Nation's Largest Union Sets Goal of $40,000 Starting Salary for Teachers

AP ^ | AP-ES-07-03-05 1627EDT

[TheOtherOne]

Nation's Largest Union Sets Goal of $40,000 Starting Salary for Teachers

By Ben Feller The Associated Press
Published: Jul 3, 2005 LOS ANGELES (AP) -The typical starting salary for teachers should be $40,000, the head of the country's largest education union said Sunday, pledging a renewed fight for higher pay.

But the National Education Association's challenge is enormous. Not a single state pays its new instructors an average of $40,000, with the U.S. average hovering close to $30,000 for beginning teachers, according to the American Federation of Teachers, another teachers union.

NEA president Reg Weaver, speaking to reporters at the union's annual meeting, said his officers will work with their state and local chapters to lobby state leaders and school boards.

Weaver, poised to begin his second three-year term as the union's president, said higher pay for veteran teachers and classroom aides will also be a political priority for the NEA. No cost for the ideas was given, but they would likely require hundreds of millions of dollars or more.

"The issue is where the money is going to come from," Weaver said. "And to respond to that, my answer is I don't care. I don't care where the money comes from. Because when this country thinks and decides that something is important, they find the money."

Teacher pay has long been a point of contention within education. Salaries are often seen as an important reason why schools struggle to hire and keep teachers, which is particularly true for young instructors, men and minorities, Weaver said. But an increasing number of states and districts want to make classroom performance or student scores a bigger factor in teacher pay.

Overall, teachers were paid an average of $46,752 last year, a slight raise that did not keep pace with inflation, the NEA says. Pay is usually based on teacher seniority and education.

The pay proposal is part of a broader NEA priority list to close the achievement gap between white and minority children and reach out to minority communities. The NEA push comes as it is at odds with the Bush administration. The union has sued the federal government over Bush's No Child Left Behind law, arguing that it puts unfair financial burdens on states and districts.

--

On The Net:

National Education Association: http://www.nea.org

AP-ES-07-03-05 1627EDT

[bannie]

I was also taught that using the personal pronouns "I," "me," "my" & "mine" after all of he other nouns/pronouns in the string was a matter of courtesy.

[bannie]

Can't have anyone in the schools that's smarter than the teachers.

Please forgive me for this:

There is a grammatical error in your statement. Never use "that" for people. Instead, you would want to say, "...anyone...who's smarter..."

Personally, I can't spell.

[bannie]

If their pay was based on their production they should have to pay $40,000/year to teach not receive $40,000!

Boy, Dale, you'd better home-teach if that's how you feel!

[ccmay]

And when the Statewide test results come out, his classes score the highest. Yet admin wants him to leave.

Of course they do; he is making all the lazy, dim-witted NEA scoundrels look bad.

-ccm .

[ccmay]

Those communities are able to attract better teachers.

Perhaps at the margins, but the big difference has nothing to do with the teachers.

Those communities have parents who help the kids finish their homework, volunteer in the classroom, and show up at school board meetings to raise hell when needed.

In some other communities, the parents focus their exertions on smoking crack and watching the Jerry Springer show.

-ccm

[durasell]

Yes. I agree. Wealthy parents tend to be better educated. The combination of money and education tends to make them activists. The kid fails a test, they want to know why the kid failed the test. SAT scores drop, they want to know why. They aren't intimidated by school boards, teachers or principals. They take an active role in their schools, which translates into better educated kids and higher property values.

[Clara Lou]

OK. I'm a nitpicker, then. But why would you need to get snippy about it?
Yes, and you're so smart and refined that you got snippy over nothing. Impressive.

[sauropod]

I agree that teachers should have a starting salary of $40k.

Teaching is not an easy job.

[JohnD9207]

No cost for the ideas was given, but they would likely require hundreds of millions of dollars or more.

"The issue is where the money is going to come from," Weaver said. "And to respond to that, my answer is I don't care. I don't care where the money comes from. Because when this country thinks and decides that something is important, they find the money."

NOTE TO WEAVER...Two things are evident. One you were not an economics teacher. Can you spell Billion's or more? And two we know you don't care!!! Demanding an across the board raise of $10,000 a year on average indicates that you really don't understand the impact that would have. Why don't I just sell my house now and send you the cash, because another hit on my taxes to fund education will force some folks to foreclose on their homes!!! Considering that between the state and fed's each child in my school district recieves $9100 a year I have to ask, is it a lack of funds issue or a problem of poor distribution of that available cash? Would those same teachers agree to teaching an additional month each year to help those kids and better justify the increase in salary? I somehow doubt it.

[Just mythoughts]

"Good idea, in and in an exchange for dumping tenure protection, and a merit pay scale."


Exactly what I was going to post. I have no problem with the salary of a teacher being based upon merit pay, however, nothing else insults the unionizers more than to suggest such a common sense approach.

Maybe the unions better get ready for outsourcing teachers, we can no longer afford their labor costs.