Teachers Substandard Pay - Solution

[Simulacrum]

I don't agree 50k is enough.

50k/year is a huge amount of money. These days I've consciously downgraded to 40k, more being totally unnecessary, and I still save half my earnings yearly, without even cohabitating, which would further reduce the economic strain. If you can't get by on 50k then unless you've been cursed by god to carry some horrible disease that eats away all your money then you probably have yourself to blame.

[Crissi]

50k/year is a huge amount of money. These days I've consciously downgraded to 40k, more being totally unnecessary, and I still save half my earnings yearly, without even cohabitating, which would further reduce the economic strain. If you can't get by on 50k then unless you've been cursed by god to carry some horrible disease that eats away all your money then you probably have yourself to blame.

Depends on where you live. Big cities, especially in states like NY, that's not going to go far.

I dont get why people keep forgetting there are plenty of places in the US with high CoL.

[nymphetsss]

lol 40k starting for working 8 months a year , the real question is how do we stop their whining and greed

[Azarak]

If they worked the entire year and didnt get weeks off for every holiday then maybe they could get paid more. Only working 180 days out of the year is hardly a job the deserves crazy pay.

[Tico]

Another sign that we need unconditional basic income.

[Crissi]

lol 40k starting for working 8 months a year , the real question is how do we stop their whining and greed

There arent a whole lot of GOOD teachers that work 8 months a year.

Lazy teachers, sure, but good ones trian / grade / summer school / plan during the off time.

Not to mention we have rela life examples of teachers fleeing states that pay poorly. See: Oklahoma. The result is recution in school days, which directly impact parents. Pay for talent or suffer.

[Rasulis]

Yes, if it were up to me, I'd get rid of all publicly-funded pensions. Congressmen often get it, even after a single term. If you look at PA state police, they get like 90% of their max salary (average of highest 3 years), and they get to include overtime pay.

The military is just more noticeable, because I was in, and I saw guys start collecting 50% pay before their 40th birthdays. Many military retirees will make more in retirement (as a total), than they did their entire careers.

You need 20 years in the military to get 50% of your final pay or highest 36 months. If you stay more than 20 years, you get 2.5% extra for each additional year. So if you join at 17, you can retire at 37 with 50% pay. It was one of the best retirement system out there. At least before they switched to the BRS system. The BRS system is actually pretty good also. If you know how to maximize it, you can actually make almost 30% more in retirement. Your annuity is reduced from 2.5% to 2%, but you have a Thrift Saving Plan which the government will match up your contribution up to 5% of basic pay.

Then you have continuation pay. When you reach 12 years of service and commit to 4 more years of service you will be eligible for a cash incentive of 2.5 to 13 times your regular monthly basic pay if you are active duty and 0.5 to 6 times you monthly basic pay if you are in the reserves. I think each time you commit to another 4 more years of service after that, you get that cash incentive again.

Retirement system don't get much better than that.

[Deletedaccount1]

Teachers' unions are not willing to be honest in this debate. They do not acknowledge things like the fact that teachers only have 180-190 work days, the detriment that a single salary schedule has on newcomers, the fact that teachers have short work days, more time off, higher pensions, earlier retirement, etc.

The simplest solution is to cut funding in other areas to increase wages. PE classes, art classes, extracurriculars, etc. That is (arguably) bad for students and they get nothing in return for higher teacher wages.

I think a better solution here is to put in place a voucher system to replace public schools so private schools who do not put barriers on entering teaching become the norm. Also make collective bargaining illegal. Encouraging unschooling would be wise as well and I think there is a good case for a K-12 curriculum that can be completed online which many parents would be interested in. Colleges are now becoming far more dependent on the internet and I think it is time that K-12 catches up with the times.

[Theodarzna]

Fuck no. Teacher salaries fit median wages for their respective states. That seems fair enough for me.

Heaven forbid the people we use as surrogate parents, babysitters, security guards, child psychologists, and nutritionists get paid for the legion of jobs you lot expect to raise your children for you.

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There arent a whole lot of GOOD teachers that work 8 months a year.

Lazy teachers, sure, but good ones trian / grade / summer school / plan during the off time.

Not to mention we have rela life examples of teachers fleeing states that pay poorly. See: Oklahoma. The result is recution in school days, which directly impact parents. Pay for talent or suffer.

People who aren't teachers assume it's like their retail job. You clock in, clock out and that's it. Teaching basically eats up your entire life with lesson plans and grading and other shit that we do unpaid and often getting out of pocket supplies to watch over and be surrogate parents to Americas children.

[Ashetaka]

Teachers' unions are not willing to be honest in this debate. They do not acknowledge things like the fact that teachers only have 180-190 work days, the detriment that a single salary schedule has on newcomers, the fact that teachers have short work days, more time off, higher pensions, earlier retirement, etc.

The simplest solution is to cut funding in other areas to increase wages. PE classes, art classes, extracurriculars, etc. That is (arguably) bad for students and they get nothing in return for higher teacher wages.

I think a better solution here is to put in place a voucher system to replace public schools so private schools who do not put barriers on entering teaching become the norm. Also make collective bargaining illegal. Encouraging unschooling would be wise as well and I think there is a good case for a K-12 curriculum that can be completed online which many parents would be interested in. Colleges are now becoming far more dependent on the internet and I think it is time that K-12 catches up with the times.

What in the world are you talking about? I have to work for 32 years to get my full retirement benefit. That restarts if I EVER change districts. Also, I can never apply for social security even though I still have to pay into the system. Short work days? Are you high? Do you seriously not understand that my work day doesn't end at 3:30 when the bell rings? I just don't get paid for it. 180-190 days? Where did you get that number? That's the requirement for students, not teachers. We work far more days than that, almost always uncompensated like the 14 days last summer I gave up traveling around the state for professional development. That's not counting the week of professional development I had to do in committee. None of this is about preparing my OWN curriculum for the next year.

My god, your solutions would turn the U.S. into a third world banana republic. It never surprises me that the anti-education party has the worst schools in the country. And did you literally just cite a blog? The trumped up graph literally drew a trend line on uncorrelated data. Unbelievable.

[cubby]

50k/year is a huge amount of money. These days I've consciously downgraded to 40k, more being totally unnecessary, and I still save half my earnings yearly, without even cohabitating, which would further reduce the economic strain. If you can't get by on 50k then unless you've been cursed by god to carry some horrible disease that eats away all your money then you probably have yourself to blame.

50k isn't a huge amount of money, whatsoever. Considering the time, effort, and student loan debt teachers put in and have, not to mention that many are also trying to raise families and save for retirement, 50k would be the bottom threshold I would accept for pay. 100k is much better for what they do and what we expect.

Maybe don't lead with so much attack rhetoric, and instead let's discuss numbers. Rent/mort, student loans, kids, etc.

Also, no sarcasm, and sincere admiration - well done on consciously tightening up to 40k. We're going to hire you to teach the money management course to the teachers. Again, no joking, being serious here.

[Celista]

I'm fully supportive of supporting teachers but we should also be supporting individuals such as child care workers and social workers, who make even less than what teachers do. And social workers have even more education, typically have a master's degree which is required for practice.

[Rasulis]

I thought that’s what grandparents are for?

All kidding aside, considering the long hours, the level of education required (more than 60% have Master’s degree), their critical role in society (educating the next generation), and the difficulty (I rather herd cats than deal with a bunch of angst-ridden teenagers), they are severely underpaid.

[nymphetsss]

There arent a whole lot of GOOD teachers that work 8 months a year.

Lazy teachers, sure, but good ones trian / grade / summer school / plan during the off time.

Not to mention we have rela life examples of teachers fleeing states that pay poorly. See: Oklahoma. The result is recution in school days, which directly impact parents. Pay for talent or suffer.

Well parents should have to pay more directly then for their kids education if they are so concerned. Im tired of paying for others peoples mistakes

[ToZion]

Also, think about the teachers who don't get paid much working in poor areas where parents don't care and students care even less. I urge people to at least once observe for a day at a school in a low income area. I guarantee you'd appreciate what you have more than you do.

[cubby]

Teachers' unions are not willing to be honest in this debate. They do not acknowledge things like the fact that teachers only have 180-190 work days, the detriment that a single salary schedule has on newcomers, the fact that teachers have short work days, more time off, higher pensions, earlier retirement, etc.

The simplest solution is to cut funding in other areas to increase wages. PE classes, art classes, extracurriculars, etc. That is (arguably) bad for students and they get nothing in return for higher teacher wages.

I think a better solution here is to put in place a voucher system to replace public schools so private schools who do not put barriers on entering teaching become the norm. Also make collective bargaining illegal. Encouraging unschooling would be wise as well and I think there is a good case for a K-12 curriculum that can be completed online which many parents would be interested in. Colleges are now becoming far more dependent on the internet and I think it is time that K-12 catches up with the times.

No, no, and no. Your information about teachers is wrong. Cutting other school programs as the solution is wrong. And charter schools is a horrific idea.

[Crissi]

Well parents should have to pay more directly then for their kids education if they are so concerned. Im tired of paying for others peoples mistakes

This is basically how every tax works, not just property tax. Chances are i dont use a lot of stuff taxes pay for you, but you dont hear me complaining.

[WintersLegion]

If you think teachers are overpaid, you're part of the problem. They get terrible health insurance that comes off as a percentage of their check while still having huge co-pays, they get zero dental options, they get overworked both during paid hours and during those "days off" where "days off" aren't actually "days off". They're told if they don't put in a ton of extra time outside of paid hours that they'll be fired(including, but not limited to: school events, forced to work on lesson plans during the weekend[and don't you dare say they have a planning period because they don't], staying after hours for unpaid meetings, forced in-services during 'days off').

The average starting pay for a teacher is $38,617. You can make that without a college degree at other jobs. Teachers teach the future of America, and the government is overworking them and bleeding out the passion they have.

You forgot having to buy school supplies for projects in their class with their own money.

[cubby]

Also, think about the teachers who don't get paid much working in poor areas where parents don't care and students care even less. I urge people to at least once observe for a day at a school in a low income area. I guarantee you'd appreciate what you have more than you do.

Agreed. Those schools need to be rebuilt and staffed with the very best. Make public schools palaces of learning and growing. I weep for what we could have done in this country.

[Worvon]

Red states, like my birth state of Arizona, will never increase teacher salaries or school funding. You have to keep the electorate stupid if you want to keep them voting republican.