*** Chicago teachers earn about 75% of what teachers in the surrounding suburbs make. The latter do not have to deal with armed gangs, uneducated parents, pupils mainly born out of wedlock and completely without discipline, lack of supplies, dilapidated facilities and insane bureaucracies. *** Sorry but you're wrong on a lot of that.
- Chicago Teachers, on average, are the Highest Paid Teachers in the USA. Higher even than in NYC. So they cannot make 75% less than Chicago Suburban Teachers.
- Chicago spends More Money Per Pupil than any other place in the USA. So any 'lack of supplies or dilapidated facilities' is not due to overall spending. The problem is too much of the Money goes into Chicago Teachers Paychecks and Benefits and there's not enough left for supplies.
- But specifically as to the 'dilapidated facilities' -- in my old neighborhood alone new schools have popped up almost overnight. The city has been on a Construction and Upgrade spree sine the 1990's (I'm in that business so I've seen the Bids out). Both my old Elementary School and High School have been upgraded and additions built. A brand new High School just opened up in the neighborhood too. Now where they got the money for all this construction beats the hell out of me. Bonds I would assume as the residents are Taxed To The Max.
- Now are there old 'dilapidated facilities' still in the city, sure. They have a heck of a lot of schools. Every one cannot be upgraded at once.
- Lastly -- the Students. What a wonderful little group of angels they are. Personally I think most of that Construction Money should have went to building more Jails. But that's just me because I hear every day what those little maggots really like to do. And becoming Doctors and Engineers ain't it. Getting a Glock 40, Bangin', and Rappin', is.
So last I checked the teachers working under these conditions knew exactly what they were signing up for and the conditions they'd be in. Educating the students was the last thing on their minds, it was The Big Money and Bennies that Daley handed out like candy on Halloween. And all they had to do was 'put in 20' and all was golden.
Lake Forest is representative of the salaries paid in the suburbs and it is 107,000 per teacher. This may be a bit higher than some of the suburbs but not much.
Teachers in NYC are not well paid compared to this area.
Money spent is not all going to the teachers by a long shot. The school bureaucracy (Democrat employment agency) absorbs a large portion of that money. School construction (insider and “connected” bidders) and maintenance (union jobs) absorbs another huge portion. And now the schools are taking on the job of “parent” more and more.
I am surprised you think 76 G is a big salary in a city like Chicago. It isn’t and may not be higher than the average college graduate. This is exactly like the war on the 1% that the Radical Left is waging. Drop the underclass from the statistics and I will bet that the average income is close to the teacher salary.
I doubt there are many jobs more difficult than teaching in Chicago public schools. Most of us could not do it, I know I could not put up with the crap teachers have to put up with on a daily basis.