LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Teacher Neither

Overworked Nor Underpaid

Re: "Fighting Words" by Jim Gries, Weeki Wachee, in the Dec. 2 edition of Hernando Today.

Mr. Gries, I applaud the support and loyalty you have for your career school teacher wife, but I am afraid your emotions clouded your ability to take an honest assessment of Don Plezia's comments of Nov. 27 about the teaching profession. You are correct that Mr. Plezia did tread "sacred waters" when he attempted to present a viewpoint that is rarely voiced because of the generally held belief that teachers are overworked, underpaid and not appreciated.

Mr. Gries, you cited a typical work day for your wife as starting before 8 a.m. and ending around 3:45 p.m. For the majority of working professionals, what an easy day that would seem! Please consider what professionals in other fields encounter:

• A typical work week is 50 to 60 hours with no overtime pay. Professional status means you earn a salary that essentially requires you to be accessible 24/7. This they do for 12 months a year, no summers off, no extended Christmas or spring vacations.

• Teachers earn and accumulate sick days, and it was recently revealed they are able to "cash in" unused days at retirement. Professionals in other occupations are certainly paid when they miss work for illness, but sick days are only taken when absolutely necessary because there is no "substitute" to do their job if they are not at work. They do not "earn" sick days, so there are none to accumulate or to be "cashed in" at a later time.

• As for the "planning" time your wife requires each night, why does she not use the paid planning days that all teachers get as part of their contracts? Professionals in other fields do their "planning" on planes, at lunch, after dinner and on the weekends.

• I readily admit teachers do important work. But the scope of their responsibilities is far narrower than that required for other professions. They do not hire, fire or manage employees. They do not manage budgets. They are not responsible for generating revenue. They do not have to make presentations to boards of directors. They do not have to travel on planes and sleep in hotels to do their work.

I invite anyone to compare the salaries of teachers to those of other professions and you will find, as I have, that on an hourly basis, teacher pay is equal to or exceeds that of accountants, engineers and business managers. Add to that the fact that their jobs are far more secure than those of other working professionals and that they enjoy guaranteed retirement pensions, and you will conclude that teachers are neither overworked nor underpaid.

And let us not forget that teachers choose to spend four or more years of college to become teachers, knowing exactly what the pay scale and job requirements entail. Not bad considering that public schools fail to deliver what I consider to be their primary objective - well-educated students who are prepared to either enter the workforce or to further their education in college.

Ask anyone who routinely interviews and hires high school graduates, and I suspect they will tell you that they are lacking in basic writing and computation skills - this after 12 years of education!

Cindy Knarr

Brooksville

Help Available

Why is Heather Hasenstaub panhandling for food? As far as I know, there is SSI welfare, SSI disability, aid to dependent children and food stamps. There may be shelters for sleeping.

Why hasn't Heather Hasenstaub and her family gotten food stamps or other assistance? If she isn't aware of the assistance provided by our great country, can you let her know?

Joan Lynch

Spring Hill