They prepare lessons, complete paperwork and grade papers, but how many hours is your child's teacher expected to work on a given school day to accomplish those tasks?
Almost all Utah teachers put in extra hours after school, at home and during the summer. Though parents, school officials and teachers themselves expect the additional effort, that work normally goes beyond what is specified in teacher contracts in various school district.
One Davis School District teacher said the decision to limit his workday to the minimum 7.5 hour-workday specified in his contract meant letting some teaching duties fall by the wayside, leading to his recent termination.
Bruce Hinckley, a former special education teacher at North Davis Junior High School, says he worked hundreds of extra hours as a teacher until the middle of the 2001-02 school year, when he could no longer put in the additional time.
The Kaysville resident was accustomed to staying late to fill out stacks of required paperwork, but family duties called, and Hinckley began to limit his workday to 7.5 hours.
"(Teachers) work until the job is done, but there comes a point when you can no longer do that," Hinckley said. "When I ended up not getting everything done, that's when they fired me." After the termination process had begun, Hinckley filed a grievance with the district over the issue of workday hours. A grievance officer reviewed the case and said district teachers are professionals contracted to complete a service, and the 7.5 hour-workday in their contract is viewed as a minimum amount of time they should be at school.
Davis District Superintendent Bryan Bowles says Hinckley would not have been fired had he accomplished his work within that 7.5 hours.
"He wasn't performing all of his duties," he said. "Those were duties that had to be done in order for us to be in compliance with the federal government."
At the same time, Bowles, a former teacher, acknowledged it would take Herculean efforts for a special education teacher to both teach students and fill out the mounds of paperwork required by federal law within contracted time.
"It is possible. Is it probable? Probably not," Bowles said. "It would be very difficult."
Most teachers take pride in their work and want the best for their students, which means they work weekends and evenings, something Bowles knows a thing or two about, he said.
"I personally spent many weekends reading papers," he said. "Did I have to? No, I didn't have to. I had to for myself."
Davis Education Association President Kathleen Leatham said she doesn't know how many hours Davis teachers work, but "the hours are incredible."
She said she knows a few teachers seem to accomplish everything within about 7.5 hours, but those teachers are the exception rather than the rule. The public's perception of teaching as a cushy job with summers and lengthy holiday vacations doesn't help.
Leatham says she works between five and 10 hours a week beyond her 7.5-hour workday at school. She also works in her classroom three or four hours daily through the month of August.
"It's because we have high standards," she said. "Our elementary teachers would rather strike than work to rule. . . . They go into the profession knowing they're going to have to do more than that."
In Salt Lake School District, teacher contracts specify teachers should work through the school day as well as make themselves available before and after class to help students. Faculty members at each school decide what length of time teachers should be there, whether it's 10 minutes or 30.
Salt Lake Teachers Association President Elaine Tzourtzouklis says many teachers in Salt Lake School District arrive at school at 7 a.m. and have to be kicked out at night when the janitor needs to lock up the building.
"I bet you teachers do at least 55 to 60 hours a week," she said.
That is especially true of special education teachers.
"I can tell you where he's (Hinckley) coming from because my special education teachers do the same thing," she said. "I think that's ridiculous. I can tell you right now they are requiring too much paperwork."
Jordan School District teachers also put in more time than contracts specify.
Jordan teacher contracts require teachers to be at school a minimum of 30 minutes before school and 30 minutes after school, with the understanding that principals can ask teachers to help with students activities for a reasonable amount of time, district assistant director of communications Michael Kelley said.
E-MAIL: ehayes@desnews.com