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Dept. of Labor: Public School Teachers Are Highest Paid State Workers; Compensation D
- Thread starter mandym
- Start date
First, teacher pay depends in large part on the state and district. So it is not true that all teachers may "receive greater average hourly compensation in wages and benefits than any other group of state and local government workers". In my area, teacher pay is poor and well below what it should be. Teachers and police officers often have to struggle some even resorting to food stamps. Of course, this is not true of all teachers. My point is that teacher pay/compensation depends on the state and district.
Second, education is one of the most important activities man can engage in. God gave us powerful brains and He expects us to use those brains. Far too many Christians have walked away from the academy and then complain about the "liberal bias". What they don't realize, however, is that by walking away they handed public education over to the liberals! The state of modern public education is in large part their fault!! Christian schools and home schools are fine but they cannot be for everyone. Christians need to get back in the academy (at every level). Stop whining, stop complaining, stop running, and start getting involved.
Third, teachers (police, firefighters, etc) should be some of the highest paid state employees. Many of these people give it all everyday and get nothing in return but hardship and complaints. On top of that, now professing conservatives want to throw pie in the face of teachers claiming they make too much money. Well, before we start cutting more teaching jobs and sacrificing more futures, let's start laying off employees on Capital Hill, at the White House, Pentegon, Supreme Court, etc. Let's cut Congressional salaries and benefits. Fire the White House chef and let the President eat normal food. My point is: Before we complain how much money teachers make, let's look at the large sums of money we are handing over to politicians many of whom are incompetent at their job, ignorant, and politically motivated.
Regardless of what teachers make in any individual state/district they probably don't make enough for what they have to put up with on a daily basis.
Second, education is one of the most important activities man can engage in. God gave us powerful brains and He expects us to use those brains. Far too many Christians have walked away from the academy and then complain about the "liberal bias". What they don't realize, however, is that by walking away they handed public education over to the liberals! The state of modern public education is in large part their fault!! Christian schools and home schools are fine but they cannot be for everyone. Christians need to get back in the academy (at every level). Stop whining, stop complaining, stop running, and start getting involved.
Third, teachers (police, firefighters, etc) should be some of the highest paid state employees. Many of these people give it all everyday and get nothing in return but hardship and complaints. On top of that, now professing conservatives want to throw pie in the face of teachers claiming they make too much money. Well, before we start cutting more teaching jobs and sacrificing more futures, let's start laying off employees on Capital Hill, at the White House, Pentegon, Supreme Court, etc. Let's cut Congressional salaries and benefits. Fire the White House chef and let the President eat normal food. My point is: Before we complain how much money teachers make, let's look at the large sums of money we are handing over to politicians many of whom are incompetent at their job, ignorant, and politically motivated.
Regardless of what teachers make in any individual state/district they probably don't make enough for what they have to put up with on a daily basis.
Funding for education is a bottomless pit. Teachers, school administrators, school support staff get higher and higher salaries, the schools get more and more resources and student achievement continues its decades long slide downward.
In my city, a refererndum was passed three years ago giving the schools an 81% increase in funding (not a typo). In short order a new artificial turf football practice field was constructed, teachers salaries were raised, the school superindent got a big raise and had his contract renewed by retiring school board members.
Teachers have thankless jobs and deserve adequate pay. Should teachers make $80,000 a year? I don't think so.
In my city, a refererndum was passed three years ago giving the schools an 81% increase in funding (not a typo). In short order a new artificial turf football practice field was constructed, teachers salaries were raised, the school superindent got a big raise and had his contract renewed by retiring school board members.
Teachers have thankless jobs and deserve adequate pay. Should teachers make $80,000 a year? I don't think so.
Why not? Why should computer programmers and engineers and politicians and bankers (in a lot of places) ministers be paid as much or more, but not teachers?
Just wondering. 80,000 is not a fortune in this day and age.
They work nine months out of the year. Pro-rated, $80,000 in nine months is over $106,000 a year.
They get paid with little regard to performance, more to do with seniority and union scale.
As members of one of the strongest unions, they cannot be fired. They essentially have a job for life.
==As I pointed out in my post, that is not true for all teachers. In my area, teachers generally start out making around 25,000 per year. Most make around 30,000 (or a bit more) per year.
As for working nine months, that is true (though year-round schools are more common now). However they do not get vacations (etc) throughout the year (as private sector workers do). Also, many teachers spend the summer getting ready for the fall and others teach summer school to bring in extra money.
==Not all teachers are part of unions. In fact, none of the teachers in this area have a union. As for being paid based on performance, I'm never sure what that means. If a third grade teacher has 30 students and no assistant (due to Republican backed budget cuts) you can't expect the same results. Good education is going to require hiring more teachers to get rid of the 30 student third grades and hiring back the teacher's assistants. There is also the fact that not all students, and not all classes, can move at the same speed. So "good results" one year may not be the same as "good results" the next year. Anyone who is a teacher, at any level, will understand what I mean.
==Around here, teachers get laid off and let go every year. The turn over is high because of the poor pay and Republican backed budget cuts have resulted in lay offs.
My point? When it comes to education...not all states, districts are equal.
I have a B.A., and M.Ed., a +30, and about 21 hours of a doctorate in math education. I have 29 years of experience.
I make $49,500. I have reached the pinnacle of the pay scale. I'll never get another increase. Not one red cent.
I worked from July 3 to August 11 for free. I was told it was part of my duties. In fact, I worked until Sept 25 before I saw a paycheck.
The teachers who worked from June 1st to July 1st doing all of the technology inventory and textbook ordering/inventory didn't get paid either.
Those that believe our summers to be "free" are mistaken. And I can't think of too many people who would do what I do from August until May for that salary. And over half of the teachers at my school who work just as hard as I do are much younger than me. The get paid substantially less.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about my job. I love it.
Just giving you food for thought.
I make $49,500. I have reached the pinnacle of the pay scale. I'll never get another increase. Not one red cent.
I worked from July 3 to August 11 for free. I was told it was part of my duties. In fact, I worked until Sept 25 before I saw a paycheck.
The teachers who worked from June 1st to July 1st doing all of the technology inventory and textbook ordering/inventory didn't get paid either.
Those that believe our summers to be "free" are mistaken. And I can't think of too many people who would do what I do from August until May for that salary. And over half of the teachers at my school who work just as hard as I do are much younger than me. The get paid substantially less.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about my job. I love it.
Just giving you food for thought.
Yes, I shouldn't have painted everybody through the lens of the Minnesota school systems. My apologies.
I also have a friend that lives in New Jersey. The unions in these two states are incredibly powerful. Does anybody know how many states have unionized teachers?
Most of us aren't union. A lot of you seem to forget that. In fact, there is no such thing where I'm from.
Oh, and we are expected to work for free all the time and get less vacation than many professionals do. And, by the way, it's 10 months.
Excellent post. Many would be out in under 5 years. Actually, MOST are out in that time. There are few who can do our job well.