A friend of mine posted the statement on her facebook page that she had been working for the past couple of days at the elementary school where she teaches setting up her classroom and making copies of these little booklets she uses with her kindergarteners. May I be honest with you? When she included the statement that most parents don’t realize that she has worked these two days – UNPAID – I took pause. It really irked me, I have to say.
Friend, I want to say, you use this same little booklet EVERY year. Why don’t you proactively make them before the end of the last school year so you don’t have to waste your time doing it prior to the first paid work day of the new school year?
As a teacher, you have now obtained tenure, which means, basically you can screw up any number of ways and still keep your job, which pays you about $65K per year. Your work day, by contract, does not start a minute before 8:00 AM or last a minute past 3:30 PM. You never have recess or lunch coverage duty. Your contract makes it impossible for a parent to contact you outside of those hours except by email, but you are under no obligation to answer it. You have a huge number of sick days (because they accrue from one year to the next and can be banked.) You also have personal days. If you cannot be at work, there is a qualified substitute available at a moment’s notice. Your students are dropped off for art class, music class and PE class each week, which I know lessens your actual instructional time.
I understand this. I worked in the same school you teach in and I know the culture there is wonderful, welcoming, nurturing, very relaxed and friendly. You may have to submit lesson plans to your Principal but they are pretty much rubber-stamped with his approval. You are not obligated to attend PTA meetings, sponsor any extra curricular activities, or cheer on your Sixth Grade football or basketball teams. You do not have to attend the Spell Bowl meets or put together the Yearbook.
Let me tell what a property manager deals with whether she wants to or not. There is no choice to not participate. Property Managers are on call 24/7. That’s twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. They have to handle irate Residents who show up unexpectedly, out of the blue, often for no really good reason. They have to deal with emails from Prospective Residents, Current Residents, other Managers requesting verifications on past and current tenants whom they had no idea were considering moving leaving the property with a potential vacancy to be filled. They deal with scheduling painting contractors, carpet cleaners, landscapers, carpet installers and other contractors for special projects or emergencies. They create newsletters, marketing materials, Goodie Baskets for Move-Ins, perform Outreach Marketing, usually weekly and they must update websites, ILS services with the new rents and other property info. They must be Team Leaders to all the Maintenance Techs, Assistant Managers and Leasing professionals. They have complete responsibility for the total financial health and outcome of the asset they manage, including preparing and submitting a detailed, line item budget every year. A large majority of these professionals have no health insurance, very few sick or personal days, and cannot schedule time off if it is “inconvenient for the property.” They have to mediate between all conflicting parties and if the parties want to, they can take their complaints over the Manager’s head, up the corporate ladder and usually “win” and eventually get their issue resolved, whether it should be in their favor or not. They must decorate mini models and Model Units, show apartments and sell the property so that occupancy does not drop. They must submit daily, weekly and monthly property reports even though no one usually reads them and then calls to ask about the information directly because they “don’t have time to go through all that.” They walk the property whether the thermometer reads 105 degrees or -5 degrees below zero.
I know I haven’t listed all that a teacher does in the course of a day. Nor, have I listed everything a Property Manager does either. Both professions require continuing education, dedication, a passion and desire to educate and help others become and create. Teachers may be more concerned with developing an individual and a Property Manager may be more interested in helping others create homes, but come on, putting two “free” days in is really nothing to complain about in the long scheme of life.
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