[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.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[Husker24]

The vast majority of teachers obviously dont make $100,000 a year, but most of these "administrators" do. If we would fire half of these administrators and lower the salary on the other half, it would be a good start. That would free up alot of money to give to good teachers that might not be getting what they deserve.

[Old Professer]

Most teachers get paid whatever their union bosses can extort regardless of their skills or performance.

[Salvation]

**So are our teachers really overpaid?**

Yes!

[ntnychik]

Depends on where you are. Here in my upstate NY community starting pay is in mid 30's, highest paid teacher in mid 60's and average in the mid 40's. Gotta watch statistics. Our average was higher before a few years in which there were many retirees. If beginners are hired, your "average" drops like a rock. More instructive to look at median salaries.

The admins (other than Superintendent) are paid between mid 50's and mid 80's. It's tough to get rid of the admins. if there is no reduction in regulation. You don't want your teachers dealing with Board of Ed. requirements, asbestos removal, defibrillation device regulations, state aid reports, school buses and food service, public budget votes, building construction and maintenance, compliance issues, labor-management issues and excessive regulations instead of teaching the students.

[Dan Evans]

Talking about teacher's salaries is missing the point. Would the Mafia do a better job if its hitmen were paid a bigger salary?