Fellow teachers, what would you say if I told you, you do not need to have a bachelors degree, teaching credential, professional development hours, or even a MASTERS degree to have a career where you get to bring genuine joy and vast learning into the life of a child and make some great money doing it (though it is generally known, most teachers do not teach for the money)?
And, what if I told you that all of your living expenses would be taken care of, and that you would not have to deal with the complexities which can come when 20 to 30 plus sets of parents are expecting daily miracles from you, administration creates evermore unrealistic demands, and your classroom populations continue to rise, while resources and extra help continue to decline?
There would not be vast amounts of ever growing paperwork, mind narrowing "test-score lay downs", report cards, hours and hours of conferences, or mandates on HOW to teach.
Yes, you would work weekends.
You do that anyway.
Yes, you would work year-round.
You do that anyway.
Yes, you would buy some of your own supplies.
You do that anyway.
And yes, there would be some defiance and rascally behavior from the children in your charge, but you would be working in direct conjunction with their parents on a daily basis to surmount this, and you could hug the child(ren) [gasp!], speak to them with loving words, laden with religious overtones and spiritual connotation (with respect to the parents beliefs, of course), and sit them upon your lap [gasp!] to give them genuine maternal-like love and affection [gasp!] to calm them down and help them understand your reasons for wanting them to behave better.
If you worked overtime, you would be COMPENSATED for this.
You would still be required to enrich the child(ren), hour to hour, minute to minute, but there would be no bubble-in tests at the end of the year, and if the children did not perform well in school, you, alone, would not be held in contempt.
Recently, there was an online ad wherein a New York City family was seeking a full-time nanny. Here were some of the highlights:
*Ten years experience required
* $50-$100 an hour ( 10 to 12 hours a day, some 23 hour a days required)
* 6 days a week
* Live-in (no personal expenses, except cell-phone)
* All taxes will be paid for by the family
* 3 weeks a year paid vacation
* 4 weeks a year traveling with the family
* More benefits to be discussed with eligible applicants
* No house cleaning ( full-time housekeeper is currently employed)
* One 8 month old child
One 8 month old child.
Let's be clear. If the money required for taxes are essentially replaced by the family, through their offer to pay them, the nanny would get every hourly cent of her/his hourly pay, on the LOW end this nanny will make $500 a day, $3000 a week, $12,000 a month. That works out to about $120,000 a year.
On the HIGH end this nanny will make $1,200 a day, $7,200 a week, $28,800. That works out to about $345,000 annually.
Go and ask your lawyer and doctor friends, laden with loans, how much they make. Ask them what their college loans are.
No doubt, nannies who applied to this position might have had a college degree.
In addition, this nanny will perhaps deal with a LOT of after-hour time with the child, will have little or no family or personal time, and may be treated with disdain and disrespect.
But...there will be AMPLE compensation for this sacrifice and time demand.
Teachers do not make anywhere NEAR $120,000 to a quarter of a million dollar a year (no matter what is said on the airwaves), and they are often treated with disdain and disrespect...at times, by more than ONE or TWO people in their professional sphere.
One consideration when comparing nanny compensation with teacher compensation is that districts give teachers annual salaries. A teacher's working hours are outlined in their contract.
There is an unheard chuckle amongst administrative minions as districts negotiate contracts. Districts KNOW teachers will work outside these hours. Teachers are the type of individuals who do that sort of thing, and currently, there are just too many administrative demands to be able to fit all the necessary teacher-tasks into a regular work day.
Districts have no need to compensate teachers for this overtime, since teachers are not hourly employees. They are salaried (Ooh-la-la!)
Contracts save districts hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for the hours teachers work, after-hours, on weekends, during the summer, and holidays, all without compensation. It's a win-win for the districts.
These days, the practice of working-beyond-contract-hours is most helpful to educators who have no life outside of school. Working overtime (and getting administration to notice) is well compensated with bouts of favoritism and kindness dished out towards those employees, while those teachers who work just as hard, in less amount of time are NOT secretly looked down upon.
District administration TALKS about teachers having a life outside of their classroom, but their attitudes towards those who do show otherwise.
In conclusion, a hearty CONGRATULATIONSt to the family who KNOWS what a great caring educated adult is WORTH, to them and their child's life, and a hefty high-five to the NANNIES who know their OWN worth and do not take a cent less than their inner voice demands.
