We're in a really good district, and the benefits are generous. I'm fine with that as long as it allows us to retain the vast majority of truly exceptional teachers we have. We also give our teachers PAID development time away from the classroom. Does it cover ALL the work they do? No. Teachers for the most part are really never NOT on the job. I know they're constantly thinking and planning for their students.
I'm the chair of our local school board, but I'm always reluctant to mention that because there seems to be this knee-jerk reaction that we're in the pocket of administration. Nothing could be farther from the truth (at least in my district). It's a very time-consuming, UNPAID position, and I have absolutely no incentive or reason to act in any way except in one that ultimately supports the kids. I'll be honest, my biggest frustration is with the teacher's unions. I absolutely think you need and should have representation, but you and I both know that there are teachers out there who should not be teaching (I have 4 kids in the public school system), or for whom the education of their students is the lowest rung on their priority ladder. And I think the unions are constantly telling the teachers how bad they have it, how disrespected they are, and how poorly they're compensated. I get it, the union isn't in a very strong position to negotiate if everybody is happy, but I think it can ultimately be counter-productive.
If you're teaching primarily for the money, you're going to be disappointed. If you put your job up against others with similar education, you're going to be disappointed.
I'm in a sort of similar position. I'm a primary care physician. We are constantly bombarded with outside rules, regulations, "quality measures", and benchmarks we're supposed to hit with our patients. Although I have no control of my patient's environment or motivations, I'm still held accountable for their health. I spend less and less time actually in the exam room every year, and more and more time with paperwork and accountability measures (I could elaborate if needed). The time and hassle I put into my job far far exceeds those of other medical specialties with an equal amount of training, and in family medicine I am absolutely at the bottom of the physician specialty pay scale. A radiologist with the same number of years of training, about 60% or less of the hours I put in, makes fully 3x more than I do.
I make a great living, and I'm not complaining (well I am, but contextually), but I do what I do because there are benefits to the job beyond the financial reimbursement. I make a difference in people's lives in a way that other specialties don't. And that being said, I think the impact of a person's family doctor is FAR less than the impact of a teacher on their life.
So anyway, I went off on a tangent there, but I guess I want teachers to absolutely work towards fair compensation, not be afraid of accountability (I know that opens up a can of worms about the accuracy of the measurements), and to understand that a big part of the benefits to being a teacher can be the intangibles and the down-the-road payoffs that they don't always appreciate.
OK, that's more than enough. Thanks for being a teacher, though. Seriously. I really don't think there's a more important job on the face of the earth.