Posted on 10/02/2008 10:07:15 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
With jobs like mortgage broker, investment banker, stock analyst and others that once looked solid - and profitable - suddenly looking not so good in the wake of America's looming financial difficulties, a Daily News Special Report revealed what most of us already know despite heavy doses of conventional wisdom to the contrary:
Teachers and other school employees do pretty darn well. Especially if they work for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
According to information provided to the Daily News by the LAUSD, the average salary for teachers is $63,000 - not too shabby that.
But more than 8,500 teachers pull in between $70,000 and $80,000 a year. Nearly 2,000 make salaries between $80,000 and $100,000, with a very lucky (and likely very experienced) 331 enjoying more than $100,000 in annual salary.
And then there's a benefits package that would be the envy of any worker not in the public sector. Medical, dental, pension - let's just say that anybody who puts in their time at the LAUSD won't be uncomfortable in their golden years.
Wait - there's more!
Let's say you enjoy management and administration. You know, running things? In the LAUSD, those valued employees even have their own administrators union. And it has 2,600 members. That's where the $100,000 Club really lives. According to our data, about 2,400 of these administrators top the $100,000 mark.
We're not denying that at least some of them are worth it. Maybe more than some. Or not. Who knows what's really going on at L.A. Unified? Nobody's calling the district a nationwide model of academic performance or educational innovation. Fiscal prudence? Will anybody make that case?
Even though administrators make more - often much more - than the classroom teachers they manage, it's pretty clear that the LAUSD is a great place to work if pay and benefits are important to you.
So kids, if you learn anything from your time in the classroom, remember that you could do a lot worse than toiling in the nation's second-largest school district.
Now that all this salary data is out in the open and under the light for all of us to see, it's up to Superintendent David Brewer III and his deep administrative bench to make the case for how much money is spent on salaries and how much goes for everything else.
And with a payroll like that, we can, should and will expect a whole lot less crying poor from the district itself - and a whole lot more for L.A.'s students.
Nevada teachers don't pay into Social Security, either.
My mother was a teacher from the early 70's to the late 90's. With her pension, I calculated that her annual pay was about $65K/year.
There's another silver lining to an extreme economic downturn - once those in the private sector ponder how much longer we're gonna have to work in order to afford to live while the public sector looks forward to 100% pensions, free medical & dental and generally a care-free retirement.
One of my wife’s co-workers at the school she teaches at use to teach in LA. She said that there is a very high pay for substitute teachers because they were at high risk for being shot.
A couple of years ago, I participated in a pilot program for the LAUSD whereby 1,000 retired professionals would be prepared to teach in the system. I have been a professional business manager all of my working career and I must say that the LAUSD is the worst run organization I have ever seen. I quit because the whole experience was a total waste of my time. The headquarters building is 24 floors full of the laziest fat do-nothing stupid unemployables you could imagine. Over 95% of the students are illegal aliens and over 80% of those never graduate high school. The system is a total failure and most of the teachers are totally incompetent...what a friggin’ cesspool of wasted money!
that’s more than double what teachers make in rural southern Ohio.
It’s always the case that salaries in high-cost areas look good to low cost areas.
At the same time, I’m betting that a house in LA costs twice what it does in rural southern Ohio.
You can get a 3500 square foot house out here for 200 grand or less. And it’s quiet, no traffic jams, and violent crime is very low.
I hear ya. it’s a mess.
CA: LAUSD administration swells 20 percent from 2001 to 2007
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2093685/posts
So? Teachers are not able to draw their spouse's social security after they die, so the government saves whatever payments the would be paying after that.
So...? Why can’t I opt to not pay into social security and start my own retirement plan?
Every job has good and bad benefits.....
Pittsburgh and some suburban Pittsburgh area teachers have negotiated similar pay packages.
With a bachelor's in accounting and a proven 117KPM, Access & Excel certified, on and on, they sat me down to a 386 whose processor I was constantly outrunning. The "MIS" guy came up to see what was the problem. Do you know what he said? He said, "you're gonna have to slow down". Then, oh then, my BOSS, the FINANCIAL DIRECTOR said when I requested a faster computer "some of us may not be as good on the computer, but we've been here longer and will get the first new ones". Yessir! Let's give these overweight jobsquaters a big hand! I just left. I couldn't take it. They actually had a bunch of IBM cards in one drawer (whimper).... I never dared to ask why.
Why should a spouse who has never worked a day in their life be eligible for S.S. widow's benefits and not teachers?
You mentioned your mother was a teacher for nearly thirty years & ended up making $65k a year. Look how long it took her to make that, that's chump change in the private sector for that much experience. Do you think your mother was worth her salary?
I was a cop for LAUSD for 6 years. I have worked at all sorts of schools in the inner city (Jefferson, Fremont, Dorsey, Locke, Washington, etc.). I never took a report, let alone handled a call involving a sub being harassed or assaulted/battered— or shot. There are a few obnoxious kids who make it nearly impossible to teach in some of those schools, though.
The subs are paid well, though. Around $200/day. Higher for long-term subs. I would imagine that the market demands a higher pay rate because there is such a huge number of subs needed on a daily basis, and the obnoxious kid factor. The last school where I worked had subs there that were there every day. High pay, and no responsibility for lesson planning— unless they were in a long-term slot. Then they’re paid an extra $30 or so per day. Many of the subs are retired teachers getting their pension on top of their sub pay.
$200 per day (6 hours of work) for 180 days— $36000 per year. Plus summer school, too.
Now...these same jobs have benefits AND pay that many times far exceed what is available in the private sector.
When government employed people start to exceed the numbers in the private work-force...we will have a very large problem. In many states the state is the 2nd to 4th largest employer. That's a problem...that many can appreciate the potential consequences of.
Before everyone goes off the deep about how overpaid teachers are, just remember the fat cats in D.C. are about to bail the idiots on Wall Street who ran their businesses into the ground & make more in a month than a teacher will ever see.
when I was in college many years ago - it was common knowledge that a job as a janitor for Los Angeles Unified School District was a great job for students and breadwinners as well...the shift began at 3pm and by the time the school principal left at 4pm you could have the entire school almost clean. The younger guys would then pull out books and study while the old-timers would take off for their real jobs elsewhere then return ~11pm to clock out...I have no reason to think anything has changed in the last 30 years
...but enough about the angry taxpayers finding out how much a teacher makes for working only 9 months of the year...
The rush for the exits would be a stampede. I'll be 53 next month, and I'd gladly sign away 100% of my purported SS benefits (which I know I won't get anyway) for the chance to have JUST my 7.65% stuffed into my 401K on top of the money I already contribute to it! I'm not even going to ask for the 7.65% my employer is extorted for.
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