Posted on 09/16/2013 2:31:16 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Seventy-four percent of Americans think teachers make less than they really do, according to a new poll from Rasmussen. The average teacher salary in America is $55,000 (upward of $75,000 in Chicago), but three quarters of Americans think teachers earn less than that.
Over half of Americans (52 percent) believe teachers are paid too little. Just 15 percent believe they are paid too much while 26 percent think teachers are paid the right amount.
In a related poll, just 26 percent of Americans give public schools positive marks.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Most people are taught that in school. They don’t know how much teachers are paid but they “know” that teachers are underpaid.
Not too shabby for a job with a 3 month vacation every year.
Compare that to a truck driver who might make $65,000 but only gets home for 18 to 24 hours every 3 weeks or more.
It’s administration (principal, AP, Dean, etc.) that are over-paid, not to mention the myriad assortment of “educators” in the “education” industry who draw a government salary merely by having an “education” degree and being registered Dems.
A survey was done in about 1990, when there was a rash of teacher strikes in Pennsylvania.
It was found that teachers made about the same as equivalently experienced and educated private sector employees, who worked twelve months a year compared to nine by teachers. Furthermore, the survey found that the benefit packages were worth twice that of equivalent private sector employees.
Become a football coach in Alabama or Georgia is the deal. Coaches around here in counties near the state lines, coach long enough in either state to earn their teachers pension and then retire and come over to the other state and start on another pension. Coaches can go for many years, 20 or so at both states and earn nice pensions.
The strongest force in America is teacher greed. When I hear one complain, I ask them if they would trade jobs with a caseworker at a welfare office.
“Underpaid” may have been an adjective that could have been applied in the 1980’s, but the contract then was to take the lower wage in exchange for a fast track to job security.
Once tenure was reached, it became practically impossible to dislodge a tenacious leech personality, regardless of degradation of teaching effectiveness. This made the demographic prime pickings for union organizing, whining about “poor pay”, and whipsawing various local school boards for more concessions and broader benefits, only one of which was “parity” in wages. Fact is, most of these “professionals” would have been bounced from one job to another for years before they would have settled into a comfortable position in terms of wages balanced against actual effort put in on the job.
The really poor teachers are “kicked upstairs” to a non-contact job in “administration”. And a raise in pay.
but its all part of them framing the dialog...
which is every time there's a teachers strike its because the teachers are practically slaves, not that they enjoy the most lucrative job in America as far as stability...never get fired...wages....benefits...pensions and of course, they're enormous amount of time off....weekends...holidays...curriculum days....extra days at holidays and the famed Christmas break and spring break....
If you average in the salaries of teaching nuns, it weighs down the whole average.
They are looking at the wrong statistic, the salary of public school teachers is the issue, not “teachers” in general.
Lolz @ the "non-contact."
Are there any teaching nuns left? Anywhere?
Everybody makes their choices. BTW after 17 years of teaching I don't make any where near that amount. But my wife and I decided we wanted to live in a rural area where the salaries are lower, but the quality of life is much better. This is the choice we made and I am not envious of others at all.
BTW that 3 months off is a myth. I spent 3 weeks as Assistant Principal for summer school and then 2 weeks taking a class so that my students could get dual enrollment credit at the local Community College. Most of my peers work summer jobs as well.
Everybody makes their choices. BTW after 17 years of teaching I don't make any where near that amount. But my wife and I decided we wanted to live in a rural area where the salaries are lower, but the quality of life is much better. This is the choice we made and I am not envious of others at all.
BTW that 3 months off is a myth. I spent 3 weeks as Assistant Principal for summer school and then 2 weeks taking a class so that my students could get dual enrollment credit at the local Community College. Most of my peers work summer jobs as well.
I’ve noticed they’ll complain that their three months off in summer, their winter break and spring break, plus numerous holidays, are “not enough” and they should get more time off...and they’ll make these complaints right in front of people who have to slave 50 weeks a year to get two lousy weeks off! When I told a teacher once that I only got two weeks’ vacation a year, she almost fainted. “That’s ALL?! Oh, my God! How do you STAND it! You should complain! That’s an outrage!” etc. I think they assume everybody gets as much time off as they do.
That’s why I point to truck drivers as an example of people who are underpaid. Not only are they away from home nearly all the time, they’re paying their living expenses while on the road plus all the bills they have at home.
Do you really expect intelligent people to buy into your comparison of teachers and truck drivers?? Truck drivers are not even required by states to have a high school diploma much less any college, college degree or teaching credential. Truck drivers chose to take jobs where they are gone from home for long periods they are not forced to take these jobs any more than teachers are forced to take teaching jobs in china. Yes there is a high demand for foreign English teachers in china.
Next do you expect us to believe truck drivers have as much responsibility as teachers. You might be able to point out the very rare exception to this but it is not the rule for the massive majority of truck drivers.
Are truck drivers required by the state issuing the license to take several extensive state administrated tests to demonstrate their knowledge of Math, English, History, and an assortment of other subjects? Are truck drivers required by the states to go through two semesters of "student truck driving," under the supervision of two qualified professionals? No they are not.
Three months off in the summer? Again the facts and truth do not support this statement. Teachers are lucky to have 10 weeks off, it is usually more like 8 of 9 weeks. Many teachers use this "off time" to complete ongoing required continuing ed classes. I guess you just didn't know about those requirements.
This is an invalid comparison only bought into by people who are truly ignorant of what it takes to become a professional educator. You can be a truck driver in about 6 weeks at many truck driving schools. In this state it takes most teachers 5-6 years of college to become a teacher.
This post is a joke. Just watch the personal attacks come out when disinformation and invalid comparisons do not work.
I have relatives who are teachers, most could not hack it in the real world.
And two weeks at Christmas - a week for spring break- and a bunch of 'work' days... AND the job is six hours a day NOT 8... (yeah I know some teachers put in 50 hours a week, but there's a lot more that stay with 30 to 35 hours a week...
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