Letter to the Editor:
Apparently it is time for my annual response to the
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs and other so-called experts in the field of what is best for teachers. There seems to be two main points this year: merit pay and the number of days that teachers work.
It is true that Oklahoma teachers work 180 days per year. I will guarantee, though, that teachers work more minutes per day than any other profession. From the time the first bell rings until the last bell, teachers are working every single minute of the day.
Studies have shown that the average blue-collar worker actually spends only 5.4 hours of every day in productive work, and white-collar workers (the ones who keep writing letters about how little teachers work) spend an average of 4.3 hours daily being productive.
The most recent column states that teachers make 2 percent more per hour than the average professional wage, but we work almost 100 percent more in that hour.
Now let’s talk about merit pay. House Speaker Lance Cargill has proposed that the only raises teachers should receive in the future should be merit based.
What happened to the promise the Legislature made two years ago to raise teacher pay to the regional average?
Read more...Labels: OK Legislature
Posted at 8/14/2007 02:16:00 PM
