Posted on 06/17/2006 5:15:15 AM PDT by wintertime
One of the ongoing controversies in the public schools is the issue of teacher salaries. Teachers largely claim they are too low while taxpayers are equally vehement that they are more than adequate.
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Then there are the actual salary levels. Statistics in 2005 showed the average teacher salary in the nation was $46,762, ranging from a low of $33,236 in South Dakota to $57,337 in Connecticut. Even this ignores the additional compensation teachers receive as fringe benefits, which may add an additional 33% or more to the costs, primarily for very good retirement and health coverage plans. Further, averages include starting teacher salaries, which may begin at $30,000 or less, which teachers gladly mention, but ignore the high salaries of career teachers at or near the maximum on their salary schedule, important because retirement pensions are often based on the best three or so years.
(snip)
Last year, the New York State Department of Education issued a study that reported maximum teacher salaries in that state of $100,000 or more and median salaries as high as $98,000 per year. That is, there were districts, in Westchester County for example, where half of the teachers earned more than $98,000 a year.
A novel approach a few years ago by Michael Antonucci, director of the Education Intelligence Agency in California, compared teachers average salaries to average salaries all workers state by state. First prize went to Pennsylvania where the teachers received 62.5% more than the average employee. That difference is even greater when it is further considered that teachers average a 185 day work year while most workers put in 235.
(snip) Women who had been educators were 7.4% of the total deceased that year but 20.6% of them, nearly three times the statistical expectation were among the affluent few. Former male educators didn't do quite as well but even they were represented among the wealthy decedents by a ratio nearly 1.5 times the anticipated numerical ratio.
When I was growing up teachers who were the only wage earner in the house had to find summer work to make ends meet too. That's when teacher salaries were more comparable to their fellow citizens. That's not the case today for the most part. Starting salaries may be low in some areas, but the increase over time, along with the job security more than makes up for that.
So don't tell me they have it made.
Moose as far as your sister making $70,000 in Southern California she should get double that for risking her life to teach there.
LOL-I know exactly what you mean.
The 'aide' I had this year, kept a notebook and did all of the activities my kids did-it was like I had another student in my class-eyeroll! I had to remind her to go sit with the students she was SUPPOSED to be aiding!! Sad isn't it?
What makes me furious is that there are lots of kids who are performing way below grade level. These kids do not have a disability. They have parents that don't speak English because they come here illegally from Mexico or they are poor and qualify for Title 1 funding help.
My daughter has severe brain damage, and the district will not provide a research-based multi-sensory reading program for her. The reading program that we are going to pay for only cost $1440 for the entire year. It's not like it is a program that cost $50,000.
I might add that the parents of the kids who are getting help do not pay taxes, and my husband and I pay tons of taxes. In fact, if we could get credit on our taxes for my daughters education then we could easily afford private school.
Yes.
See my http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1651012/posts?page=173#173
and also #174
Perhaps there is some game playing with terminology or definitions in order to maximize or minimize some percentage.
The neuropsychologist that just tested my daughter said the district is using a very strict definition of the law.
A lawyer thinks we could win a lawsuit to get the district to pay for the private school. We are going to do some more research about that.
Your experience not withstanding, teacher absenteeism runs rampant. These coddled overpaid union members are not content with their mere 185 work days per year, leisure enough to make a Frenchman envious. Nay, they add in absent days. They aren't feeling well, you see, especially on Mondays and Fridays.
From an Indiana publication:
An average of 8.5 percent of IPS teachers were absent from class each day last school year, according to a Star Editorial Board analysis of school district data. That's higher than the average teacher absentee rates for school systems in Seattle, St. Paul, Omaha and Minneapolis -- all of which have slightly larger student populations. Private sector firms experience a 2.4 percent average absentee rate.
IPS' average of 11 days absent per teacher is higher than all the districts surveyed except for Minneapolis. The absenteeism is especially astounding considering the built-in time off that comes with teaching.
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Most teachers here make much less than that. I think you could make that much in my state if you have a doctorate degree and have been teaching 20 years or more.
Of course, it's possible to buy a nice house with a good-sized yard, in a nice neighborhood, for under $150,000 here - in fact, way under if you're in the right place and look around a bit.
Technically, if a school system cannot provide an adequate education for your child, they are required to pay for one! However "adequate" is a very loose term.
I have a good friend whose grandson is severely autistic-these parents went after the schools bigtime and the child was placed in a private school and from what I understand will be attending public school for the first time in the fall-4th grade-after making enormous gains. We'll see how that goes but you better believe that these parents and grandparents will be right on it!
They don't get 2 weeks off for Christmas, a week for Spring Break and almost a week for Thanksgiving?
Sounds as if you've cited the district with the highest absentee rate in the nation, and it's still less than the 15 days per year you stated in post 19.
I live in Texas, so what I'm saying may not apply to your situation at all. One of the things that teachers have to do here in Texas is "differentiate" the material to be learned according to the needs of the students. If your daughter were here, her teacher would be expected to incorporate into her regular education reading, at least to some extent, the multi-sensory approach that you mentioned, since that is a way that she can learn. I teach high school Spanish at the middle school level, and my teaching set includes multisensory learning activities for students who will benefit from them. It's not that complicated, and the resources are out there.
They aren't just overpaid, they are EXTREMELY overpaid! Luckily we are only supporting 565 of them, plus 100 Senators. Of course, then there is the staff. But apparently they aren't required to pay minimum wage so there may be some offsetting savings there...
Yes they are, & I am in PA. The teacher's retirement system rolls into the state system. I was merely stating that I changed careers.
Teachers are definitely overcompensated for the lousy job they are dong in most big city districts, where half the kids drop out before HS graduation, and the other half graduate not knowing how to read, write, or calculate.
If you need any proof that teachers have a great retirement (at taxpayers expense), just go and look at the cars in the parking lot at any Retired Teachers' Convention! All the latest and most expensive models of Lexuses, Caddies, Lincoln Town Cars, etc.
What folks don't realize is that the free market for teachers is now mitigated by unions, etc. Remove the job security etc., leave it open to the free market and you'll see a huge migration of the most qualified teachers going to those school districts that can pay them the most. All the loser teachers will take the worst paying jobs.
State College PA. Average household income $54,000/yr. Average home value $150,000. Average school property tax $2400/yr, plus the nuisance taxes for extra school money. School tax increases of about 5% a year for the last 15 years to pay for teacher contracts with average 6%/year increases, and replacement of 80% of the buildings. Can't have our children being educated in buildings that are over 30 years old...
I think we can disagree with the NEA without bashing teachers personally.
You sound a little jealous. Failed to get into the College of Education, huh?
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