LOVE TO TRAVEL....BUT NOT WITH TEACHERS

Haha! Don't worry about the typo. I figured it out. And thank you for your response. I do get incensed when the old "teachers get summer VACATION" shows up in the atmosphere as just about every teaching situation I've ever encountered (my father was a teacher before me) consisted of summer UNemployment. I have suffered with so little on my own the past few summers that it has been a point of stress in my life that often affects my health. I have to be frugal in August because I do with less. Yet this is the only time I can enjoy some free time to rejuvenate. Oh, the irony.

I have always been interested in advocating for the profession. The problem I face is...well...I just don't have the time outside of my regular schedule to get too involved. I am a union rep for one of my buildings, a job that is time-consuming for someone in two schools and teaching 5 grade levels. I take all issues affecting schools very seriously, but I do not have a lot of time to work on advocacy for huge change.

I do support those with the talent and the wherewithal to affect change. And I certainly do applaud you for your efforts. There are many in the private sector who would begrudge us of everything we fight for citing that they do without, so we should as well. They do not do without the salaries that make the average teacher salivate. They do not do without the perks that would make us wonder why we do our jobs some days. But we do these jobs because we love them, and we are the people who feel we can make a difference "in the trenches."

I would be interested in learning how many other school districts pay teachers for summers when they are not working. I'm sure you can get your hands on the research given your field of study. I'll PM you with thanks in advance.

I'm 70 and love to travel. A very high percent of my matches by EH are teachers. All say they want to travel, however, they also say they love their job, the kid interaction, and where they are employed. Most are still of working age. Teachers work many hours, have few days in a row off, and they usually state that they have read great books on travel, but have never traveled extensively. However......they want to travel.


I finally had to tell EH to quit matching me with teachers. I suppose, if the matched teacher was already retired, it might work. I have never seen a group of people who, state they love to travel and want to travel, but their job always interferes with them doing so. For me, I've found teachers extremely time limited, and a waist of my time.


Any comments on similar problems with teachers???

I'm 70 and love to travel. A very high percent of my matches by EH are teachers. All say they want to travel, however, they also say they love their job, the kid interaction, and where they are employed. Most are still of working age. Teachers work many hours, have few days in a row off, and they usually state that they have read great books on travel, but have never traveled extensively. However......they want to travel.


I finally had to tell EH to quit matching me with teachers. I suppose, if the matched teacher was already retired, it might work. I have never seen a group of people who, state they love to travel and want to travel, but their job always interferes with them doing so. For me, I've found teachers extremely time limited, and a waist of my time.


Any comments on similar problems with teachers???

Forgive me, but what teachers get paid summer time off? I certainly don't. My contract is from September 1 to the following June 30. That's it. No more paychecks between those dates. Dear lord, please don't start THAT rumor that teachers get paid summer vacations. Too many people already believe it's true, and so they say we have cushy jobs. Cushy jobs, my butt.


I work in the summers, so I can pay my bills. I simply do not make enough throughout the year to save my money and live off of it in the summers. You have a sweet deal if you're getting paid for work you're not doing. Perhaps your paychecks are spread out over 12 months, and you just take home less throughout the year. Still, this would not work for me since my COL is sky-high here in NJ.


Also, what teachers only work 37 hours a week? I am quite curious to know what subject you teach since you are home at 3:30 every day. We are CONTRACTED to work those minimal hours, but any teacher worth his or her salt is doing some sort of overtime, whether its taking work home or putting in time before or after the contracted day at work.


We get a 35 minute lunch--not a lunch hour like most people get. We do not get 15 minute coffee breaks. We do not get time to run errands or work out at lunch. So if we are contracted to finish our days sooner than our counterparts, surely those things need to be taken into consideration.


The prep time we are given is a complete joke--can't get everything done during that time especially now with all the additional paperwork and safety policies they put on our backs. I don't know about you, but I am inundated with meetings and committee work that we are contracted to do as long as it's "reasonable." Also, we are expected to do 100 hours of unpaid professional development on our own time. No other profession I know of expects a person to self-train and not get paid for it. And no, this professional development doesn't count toward a pay raise. It's a state requirement, too.


I find the "paid" vacations (i.e. forced holidays during the school year) a scheduling nuisance. We cannot take days off before or after holidays, so how can one do any significant traveling during the school year? And the summer months are very expensive for traveling to choice spots. I agree with the OP that teachers have little opportunities for travel. If there is time, there is no money. I'm sick of traveling on breaks when everything is expensive--and then realizing that I should be home resting from my work. I always get sick on holidays because that is the time I actually slow down and get rest. Stuff catches up with me then.