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 ...
Damn! Now I feel guilty about "taking advantage" of all those ed majors in my college days.
That's good! Too long teachers were poor.
I taught in Cleveland. The morons who 'graduated' from my school went to work at the Ford plant and they instantly were making more than I was. I had a Master's. They had no college.
Who were the real morons?
Why do they not talk about management salaries in NYC.
Because management salaries are not paid by taxpayers, particularly by taxpayers who do not have any children in the school system they are forced to support.
Sure they are, I was talking about Board of ED. they certainly are payed by the taxpayers. NEA personel are also indrectly supported by the taxpayer in miriad ways.
(looking around)
It sure doesn't look like DU....
(looking around)
It sure doesn't look like DU....
I got a great idea, we take all the teacher's salaries in the US, get the average and those that make more than that drop and those that make less go up. Then there will be no teachers that feel bad because everyone gets the same.
Actually, we could have those things if parents taught their kids, like it was done in the past.
What is your point? Do you think that NYC school teachers are underpaided relative to their skills. I assure you that this is not so.
same on long island. and they retire with 90% pensions. they are bankrupting the taxpayers here - senior citizens forced to move, new arrivals living 3-4 familes per house so they can pay the property taxes. the school parking lots are full of Lexus and BMWs.
Good teachers deserve the chedder-- it's the fat-@ssed bureaucrats in their pencil-pushing cubby-holes making $120,000 / year here in L.A. that fries my grits.
Who in industry would want them?
6 figure salaries for teachers? Absolutely as it should be!
Hey come to WI we got some special ed teachers and one librarian who has been teaching for about a hundred years
making nearly that....
Property taxes are high but COL compared to most places is quite low..
Is this possible? I live in Washington State and am a 25 year veteran teacher. The last raise I had was at year 17, the year when Washington State teacher salaries are capped. After 25 years of service, I make about $54,000 a year and that is with a Master's Degree. I must live in the wrong state, too!
I expect that most of the comments here will be anti-union. I don't agree with the majority there, either.
---
Sorry to hear that. :(
Perhaps your opinion might change if you were to check this out:
http://www.neoperspectives.com/charterschoolsexplained.htm
(especially the news stories at the bottom)
3/28/05 AFP via yahoo - It's a mix of a sob story about the plight of our 'underfunded' public schools and a hit piece on President Bush. The nation's public school systems are sinking further into debt, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. They were saddled with over $250 billion in red ink in the 2002-03 school year, up 11 percent from the previous year. <.> Democratic leaders angry with the first go-round of the education law say schools have not received enough money and that Bush's latest budget proposal would make it worse by cutting overall spending. <.> The data, the latest available, also reflect the first full school year after the No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law in January 2002. <.> The sweeping reforms aimed at upgrading school performance are a cornerstone of President Bush's education policy. Recall that, unfortunately, under President Bush education spending has risen by over 40%. By trying to slow his own massive and foolish increases, Bush gets labeled as 'cutting overall spending' on Education.
Considering the above sob story, wouldn't you think it's worth mentioning that the 100 highest salaried public school teachers in Illinois have a pay grade ranging from $173,077 (high end) to $132,940 (low end)? Check out this site, they list every one. And click here for the 100 highest paid Illinois public school administrators who make from $302,746 (high end) to $194,822 (low end). Pretty amazing huh? This is just for Illinois, I'm sure other states have similar problems. I'll post any other sites I run across here.
LOL, yeah, I'm sure the private sector is just chomping at the bit to hire public school teachers...
Even better when you consider the school year in NYS is 180 days...
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