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.
Posted on 07/03/2005 2:20:12 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
Nation's Largest Union Sets Goal of $40,000 Starting Salary for Teachers
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.
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On The Net:
National Education Association: http://www.nea.org
AP-ES-07-03-05 1627EDT
Here in central Florida area, I read in the Orlando Slantinel that there is a BIG shortage of teachers to start the new year in August. They mentioned that teachers typically spend 25 hours a week in the class room.
Lets see ... 25 hour per week job, every weekend and holiday off, along with days leading to/from major holidays, plus 3 consecutive months off each year (185 days off/180 days working)... hmmmmmmmmmmmm :)
I know what some are thinking: "That 5 hours a days doesn't include 'prep work and grading of test' time."
I remember vividly back to the 50's & 60's when I went to school, an in-class assignment was given so the teacher could sit at his/her desk and prep or grade for other classes that day. So there p~~~~ LOL
That's what I said -- it's not technically incorrect from a grammar standpoint, but it makes the speaker seem ignorant from a stylistic standpoint. Just as one who says something obviously backwards like "Twenty-three cents and twelve dollars" appears more ignorant than someone who says it in the accepted style of dollars first -- "Twelve dollars and twenty-three cents."
It doesn't indicate ignorance to me. I wouldn't say it though.
Here are two grammar rule books that say the opposite -- that it is indeed incorrect.
From Grammar Guide:
The American Heritage grammar book also says the pronoun comes last.The compound subject with 1st person pronoun 'I'Rule: "I" is the last element in a compound subject.
When the subject of a clause/sentence is more than one person, the 1st person pronoun ("I") is used after the all the other pronoun/noun is mentioned
Examples: she/he/it/you/they/we and I (compound subject with "and" using pronouns)
The smart boy/girl/students and I (compound subject with "and" using nouns)
When the form I is used, it is almost invariably the last element in the phrase: Mr. McCarty and I have formed a partnership.
You are pronounced Grammar God.
Hi Clara Lou,
***What problem do you see with the construction?***
LOL! I'm not gonna go look that one up as I did a while back when a bunch of us had the same conversation about putting "I" ahead of another noun or pronoun. But it's still, according to my source, correct to list others ahead of yourself. As someone said, it's kinda like offering another person with you a piece of candy from the candy box before taking any yourself. So your construction is correct, but it's a matter of courtesy.
***Our school board bought many dollars worth of computers that stayed in their boxes for years. No one had a clue as to how to set them up.***
And by then they probably couldn't buy any new programs to run on them. And YOU and I pay for that stupidity.
He has made his living first as teaching data processing and then working as a system design engineer for about twenty five years at the time.
The principal asks him if he's got a teaching certificate. When he says NO they say, sorry, we're not interested.
He was going to do this for the school at no charge.
I read the Bell Curve, too. Great book. I was an ed major once upon a time and gave up for various reasons, among them was that the system was messed up. If there would be more people like you, there would be a chance. Unfortunately, the people going into education like the way the system is and want it to stay the same. Most people in my ed classes were people I decided I did not want as my professional peers.
And I am sure the people who will teach the kids (if they are taught at all) instead of your husband will be sooo much more qualified. </sarcasm
You sure about that? I was pretty sure that teacher salaries were the same across the State and pinged to their seniority.
Teachers in California have--at the least--BA degrees plus a fifth year for their credentials. In addition to that, each must continue his/her education for as long as he/she teaches.
Call teachers what you like, but they aren't without certification!
In California, the teachers' salaries are determined by the school's district.
Our school district is a disgrace.
***Agreed. That's what I was taught in grade school. But I think it's nitpicking for the original poster to claim the writer made an "obvious mistake in grammar."***
Well...I guess that makes you the expert on nitpicking then.
I know what you mean and your decision to leave education was a good one. I'm not sure I would do it again if given the chance. But I do enjoy searching the net for the names of former students. It's amazing how many are quite successful now. My screen name indicates my area of instruction and I did become somewhat famous in my field. It did not translate into dollars but that was my free decision.
If their pay was based on their production they should have to pay $40,000/year to teach not receive $40,000!
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