While reading the newspaper, I came across what was very startling.  As the titles suggest, Hawaii public school teachers are working nearly twice the normal working hours, for a total of 15.5 hours a day (source: Honolulu Advertiser).  I understand that some jobs require their employees to work a few more hours than the standard 8, but almost twice that?  You have to be kidding, ESPECIALLY with how we are paying our public school teachers.

A typical school day isn’t more than 8 hours, so where does the additional 7.5 hours go to?  According to committee members from the teacher’s union and state Department of Education (DOE) members, increased demands from the DOE and the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which are mostly administrative duties, contribute to the extra 7.5 hours a day.  I understand there are administrative duties that need to be carried out, but what happens to the children?  Teachers are given less time to help the children when that is really the most important thing.  By throwing them extra administrative duties, they are taking time away from teacher-student interaction, which I feel is pivotal to a child’s education.

To make matters worse, the teachers aren’t even getting compensated for this extra mandatory work.  According to the committee members who conducted this study of two years, if the teachers were paid the extra hours, they would be earning an extra $63,000a year on top of their salary.  And with starting pay for teachers right out of college starting at $40,000, which I think is quite low to invest for the teachers of our children (or future children in my case), they are being severly underpaid for the work they are doing.

I’ve always believed that teachers should be paid well because they are the ones who will have a direct influence for our children’s future.  Our children are the ones who are spending most of their days learning from these teachers.  Underpaying them isn’t fair.  To give them mandatory administrative duties and meetings without compensating them for the extra work isn’t fair.  To give them less time with their students is couterproductive and unfair to the students.

Give the teachers more credit.  Pay them for what they’re worth and let them do their job, which is to teach and shape the children of the future…not administrative duties.

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