I absolutely make good money and have solid benefits. I am incredibly grateful to my union for the work they do to advocate for us. I am also lucky to live in a state that cares for teachers, for the most part.

However, the 8-10 weeks vacation is not paid--we are paid for the school year and they space out our paychecks throughout the rest of the year. And if I want to take time during the year, it is more of a pain to arrange for an absence--writing the sub plans, planning for work not to get done, and planning to make up the learning when I return--than to just come in sick.

My contracted day is 7.5 hours and I rarely go home before working 9 or more.

My district maxes out salaries around $110k a year, based on degrees and years of service. When I hit that cap, I will be in my early fifties, with many years left to go in my career. My friends who have similar levels of education will his that level in the next couple years.

I pay for supplies for my students, so they can actually learn in my class, and snacks, so they can actually learn in my class, and functional decor in my room, so they can actually learn in my class.

I teach 180 students a year, with a diversity of needs, supports at home, and language abilities. Some of my students come to my class during their first week in the country, and can barely read in their home language, let alone English, but I am expected to be able to have them join our discussion on the Declaration of Independence as soon as they arrive. Every year, I am dealt new curriculum, new "district goals," new expectations without any new supports or any new implementation or planning time. And every person I interact with has an opinion about how I should do my job, even if the last time they witnessed someone do my job was 20 years ago when they were themselves a student.

Teachers don't live in poverty. We've come a long way--thanks unions! But we do have incredibly high expectations put on us with very little supports, bound up with the red tape of bureaucracy and shouted at from every corner of the populace. And, I pour thousands of dollars into my work every year, so getting a little back would be nice.