Teachers are not hourly employees.
Mar 3, 2008 - Richard A. Middleton is superintendent of the North East Independent School District, writing in the San Antonio Express-News explains why the district has refused to pay a teacher for attending graduation ceremonies and what the precedent will mean.
Federal law classifies teachers as professional employees. As professionals, their salary reflects all the duties asked of them during a 10-month period and is not based on the hours it takes to complete those tasks. In Kelley's case, he was contracted for 10 months of service. Accordingly, for his salary, Kelley owed the district and the public those three hours.What Kelley and the union want from the district, and from the public, is to get paid an extra full day of salary for attending a three-hour graduation ceremony. Thousands of teachers in NEISD have agreed to work a 10-month schedule. If that promise is broken, school districts will be forced to pay extra for any work done outside the regular school day.
A teacher's primary job is in the classroom teaching our children. Additionally, they have other essential duties and requirements, like providing tutoring and attending training sessions to improve the quality of instruction for our students. These responsibilities cannot be done during the school day. On their own initiative, our dedicated teachers work after school, on Saturdays and during breaks to get the job done.
As professionals in the private sector know, a salaried employee often works on weekends or after regular business hours to complete the job. Because you are a salaried employee, not hourly, you do not get paid additional funds for overtime.
