I don't think we can have it both ways, i.e., arguing that teachers are wrong for taking off but it's okay for students to do so.

For the record, I am not talking about pre-arranged trips that have educational value.

 

I don't either, but that doesn't fit the agenda of many.

Where is the study that shows how underpaid and unappreciated they are?

I don't either, but that doesn't fit the agenda of many.

 

What agenda? Please explain.

For the record, I think it's perfectly fine for teachers to take off within the contraints of their contract. Hypersensitivity abounds.

I work in corporate america, and it's a use it or lose it type of structure with sick days. I rarely ever use more than 1 or 2 at most. But it is a bit irritating that I lost 5 sick days if I don't use them. They should roll over. What motivation do I have to NOT use them? (Aside from my work ethic and guilt if I fake sick ha).

 

If my sick days rolled over and I could cash out at the end, I'd be thrilled.

 

I do think it's unfair to say "teachers abuse system." There are bad apples everywhere. I know so many teachers who put their heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears into it and they're so underpaid it's sickening.

It's an issue for all organizations everywhere. There will always be people who abuse the system, and yes, taking sick time when you're not sick is an abuse of the benefit. There also will be others who simply don't take off sick and schedule their lives around their work. It's been my personal experience that the younger you are, the more likely you are to use the sick time more as a paid time off benefit.

It's an issue for all organizations everywhere. There will always be people who abuse the system, and yes, taking sick time when you're not sick is an abuse of the benefit. There also will be others who simply don't take off sick and schedule their lives around their work. It's been my personal experience that the younger you are, the more likely you are to use the sick time more as a paid time off benefit.

 

Then why do organizations offer it, if they dont wont you taking it, why offer it?

Then why do organizations offer it, if they dont wont you taking it, why offer it?

 

Again, it's supposed to be a safety net for when you are sick. By all means use it when you're sick. Taking a sick day to attend a state basketball tournament or something along those lines is abuse of the program. Many organizations are simply going to a Paid Time Off where all hours are combined and you use them however you want within guidelines established with your employer and supervisors.

Again, it's supposed to be a safety net for when you are sick. By all means use it when you're sick. Taking a sick day to attend a state basketball tournament or something along those lines is abuse of the program. Many organizations are simply going to a Paid Time Off where all hours are combined and you use them however you want within guidelines established with your employer and supervisors.

I like that idea. Get rid of the semantics. Call it what it is. Days off.

 

Again, it's supposed to be a safety net for when you are sick. By all means use it when you're sick. Taking a sick day to attend a state basketball tournament or something along those lines is abuse of the program. Many organizations are simply going to a Paid Time Off where all hours are combined and you use them however you want within guidelines established with your employer and supervisors.

 

That's what my employer does, with an increase in accrual rates at 5 year intervals. One can roll over up to 200/year. You lose anything over 200 if you don't take it. Some people I work with have been there 25+ years. It's crazy how much time they have to take off just to keep from losing hours each hear. One woman is taking 3 weeks in a row off right now. And she'll have to do it again in January or February just to be at the 200 hr mark. (We have until March 1 to use any hours over 200 accrued from the previous year)

And Kentucky is rocking on up on the national test level right?

What test scores are you comparing? We had to compare our ACT scores to the national average. Now certain states kicked out tail. Those states only a very small percentage took the ACT. When you compared our test scores against other states that require all students to take it we are pretty much right there.

Again, it's supposed to be a safety net for when you are sick. By all means use it when you're sick. Taking a sick day to attend a state basketball tournament or something along those lines is abuse of the program. Many organizations are simply going to a Paid Time Off where all hours are combined and you use them however you want within guidelines established with your employer and supervisors.

This is how my work does it. They just recently started allowing you to roll over up to 10 days.

What test scores are you comparing? We had to compare our ACT scores to the national average. Now certain states kicked out tail. Those states only a very small percentage took the ACT. When you compared our test scores against other states that require all students to take it we are pretty much right there.

 

Do you think Kentucky is in the upper half of America in terms of education?

 

Do you think Kentucky is looked to as a model of education?

That's what my employer does, with an increase in accrual rates at 5 year intervals. One can roll over up to 200/year. You lose anything over 200 if you don't take it. Some people I work with have been there 25+ years. It's crazy how much time they have to take off just to keep from losing hours each hear. One woman is taking 3 weeks in a row off right now. And she'll have to do it again in January or February just to be at the 200 hr mark. (We have until March 1 to use any hours over 200 accrued from the previous year)

 

For the last several years I was at the local CMHC, I got 21 vacation days and 12 sick days per year. That's 33 days per year not counting 12 holidays. The days accumulated if you didn't use them, up to a point; maybe 30 days. The 21 vacation days alone constituted a working month. At separation, the accrued vacation days were paid.

 

Because employees were accumulating days so quickly at that pace, we implemented a policy (at my suggestion) that in lieu of losing vacation days/being forced to use them unnecessarily as the limit was approached, employees could "cash them in" at half of their current pay rate. This served two purposes - gave staff an incentive to come to work and get things done, as well as reducing the accrued payroll liability that was carried on the books.

 

Sick days were also accrued (with a larger limit) but were not paid at separation. We also offered short-term disability insurance, (which was helpful for newer staff who had not had the time to accumulate sick days) which helped bridge the gap between days accumulated and days required to cover an extended illness.

 

Those were the salad days. CHMCs as a rule offered VERY LOW salaries compared to the purely private sector, but were still able to attract and retain good staff with a superb fringe benefits package. The vacation/sick days piece and a "Cadillac" health insurance plan were the cornerstones of the package. As health insurance costs grew exponentially (and I retired in 2008), other parts of the package got trimmed.

 

Now, that practice (vacation days) got significantly ratcheted back in my later years at the CMHC. The practice was eventually deemed too liberal (yes, I said it) to be practical. However, those on staff when new leave policies were implemented were grandfathered. I don't know what the current policy is, but I believe that they have migrated partially or fully to a Paid Days Off system. They have also reduced holidays.

Do you think Kentucky is in the upper half of America in terms of education?

 

Do you think Kentucky is looked to as a model of education?

 

Give us your thoughts.