[mykalberta]

I can only comment from the 2 teachers I know and since I know one much better than the other (my brother) I will comment on his situation.

He has a degree in Mathematics and Physicis minor with a B.Ed. from UofA. To say he is a math genious is pushing it but he studied for his Math 31 and Physics 30 diploma while watching NFL and he got 97 and 95 respectively so Math comes very easy to him.

He did this student teaching at some "special school" in Edmonton. Before that he was was very enthused about graduating and making money, after that the "I hate teaching" phrase came out. I figured he didnt want to teach spoil Canadian brats since he accepted a teaching position at a private school in Monterray Mexico. They pay wasnt great but it is so dirt cheap to live down there that he came home for Christmas after one semester with $12K cash equivilency in a combination of Pesos and USD.

Being very apathetic about getting a job in Canada he didnt really search for one other than from what I can tell amounted to a blog post resume on some Teaching site. From that he got 5 offers for 1 year full time employment (3 to cover sebaticals 2 to cover maternity leavs, 1 in Calgary, 1 in Red Deer, 1 in Edmonton, 2 rural). He had never taught a day in his life in Canada yet he was getting full time job offers (to compare I have a degree and applied directly at 20 companies, had 8 interviews and 6 offers before I accepted my first job).

This year, same sort of deal, very apathetic about finding a job, mused about going to teach in Australia - put his resume on this mysterious teacher board and again had 4 job offers along with the regional school board for the school he worked with previously offered him a full time position at a different rural school - again he accepted a 1 year position at a different rural type school.

I have plainly asked him how much extra he works, while he is at school its almost non stop work from what he tells me and it averages out to be 2 hours a weeknight in extra marking etc. I wont claim to know how the job gets more efficient with time but I would think its like any job, the first few years can be hellish, but once you get through them you get in a routine and it gets easier. At least once a month durring the school year he comes down for the weekend to visit, golf, ski, etc and he does no work at all when he comes down.

Vis a Vi salary - I wont comment on 4 year B Ed degrees majoring in Social Studies but his salary (he has 7 years of schooling) is on par with mine, his benefits (dental, medical, pension) dwarf mine and in 5 years guaranteed he will be making more than me and I will have been working full time private industry for what would be 12 years.

I wont say I dont have my own perks that make my job workable, I am able to surf CP at work, I rarely work evenings (I am on call but its very rare someone calls me), I rarely work weekends, when I do I dont get paid OT as I am on Salary and but I get double Time off in Lieu - of the 7 years I have worked for the OG related company I have received bonuses 5 of the years, they have averaged about 19% of salary.

I also have 3 weeks of vacation a year (going to 4 after the 10th year) with no flex days, we do have sick days but as I am single and in fairly descent shape I have only taken 1 sick day in 7 years of full time employment.

While I would consider his job to be very good (I am sure it takes a special type of person to put up with kids day in day out, thats why I am not a teacher even though my parents HEAVILY suggest I would have the attitude for it). He is considering going back to school to get his Actuary Degree (some high end math stuff insurance companies use).