Riley Smith

Connie Douglas
UWRT 1101-011
22 October, 2016
It Pays To Stay After
It has always been a question as to why teachers stay after hours when they are not
compensated for the time they give to their students and their work. A discourse group spread
throughout the country would be teachers who willingly stay after the last bell has rung to
continue doing work despite them not receiving anything for the extra work they are putting in.
In a single, one hour observation, a common connection showed throughout the teachers; They
all stayed after because, with everything they had already going on in their lives, they found it
was better for them to stay in school and continue working rather than going home and try to
work there where their lives would become a conflicting factor.
From an hour long observation held by a researcher, it can be concluded that a multitude
of teachers stay after, not by choice but by necessity, because they have so many things that need
to be graded or completed before they go home for the day. Many seem stressed or rushed as
they make their way from one machine to the next; making copies of new tests while grading old
ones. None of them are fond of the wait as the line grows out the small door of the copyroom.
This discourse group of teachers stay after hours, knowing they would not be paid, so they can
avoid the hassle and the task of having to do the work at home. Teachers walked in with full
meals, scarfing them down as they worked through the piles and piles of paper they brought in
with them. A few spoke of engagements they had after school that they were sure they were
going to be late to because of the workload they had to deal with beforehand.

Marcy Thomas, a 4th grade teacher, says that most of the time, the reason I stay after is
not because I want to stay ahead of the game, but because I know that if I dont stay after there is
no way Im going to get any of this done when I have a baby and a husband at home. For most
teachers, this is the same. There is not enough attention in the world to appease both the work
and their loved ones. Thomas goes on to say after being asked about her opinion on not being
paid to stay aftertime, While it would be nice to see my paycheck have an added bonus to it, I
dont think the government will ever let that slide. You see teachers in Texas and New York
making more money than I could ever dream of making here in North Carolina. They dont work
after time and thats been the argument Ive heard here. If I dont like the pay, then someone else
will and they will easily take my spot. Its a game of sorts; either I stay after and be happy that I
can go home without the stress of extra work or uproot my whole family like hundreds of other
teachers in America and hold my breath in hopes that a job will be open in a place with better
pay.
For many teachers, the workload presented to them is based solely off of the class size
being handed to them every academic year. A teacher with fifty students is paid the same salary
over the course of the year that a teacher with only sixteen students would be making. It is
evident, however, that the teacher with fifty students would be given a much greater workload
because of the sheer multitude of students they would have to be dealing with. In May of 2016, a
bill held by the senate as posted on the NC Education Budget released forms was passed stating
their $27.1 million plan to reduce second grade classes down to 1:16 would reduce each class
size by one student and equal out the playing field for all teachers while also giving them equal
opportunity to receive the same salary with the same workload.

Years of experience influences the primary salary a teacher receives. In North Carolina, if
a teacher has twenty-five years of experience, they can expect to receive a salary up to $51,000
annually as based off of the North Carolina Public Schools annual salary report that was updated
last year and put into effect on July 1, 2016. Unfortunately, there is no overtime supplement to
compensate for teachers work outside of the academic day hours. A teacher who works the full
day and goes home and a teacher who works the full day and stays for four hours after receive
the same pay from the state despite them having varied work hours.
As stated by NCAE (North Carolina Association for Educators), any work week that
exceeds forty hours of work time must be compensated with overtime pay. This agreement was
created in 1938 and has been withheld ever since. Yet, teachers in North Carolina are still
struggling to make a living off of the salary they are making and they still stay after hours
knowing that they will not actually receive any overtime pay despite it being in the FSLA. The
FSLA (Fair Standard Labors Act) explains the rules set in place that businesses must pay
overtime. There were lawsuits filed against the FSLA in multiple states stating that they did not
follow the guidelines of the Act and North Carolina has now been advised to follow the rules
carefully. If they do so, it would only seem right that teachers in North Carolina would see
overtime pay wages if they went over the forty hour work week.
While there are still many states who pay their teachers at a salary number that seems
heavenly, North Carolina has yet to talk about paying teachers any more than they already are.
Teachers are essential to ensure that the children in America become fully educated and can lead
the next generation into a bustling and thriving country. There wont be anymore teachers to
teach our countries students if they all decide to leave the profession in search of something that
pays them more.

Observation
4:00: Three teachers are waiting in a line to make photocopies
4:02:4:04:4:06: The scantron machine is being fixed - Caucasian female teacher with a pile of scantrons
4:08: A line is forming for the scantron reader
4:10:4:12: Male teacher is grading tests by hand because he doesnt want to wait in the line- I have to
pick my kids up from soccer at 5:30
4:14:4:16:4:18: Scantron machine is fixed with five people in line
4:20: Woman is making coffee
4:22: Woman is sitting beside the male teacher and is grading her own work with him
4:24:4:26:4:28:4:30: There is a meeting going on the room next to the copying room for 5th grade teachers
4:32: There is talk about lesson plans
4:34: We will need to stay after tomorrow as well to go over this lesson where the kids will be
doing history through the years projects
4:36:4:38:4:40: Male and female teachers walk in. Both coaches who had to coach their teams before
coming back to do their own grading
4:42: Female is an english teacher- Thirty-two quizzes and nine makeup tests and the scantron
line is driving me nuts - on the phone with husband
4:44: Male grading hand tests gets up to make coffee
4:46:4:48: Two women opt to leave and come back in THIRTY minutes to try and grade again
4:50: One woman is eating snacks while waiting for the line- Ill be here till 6, more than
likely
4:52: A TA is running late, she is running all around the room trying to make copies before she
has to go home and write a paper- she is talking to the woman she came in with
4:54:-

4:56:4:58: The room is full of teachers all grading and waiting for photocopies and the scantron
machine
5:00: Man grading tests pulls out a pile of quizzes to grade next

"Fair Labor Standards Act Overview." NCAE North Carolina Association of Educators
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"SALARY GUIDES." Salary Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Weblizar, By Weblizar Powered By. "Education Budget." Public Schools First NC. N.p., n.d.
Web. 26 Oct. 2016.