Posted on 02/09/2010 6:51:17 AM PST by rhema
The state's largest teachers union, which stood against Minnesota's application for millions in federal "Race to the Top" funding, plans a 10-week TV ad campaign to push the Legislature for more funding. Don't cut schools to balance the budget, Education Minnesota will say.
But that plea leaves out important context, such as this from our side of the river:
1. During a deep recession, the union drives through $10 million worth of salary and benefit increases.
2. Which amounts to close to half of this year's operating deficit.
3. And then will be followed by TV ads urging the Legislature to spend more on schools.
4) In other words, to further subsidize raises for Education Minnesota members.
In the St. Paul district, teachers make up roughly half of the workforce. Their salary and benefit increases may be the pattern for the other 20-plus unions that make up the school district. It's not a stretch to posit that much of this year's operating deficit could be attributed to higher pay and benefits — during the deepest recession since the Great Depression.
If, like so many of their private-sector neighbors, the teachers union had taken a freeze while the state looks to close multi-billion-dollar budget holes, the rhetoric in the coming ad campaign might be harder to contest. Teachers do care about teaching, and children, after all, and many, just like many people in private business, go above and beyond in service to their profession. Instead, their union handed credibility over to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who got it right when he said this: "If they want to really help, they should have their settlement demands and their union demands be geared toward reform and student improvement rather than just always demanding more money without reform."
In our state, which is running a huge deficit the teachers were freaking out because they might take a hit but it looks like we are just going to raise taxes. That’ll work, huh?
So, how much will this 10-week ad campaign cost?
Take the Union money that would be spent on the ads and give back to the teachers - since they are so concerned.
Oh wait, I forgot it doesn’t work that way.....
Love it how the teacher’s union in their Minnesota commercials says how they’re interested in educating the children. They’re only interested in their paycheck. If we doubled their salaries would the students get better grades?
They’ve been at this already running ads for the past six months or so. I yell at the TV every time I see one.
As I recall when my wife was a school nurse, her union dues was almost $1,000 per year and that was many years ago. If Minnesota teachers need more money dropping their union membership would help. Unfortunately Minnesota doesn’t have a right to work law so teachers are compelled to join the union. Most school funding doesn’t pay actual teachers salaries but funds scores of school administrators. Maybe reducing administration would free up more money to pay those who actually teach.
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See “The Spreadsheet That the NEA Doesn’t Want You to See” at directorblue.blogspot.com/2010/02/spreadsheet-that-nea-doesnt-want-you-to.html
Looking at the line for Minysooota:
That state ranks number 20 in per pupil spending at $7,691.
Regarding how much teachers are paid...I believe there are large differences in salaries among different school districts. Knowing what my husband makes after 20 years of teaching, trust me, the high paid examples given in the media are not the norm for many teachers. Administrators have very generous salaries and it seems that there are more added all the time; most likely in order to implement the massive programs required by the federal and state Departments of Education. IMO, the DoE is a black hole where tons of money goes in and nothing good comes out.
Yes, I am able to stay home with our kids but it is due to the fact that my husband works one job from 4:30am - 6:30am, is at school from 7:30 - 4:30, then works a third job which goes until 6:30pm or midnight depending on what's needed. He's been averaging over 90 hours per week for the last two months. Our ‘good’ vehicle is 13 years old and the only new clothes the kids and I have had in the last two years are from garage sales. Even with his three jobs, we have qualified for certain welfare programs since 2000—we do not take part in that, it is not your responsibility to feed our children. We are content and are living the life we chose, I just want to dispell the myth that ALL teachers are overpaid and under worked.
Haven’t they stolen enough?
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Well, that list will be an affront to Education Minnesota. They won’t stop besieging the legislature until they’ve dragooned more than DC’s $13,187 per student.
when I went to school, the class sizes were huge....yet there was a high degree of sucess.....
keep on, friend...sounds like you guys are good people....take FR criticism with a grain of salt...we're just frustrated with the system...
Hey public school teachers.
Give me an H1B visa, and work out the paperwork, plus some for relocation and I’ll do your job for 20k a year.
Deal?
Oh and bonus, I actually speaka de English, and love America and her Constitution.
Well, that last sensibility is guaranteed to make you a tiny minority in many faculty lounges. In the United States of NEAdom, it’s OK that you love America, but not an America that actually swears fealty to its Constitution.
Well, I’m not yet an American so that makes it ok. :p
Seriously, suffering from ‘Constitution envy’ up here in the Frozen north with our so-called Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ugh.
I spent forty years as a teacher and I can tell you this: while no one can support a family on a teacher’s salary, as a result almost every teacher’s family is a two-income family. The result is that most of them are fairly well off. Furthermore one CAN support a family the typical administrator’s salary, which is now above six figures. In a local small school district in my area, the Superintendent was (rightly) applauded) for turning down a $10,000 a year salary increase. Of course he is already making $225,000 a year. This is almost four times what the best paid teacher in his district gets. No one should begrudge such a salary for what is after all a multi-million a year enterprise. On the other hand, it is higher than what the governor of Texas is paid and he does have three assistants to share the load.
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