Special Edition
January 2019
Sidney Lanier High School’s
The Blue & White Teachers Moonlight for Life’s Extras By Jaliyah Stokes
Inside this issue: Poets Aim to Become YouTube Celebs: E&T Nation attracts 24K subscribers
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Working Teens: Students 4,5 battle school, work, and sleep Doing It Poet Style: 70s Throwback from Head to Toe
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The Royal Tea: ‘Gen Z’ babies 10 Debate the Power of Old v. New Music
Virtual Learning
Motivated students are enrolling in the MPS Virtual School program. Read one student’s story. See page 7.
Mark your calendars with significant dates to remember, page 9
Nearly 16 percent of the nation’s classroom teachers work second job, the National Center for Education Statistics reports. As shocking as it sounds, it is a reality for most teachers who feel underpaid. The matter is no different for the educators at Sidney Lanier High School. Lanier biology teacher Gregory Barnes refer-
ees on the side. Courtesy photo “We should be compensated more for the amount of time that we sacrifice —sometimes “Teachers do not have side jobs for fun,” from our own families for the said Annice Jessie, an English teacher at passion that we have for stuLanier who tutors athletes at Alabama dents,” said Tislam Ellis, activState University. Ellis ities director at Lanier and an adjunct instructor at Troy Uni“We have them to assist with versity. accommodating the cost of living,” added Ms. Jessie, who “Some educators work as much as 100 also serves as an instructor in hours a week,” Mr. Ellis said. “Besides Lanier’s Evening Academy Jessie that, many educators put hundreds of their and an auxiliary coordinator with own money into their lessons and other The Marching Poets. items for students.” For Gregory Barnes, a biology teacher at A teacher’s salary is based upon their Lanier, his moonlighting assists in his level of education and years of efforts to enjoy life outside the experience. When asked if they were mak- classroom. In addition to teaching, he ing enough to accommodate their cost of works as a financial coach with living they all agreed that they were. Primerica Financial Services and as a refHowever, they take on side jobs to indulge eree and umpire with the Alabama High in extra activities. School Athletics Association.
“My job as a teacher pays all my bills, but that’s all that it pays - the bills, no extra,” said Jamecca Hare, who is the choral teacher at Hare LHS and works as a sales associate at White House Black Market, a high-end fashion boutique, and a choir director at Holt Street Memorial Baptist Church. A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute supports Ms. Hare’s claim. EPI reported that public school teachers’ weekly wages in 2016 were 17 percent lower than those of comparable workers — compared with just 1.8 percent lower in 1994.
“Yes, teachers are underpaid, especially if you compare a teacher’s salary with other college educated professions and the amount of education required to get hired,” said Barnes Mr. Barnes when asked about teacher salaries. For the amount of income that a teacher makes, it makes one ponder: Is it really worth it? Vacation time, a reliable paycheck, and the impact that is left upon the students and their lives make it all worthwhile, the educators interviewed agree.