delta1 wrote:My wife is also a retired grade school teacher...she earned every penny, and more...frequently buying supplies for her classroom, student projects, rewards, books. She even bought a laser jet printer and reams of copy paper so she could make copies at home, since there was only one machine for classroom use at her school and it was always in use, or broken. She brought a lot of work home. I'm sure that not all teachers are as dedicated as she was, but many are.
my wife, The Lovely Caren, retired 4 years ago to help raise our granddaughter after nearly 40 years as a Speech and Language Pathologist (speech terrorist I say).
She spent a fortune out of pocket every year on supplies (that deduction has been deleted...thanks Trump/DeVoss). She MADE books and materials for the families to continue and expand on her efforts at home, because gains are easily lost during vacations.
She met with families (that could not attend PTO meetings) in the evening, on weekends, or before school started in the morning...on her "free" time.
She took many classes over the years beyond her Masters/Plus/Plus/Plus Degree to be able to provide the very finest services possible.
She earned certification so she could screen preschoolers in the Summers before they entered the system, flagging kids who would require Special Ed and stuff in hopes they could mainstream into conventional classrooms sooner, if at all.
One of our daughters is an English teacher at the local high school. She has been heavily recruited each Summer by much wealthier and nationally recognized school systems nearby. But she feels anyone can teach in upper class towns but "our kids need me", says my daughter. She got her Masters in Education specializing in "troubled" school systems.
When our daughter still lived with us, it was not uncommon for me to walk into the kitchen late in the evening to wake them both up from their lesson plannings so they could go to bed.
Neither was/is ever paid nearly enough.