This just stunned me. Now I know that many school districts don't offer teachers the option of a 12-month pay schedule instead of a 10-month schedule (which I wouldn't do anyway, because that's like giving the school district a free two month interest-free loan), but are people really so shortsighted that they can't save up some money during the year to cover expenses for the Summer?
Early disclaimer: These things vary widely from place to place.
When I started teaching, all teachers had a choice: You're going to be paid X amount. Do you want it divided into 10 paychecks or 12 paychecks? It's kind of like saying, "Here's a large pizza. Do you want it cut into 10 or 12 slices?"
Then the legislature -- who simply cannot see a good idea that's working fine and leave it alone -- said that was unfair to teachers. Said it was unfair to "hold their money" 'til summer, even if they'd chosen it. So EVERYONE was forced to have 10 paychecks, even the people who can't hold onto a dollar and would've preferred equal payments.
So our credit union -- an excellent institution -- stepped in to help. They allow teachers to have a portion of each month's pay to be "siphoned off" into a special summer savings account. That savings account cannot be accessed without some trouble /going into the credit union and doing some paperwork, so people aren't likely to spend it. But it provides a "paycheck" in the summer months for the people who prefer to have those equal payments. Some teachers say that they spend more during the summer months (vacations, lunch with friends, outings for the kids, whatever), so they choose to put MORE into the savings account so their "paycheck" goes up during the summer. While I don't use this summer-savings program myself, LOTS of people do, especially two-teacher families.
I have never heard of a teacher taking out a loan for the summer months. That is not a financially stable move, and most teachers I know are fairly frugal people -- at least most of the time.
Different but related topics: The credit union also allows teachers to arrange their mortgages or car loans so that they pay more during the school year and make no payments during June and July.
May hits teachers hard; because we aren't paid in June and July, we have TRIPLE deductions removed from the May check -- so if you're paying $400/month for family insurance, you pay $1200 in the month of May. I've always thought they ought to be a little smarter about that detail -- cutting
the last check of the school year is kind of like setting people up for failure. Thing is, people forget that and then are surprised when suddenly their May check is small.
We get paid once a month by my school district during the year and I've heard that a lot of teachers have problems with that. One time, the school district had to wait an extra week to give out paychecks and most of the teachers just about had a heart attack. They were complaining about paying bills, etc. I was fine. Because I adopted the Mustachian lifestyle, I could actually go for years now without getting paid (not that I would want to). Life is so much easier when you give yourself that cushion, but our society tells everyone that they are supposed to project an image that costs them every penny they have. It's really sad.
We had a problem a few years ago:
When I began teaching, we started school mid-August and finished mid-June. We teachers received a small check at the end of August, full checks throughout the year, and a small check at the end of June. It was fair.
Then we changed the school calendar and began school in early August and our kids graduated before Memorial Day. It was a good choice because our high schoolers could finish first semester before Christmas, meaning that they didn't come back in January for a few days of class and then exams. We teachers received full checks August - May. It was fair.
Then our illustrious legislature decided this calendar, which everyone liked, was not good. So we reverted to the earlier mid-August start . . . but somehow our paychecks didn't change back. So we were still receiving a full check each month August - May. Same amount of money, but the schedule was a bit off. Not a big deal for most teachers, who worked the full year; however, it meant that a person who retired mid-year, or a person who left unexpectedly DID walk away with two weeks of unearned pay. Multiply this times the whole state, and you have some poor stewardship of tax payer money. However, when they announced that they were going to change the system and make it right, MANY people complained that it would be problematic for them.
Huh, the average teacher pay in my district is over $77k per year, and they just went on strike for more money (and other things once they get the money terms agreed to).
Keep in mind that this figure is not typical of the average teacher salary. With 23 years experience, I'm at about 43K.
The worst is that they aren't negotiating for better new teacher terms. Teachers can retire and get full pension. And then they can be on call as paid substitutes. All good so far. But, once they retire,_ they keep their seniority, so no new teachers trying to gain experience as on call sub's have a chance of hours or work. And they quit. Seniority should reset to zero once you are drawing a full pension.. Which are quite large here.
Seniority doesn't get a person a sub job. Sub jobs are typically assigned according to who's available at the last minute. However, the reality is that when a teacher PLANS to be out of school (doctor's appointment or whatever), she tends to request a sub she knows -- and often that's a retired friend, someone we know has good classroom management skills.