Turnover

"The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future has calculated that nearly a third of all new teachers leave the profession after just three years, and that after five years almost half are gone."

Here is an article on teacher burnout--it's very short and easy to read:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/teacher-burnout-blame-the-parents/

The comments are amazing as well...all 298 of them...
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So, teaching to the contract is not just a strategy for drawing attention to the number of hours teachers ACTUALLY work; it is not just some pointless protest; it is a strategy to avoid burnout. If we really want to help children, if our life's work is teaching, then we cannot burnout like some character from Jack Kerouac's dreamscape:

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars ...."

If we really want to advance the profession, prevent new teachers from quitting, and make this a tenable lifelong pursuit, we have to start understanding ourselves as professionals and make professional choices, such as leaving when one is not being paid.

You do not work in a convent; you are not a member of a religious order. You deliver a service.