Posted on 06/06/2005 4:33:44 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
...But this noble sensibility ignores a crucial fact about the teaching profession in Westchester County: Teacher pay levels in Scarsdale, and several other districts in the county, are now high enough to constitute an entry ticket to upper-middle-class income and status. In Scarsdale, 166 teachers - nearly half - have base salaries exceeding $100,000; for more than a dozen, base pay tops $120,000.
A study of teacher salaries across New York State found that as administrators and affluent parents compete to give their children every possible advantage, thousands of teachers in the New York suburbs now make six-figure salaries - numbers strongly at variance with the popular stereotype of the poorly paid, altruistic mentor of the young.
The study indicates that only the most experienced teachers, with the most education, earn such salaries - which are the highest in the nation. But the money is arguably substantial enough to affect what it means to be a public school teacher. Consider this, for instance: A family whose parents both teach in Westchester schools can make enough to put it in the top 6 percent of earners in the county.
Teachers say the salaries are justified, even necessary, in a place where the cost of living is high. "You can earn $100,000 and not afford to live here," said Susan Taylor, a longtime Scarsdale teacher who heads the district's teacher training institute...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I've known teachers who have left the field and made fortunes, not in industry, but in small highly specialized businesses. The only reason to go into teaching is because you have a burning desire to be a teacher. The money stinks, the hours stink, and the working environment is horrific.
You are so wrong pal..Go sit in a classroom some day for a few hours.
That's pretty high pay for 9 months a year's work.
Problem is not the teachers.
It's their union and mostly the kid's families and what the community will tolerate.
Scarsdale is probably ok but super PC.
Inner city is lost....no amount of money will cure it.
Be like me, pay high property taxes for public schools you can't use.
When the kid learns how to read and write and do basic arithmetic, then they should be able to learn everything else they need to know through computer based learning. One on one teaching is only needed for the basics; after the basics are mastered teachers are largely not needed in the classroom. They might make some money as private tutors for the kids with learning disabilities, and as authors of some good educational computer based courses, but they won't be needed in the classroom anymore. The vast majority of them are absolutely not needed and do more harm than good, not to mention being vastly overpaid for their education level and job performance.
So you're pro the NEA? That would be fine if they actually advocated what was best for education, but they are for all these leftie causes and indoctrination of the kids to their socialist agenda.
Nobody "deserves" to be rewarded for their work. In the private sector, people are paid no more than they earn for the company. In the public sector, they should be paid no more than another equally qualified person is willing to do the job for. But, in the public sector and with teachers, we have many artificial influences on pay rates.
But there is a limit and it will be reached. You will see that limit reached when people's disgust for the teaching profession comes to the realization that K-12 teachers are getting over $100,000 per year while they struggle to foot the bill with salaries that are on average 1/3 of what a teacher makes.
Pal , VERY few teachers EVER see that kind of money . You are really looking at the exception to the rule there. In my school district there are people making 92K ..thats after 38 years and with a Masters plus 30 credits..Thats the tops ..Most have second jobs or do summer school . You are SOOOOO wrong.
That was my reason, that and the job security, but after ten years they had a massive lay off and I had to go back to industry. Go figure,
and ..how many teachers do you really know ..sure..right
4 periods a day? ..WHERE ???? Maybe if they have 80 min block periods ( then an 80 min hall duty on top of that )
And most of the teachers would not last until lunch if they had to perform a job in the private sector.
I can just see it now, "Hey boss, it is Christmas, what do you mean we only get one day off for the Christmas holiday? And Easter, you mean we don't get Easter week off either? And hey, it is already June. Can't we take off until September? What do you mean I have to contribute towards my medical insurance benefit? Retirement, I don't get to retire at 80% of my salary and I have to work until I am 65? Hey, what's up with my check. This is half of what I was making as a teacher."
Loud mouths indeed. You are not fooling anyone on here.
You're beating your head against the wall on this one. For reasons I can't quite fathom, a lot of folks are intent on taking apart public education in this country. Sadly, they'll succeed, but what they'll find at the end of that particular experiment is that it's a whole lot more difficult to re-build something than to fix it.
On the up side, the spots their kids would have gotten had they received had they gotten a decent education will be filled by outsourced personnel and recent immigrants.
The world will continue on, though slightly differently.
I am not wrong. You are telling me that teachers are worth $100,000 a year with great benefits for 9 months of work and you say I am wrong?
I am not wrong. You are telling me that teachers are worth $100,000 a year with great benefits for 9 months of work and you say I am wrong?
Jonas Salk's teachers were probably worth a million dollars a year. Wouldn't you agree?
You have a serious personal stake in this dont you pal..I can feel your anger from here..I worked in the private sector for years so shut the hell up first of all . What do you do for a living pal?Or is it a matte rof now that the public paid for YOUR kids to go to school you dont want your money goin gto pay for the next generation of kids..You sound like some off the wall postal type for some reason there bro..hummmmmmmmmmm
No, but they do have to worry about the same things every other American has to worry about: the coming crash of the dollar.
Hey buddy , you're WRONG ..100k a year..How many teachers do you think ACTUALLY make that money or even NEAR that ? 1/10 of %1 MAYBE? Thats someone after 30 years in the same district with a Masters Plus 30 or PHD,in a real high paying district . Maybe , just maybe they would get up that high. Average in my state is 4oK ..No big amount of money at all.
What the heck are you talking about. Listen to yourself. You make 92K sound like it is nothing (and don't discount that this is for 9 months of work). The average income in this country is $35,000 a year with limited benefits and 10 to 20 days off a year. Teachers are starting at this rate with incredible job security and benefits.
What is "SOOOO wrong" here is your perception of reality.
The people taking apart education are the educators. The people paying the bill have nothing to do with the problems of the public schools. The logic on here is twisted beyond belief. You are actually blaming everyone else for the problem of public schools.
Under the current system, we could pay for class sizes and 5 students per teacher and pay teachers $300,000 a year and the results would be no better than they are now - dismal.
The people taking apart education are the educators. The people paying the bill have nothing to do with the problems of the public schools. The logic on here is twisted beyond belief. You are actually blaming everyone else for the problem of public schools.
Under the current system, we could pay for class sizes and 5 students per teacher and pay teachers $300,000 a year and the results would be no better than they are now - dismal.
...job security, shmob security, teachers have virtually zero chance of making any real money.
If a bright guy keeps his eyes open, works hard,isn't afraid of risk, and has some ambition, he can make a fortune in the private sector. On the other hand, the guy who just wants to punch the clock is screwed. The world we currently live in is not kind to clock punchers.
Now, think about what you said -- that putting in 38 years in a job that just offers security and a couple months off a year is a good deal if you don't like the job.
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