I don't think teachers do themselves any favours though by exaggerating how much work they do all weekend and holidays though
I try never to join in these debates because frankly they make me want to cry but there is something I always want to say when people say the above. In the last term alone DH and teachers in his school have;
Got themselves and a bus load of children to a place 2 hours away for a drama competition. They had to be there for 8.15 am on a bank holiday Monday. No extra pay, and that's not counting the amount of hours put in outside school teaching the children the words and how to act them.
The older children went on a week long course accompanied by DH and other teachers, DH slept outside the doors of some of the boys rooms to ensure they stayed put as they had 'previous' on going walkabout. No extra pay, and that's 24 hours a day for 4/5 days.
School production, extra evenings every week over two months let alone planning, choreographing and making costumes and the week of the performance where I won't expect to see DH until 10pm most evenings.
I can't even count the amount of days over weekends/holidays when other people's children come ahead of our own, but they always do.
The last two years where the staff are waiting to find out who will be made redundant for about 4/5 months of the year.
And yes that's his job and he would very rarely never complain about it. He feels he is adequately paid, teaching is a vocation and he loves his job and the children he teaches. But when an arse comes on MN and starts equating these intelligent, hardworking individuals with trained fucking monkeys my blood boils and I want to defend them to the skies.