Posted on 07/14/2012 6:43:23 PM PDT by maggiesnotebook
What does it take to make our nation's "teachers," 'supposedly' some of the most intelligent among us - those entrusted with the minds of our children - to face-down the Unions that are bankrupting our country financially and morally? The leaders of two of the largest Unions, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the National Education Association (NEA) are paid about $500,000 annually, each, while the average teacher's salary is $44,000. It's about Liberalism, Progressivism, Socialism, Buying Votes. That's the bottom line and it is ruining the American dream for our kids. Teachers, have you considered the Association of American Educator's (AAE).
Teachers across the country face pay freezes and possible layoffs, but the heads of the two biggest teachers unions saw their pay jump 20 percent last year, to nearly half a million dollars apiece.American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten's pay jumped to $407,323 between 2010 and 2011, while her counterpart at the National Education Association, Dennis Van Roekel, got a raise to $362,644. Factor in stipends and other paid expenses and Weingarten took in $493,859 and Van Roekel $460,060 for 2011.
The big salaries drew jeers from many educators and their advocates in the U.S., where the average nationwide salary for teachers is a scant $44,000 a year. By contrast, nearly 600 staffers at the NEA and AFT are raking in six-figure salaries, according to Association of American Educators Executive Director Gary Beckner.
“In terms of salaries, union executives rake in nearly 10 times the average household income and far more than any teacher," Beckner told FoxNews.com. “Are teachers or anyone in the private sector experiencing those increases in times of financial hardship?"
The American Federation of Teachers represents one million teachers and associated "educators." They are against vouchers and the right of parents to choose a school for their children. The AFT spent $1.5 Million on lobbying in 2011.
Remember Michelle Rhee, the pro-voucher D.C. Chancellor of Schools who lost her job after the AFT spent $1 Million to oust her employer, Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty? During Rhee's very short and effective term, she fired tenured, underperforming teachers and administrators and wanted increased pay for good performing teachers. Today, the man who took Fenty's job, "AFT's Million Dollar Man," Mayor Vincent Gray is called on to resign for his campaign tactics to get rid of Fenty.
AFT's $500-Million-Dollar-Woman, Randi Weingarten, says her organization has a "laser-like focus" on how to improve teaching, and have approved a "partnership" a British publisher, the times Educational Supplement, from which teachers can download worksheets and lesson plans. God only know what our children are taught - all sanctioned by the AFT.
Any vigilant parent who routinely checks their children's text books, won't have a clue what will show up in the classroom on any given day.
Middle School science teacher Ted Payne is a Republican. He and 70 other Republican teachers say they support the NEA and are reaching out to the GOP to achieve bipartisanship in developing education budgets. Take a look at this:
Several important accomplishments in the last legislative session would not have been possible without the help of Republican friends, said Van Roekel [NEA President], including blocking a proposal for a federal mandatory goal on teacher evaluation; stopping school voucher schemes from becoming a prominent part of the ESEA markup; and protecting personnel files from being made public.So the background of the teacher who molests a student and is receiving full pay, may be hidden from parents. Taxpayers pay the salaries, but have no right to know that deviants, tax cheats, thieves, non-functioning alcoholics and drug felons are in the classroom, and maybe sitting in a "rubber room" receiving full pay and benefits for years and years:
Remember when the American Federation of Teachers HIRED ACORN!...For those that are not familiar with the Association of American Educator’s (AAE) AAE, they are a non-partisan, non-union alternative to the National Education Association. It is our opinion that the AAE is the organization for education professionals. The AAE offers dues that are $15 a month, no donations to any political cause, and liability insurance that surpasses that provided by the NEA.
A question would be, why would any Teacher’s Unions, and especially the NEA, want to support an organization [ACORN] that helped a pimp and a prostitute with their plan to smuggle 13-year-old foreign girls into the country for prostitution, and hide the income they would make from the IRS. ~ Maggie's Notebook April 25, 2010You know. I know. Every public school in America is underfunded, because the majority of taxpayer funding goes to administration, rather than to the classroom. Every public school in America is ALWAYS underfunded - every year - all the time. We can NEVER provide enough money to America's schools. It is not possible because administrators steal the America dream from students.
One of the most revealing and important stories on education I've found on the web is this one. I hope you will take time to read it. Graphic courtesy of Merry Poppet.
I would think the teachers would learn. Their leaders will never support them.
Average teachers make 44 grand. That is awful. Boy you would think that they made a million according to some one here. By time you take out taxes, they are bringing home MAYBE 1500 every two weeks....not much to live on.
“$500,000 annually” Plus perks of course!
What teachers are paid is irrelevent to me. What they are doing to our kids with their far left, antichrist derangement is what matters.
Well I certainly agree with your post 100 percent.
The main thing you can do is push for 28 students per class room (instead of 17). That can’t read anyway and math is an unknown to these dummies. . That will reduce these baby sitting teachers by 12% state wide and save a billion dollars now wasted.
Then push for immunity from prosecution if the school uses certified disciplinarians with video and witnesses so we can swat these little hellions with no law suits and you will see improvement over night!!!
I do not think they make a million but they do pretty well in my area. Starting salary for a teacher in my local school district was $41,590 in 2008-09 school year. Per capita income for my county is around $23K and median family income is around $48K. $41,590 for a 23 year old just out of school is pretty good money especially considering they are being paid for working 9 months or so of the year.
Heck, where can I get a job for $60,000 doing nothing?
Playing that scenario out would result in shock and the kids not being able to do anything.
Trust me, my third grade teacher was evil and I received proof of it one day.
Maybe not much to live on, as you say, but my nephew just retired at 60 after 30 years as a high school teacher. His retirement is $84K per year, plus fully paid healthcare.
Forgot to add that the only reason his pension is so low (!!) is that he opted for the smaller amount so his wife will continue to receive it for her lifetime should he die first.
The root cause of the problem with education and the power the unions have is the single payer, socialized schooling system. We need to go back to a free market, capitalist system.
That would also go a long way toward reducing our nation’s debt problem. The single payer, socialized school system is one of the largest entitlement programs in the country.
The chances of going back to a capitalist are slim because the middle class and upper middle class are feeding at the trough. Like any entitlement, people don’t want to give up their government subsidy.
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