The Other Financial Costs of Being a Teacher

Re “Bonuses for Stanford 9 Testing Are Outrageous,” Oct. 13:

Teachers not only don’t pay Social Security, they don’t receive it either. In addition, they work without current contracts a large part of the time; they get paid only 10 months per year and they are not eligible for unemployment. Teachers also take huge amounts of student paperwork home, they advise clubs during their lunch breaks, have departmental meetings during lunch breaks and after work, meet with parents during non-working hours, officiate at games, chaperone dances and activities--all without financial compensation.

In addition, they are mandated to continually take educational enrichment classes on their own time for which they must also pay the fees and transportation.

Susan Rouse

Dana Point

What a great day to be a teacher in California! Working hard to improve students’ test results earns a bonus, in some cases $25,000. Why isn’t this fair? The article reported that some teachers “don’t really know what they must do instructionally to receive awards.” Maybe the teachers need to do their homework.

Mary K. Kevari

Orange