09-10-2006, 05:32 PM
OK, gotta put my 2 cents in here. Teaching is the only profession I know of where you lose money when you move with experience (12 years lost in my case, I got credit for 2 years). Pay varies greatly in states with local control and, in CO at least, had little bearing on the cost of living. My sister-in-law in affluent Douglas County district made over 20G more than me living in a more expensive rural ski town. Our test scores though were almost as high as theirs. <Hee Hee>
The set-up here with the state all one district is the worst red-tape situation I've ever seen. I have lost track of all the various paperwork and which sub-agency should get it- I'm just thrilled I actually got a paycheck!
Ditto with the comment about teachers being treated unprofessionally. Don't let the "highly qualified" label fool you. I'm NOT considered highly qualified here because my original certification and teacher ed program years ago was in Elementary. Never mind the fact that I have taught middle school for 14 years and have met federal and my previous state's definition of highly qualified in math, science, and technology. To get my Hawaii state license I will have to get licensed first as an elementary teacher then go back and pick up all the additional endorsements... supposedly I have four years to do this but in the meantime I am unable to build any tenure or job security no matter how good a job I do.
The $3000 bonus has so many strings attached, I don't know anyone who has actually got it. I was also recruited, guarenteed a position w/in commuting distance of HPP, but waited months to hear anything. To be proactive I ended up emailing and faxing all the local principals a cover letter and resume. That's how I got my position finally.
All in all, the job itself is fine, the schedule very workable and most of the kids want to learn, though many are very behind. Of course, any progress we make this year won't be judged on whether the individual child has moved forward but will be based on the one-size-fits-all testing from the Hawaii Standards and Benchmarks that are normed even higher than Colorado's- and I can vouch for the fact that many adults would have a difficult time scoring proficient on Colorado's 8th grade math test. Gov. Owens took the tests a few years ago but wouldn't let the results be made public.
Of course, teaching math is only part of my job. I also got thrown a high school Careers class (for which I freely admit to "lowly qualified" status), am supposed to discipline by "building a relationship" with the hard-to-teach kids, contact parents by writing notes in all the kids' planners, phone call on every referral, attend all the staffings for my students, collect data and write a reflection journal on the dozen constructed response problem solving assignments that all the math students have to take this year in addition to the quarterly state testing- and, oh yeah, the regular math curriculum that I have to get through (all 8 books) by year's end.
I love teaching and I'm not complaining but rather trying to point out that the situation is pretty complex and without strong homes and parent/administration/community support, a teacher can only do so much, even the good ones. Too many kids have bigger problems to worry about than whether or not they are doing well in school. Every teacher learns which parents to never call because the child will get hit... OK, this was more like 10 cents worth!!! Sorry! Linda
The set-up here with the state all one district is the worst red-tape situation I've ever seen. I have lost track of all the various paperwork and which sub-agency should get it- I'm just thrilled I actually got a paycheck!
Ditto with the comment about teachers being treated unprofessionally. Don't let the "highly qualified" label fool you. I'm NOT considered highly qualified here because my original certification and teacher ed program years ago was in Elementary. Never mind the fact that I have taught middle school for 14 years and have met federal and my previous state's definition of highly qualified in math, science, and technology. To get my Hawaii state license I will have to get licensed first as an elementary teacher then go back and pick up all the additional endorsements... supposedly I have four years to do this but in the meantime I am unable to build any tenure or job security no matter how good a job I do.
The $3000 bonus has so many strings attached, I don't know anyone who has actually got it. I was also recruited, guarenteed a position w/in commuting distance of HPP, but waited months to hear anything. To be proactive I ended up emailing and faxing all the local principals a cover letter and resume. That's how I got my position finally.
All in all, the job itself is fine, the schedule very workable and most of the kids want to learn, though many are very behind. Of course, any progress we make this year won't be judged on whether the individual child has moved forward but will be based on the one-size-fits-all testing from the Hawaii Standards and Benchmarks that are normed even higher than Colorado's- and I can vouch for the fact that many adults would have a difficult time scoring proficient on Colorado's 8th grade math test. Gov. Owens took the tests a few years ago but wouldn't let the results be made public.
Of course, teaching math is only part of my job. I also got thrown a high school Careers class (for which I freely admit to "lowly qualified" status), am supposed to discipline by "building a relationship" with the hard-to-teach kids, contact parents by writing notes in all the kids' planners, phone call on every referral, attend all the staffings for my students, collect data and write a reflection journal on the dozen constructed response problem solving assignments that all the math students have to take this year in addition to the quarterly state testing- and, oh yeah, the regular math curriculum that I have to get through (all 8 books) by year's end.
I love teaching and I'm not complaining but rather trying to point out that the situation is pretty complex and without strong homes and parent/administration/community support, a teacher can only do so much, even the good ones. Too many kids have bigger problems to worry about than whether or not they are doing well in school. Every teacher learns which parents to never call because the child will get hit... OK, this was more like 10 cents worth!!! Sorry! Linda