ANSWER THIS QUESTION...what rationale do you use to justify paying someone a years pay for 9 months of work?
It's actually 10 months of work - they com back a week earlier and stay a week later.
and if you have a career in it, you already know that several weeks of your summer are required for ESe training, re-certification, tech training, etc. Professional service, whatever they call it. You can't just fall off the map on the last day of school then walk up on day 1 and "punch in" like you can at most jobs.
And their pay is also pro-rated for the full year (if they want). In other words, you can opt for "pay me for 10 months then don't give me another check for 10 weeks" - which is what I actually did as a teacher.
Most will opt for "spread it over 26 of the 2-week pay periods so I don't go broke in the summer!" I paid for my summer classes with my $, so I took the $ up front. But that's part of what you tell HR on day 1 of orientation - so they are actually salaried employees for 10 months that often choose to spread it so they can pay the bills.