Tim, figuring 52 weeks in a year, there are 260 "business days" a year. Subtract from that the usual holidays and your down to the low 250s. Then subtract the 2-4 weeks of vacation most businesses allow all but the newest of newbies to accrue and you're in the 210-235 area, depending on the firm. YMMV, but I don't think that's enough above 200 or so to call teaching a "part-time" job, even if you assume they do absolutely nothing professionally during the 2-5 weeks difference.
You might also consider that a full five-day week in many hourly jobs in the US is 35 hours. That is, 9-5 with an hour off for lunch. From my experience, teachers were expected to be on the job, onsite, from roughly 7:30 to 4:30 with about a half hour for lunch. That's 42.5 hours per week just at school, not counting the hours of grading and other work at home.
Also, teachers unions have more control in some states than in others. Teachers in GA have no union. Or didn't 6 years ago and I haven't seen any evidence that has changed.
Nevertheless, I'll agree that private schools can often get away with paying less, though I think the reasons are more complex than simply that government salaries are higher because they are government, not free market. To attract new teachers, all schools, public and private, compete in the same labor market. If some teachers opt for private schools despite lower pay, it is probably because of the greater prestige (on average) of teaching at a private school, some affinity for the school or its mission (e.g. at religious or special needs schools), and/or the belief that the students will be generally more motivated and better behaved, and parents more supportive. |
