We are currently having this same discussion. In reality, stipends are there to attract quality teacher and get teachers in hard to fill/specialized/niche subjects. There are several subjects that have stipends where there are no additional duties. Our ESL stipend is $5,000 and they don't do anything outside of the school day. They just do what a regular teacher does. Band directors are a VERY highly specialized position. Not everyone can do what we do. I know many teachers with degrees in areas other than what they are teaching. Very few are successful at teaching band with out a music degree (and I don't define success as sweepstakes or first divisions, but rather being able to get up in front of a band and having the skills to know what you are doing). The stipend (as stated above) is to offer a higher salary above the district salary schedule without locking teachers into a longer length contract with work days during the summer (which for most places is the only way to can offer a higher salary to teachers). Does that mean that some of us (like band directors, choir teachers, coaches, etc) won't have extra duties? No, because we know we will have performances, practices, games, etc. But it doesn't mean that we are required to put in countless hours through the year. If you have a masters or a doctorate you probably get a stipend. That doesn't mean you have to do extra work. It is to attract those with a higher level of education. Yes, there is the "other duties as assigned" clause in our contracts. However, that is usually so they can assign lunch duty, or before/after school duties, or to assign you to ISS if they want to try and get rid of you. It is typically not used to make you have after school practices that are not needed. As to your actual question, our district does not define what the stipend is for. In fact, they have said on numerous occasions that they leave it up to each teacher to make sure they get what needs to get done and still have a healthy work/home life balance. The band directors in our district don't get extra days any more and when they were taken away the stipend was raised and it was specifically stated that it was up to our discretion on when and how we get our duties done and we could not be required to do work out side the contract days. Meaning, the HS directors are not actually required to do summer band. The assistants can tell the HD to stuff it and they can enjoy the rest of their summer and there isn't a thing the HD can do about it.
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