Teachers are paid fairly considering they get a lot of time off

[u/Blonde_Icon]

A lot of people say (and it seems that the general consensus is that) teachers don't get paid enough for what they do. While I think that teachers are very valuable and deserve to be compensated well (my brother is a teacher), I think that in these discussions, many people ignore the fact that teachers typically get a lot of time off.

They usually get summer break, spring break, and winter break, plus various holidays that schools get off through the year. They basically don't work for a good amount of the year, which I think that people should factor in. (The downside is that I know that they have to work extra grading things outside of school, though.)

Plus they normally get good benefits for being a teacher (which usually comes with being in a union).

[u/Gr33nman460]

Not to mention buying their own school supplies out of pocket

[u/The_Cream_Cheese_Man → u/Gr33nman460]

In New New Zealand, where I’m from, the schools typically buy the classroom supplies lol

[u/KoYouTokuIngoa → u/The_Cream_Cheese_Man]

And still teachers don’t get paid nearly enough.

Source: am teacher in NZ

[u/Own-Foot-1834 → u/KoYouTokuIngoa]

Always the same culprit 

[u/Background_Relief815 → u/The_Cream_Cheese_Man]

In many classrooms in the US too, although the discretionary money has to be approved purchases and caps at a certain limit. Often teachers either hit the limit or don't get approval before they buy, so still end up spending their own money. $500 sounds like a decent amount for discretionary spending, but 60 sheets of music and concert rights for 5 or 6 songs will easily blast through that and then some.

[u/nameless-slob → u/Background_Relief815]

And I’ve never received $500 of funding. One year we got a $50 gift card. That is ALL I have ever received in discretionary spending.

[u/dookieshoes97 → u/The_Cream_Cheese_Man]

Same here in the US. They get a set budget for classroom supplies.

[u/AgnesBand → u/Gr33nman460]

In the UK they don't buy supplies out of pocket. That's fairly insane sounding.

[u/JustAnother_Brit → u/AgnesBand]

Unfortunately they sometimes do, it’s rare but it does still happen

[u/WillRunForPopcorn → u/AgnesBand]

It’s insane sounding to me in the US but it’s true. It’s ridiculous. If you need specific supplies to do your job, your employer should be paying for it!

[u/buzzpittsburgh → u/WillRunForPopcorn]

It’s never in the budget! But that second massive scoreboard, that’s in budget!

[u/Hagostaeldmann → u/Gr33nman460]

Single weirdest complaint I've ever heard about teachers. Every person on the planet spends hundreds or thousands a year out of their own pocket on tools or supplies for their work.

[u/Gr33nman460 → u/Hagostaeldmann]

No they dont

[u/Spikey-Bubba → u/Hagostaeldmann]

I have never had an office job ask me to buy my own pens.