Want a career that gives you plenty of time off for exotic travel, but lack
the skill to turn out lump-free Hollandaise? Then teaching might be the job for
you.

Yahoo! published a list of ''Top 5 'Extra Time Off' Careers,'' and coming in at #2, behind the seasonal work of a "Resort Chef," was "K-12 Teacher." According to Yahoo!:

Many teachers use the summer to catch up with family, enjoy long vacations,
and complete additional online education courses. Even with three months off,
many K-12 teachers earn over $41,000 per year. Changes in recruitment policies now mean that you can start a teaching job in many places before completing a degree in education.

Sounds like a sweet ride, but anyone who's worked as a teacher can tell you, there's enough sugar-coating in this article to rot every tooth in your head. First off, "summers off" is a myth. Teachers work after the summer dismissal bell rings and return before the school year starts -- sometimes as early as July. That "online education course" Yahoo! mentions is most likely not online and is required to renew certification, meaning you spend your break from school...in school. And with an average starting salary of $32,488, summertime is second-job-to-make-ends-meet time for many teachers.

Many teachers do enjoy their well-deserved summer breaks, but what Yahoo!
doesn't mention is that the break comes after nine months of 10- to 12-hour
days and weekends filled with grading papers, planning lessons, and
attending school functions. Summer is also time to cram in all the medical
appointments, home repairs, and errands that other professionals, whose
schedules aren't dictated by the school calendar, can take time off for
throughout the year.

In fact, Yahoo!'s promise of "flexible time off" is just plain wrong. Friends planning a mid-winter ski vacation? They'll have to go without you, because as a teacher you don't have the flexibility to take time off at your choosing.

Yahoo! also claims that "New state and federal mandates require job
applicants to complete at least a few online education courses before beginning
their teaching careers." Sounds so easy! While that might get you
hired, you can't keep a public school teaching job with that kind of
preparation. The No Child Left Behind law's "highly qualified" teacher
provision sets strict certification and education requirements.

Yahoo! did get one thing right -- it says the "extra time off" careers require "money management skills" -- which you'll need if you enter teaching, where the starting salary is much lower than professions requiring similar preparation.

But the whole article begs the question, Do we really want people going into teaching primarily because they're looking for a lot of time off? Three-quarters of the respondents in NEA's Status of the American Public School Teacher (PDF) cited "a desire to work with young people" as their top reason for becoming a teacher, and really, isn't that who we want teaching our kids?

Every child deserves a highly qualified, caring teacher, not someone who is
biding their time between trips to the beach.

--Bonnie Gardner

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