again that is not the case for all teachers...binding arbitration and all. Some divisions go for years without a contract. My wife and I worked for Frontier and they went a looooong time without a contract. However, one good thing about them was they divided the pay to cover the year and paid every two weeks.
During the summer we still had to mow the grass in the schoolyard, shampoo the carpets, clean, paint and do general maintenance around the school and the schoolyard(including playground equipment, order in supplies for the next school year(the gov't supplied everything down to pencils, notebooks and erasers), inventory, ship out materials that needed repairs or replacing. We'd also take turns doing half days in the office answering the phones. None of the locals would do any of this and when you finally could hired one, general incompetence usually meant you had to take over the job and do it. During the year we also doubled as a shelter for kids hiding from drunk and abusive parents.....again our dogs doubled as security.
If we wanted to leave, you also had to pay out of your own pocket(except for the flight in and out once a year)...$400 return to Winnipeg, or $250 to Thompson. The division only paid for flights related to school business, not for dental or medical appointments. We both made around $70 K a year(including NA) but we earned it. The Northern Store was over priced and questionable in their quality(green and grey meat that was restamped several times) and again we had to pay airfare on groceries or personal shipments we had shipped in. Occasionally we had stuff shipped in for free on the the RCMP flights and Air Ambulance...they brought in the doctor once a week and transported the supplies and nurses for the nursing station. The Lodge owners also flew in stuff if they had room.
$1:
teachers would be a piece of cake.
I know quite a few people who left teaching and went into real estate.