Summer Vacation? Not For Teachers Students Aren’T Alone In Quest For Summer Work, Paychecks

Vaughn Dosko has spent his summer vacation 5,500 feet underground, lifting and sweating in the Lucky Friday mine.

And the experience taught him one thing.

“I’m glad I went to school and became a teacher,” Dosko said.

Dosko, a special education teacher for Mullan School District, is one of many North Idaho educators who supplement their salaries with summer jobs. Some say they do it because they like the work. Most, though, sacrifice their three months of relaxation for the money.

With some beginning teachers paid as little as $16,500 a year, Idaho ranks near the bottom nationally for public teacher salaries. On average, the state’s teachers make $31,818 a year, making them the 39th lowest paid in the nation. Teachers in Washington get $37,860, putting them in 19th place nationally - about $800 behind the U.S. average.

In fact, Dosko takes home more each month in the mines than he does in the classroom.

Cindy Bailey, a first- and second-grade teacher at Northside Elementary School in Sandpoint, has spent her summers waitressing, teaching GED classes and taking inventory at department stores.

She hasn’t worked during the summer for a few years, but her husband, Jeff, is spending this summer working at the Hidden Lakes Golf Course.

“The only reason you do it is to make extra money,” Cindy Bailey said. “Except for my husband; he enjoys doing it.

“The salary is very low in Idaho. It’s hard to live on that in this day and age.”

Bob Wilhelm, who teaches fourth grade at Seltice Elementary School in Post Falls, has spent his summer as a Jacklin Seed dispatcher, assigning trailers to grass growers.

“There’s no comparison at all,” Wilhelm said of the two jobs. “This is interesting and it’s fun and it provides for some additional income. But it certainly doesn’t take the place of teaching.”

For the last several summers, Wilhelm has participated in an internship program sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce that pairs teachers with local companies. He has interned at Idaho Forest Industries, the Forest Service and Jacklin Seed.

Although the experiences don’t directly relate to what he does in the classroom, Wilhelm said his summer jobs have made him a better teacher.

“You get two different perspectives,” he said. “It creates a different awareness of some of the issues that surround forests and the grass-seed industry. It gets you certainly more well-rounded. You hear a lot more sides of the story.”

Kevin Kincheloe’s colleagues think he’s a bit crazy for giving up his summer vacation to build docks along the Coeur d’Alene River. But Kincheloe, a counselor at Kootenai High School, said he enjoys the nine-hour days of sledgehammering and pounding 14-inch spikes.

“It’s really physical. I love being outside,” he said. “You get a great tan. It’s a real switch from teaching.”

After 12 summers building docks and 14 years at the high school, Kincheloe said he keeps coming back even though the money isn’t quite as crucial as when he was a beginning teacher.

“The last couple of years, I haven’t really needed to work in the summer,” he said. “But I enjoy it.”