During the day, Becky Sheehy teaches video productions to high school students.

On the weekends — and sometimes after school — Sheehy works at Pleasant Run Dry Cleaners in Fairfield.

Second jobs are not a new phenomenon for teachers, who have historically been paid less than other professionals. In 1981, about 11 percent of teachers were moonlighting; the number has risen to about one in five today.

Now, with the severe cuts many school districts have made, teachers are searching the want ads. The number of public school teachers who reported holding a second job outside school increased slightly from 2003-04 to 2007-08.

While there is no national data for more recent years, reports from individual states and districts indicate the number may have climbed further since the start of the recession.

With her wedding scheduled for June 9, it’s easy to see why Sheehy, 25, wants to make some extra money when she can. And she’s not alone.

“Almost every single one of (my teacher friends work),” said Sheehy, a Fairfield resident. “They babysit on the weekends; one has worked at Skyline for 10 years. Some of them have multiple jobs. (The money) adds up after a while.”

Sheehy, a 2004 Fairfield High School graduate, has worked at Pleasant Run Dry Cleaners for 6½ years and makes about $50 a week. In her first full year at Winton Woods, her salary is around $37,000.

“Sometimes it can get crazy,” Sheehy said. “I’m lucky this year being in video productions. I’m not grading as many essays as last year. I don’t get to spend as much time as I’d like with the family on Saturdays, but it’s nice to have extra cash.”

A study in Texas showed the percentage of teachers who moonlight has increased from 22 percent in 1980 to 41 percent in 2010.

“It’s the economy, primarily,” said Sam Sullivan, a professor at Sam Houston State University, which conducts the survey.

The average salary for a public school teacher nationwide in the 2009-10 school year was $55,350, a figure that has remained relatively flat, after being adjusted for inflation, over the last two decades. Starting teacher salaries can be significantly lower; compared to college graduates in other professions, they earn more than $10,000 less when beginning their careers.

The average teacher salary for the 10 Butler County public schools was $55,904 in 2010-11, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Mindy Montgomery makes $40,000 as an art teacher at Fairfield North Elementary, but also works two other jobs to support her husband, Victor, and their three children, ages 2 to 6 years old.

She hopes to make about $2,000 as a seasonal employee at Kohl’s, which would be “enough to pay for Christmas,” she said.

“It’s tough,” Montgomery, 35, said, “but it’s not an option for me right now. I have to do what I have to do.

“(My husband) doesn’t like it,” she added. “He’d rather me be home with him and the kids.”

Yet working an extra job inevitably does take a toll. On top of their work in the classroom, teachers have to grade papers and plan lessons — work they often do at home. In the Texas survey, a majority said moonlighting was detrimental to their work in the classroom.

“We expect our teachers to be prepared and ready to go when they come in,” Fairfield Superintendent Paul Otten said. “But we also realize that families’ needs vary greatly. Our teachers here are no different than anybody else. If that’s something they have to do, we’re not going to tell them they can’t do that. Just make sure it doesn’t impact performance negatively in the classroom.”

Policies on moonlighting vary by district.

While Sheehy said that “we’re only contracted until 2:10 p.m., and whatever we do after that is up to us,” many school districts advise teachers that any outside work must not interfere with their duties at school.

“We don’t know how many of our teachers have outside jobs or whether that number is rising,” Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia said. “But because of their salary freezes and increased contributions to their medical insurance, it’s possible more are seeking outside jobs. Nevertheless, we know they are dedicated to teaching and remain focused on their primary job — educating their students.”

Monroe Superintendent Elizabeth Lolli’s son Matthew works two jobs as a firefighter paramedic for Monroe and Fairfield Twp., so she empathizes with teachers who need to seek additional income.

“I applaud those staff members who need to work, and do work for their family and for their own finances,” Lolli said. “I applaud that as long as the secondary job doesn’t interfere with the primary job.”

Terry Haynes-Toney, art teacher at Ridgeway Elementary School in Hamilton, said that as a single mother with no financial support, she’s always had some kind of part-time job during her teaching career, which dates back to 1975.

In the past, she’s done work for a promotional company handing out samples and information at festivals and community events, working eight or more hours on a weekend to help her pay the costs of continuing education.

But these days she takes on additional after-school duties, teaching intervention to help defray the college expenses of her daughter, an art major who racks up about $2,000 a semester in art supplies, not counting books.

“A lot of people don’t think about teaching intervention or tutoring as a second job because I’m still working for the schools, but it is,” she said. “We work nine months a year and are paid for nine months, but it’s spread out over the year, so you either have to really budget your money or work another job.”

Eleanor Blair Hilty, an education professor at Western Carolina University, said most teachers make around $5,000 through outside work. Yet when asked if they would quit if given a raise in the equivalent amount, most said no. Her conclusion: teachers are getting something more from their second job other than an extra paycheck.

“A lot of it has to do with what I think is wrong with the teaching profession,” Hilty said, noting that teachers have little autonomy and control over what and how they teach. “They found their moonlighting jobs to be satisfying.”

Staff writer Richard O Jones contributed to this story.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.