Cass,

First, teachers are salaried employees. There's federal laws regulating the difference between salaried and hourly employees; the primary one being that salaried employees are paid to accomplish a job and do not have set parameters for time, whereas hourly wage earners are simply paid to follow instructions for their time on the clock. All professional positions are salaried, and it's ridiculous to suggest that we should exempt teachers from the same federal laws that apply to ever other profession. If your boss closes your office for weather conditions, you're still paid your salary.

What I'd like to see from you is what you consider an appropriate payscale for teachers. Please also include information on benefits. From here we can evaluate where you stand empirically and start comparing it more accurately to the private sector, rather than just picking petty arguments over 2 hour delays.