Sooz, I'm maybe biased because I know who you (and your spouse) are and where you teach but, IMHO, you are a star in every sense of the word! Your posting is the most honest, least biased piece in this thread. And why? Because you can see both sides of the coin. Isn't it amazing how often a diatribe bewailing the gross unfairnesses heaped on teachers begins "My husband/wife and I are both teachers"? Clearly their only experience is of the academic life - basically they've never left school, so how can they know what life's like for those of us in cushy, highly-paid, stress-free jobs in commerce and industry!

Any worthwhile job has its good and bad points but, sadly, teachers seem only to accentuate the bad points, and in so doing they alienate people in other lines of work who put in just as many hours (not sitting in a comfy chair at home, but in the office or on the shop-floor), suffer just as much stress and abuse (from fellow-workers, superiors and customers alike), and manage on just as little money.

Perhaps there's a serious misconception amongst teachers of the kind of salary-levels that middle- and upper-management in industry and commerce can earn? We're not all on stockbroker salaries! And some of us claim benefits too - it's not just teachers who can't manage on their salary.

I've done part-time work in education and I know teaching's not a doddle, but then few worthwhile occupations are. We all have our crosses to bear guys and, trust me, they can be equally heavy whatever your chosen career.

Hail Sooz - a beacon of truth and reason in a thread full of bias and self-interest!

Johnny