Roy, let's be honest then. I will not post how much I make a day because, frankly, it's none of your business, just as your salary is none of mine. I will tell you it isn't $300 a day.
My yearly contract is for 190 days. By signing it, you agree to work the hours you are told to work. They are not listed on the contract.
And since we are gonna be honest, let me say I teach a trade at the high school I teach. Automotive Service Technology, which is a CTAE(Career Technical Agriculture Education)class. CTAE teachers work on what's called extended day. This means I have four 1.5hr blocks(classes) each day. Academic teachers have 3 blocks a day with a 1.5hr planning period. My planning period comes after school from 3:05 till 4:30. We are given a little flexibility with this which allows me to come in 30 minutes early and stay an hour after students are gone for my planning period.
And since we are getting all this out, let me say I'm not your typical teacher. I didn't go to college(except the college of hard knocks) to become a teacher right out of high school. I went to work for a global company as a diesel mechanic where I worked on semi trucks for over 20 years. I've been in the real world and paid my dues.
In the state of Ga, the CTAE(formerly vocational)teachers are pulled from industry. This means that they actually hire someone who has legitimate experience in the field that is being taught. You can't exactly go to college and get a BS degree in Automotive, or Welding, or Construction, etc. So people are hired right out of the field they will be teaching. This requires no college degree. It does require you take about 30 hours of college credits which I had to quit the job I had to start taking during the summer before I started teaching. I went 3 months without a paycheck to do this. Things got tight!
To sholling
I don't really understand where you're trying to go with that post. If you read my previous posts, I haven't said the education system was without fault. I was pointing out that teachers don't have it as easy as many of you think.
Whatever you think about teachers and the failure of todays students, first look at what our society has turned into. There are so many broken/single parent homes where there is no male to put the law down, and mom is out working two jobs trying to make ends meet cause dad is a deadbeat or in prison. This leaves little Johnny in the care of someone else or at home by himself to learn the basics of life. How to act, respect elders, what's right and what's wrong, etc. Where does he learn this? Try what's on TV, watching videos on MTV, listening to that crap rap music. Couple this with the parents whose children do no wrong and do no disciplining, and it's no wonder they act the way they do.
I've been in to many parent/teacher conferences where the parent sides with the child. "My child does no wrong!" What a lesson is learned there. That tells a child that he/she can do what they want cause mom has my back. Wow!
Teachers are there to teach. They aren't parents to the students, they aren't friends, and they shouldn't be confidants but often they/we are. Students have come to me and told me stuff I don't need to know about.
Bottom line, before you think a teacher has it so easy, I urge you to try it sometime. This from someone who's worked in the real world and many, many times wishes he was back in it.