> The three month break is a myth.
My girlfriend of the last 5.5 years is a teacher. I can only speak on her experience, and what I've got to know from her colleagues. That said, the three month break is hardly a myth.
> Teachers are generally required to spend weeks doing prep before the year starts and weeks closing out after the year ends.
They stay a few *days after schools out, not weeks. And, most of them recycle lesson plans from the previous year. No one is spending weeks on lesson plans. If they are, it's passively, not 40 hours a week. From what I've been told, most of them download/purchase full plans off the internet.
> There are also recommended to required activities during the summer.
They get paid extra for this stuff too. My girlfriend runs a club, does detention, and works the ticket booth at football games. She gets paid for all of them. Her contract states one extra curricular activity per year. It's all during the school year in her case.
> $40-50k is not enough money to live on, in most places.
$40-50k is the average salary in the US. Outside of major metros, $50k will afford you a nice life (I live in one, most people here would kill to make $50k).
