Letter: Hours, duties of teachers often misunderstood

Friday, July 29, 2005 | 8:52 a.m.

I would like to beg to differ with Greg Lanstyak, whose letter on Sunday, "Teachers' benefits package is plenty," was a reply to your July 20 editorial headlined, "Better pay for teachers."

I am a teacher and, yes, our salary is a basic package with a total value to include health insurance and retirement. I'm sorry that we need health and retirement benefits, but for Mr. Lanstyak to write that we have "no experience" is ludicrous! In order to get a license in teaching, the law requires internships, several of them, just like any other high-end field career.

Once we get trained, licensed and hired, teachers will need to arrive one to two hours before students and leave two to three hours after students. Teachers put in nine to 10 hours a day just on site. Mr. Lanstyak added to his insults against teachers by saying we work just 39 weeks a year. It is all too well known that teachers work many more weeks than that. Among other duties, teachers have to plan and prepare lessons, try them out, purchase materials for these lessons with their own funds, spend time writing up assessments and rubrics and grading. All of this happens on their own time.

People such as Mr. Lanstyak need to shadow a teacher for a week or more in order to fully understand that the $39,353 all-inclusive salary package includes more off-work time than most professions. A salary of $39,353 is hardly too much to ask in return for raising your child, Mr. Lanstyak.

PATRICIA CHRISTENSEN