As I enter year thirty-two of teaching, I am excited to see my students. I am excited to see my colleagues. I have new ideas for what to teach and how to engage today’s screen-oriented children. I am also mad as a hornet, once again. Evidently I am expected to get in my classroom and have it ready to go - for free.
A strongly worded note from the boss insists that we spend days for which we are not paid to get our classroom ready. You see, we are required to pack anything away over the few weeks of summer break, because the floors must be polished. So we have to put back all the furniture, rearrange and re-assemble everything s well as update the decor and bulletin boards. Most teachers do this alone or in teams of friends. Music is fairly isolated, so it’s mostly alone for me, unless I ask for help.
I know that everyone has seen how many extra hours teachers work. It’s a fact that walks alongside a profession that is the scapegoat for society’s problems. My contract pays $$ a year for 186 days of work. (And by $$, I mean kind of enough. But that’s another story.) Of course, since I am flat out told to have that room ready by close of business on the day before the 186 days begin, I’ll work for free. Wouldn’t anybody? Grrrr.
