Open Forum

So for awhile I have thought of trying (probably failing, but trying) to make the argument to the powers that be in my district that my stipend should be equivalent to head coach. My argument will be:

1) My program publicly represents the school - like sports
2) My hours put in are actually  more than that of most coaches
3) My kids letter in drama

So my questions to the group:
Is anyone paid like a coach? If so, how did you swing that? Was there a winning argument? What district are you in if you are (thinking if I can find a number of other districts that do this it will significantly bolster my argument)?  And finally, am I missing any strong argument for my position?

Thanks!

So for awhile I have thought of trying (probably failing, but trying) to make the argument to the powers that be in my district that my stipend should be equivalent to head coach. My argument will be:

1) My program publicly represents the school - like sports
2) My hours put in are actually  more than that of most coaches
3) My kids letter in drama

So my questions to the group:
Is anyone paid like a coach? If so, how did you swing that? Was there a winning argument? What district are you in if you are (thinking if I can find a number of other districts that do this it will significantly bolster my argument)?  And finally, am I missing any strong argument for my position?

Thanks!

So for awhile I have thought of trying (probably failing, but trying) to make the argument to the powers that be in my district that my stipend should be equivalent to head coach. My argument will be:

1) My program publicly represents the school - like sports
2) My hours put in are actually  more than that of most coaches
3) My kids letter in drama

So my questions to the group:
Is anyone paid like a coach? If so, how did you swing that? Was there a winning argument? What district are you in if you are (thinking if I can find a number of other districts that do this it will significantly bolster my argument)?  And finally, am I missing any strong argument for my position?

Thanks!

So for awhile I have thought of trying (probably failing, but trying) to make the argument to the powers that be in my district that my stipend should be equivalent to head coach. My argument will be:

1) My program publicly represents the school - like sports
2) My hours put in are actually  more than that of most coaches
3) My kids letter in drama

So my questions to the group:
Is anyone paid like a coach? If so, how did you swing that? Was there a winning argument? What district are you in if you are (thinking if I can find a number of other districts that do this it will significantly bolster my argument)?  And finally, am I missing any strong argument for my position?

Thanks!

So for awhile I have thought of trying (probably failing, but trying) to make the argument to the powers that be in my district that my stipend should be equivalent to head coach. My argument will be:

1) My program publicly represents the school - like sports
2) My hours put in are actually  more than that of most coaches
3) My kids letter in drama

So my questions to the group:
Is anyone paid like a coach? If so, how did you swing that? Was there a winning argument? What district are you in if you are (thinking if I can find a number of other districts that do this it will significantly bolster my argument)?  And finally, am I missing any strong argument for my position?

Thanks!

So for awhile I have thought of trying (probably failing, but trying) to make the argument to the powers that be in my district that my stipend should be equivalent to head coach. My argument will be:

1) My program publicly represents the school - like sports
2) My hours put in are actually  more than that of most coaches
3) My kids letter in drama

So my questions to the group:
Is anyone paid like a coach? If so, how did you swing that? Was there a winning argument? What district are you in if you are (thinking if I can find a number of other districts that do this it will significantly bolster my argument)?  And finally, am I missing any strong argument for my position?

Thanks!

So for awhile I have thought of trying (probably failing, but trying) to make the argument to the powers that be in my district that my stipend should be equivalent to head coach. My argument will be:

1) My program publicly represents the school - like sports
2) My hours put in are actually  more than that of most coaches
3) My kids letter in drama

So my questions to the group:
Is anyone paid like a coach? If so, how did you swing that? Was there a winning argument? What district are you in if you are (thinking if I can find a number of other districts that do this it will significantly bolster my argument)?  And finally, am I missing any strong argument for my position?

Thanks!

There are really 4 staffing positions involved in running a high school theatre, and most of you are running 'one person shows' and doing ALL of this yourself.

1.The Drama (acting) teacher and/or the CTE Tech Theatre teacher – often one and the same, should really be two people, making this 5 positions.

2.The Theatre Manager – if your theatre hosts over 40 events a year (everything from class meetings to musicals – anything that needs a single mic set up to full sound and lighting design) then the school really should also have someone dedicated to managing all this.

3.The designers and musical directors hired to work on plays and musicals – often times also the Drama teacher. 

4.The technicians who run all the events in the theatre – and mentor (read: coach) the students, scheduled by the Theatre Manager.

For the purposes of this coach discussion, let's look at just 1 and 3. (2 and 4 are another topic for another day…)

When you think of a sports team, there is the main coach, and then often times a LOT of specialty assistant coaches (think football or track). I don't know about you, but at schools I've worked at, it seems there were constant notifications in my e-mail for hiring assistant coaches – kicking coach, running coach, catching coach, hurdles coach, jumping coach, the list is endless, even one time - a stipend for someone to be a timer for the track team. 

As the Drama teacher, you are the main coach. And as such, you put in a LOT of hours, and your stipend (dare I say salary) should reflect that. I'm attaching an hours study I once did on just how much time a Drama teacher spends directing two shows a year. I've left it in Word – feel free to adapt it to your situation. I think this would be an eye opener for administrators. 

But – you can't do it alone (although too many have to). You need a LOT of assistant coaches! The lighting coach, the sound coach, the set coach, the costume coach, the choreography coach, and so on. This is where I think the winning argument can happen – is to help admin become aware of just how many 'coaches' we need. As well as how much they should be paid based on how much time it takes each of them to tech a show. I'm also attaching an hours study I once did on that too. Too often, designers - often professionals from the community - are essentially being paid $2 or $3 an hour, because their stipends are so low.

Some time ago, after yet another assistant coach job posting appeared in my school e-mail in box, I got fed up, and I took the job description, and everywhere there was a sports-related word, I substituted a theatre-related word. Other than that, I didn't change anything about the job description. I'm attaching a copy here – one is for the 'coaches' needed for a play, and one is for the additional 'coaches' needed for a musical.  There's really no difference from a sports team.

Another reason that theatre 'coaches' get such low pay (if any), as well as because the admin doesn't realize how many hours are involved, is because there is a disconnect between where high schools put their funding and where people in the real world put their 'funding'. What a lot of people don't realize is that Americans spend more per year on entertainment than on sports. Plus, it takes a lot more people to make 'entertainment' happen than it does to make a sports event happen – you have only to look at the credits at the end of a movie. And, ironically, those sporting events don't run themselves either – there are a lot of 'techies' behind the scenes making sure the stadium functions. I often wonder if we changed our name from the Drama program to the Entertainment Arts program, if we might get more recognition – and funding (the money is there, it's just how it is apportioned). You can see an article I wrote about funding for the 'Entertainment Arts' on my website at http://www.presett.org/helpful-articles.html. 

No one questions hiring several coaches for a sports team, it's the norm. Together – through our collective actions - we can make it the norm that the same applies to theatre as well. But, if we don't have these conversations out there, and only in our discussions with each other in here, the norm will not change. It's not always an easy conversation to have because you, like me, may have had too many people get their hackles up and just shut down and not want to listen any further, because they immediately perceive that sports funding is being attacked. So my only 'advice', when talking to people about theatre funding using sports examples, is to point out that you are using sports as an analogy, simply because people aren't so familiar with theatre, not as a comparison. I hope the attached figures will contribute to the winning argument!

So for awhile I have thought of trying (probably failing, but trying) to make the argument to the powers that be in my district that my stipend should be equivalent to head coach. My argument will be:

1) My program publicly represents the school - like sports
2) My hours put in are actually  more than that of most coaches
3) My kids letter in drama

So my questions to the group:
Is anyone paid like a coach? If so, how did you swing that? Was there a winning argument? What district are you in if you are (thinking if I can find a number of other districts that do this it will significantly bolster my argument)?  And finally, am I missing any strong argument for my position?

Thanks!