) of SAT score comparisons for education majors and those in the math and sciences. My recollection tells me there was a very marked difference.