Teacher pay raises

[rvd]

Well if you work a 40 hour job ( im not saying they don’t work some more hours) with 4 weeks paid vacation and 8 paid holidays it comes out to 232 days worked, a teacher is contracted to work 185 days a year with 13.5 days paid sick/ personal leave so if you took all those days it’s 171.5 days worked which is 60.5 less days, and in a 5 day work week would be roughly 12 weeks less work than the 40 hour/week job. So if you take 50k a year divided by the 171.5 days worked it comes to $291.5/day worked. If you take $291.5 and multiply times 232 it comes out to 67,628.. so they don’t make that much per year but by the day they make a lot more than what people consider.. and that’s comparing it to a job that gets 4 weeks vacation and 8 paid holidays..

Good post, most people (including teachers) don’t realize this.

[Wits_End]

The responsibilities between now and 10yrs ago for teachers is not even close. More testing, more training, more hours, less discipline, etc.....

That's been the same opinion every year for the past 20, if not more. There are only so many hours in the day so something doesn't add up.

It doesn't seem like the full package is compared, such as comparison of pay per day as explained above. Or flexibility to work close to home, no matter where your home is. Very structured yearly schedule. Every year similar methods and material can be reused. Add that up and it is a nice career with fair benefits. Some people have specialty jobs making more, but with that comes some years of skipping vacation all together to meet requirements. Add in two hours of commuting to live in a desired area but work in that specialty area. And if you want to achieve greater salaries than the teacher comparison, get ready for continued education, working long hours, and an increase in stress. All that said, there are degrees that come out of the most expensive colleges who make half of what teachers make.

Capitalism runs this. If there is a greater demand for teachers the pay will increase.

[tpack]

Why is it that teachers always get the attention when it comes to pay raises and salaries. I do not know anyone who thinks their profession is probably underpaid and overworked. That is just the way it is. Most people probably made the decision to become a teacher knowing what the pay was before they went to college to become one. Then after a few years in the system they complain that the pay is unfair and that they are overworked. They have every right to try to get better pay and conditions but at the same time no one is forcing them to stay in that profession. Move on if they are not happy.

[eradicator]

That's been the same opinion every year for the past 20, if not more. There are only so many hours in the day so something doesn't add up.

It doesn't seem like the full package is compared, such as comparison of pay per day as explained above. Or flexibility to work close to home, no matter where your home is. Very structured yearly schedule. Every year similar methods and material can be reused. Add that up and it is a nice career with fair benefits. Some people have specialty jobs making more, but with that comes some years of skipping vacation all together to meet requirements. Add in two hours of commuting to live in a desired area but work in that specialty area. And if you want to achieve greater salaries than the teacher comparison, get ready for continued education, working long hours, and an increase in stress. All that said, there are degrees that come out of the most expensive colleges who make half of what teachers make.

Capitalism runs this. If there is a greater demand for teachers the pay will increase.

Not really true. They are building more and more schools all the time, in turn producing a greater demand for teachers but yet the pay remains the same. Sure, there are people out there willing to accept the jobs but the quality is diminishing. For instance, lets say you have Teacher A that is regarded as the best teacher( goes above and beyond) and Teacher B that is regarded as the worst teacher( does just enough to keep his/her job) with the same # of years experience then their salaries are equal(within a given district). So what's the incentive to work harder? Not exactly capitalism. Supply and demand is only one factor of many contributing to capitalism.

[Wits_End]

The capitalistic part is the teacher has the ability to switch careers to use their full work ethic drive to increase their yearly income. How about nursing? I know a nurse that makes $55k working 2 nights on the weekend.
Parents have the option to send their kids to private schools of their choice if they are not happy with quality.

Pay based on performance seems logical, but now talking of pay discrepancies within the teacher profession is a separate topic.

[eradicator]

The capitalistic part is the teacher has the ability to switch careers to use their full work ethic drive to increase their yearly income. How about nursing? I know a nurse that makes $55k working 2 nights on the weekend.
Parents have the option to send their kids to private schools of their choice if they are not happy with quality.

Pay based on performance seems logical, but now talking of pay discrepancies within the teacher profession is a separate topic.

So if all the good teachers leave the profession, where does that leave us? Maybe they should just pay the teachers

I don't disagree that there's plenty of mismanagement regarding allocation of funds and there is plenty of 'fluff' within the districts. However, that's not the teachers fault and they are the most important asset regarding education IMO.

[oktx]

So if all the good teachers leave the profession, where does that leave us? Maybe they should just pay the teachers

I don't disagree that there's plenty of mismanagement regarding allocation of funds and there is plenty of 'fluff' within the districts. However, that's not the teachers fault and they are the most important asset regarding education IMO.

Beat me to it.

[eradicator]

And nursing is not mandated by the state.....

[RJH1]

And nursing is not mandated by the state.....

Being a teacher is not mandated by the state.........

[eradicator]

Being a teacher is not mandated by the state.........

The TEA sets/mandates the minimum salary and number of days of service required for employees(teachers).

[eradicator]

The capitalistic part is the teacher has the ability to switch careers to use their full work ethic drive to increase their yearly income. How about nursing? I know a nurse that makes $55k working 2 nights on the weekend.
Parents have the option to send their kids to private schools of their choice if they are not happy with quality.

Pay based on performance seems logical, but now talking of pay discrepancies within the teacher profession is a separate topic.

It would cost you less money to pay a higher property tax ensuring higher quality teachers than footing the bill for tuition of private school.

[Wits_End]

Lets repeat, an increase in property tax on everyone for a proposed blanket raise across all teachers. The reason for this is they work more now than they did 15 years ago, even though 15 years ago the teachers complained about long hours the same. The days are the same length, the year is the same length, the subject matter is the same, the number of kids has decreased from what I've heard. Then go on to complain about bad ones getting paid as much as good ones, which has nothing to do with your own personal income for the job you do. I see this in every industry. Again, people make decisions to become teachers, the money and benefits are well known before you take one step in that direction. If you need more money, go to a different industry. I agree teachers are an important asset, use your good teacher drive to work up through admin and make changes.

[RJH1]

The TEA sets/mandates the minimum salary and number of days of service required for employees(teachers).

They still don't require you to be a teacher, that is a choice you make yourself

[RJH1]

Lets repeat, an increase in property tax on everyone for a proposed blanket raise across all teachers. The reason for this is they work more now than they did 15 years ago, even though 15 years ago the teachers complained about long hours the same. The days are the same length, the year is the same length, the subject matter is the same, the number of kids has decreased from what I've heard. Then go on to complain about bad ones getting paid as much as good ones, which has nothing to do with your own personal income for the job you do. I see this in every industry. Again, people make decisions to become teachers, the money and benefits are well known before you take one step in that direction. If you need more money, go to a different industry. I agree teachers are an important asset, use your good teacher drive to work up through admin and make changes.

Yep

[eradicator]

Lets repeat, an increase in property tax on everyone for a proposed blanket raise across all teachers. The reason for this is they work more now than they did 15 years ago, even though 15 years ago the teachers complained about long hours the same. The days are the same length, the year is the same length, the subject matter is the same, the number of kids has decreased from what I've heard. Then go on to complain about bad ones getting paid as much as good ones, which has nothing to do with your own personal income for the job you do. I see this in every industry. Again, people make decisions to become teachers, the money and benefits are well known before you take one step in that direction. If you need more money, go to a different industry. I agree teachers are an important asset, use your good teacher drive to work up through admin and make changes.

You are missing the point.....teachers are not getting into the industry to get rich. The number of kids is INCREASING(per classroom). While the general subject matter is the same, the methods required and extra training, etc has increased. The benefits are not the same. You are painting a broad generalization with minimal info. it seems.

It's not like the teachers went on strike or something. If you don't think they deserve a raise then that's your prerogative. Like you said, this happens in other industries as well. The middle class is continually being eroded. Teaching is a middle class profession and they are tasked with being responsible for the kids that will run this country in the future(same every generation). Why would you want to skimp on that? If you want to disagree with how it should be funded, then maybe YOU should do something about it. See how that works?

I get it, nobody wants to pay higher taxes. I also don't think it's unreasonable for one of our most important professions to keep up with inflation, cost of living, etc

Most of this is happening due to less and less authority being given to the educators IMO. I feel that if they still had the ability to discipline then this would not be that big of an issue. But what they have to put up with and the lack of ability to control their classrooms and such, it's essentially 'combat' pay.