Some readers may envision teachers sitting on the beach, fat and juicy trashy novel in hand, but I am certain that very few of our nation's 3.3 million teachers are living that life.  Some teachers do take the summer off, and some study or travel to enhance their understanding of the world they teach about, but a heck of a lot of our teachers are working at summer jobs.
What sort of jobs?  It's a short list: tutoring is a good gig but hard to find.  Working a summer camp seems like a natural fit, but there aren't enough counselor jobs available, and lots of them go to older teenagers. Some teachers work in child care, and others find jobs in retail stores or in restaurants.
A few websites help teachers (and others) find work, like this one, this one, this one, and this one , but I suspect that most teachers find jobs through local contacts.
That's what Harry Chandler did, in Oregon in the mid-1980's.  I met him there while doing my first piece for the PBS NewsHour, then CONTINUE READING: It's Summertime. Do You Know Where Your Children's Teachers Are?