Teacher Stipends

[Wayne C.]

The topic of teacher stipends has been controversial in the NJ area for a few years and I know of at least one mentor that pressed a school district to pay a stipend and had issues with management because of it.

The short of it is that if you are going to change the culture then the teachers who manage robotics teams should recieve at least the same compensation as athletics coaches.

In my opinion the successes of my team have had a far greater influence on the future careers of my students than any of the athletics programs our school offers. True, we do occasionally put out a professional athlete and that's great. But the return for the money invested is no comparison.

After years of negotiation and great success of the team our district created a stipended coach position for me and a lesser paid position for one assistant coach. I am currently pushing for others. They pay me the same as a head soccer coach. I can live with that (for now).

And of course the hours spent far exceeds the profits made from a stipend. I defy any coach of any of the sports to compare time and effort spent with my schedule for Raider Robotix.

Of course there are those teachers out there who will do nothing without a dollers per hour compensation and I really doubt that those are the people who go far with FIRST teams. You "do FIRST" because it makes you feel good and you get satisfaction from seeing the kids grow and succeed. If you are in it for a buck you will be very disappointed.


So what is next? The Cybersonics's home facility is a dream we aspire to. We need a building. Every athletic, musical and drama activity has a field or stage to do thier stuff- paid for by the district. Our team is looking for a building with a permanent FIRST field. A shop would also be nice (we have none). We are rallying the parents, mentors and resources to that end. Our teachers are developing new courses that will further develop robotics as a core to our curriculum and thus warrant more facility for it. Time to write some grants and find some funds. Hey- it cant be any harder than building a robot....


WC