Posted on 05/31/2012 8:57:15 AM PDT by MichCapCon
As teachers in the same school district, Craig and Laura Beach have a combined 47 years at Rockford Public Schools.
According to the teachers’ union contract, the two would make a combined $140,000 a year working in a city where the median household income is $57,422.
Craig is a high school teacher with 23 years of experience and his wife Laura has 24 years of experience and is an elementary school teacher, according to what Craig Beach recently posted in his op-ed on MLive.
If the teaching couple retired with 25 years of experience, their combined pensions would be about $52,000 a year. The Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System will provide health care coverage into retirement as early as age 46 if they qualify.
Yet, Craig Beach is unhappy with the “scorn” his profession is allegedly feeling from the Republican Party as well as the compensation of teachers. He wrote that he and his wife are committed that their children not become teachers.
“... My wife and I are adamant that this will never be the heritage of our own three children,” he wrote. "For the first time in my service to our future leaders, I have come to the realization that I would never want my children to enter the education profession. My father, mother, sister, wife and I all have advanced college degrees. In total, the five of us have approximately 36 years of college. My children will use their college degrees for a profession that is not the target of scorn of the Republican Party.
"Would you encourage your son or daughter to devote an advanced college degree to this profession?" he wrote.
Tina Dupont, who has a Rockford mailing address and is a member of the Tea Party of West Michigan, said teachers are paid well and if they "love teaching, pay and benefits should be a secondary worry."
"Teachers today make more money than most of the parents who drop off their kids. They get many days off for Christmas, spring break, summer, etc. Most days they can leave with the children when the final bell rings and actually beat them home since they don’t have to ride the bus," DuPont said. "They‘ve not been paying much for the health care or retirement. … The rest of us have been doing this for years and paying for theirs. So now when the tax payer who pays his salary and benefits can no longer afford to be so generous, he has the gall to whine about it. What Mr. Beach does not realize [that] they ... also get more generous benefits than any I’ve ever seen in my or my husband’s career."
Rockford teachers were offered a health insurance plan with the school district paying 100 percent of the premium. That was changed in the latest contract that was effective Sept. 1, 2011 and teachers currently pay 18 percent of their health care premium.
A teacher with 24 years of service and a master's degree working at Rockford Public Schools earns $71,832 a year. A teacher at Rockford with 23 years of service with a master’s degree would make $70,189, according to the union contract. If a teacher worked 25 years and retired from Rockford, the annual pension would be an estimated $26,320. By contrast, in 2008, the median pension for the private sector was $7,584, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Beach didn’t respond to a request sent to his school email address seeking comment.
Can’t make up their minds. They want their kids to be doing things that Republicans absolutely adore? Why, if they’re Democrats?
The fact that any Homeschooler does, without years of specialized training (in such difficult subjects as decorating a bulletin board), without administration, without retirement or medical benefits - a BETTER job at teaching pupils than they do, does nothing but make them sputter and become enraged. Practically anyone can be a teacher - it's perhaps the easiest degree one can earn (with the possible exceptions for Art).
Shocker.
In the real world people point to their merits and accomplishments. They don't proudly brag about the number of years they've spent at college.
I ran into my kids’ retired Kindergarten teacher the other day (NY State). I believe she was a teacher for nearly 40 years. She had new BMW 535i - very nice.
Someone needs to tell this guy that a rectal thermometer has a lot of degrees.
But...but...I thought that “O” said making money and getting ahead is GREEDY!!!!????
LOL Terry. I must remember that.
“They’ve got more degrees than a rectal thermometer”
And don;t forget that 70k is for 185 days of work. 9 and 1/2 months of work and all they can do is bitch and moan and complain.
Frankly, it amazes me that educators, by and large, persist in thinking their ‘noble’ work ‘educating’ our children is somewhow laudible and worthy of unwarranted excess in compensation.
As far as I am concerned, the overwhelming mass of teachers in America today, especially in urban/city areas are nothing short of ideological government brain washers. They should be severely castigated (some say imprisoned), let alone be falsely rewarded.
I know a rural town with a population of 600. It has an elementary school. Principal makes over $60,000/yr and his teacher-wife makes over $40,000/yr. Most public schools have to publish salary and other expenditure details. Not enough people pay attention.
This is an odd statement, straight from the socialist handbook.
Teachers used to be paid far less, schools had far less money and yet students were far better educated. Now money is poured into schools from every direction- yet there never seems to be any money available and students are mostly poorly educated. All that money is going somewhere!!
Teaching should be a very respected profession and at one time it was. There are still great teachers out there, and their complaint is they are not allowed to teach. Many teachers are simply shilling for the liberals, trying to brain wash students instead of teaching.
I don’t know the answer, but likely the only real solution is to gut education and start over. We sure cannot allow those in charge now to be in charge of any reform though so they must go.
Must be nice to have a career for 25 years and be able to retire with that type of pension. I know, I have 2 teachers in my family. I keep my mouth shut, but I don’t think they should complain about anything. What a racket!
Take that 25 years and deduct all of the days they have off and it may account for actually 17 years of service. This is a guess, but I’m sure it’s close. Imagine getting a huge pension at such a young age and never having to work again in your life? Pathetic!
Plus, their pension is worth over a million dollars at age 50 at that rate.
So, they amassed a million dollars in 25 years on the side, thanks to the tax payers. This puts their working compensation package to well over 200K.
What is there about teaching that would require a master’s degree?
Oh, I see. It's a political advertisement, not a news story. :)
“Teachers used to be paid far less, schools had far less money and yet students were far better educated. Now money is poured into schools from every direction- yet there never seems to be any money available and students are mostly poorly educated. All that money is going somewhere!!
Teaching should be a very respected profession and at one time it was. There are still great teachers out there, and their complaint is they are not allowed to teach. Many teachers are simply shilling for the liberals, trying to brain wash students instead of teaching.
I don’t know the answer, but likely the only real solution is to gut education and start over. We sure cannot allow those in charge now to be in charge of any reform though so they must go. “
***************
Public education should be a priviledge and not a right. If kids had to qualify to attend and troublemakers expelled a lot more learning and a lot less social engineering would be occurring for a lot less money.
Keeping liberals out of the schools? GOOD!
Some people are lousy (graphical) artists. I was such an unfortunate. Art isn’t easier unless you gots the talent.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.