Jun 21 2006
Teachers Paid for Summer Work
Attracting and retaining qualified teachers continues to be a key struggle for most school districts across the country. At Riverside-Brookfield High School in Illinois, they seem to have a plan.
Riverside-Brookfield High School will pay nearly $60,000 to teachers this summer for non-classroom work. Teachers will be paid $30 per hour for work done in the summer to prepare for the next academic year starting in August. This pay is in addition to their contracted salary.
Teachers are typically paid on a 10 month contract. Many have the “misunderestimation” that teachers “get the summer off.” In fact, most teachers are only contracted to work for the calendar months/days when school is in session. So, for at least 2 months a year, teachers are not earning any money. Additionally, there is an expectation that the summer is to be used for improving skills, taking-down and/or setting-up classrooms, and preparing for the coming school year all, generally without compensation.
Some school districts in Houston provide as little as one work-day for teachers to set-up classrooms prior to the arrival of children. Trust me when I say, you do not want your child with a teacher who thinks one day is ample for classroom set-up. Most spend about a week getting ready; all on their “non-contract” time.
Not only does Riverside-Brookfield help teachers during the summer, they have an extremely competitive compensation plan.
The starting salary at RB for the 2006-07 year for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree with no experience will be $45,564 for a 10-month contract. The gross pay for a 20-year teacher with master’s degree plus 45 additional hours of graduate work is $104,573, according to a salary chart provided by the district. This does not include any additional stipends for coaching, club advising, chairing a department or summer work.
I’m planning on doing more research into the Riverside-Brookfield school system…
Read the complete article in the Riverside Brookfield Landmark.
