IN FOCUS: Teachers’ pay

• Teachers not paid for extra hours they put in

I take issue with J.H. Green’s May 6 letter, “Teachers appear to make enough money.”

Having been a teacher before I had children, and being married to a schoolteacher now, I know firsthand that teachers do not make enough as professionals. I know of no other professionals who get paid less per hour.

Obviously the writer is looking at the nine-month schedule and not taking into account that many teachers have car duty, bus duty, hall duty, lunch duty, recess duty, after-school duty, morning duty, meetings, school activities to oversee, field trips to plan, athletic events to work, etc., leaving no time for a lunch break, coffee break or even a restroom break!

An entire day can go by when a teacher has not had one minute away from students. This is especially true in elementary school.

Every week, my husband puts in countless hours grading papers, helping students before school, after school, etc.

Many teachers work 12-plus-hour days, never seeing monetary benefits for the overtime. Most jobs offer paid overtime.

Teachers who decide to coach to help supplement their incomes learn quickly that they are working for meager dimes per hour.

Take a look around. Most are teaching and coaching because they genuinely care for the children, not because they are being compensated for their days at work. Receiving respect and support from all community members would be nice.

Just for the record: We are not living in a “$600,000 house,” and, yes, I know my husband is worth more than what he is getting paid.

BECKY BOLAND

Pomaria

• Salary seems fair for nine months’ work

This is in response to Rod Dalton’s letter Wednesday that claimed J.H. Green said teachers were overpaid. The letter writer never said that, and as far as I’m concerned, the letter in Tuesday’s paper made perfectly good sense.

That is good pay for nine months of work.

TOM RUFF

Columbia

• Teachers more than earn their paychecks

J.H. Green talks about teachers in Beaufort making $47,000 (average) a year.

What about the teachers in Dillon, Marlboro, Chester and those other forgotten counties in our state? Do they make this much? Do they make half?

The writer says teachers work only nine months and get paid for 12. They should get paid for a lot more considering what they deal with. Kids are horrible these days. I know! I graduated in 2000, and they have only gotten worse.

Without a teacher, people would not be able to read, write, add and function. Get a grip!

GLYNNA REEVE

Cayce

• Walk a mile in teacher’s shoes before criticizing

I believe the writer needs to follow a teacher around for a week, or even a day; then he would change his tune. Once again, it goes to prove that teaching is one of the most thankless professions in the world.

We are not in the profession to become rich, but some teachers do have trouble making ends meet. The $47,000 average salary that the writer quoted is just that. It is an average. Many of us have been teaching many years, but we still don’t make that amount of money. When the average worker goes to work at 9 a.m., most teachers have already been at work for more than two hours. If, on occasion, we get to leave by 3 p.m., we have worked our eight-hour day. Most teachers, though, stay late into the afternoon and evening.

Our workday is straight through. We hardly come up for air. We don’t have long lunches outside of the building. We usually eat with our classes in a much shorter period of time.

We spend our planning periods planning. We don’t kick back for a coffee break.

Our jobs don’t end when the children leave. There is an unbelievable amount of paperwork. We also have many meetings to attend.

We have better vacations than most, but many of us spend summers taking classes to advance our education or keep up our certifications. We aren’t sipping a cool drink, while sitting on a sandy beach.

So, until you can walk a mile in the shoes of another person, don’t criticize. You know what they say about the grass being greener somewhere else. We love our jobs, though!

Can the writer say that?

LYNN HUGHES

Lexington