So are our teachers really overpaid?

Star Newspapers (Chicago) ^ | Sunday, February 8, 2004 | Tom Houlihan

[Chi-townChief]

"An analysis of salaries and add-on payments in 13 south suburban high school districts shows that 275 teachers in our area were paid in excess of $100,000 during the 2002-2003 academic year."

YEOWWW!! Nothing against teachers but, as they say, maybe we're in the wrong business.

[Chi-townChief]

CHICAGOLAND PING

[chris1]

Public Sector employment is nowhere near the charity is used to be. In my area NY metro area, Cops, Teachers, Public Sector employees make a killing and do not work that hard. They talk mostly about pensions, days off, overtime, sick time, family medical leave, accumulated vacation days, etc. Being a self employed person, it makes me want to vomit.

[leprechaun9]

Whenever I hear this often posed question, I ask the questioner to define EDUCATION in 25 words or less!

I invite all to participate!

[mikeb704]

Salaries, by teacher and district, are available for Illinois public schools at thechampion.org.

Michael M. Bates: My Side of the Swamp

[John Jorsett]

It is a system that does not differentiate between a teacher who is outstanding and one who is less than inspirational. If someone wants to come up with a workable plan to reward only the "good" teachers, I'd be more than interested to hear about it.

Vouchers. If a teacher stinks, the parents will pressure the school to get a better one, or will yank their kids out and take them to a different school. The "good" teachers will be rewarded with higher salaries and the "bad" ones will be paid less or shown the door.

[John Jorsett]

It is a system that does not differentiate between a teacher who is outstanding and one who is less than inspirational. If someone wants to come up with a workable plan to reward only the "good" teachers, I'd be more than interested to hear about it.

Vouchers. If a teacher stinks, the parents will pressure the school to get a better one, or will yank their kids out and take them to a different school. The "good" teachers will be rewarded with higher salaries and the "bad" ones will be paid less or shown the door.

[Rodney King]

1. The act or process of educating or being educated.

2. The knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process.

3. A program of instruction of a specified kind or level: driver education; a college education.

4. The field of study that is concerned with the pedagogy of teaching and learning.

5. An instructive or enlightening experience: Her work in the inner city was a real education.

Wasn't that hard. (thanks to dictionary.com)

[RWR8189]

I live in Schaumburg, and our high school district is apparently the most highly paid in the state averaging about $80,000.

And I really don't mind this. We have had nothing but good experiences with our two sons, and the teachers were always willing to come in early and stay late to make sure they understood the material.

I might feel differently if it was not for my experiences, but I feel they are well worth it.

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

An analysis of salaries and add-on payments in 13 south suburban high school districts shows that 275 teachers in our area were paid in excess of $100,000 during the 2002-2003 academic year.

And I make a quarter of that now, and my salary (after 30 years of service) will be capped at less than half of that. This with a MA.

Not that I'm complaining, because I turned down jobs offering a lot more in order to teach (I could have had several jobs in IT). But what you are seeing here is the influence of the unions on teaching. The jerk-off who has molded at his desk for 25 years makes lots of cash, while those of us who give a damn make far less simply because we haven't been a teacher as long. If you want to reform teacher salaries, make every state a Right-to-Work state and get rid of seniority-based pay scales.

Teaching is either the hardest or easiest job in the world... depending on whether or not you care...

[Elliott Jackalope]

Consider that nowadays, thanks to globalism, offshoring and outsourcing, that a person with an electrical engineering degree is considered to be worth $10k a year, then yes, I would say that teachers are very overpaid.

Let's start using H1-b and L1-b workers to teach at public schools, and then we could reduce property taxes for all of us who pay for the public schools.

Fair's fair, right? What's good for hi-tech is certainly good for public education.

[Porterville]

That is an extreme. Right now I am working on my student teaching, volunteering 17 1/2 hours per week... I'll probably get paid about 45-60 g's when I land my first salaried job. I have a lot of degrees, but I can't teach without a cert.

[aimhigh]

The simple answer, of course, is that we all are paid according to what the market will bear.

Hogwash. When it comes to government elected officials, confiscatory taxes, and teachers unions, the market is not a part of the equation.

[Porterville]

Do you have any idea how hard it is to become a teacher these days??? Look into it.

[jwalburg]

Teaching is either the hardest or easiest job in the world... depending on whether or not you care...

I agree with this. I have several relatives who teach. Those who care put in long days, make sure they know each child well and go beyond the classroom to help, spend their own money and time when needed.

My sister-in-law, however, is a principal's worst nightmare. She is a union loudmouth, demanding this and that. She can't spell at all. She does very little.

She uses sick leave constantly. They can't fire her because she's got tenure and they are afraid of her. Her school sees new principals every couple of years, I'm sure because she makes their lives miserable.

They keep trying to move her to jobs she hates to get rid of her, but since she's "sick" all the time and doesn't really care, it doesn't do any good. I'm sure she pulls in a good salary, too.

[Ophiucus]

YEOWWW!! Nothing against teachers but, as they say, maybe we're in the wrong business.

If you're in a wealthier suburb, sure. Go further south in the state and you'll change your mind.

[Mannaggia l'America]

When it comes to government elected officials, confiscatory taxes, and teachers unions, the market is not a part of the equation.

And there is no penalty for not being one of the "good" teachers the article mentioned. Salary increases are based on credits/degrees received and time served.

[OldEagle]

The problem with the high cost of public education is not the cost of teachers. It is the cost of administrators who add nothing to the quality of classroom education.

[BIGZ]

Taxpayers who earn over $125,000 are in the top ten percent of taxpayers in the country and are considered the wealthy. The top ten percent of taxpyers pay over 50% of all taxes. I have heard no politician explain how we can have teachers that are almost wealthy.

Can't be, not possible, I have heard Kerry and the rest speak about teachers. Teachers do not belong to the privleged class as Kerry would say but since he has come up the hard way and groveled with the rest of us he should know.

[BIGZ]

PS to my last post.

Most teachers can opt out of Social Security and put their retirement plan in a PRIVATE SYSTEM, how much is that worth and it defered income until they retire.

Why can't I put my money into a PRIVATE PLAN?