I would not characterize teachers as 'professionals' as compared to doctors, lawyers, and professional engineers, etc. No comparison when it comes to salaries unless you are a college professor and, in my opinion, most of those liberals are overpaid. However, each professional doctor, engineer, or lawyer must first be taught by a teacher and pass many exams before they can reach the level to qualify for licensure.

I haven't a clue why any one would want to teach junior high or high school students in a public school. It takes a special person to be a teacher in such an environment. The nightmareish stuff I hear happening in schools today is incredible. The age of innocence is over and the teacher must be able to deal with it. From this perspective teachers should be paid more, permitted to use corporal punishment, and be permitted to pack heat in the classroom.

Re: "Professional"-let's see teachers work in a system where they have to achieve measurable results in student learning, not just social promotion. Let's see them support merit pay and the termination of poor teachers. Let's see them trade job security for performance incentives.

Doctors work long hours. During their residency, when they are paid less than teachers, they can work 100 + hour weeks. Lawyers at decent firms start off having to bill 1,800 or more hours per year. Assuming you are efficient and can bill 70% of the hours you work, this comes to 2,571 hours per year (49.5 hours/wk for 52 wks.) This does not include training and pro-bono work.

You want to be treated like a "professional"? Work like a "professional"

Is it possible for your IQ to go any lower than it already is? You might qualify for SSI at this point.

My IQ goes down every time I read one of your posts.

It is no wonder America is failing. Educators are too worried about the quantity of work and not quality of education that is to be provided. I agree that 12 months of school will eliminate the hassle. Teachers already get paid 12 months out of the year for 9 months of work (which does include their training time). Teachers from this generation are severely different from those of yesteryear. It's all about the $$$$.

I say, forget about making up the days and "let 'em out"!

Let them go 150 days or 250 days. It will not matter. Today's text-obsessed youths know nothing but tapping away on their phone and saying "like" every other word.

"Like, I was SO ready to go but, like, Heather, like, texted me and, like, I, like, told her that we were gonna, like, go to Starbucks and, like, get coffee! Oh my God! That's, like, so hot!"

A girl in my senior thesis seminar gave her thesis presentation. It took about 15 minutes. I made a checkmark every time she said "like". A college senior and honor student said "like" 93 times during her presentation and STILL got an A!

My how our standards have fallen. Our IQs have gone down and our weights have gone up.