What if the days and weeks were different?
I have been contemplating some pretty heavy stuff lately… like, is the agrarian calendar the right calendar for us to still use as the base for the school calendar? I’m not sold.
I know there are lots of ideas about ways for the school year to change. Many teachers that I speak with would quickly stand in protest of their “low” wages and, in the same breath, turn down a 33% pay increase for working full-year. That’s right. I’m saying that teachers are currently making, on average, $36K in Oklahoma. That is for 9 months of the year, or 3/4 of it. That means that if the teacher worked the other 1/4 of the year, they would make an extra 3 month salary, or 1/3 of what they are currently making. I’m pretty sure teachers would have a harder time arguing for higher pay if they were making $48K.
Sure, people want to know that they can make a good amount of money in their career. So often teachers are compared to lawyers and doctors. Although I would never argue against teachers being as important, I would argue that the predicate of that logical argument, “then they should be paid the same,” is not valid. Yes, teachers are preparing the minds of the future, but the fact is that they will never be paid the same when the requirements to be a teacher only consist of a Bachelor’s degree and a few exams. This disconnect cannot be overlooked when making this argument.
Welp. I would love to hear what you think about the calendar. See you soon!
