This is in response to the May 27 story about teacher sick time.

I am glad to hear that teachers receive appropriate consideration concerning sick leave. Other than parenthood, I can’t think of a more important job than that of a teacher. Teachers are constantly exposed to all types of germs and viruses that their pupils carry into the classroom.

I added the average sick time used for all the districts listed and that amount came out to 6.9 sick days used per year by all teachers listed in the report. Obviously, that benefit is not being abused.

In the article, Peter Geiger stated that perhaps teachers do receive an excessive amount of sick leave. But each district is different. It can vary from 5 to 15 days per year.

I think it is important that the public places a high value on teachers’ efforts. They teach for about 185 days each year – about 9 1/2 months. That is the “in class” statistic, but that does not include time for after-class duties – correcting papers, preparing for the next day, parent/teacher meetings, afterschool sports and so on.

The teachers I know are very dedicated and hardworking individuals. If teachers have a little extra sick leave time available, great. I feel they have earned it.

As for the school budget for substitutes, I have been told that teachers would much rather be in their classrooms, not preparing guidelines for a substitute.

Mike Grover, Greene

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