Posted on 07/15/2004 12:49:38 AM PDT by kattracks
July 15, 2004 -- WASHINGTON — Teachers were paid an average of $45,771 last year, a figure not keeping pace with educators' expenses, says a union survey. One union official called the situation "insulting."The typical teacher's salary went up 3.3 percent in 2002-03, the last year for which figures are available, according to a report by the American Federation of Teachers.
The pay range varies significantly by state, accounting for differences in costs of living and the way salary packages are set up.
California paid the highest average salary: $55,693. South Dakota had the lowest: $32,414.
New York teachers were paid $53,017, New Jersey's were paid $53,872 and Connecticut's, $53,962.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Stop spending so much.....dumbasses
If teachers want better pay, they need to provide a better service, and the education system needs to be less wasteful. They need to join us in calling for School Choice. Then, hard work will be rewarded through market forces, while bad work will be punished through market forces.
We sure don't get what we pay for.
The only thing insulting here is the miserable job that these "teachers" are doing for America's youth.
Another hate teacher thread when it's the unions and politicians the sh!t talkers hate... public education, what can you do?
I disagree, the only thing insulting is how crappy so many parents are in this nation.
You prove my point; you believe it is the schools who should raise the kids.... some would say that's pathetic... I happen to be one of those.
Privatize all schools.
The $45,771 is for nine months' work. At the same rate, that's just over $60,000 per year. Hardly slave labor rates.
LOL If I made some of that money I'd think I was in fat city. They want to see "insulting" payscales, they should travel across downsized America.
Not to mention numerous vacation days off during the school year, and teacher conference/organizing days, which amount to nothing. I vote for firing the incompetent teachers (about 50%), and doubling the pay of the remaining 50%. Class size would double, but my elementary school classes were 45 to 50 kids (1959-67), so I don't see any reason why the teachers couldn't handle that many kids today - provided they were able to discipline the brats. It's a simple equation - double the wages for double the "work".
I think the move towards smaller class size arose from the need of the teachers unions to keep their members employed when the glut of Baby Boomers had run their course in the late 70's and the number of students declined.
I agree that the rate per hour is higher than the $45,000 total indicates, but relatively few teachers have a chance to teach summer classes, and when they do the extra pay is far less than $15,000. So a a good way to look at it is a job with annual pay of $45,000 but a very, very generous vacation allotment.
The article mentioned that new teachers make about 30k. That's not that much for a good worker. It's probably fair or even high for the quality of teachers that we get. It's hard to justify raising salaries because we end up just paying the same bunch of teachers more with no improvement in quality.
All this being said, there are benefits beyond the pay that make teaching attractive. My wife is currently looking at becoming a teacher. While this would most definitely be a pay cut for her, it is amazingly beneficial in regards to matching her schedule to that of our future children. The fact that her hours will correspond quite closely to theirs more than makes up for the reduced salary.
The real scandal is not the pay but the retirement. Most teachers here in Wisconsin will end up makingalmost as much in retirement as they do when they worked. Pretty nice little gig eh?
They're graduating kids that can't read, write, or add. Sure, some parents are to blame. But the schools and teachers themselves play a much bigger role.
Porterville responded:
You prove my point; you believe it is the schools who should raise the kids
I say:
Teachers should do a better job of teaching the reading, writing, and adding. It's what the teachers get paid for. I'm not asking teachers to raise kids -- and I don't think Jaysun is either. Based on proficiency test results, I'd say many teachers are not turning out proficient students -- and that should be the measure of their success.
Blaming the parents is simply making excuses.
Illinois Public School Salaries
http://www.thechampion.org/schools/salaries.asp
Over 100K for a drivers ed teacher! And much much more...
Well of course what this doesn't say is that this pay is for barely 10 months worth of work a year. Moreover, the benefits packages that these unions receive are astonishing...consider the idea of having to pay ZERO for your mediacl insurance for you and your family and a retirement system that is beyond genereous. I am tired of these guys griping. Let them work a job that requires 2080 hours a year, vacation only after accumulation, paying for your own medical,and a piddling 401k that you fund solely on your own....cry babies
As far as I can tell the parents are fighting like mad to undo that which has been so royally screwed up by the public school "educrats". Teachers don't want to meet minimum standards of competence because so many of them can't. The teachers unions have created a disaster in public education and they should be ashamed....and I say that as a teacher
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