Letter to the editor:

Teachers’ prep time is not a luxury item

Virgil A. Sestini, Las Vegas

Thu, Nov 20, 2008 (2:02 a.m.)

Among the suggestions from parents on ways to reduce Clark County School District budget costs was that teacher preparation periods be eliminated. Parents should be very careful of what they wish for. Eliminating prep periods may not be the most prudent move for quality education.

Many parents expect teachers to answer e-mail and phone calls post haste. This would no longer be possible during the normal school day. Do parents really expect teachers to use their own time to plan and prepare lesson plans, grade papers and take hours of time to answer their e-mail or phone call complaints or questions when their child fails a test that they did not study for?

Many parents attend parent conferences during normal school hours. How many will be upset when they must attend such meetings before or after school only?

Do parents really expect teachers to be so enslaved that they would willingly spend all waking hours to continue to do all that they normally do with an additional class of 35-plus students and related work requirements?

Eliminating prep periods will be a disaster for all teachers but especially for courses in the sciences and technology. Do parents really expect a teacher to spend 1-2 hours of their own time in setting up and cleaning labs? This could be the death knell for effective science and technology instruction in the school district.

How will the prospect of teaching six classes of 35-40 students without a prep period influence the hiring environment of this district?

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

By KDR81

11/20/08 at 8:37 a.m.

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In my job, I get 2 weeks paid vacation, 6 sick days, and federal holidays.

My work hours are 8 am until the job is done.

No prep time.

Why should certain people be exempt from the rules everyone else follows? Especially people who are working on my dime?
By redferret

11/20/08 at 9:49 a.m.

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Classic. Blame the teachers. Let's just keep taking from them and blaming them and expecting more, and let's see how many teachers we have after that. Thanks buddy, just make it less attractive to be a teacher.
By Teaser

11/20/08 at 2:44 p.m.

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KDR81: I am not on a 12-month contract, so technically, I don't "get summers off" and such. My work hours are 6 a.m. until the job is done. And for what, exactly, do you require prep time? Who says we are exempt from the rules everyone else follows? What, specifically, are those rules? And I, too, pay taxes. There are other people "on my dime" as well. Including teachers and those who, like you, plan to collect social security, medicare, and so on.
By jfnance32

11/20/08 at 3:26 p.m.

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Nevada teacher goes to college and gets a masters

Starts teaching at age 25:

That teacher:

1. Can retire with over 65% of their salary at age 55
2. Will get private health insurance that is heavily subisidized by the state in retirement.
3. Will get to cash in all their unused sick days over their entire career

I believe there are very few private employees that will even dare get something close to that.

We will to wait until age 67 to retire and we will get a tiny salary from the government and have to use medicaid and medicare for healthcare.

Most teachers only work 9-10 months a year for an average salary of around $45K per year.

It usually takes an act of God to get a teacher fired.

Nevada teachers should stop complaining about earnings. They have a platnium benefit package that hardly anybody in the private sector ever gets.

Nevada is ranked 25th in teacher salaries.
By starrynite7

11/20/08 at 6:07 p.m.

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While I agree with your assessment of what we "technically" earn, you have forgotten how much money all teachers take out of their pockets to add to the classroom. Students do not bring supplies to class anymore and we give them paper and pencils so they don't sit and stare into space for 50 minutes. We also give students binders and dividers and spiral notebooks that WE pay for so they can be prepared for success. Secondly, we supply the arts and crafts portions of our teaching and the many, many other things that we go out and buy for our classes including toys and pencils to reward good behavior. We earn and use every single measly penny they pay us. Classroom conditions are stressful and wear down even veteran teachers. We deal with ELL students who don't fully comprehend the language and Special Ed students that need special, individual help each day. And during all that we are suppose to provide a lesson plan that is engaging and fun, while trying to keep 35-40 students on-task in over crowded classrooms where the desks are on top of each other. Give me a break, we earn that money and we go to school for many, many hours to receive our degrees. Many of have a Masters and beyond. The people you are comparing us to are not as educated as we and we deserve more money. Summers are needed just to decompress from the year of needy students whose parents work night shifts and barely know who they are let alone help them with homework. Most of the children are raising their brothers and sisters and have no time to complete homework. The students come to school hungry and dirty from lack of basic care and who do you think fills this void for over 160 students a day? Every day Monday through Friday? WE DO! They needs us to raise them because no one else is at home. We go home tired and worn out and yet, we wake up each day hopeful that we will reach students that might otherwise give up. We will not stop complaining until we are PAID and treated like the professionals we are and next time compare us with people who are as educated and care as much as we do!
By minnie

11/20/08 at 6:11 p.m.

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As a seasoned master teacher of almost 30 years I would invite you to spend a week in my at-risk elementary classroom. Take special note of the early hours I arrive at school and the book bag of papers and planning I take home each night or day off on my "free time." My job has no end. As a dedicated educator and there's lots of us, I will never be able to do enough for my students. I'm not producing a product or service. I'm handling our most precious resource-children. (By the way we don't get to cash in all our unused sick leave.)
By starrynite7

11/21/08 at 5:58 a.m.

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KDR: You have been speaking total gibberish on the teacher related blogs. If you take note you have the most posts out of everyone and yet you have nothing intelligent to contribute to the conversation. Just because you were a substitute teacher does NOT in any fashion mean you have a real idea what a real teacher does ALL YEAR, everyday in the classroom. Substitute teachers have no real accountability in the classroom, they are not there everyday for the whole year. You have no idea what you are talking about and I would encourage you to get a "real life" instead of blogging total garbage on the subject you know nothing about. Go back and get your teachers certificate and teach (for real) in the classroom for four years and then, you can come back here and bash on teachers..allll dayyyy long. As far as your comment about working on your dime..that would be about right..teachers are paid about a dime and expected to raise families with substandard pay. Remember, we have education and many, many trainings under our belts. I wonder how many trainings you attend for your little job? Our days are very, very long and we work ALL weekend on our lesson plans. Many teachers spend extra hours in the classroom. I wonder how many UNPAID overtime hours you spend at your job? And as Minnie said, we do not get to cash in our unused sick leave. Please try and get your facts straight before you leave allllll your many posts on a subject you obviously know very little about except to rant and rave mindlessly the day away.
By cmon

11/21/08 at 6:18 p.m.

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Once again, Nance is talking out of his behind...and again he contradicts himself:

1. Can retire with over 65% of their salary at age 55
Actually, our retirement withholding by the state is in lieu of higher pay. Most other states' districts contribute 10-12% towards retirement, while the teachers contribute enough to bring the total to about the same as Nevada. Obviously, Nancy boy has no understanding of the idea of negotiated contracts and how they apply to the current crisis.

I truly love how people who have absolutely NO idea how schools and education must be carried out, are the first who whine about overpaid teachers. In districts where teacher pay is comparatively low (like ours, and I call Bull****on Nancy's 25th ranking) student scores are stagnant, while in districts that pay teachers well have higher scores, and better teacher/student relationships, due to teachers being able to actually lay down roots and make a living-I remember seeing all my high school teachers still teaching back in Illinois after 30 or more years, because not only are they vested in the education of the children and, in some cases, grandchildren of former students.

Nance, spend a week teaching in a public school, under the rules and constrictions given them, and perhaps you might begin to understand exactly what goes on, dealing within a system that you probably advocated for. See how the "no child left behind leaves children behind, because they left the money behind. I bet you are such an advocate for pay for student scores (Google Steinmetz and test fraud). And try to keep your vitriol for something that truly deserves it-like Indicted Vice Presidents, and the like.