New study shows how terrible the attendance is for education professionals . Totally embarrassing , or should be to those that take the job seriously . Teachers absent from class way too much, study says Thats not counting all the holidays and weeks of snow days , and summers off and weekends off .

Wonder how many folks don't use their 'sick' days during the year and lose them? I'd guess not many as I look around the office. KEA and NEA do a great job negotiating those contracts.....

1 in 6 called " Chronically Absent"

Speaking as the husband of a long-time teacher, there are bad apples in every profession.

 

But not her. Rarely, rarely misses; probably less than once a year. And she's really looking forward to getting that 20% on the sick day dollar when she retires.

 

And last time I looked, there weren't many children in class for her to teach on snow days, holidays, weekends and summer vacation.

Article listed Louisville as having some of the best %'s and Columbus Oh as the worst .

an astonishing 44 % listed as frequently or chronically absent .

My wife's best friend is a first grade teacher in Oldham County. Great teacher. She caught strep from her students SIX times in the 2013/2014 school year. What's a teacher supposed to do when their doctor tells them that they're sick and contagious (from spending their days around sick and contagious kids)? Then just imagine what life would be like if she were in a lower income school district where kids aren't necessarily as exposed to good hygiene practices or as high quality of medical care as those in Oldham County?

 

Not saying there aren't bad eggs out there, but I think there's more than meets the eye here when you just look at number of days absent.

As a teacher, not only am I concerned about those that are chronically absent, I am also concerned when teachers are assigned to attend other events while school is in session. These events are usually in the form of training, observations and meetings.

 

For those that would like a snapshot into my attendance record as a teacher, read on.

 

I am not popular with administrators that want me to be out of the classroom for any reason. I fight it almost to the point of defiance. When school is in session, my job is to be in the classroom teaching my students. I only attended one conference while school was in session this year and that was the first one for me in 18 years of teaching.

 

My best friend's mother passed away this year and I had to take a whole day off, though I taught my 1st and 2nd period classes before I left and came back to teach my last two classes of the day. I was teaching for "free" those periods, but it was important for me that I be there for my students.

 

I had a hysterectomy last year and begged my doctor to arrange it to where it coincided with Christmas break...and to let me go back to school when the kids returned from break. She agreed and luckily I was recovered enough to do so.

 

I had to see various oncologists as a result of that surgery. I missed two half-days as a result, the remainder of the year. I taped online video lessons for my students while I was out (did that for the conference this year, too).

 

The year before that, my mother passed away and I took off two days.

 

Prior to that, I had not missed a day in 10 years.

 

Yes, there are bad apples in the bunch, like in any profession. On the other hand, there are many like me who make our students and their education a priority in our lives...and as a result, don't think very highly of the title of this article/thread.

Oh yeah, I forgot. Back in January, my wife did stay in my intensive care room for 4 days straight except for bathroom breaks and snacks. But I think they were all snow days at school.

It has to be draining to teach in some of these failing schools, tough enough in the ones performing. I imagine there are a lot of disillusioned teachers.

How do sick days work. If you don't take them do you lose them ? If that's the case I get the reasoning. If sick days compound then the workers are hurting themselves. In the private sector I never understand corporations who don't let sick days or vacations compound. You force those workers on the fence to take all their days in a given year.

How do sick days work. If you don't take them do you lose them ? If that's the case I get the reasoning. If sick days compound then the workers are hurting themselves. In the private sector I never understand corporations who don't let sick days or vacations compound. You force those workers on the fence to take all their days in a given year.

 

Not sure - may be different for different school districts. I BELIEVE that in my wife's case they accumulate; if unused the teachers are remunerated at 20 cents on the dollar upon retirement.

In the state of KY. sick days accumulate and whatever you have when you retire you can cash out at a rate the mcpapa stated in post 12. I am assuming that rate is correct as I have never asked what the rate is.

Speaking as the husband of a long-time teacher, there are bad apples in every profession.

 

But not her. Rarely, rarely misses; probably less than once a year. And she's really looking forward to getting that 20% on the sick day dollar when she retires.

 

And last time I looked, there weren't many children in class for her to teach on snow days, holidays, weekends and summer vacation.

 

Same here. My wife has probably missed 1 day in the last 5 years. What I will add as well is that many teachers put in a LOT of extra hours developing curriculum, training, preparing their classrooms and meeting. I question why a person would commit to a four year degree, then a masters, and in my wife's case national board certification to work the kind of thankless hours they work. BTW, she gets virtually no summer this year because of the snow days. The ones they have will be filled about 50% with trainings.

As a teacher, not only am I concerned about those that are chronically absent, I am also concerned when teachers are assigned to attend other events while school is in session. These events are usually in the form of training, observations and meetings.

 

For those that would like a snapshot into my attendance record as a teacher, read on.

 

I am not popular with administrators that want me to be out of the classroom for any reason. I fight it almost to the point of defiance. When school is in session, my job is to be in the classroom teaching my students. I only attended one conference while school was in session this year and that was the first one for me in 18 years of teaching.

 

My best friend's mother passed away this year and I had to take a whole day off, though I taught my 1st and 2nd period classes before I left and came back to teach my last two classes of the day. I was teaching for "free" those periods, but it was important for me that I be there for my students.

 

I had a hysterectomy last year and begged my doctor to arrange it to where it coincided with Christmas break...and to let me go back to school when the kids returned from break. She agreed and luckily I was recovered enough to do so.

 

I had to see various oncologists as a result of that surgery. I missed two half-days as a result, the remainder of the year. I taped online video lessons for my students while I was out (did that for the conference this year, too).

 

The year before that, my mother passed away and I took off two days.

 

Prior to that, I had not missed a day in 10 years.

 

Yes, there are bad apples in the bunch, like in any profession. On the other hand, there are many like me who make our students and their education a priority in our lives...and as a result, don't think very highly of the title of this article/thread.

 

You sound like the kind of teacher I would have loved. There were a few teachers that I genuinely looked forward to going to class. One of two of those teachers were for classes that were some of my harder ones in high school.