Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[phillymic2000]

Is that supposed to be starting pay or average pay?

For Florida, I'd say average.  I'm above that, but have 14 years in the system.

i would hope starting pay.

[Geowhizzer]

Sarcasm aside...

They just love it when we get to fighting about the teachers making too much.  Or the firefighters.  Or cops.  Or EMTs.  Or garbage men.  Keeps the focus off 24 million per year to head a health insurance company stocked with Harvard and Wharton MBAs, Yale and NYU lawyers, and gosh-wiz techno pros.

Teachers deserve to make as much as we can possibly pay them.  So do firefighters cops, etc.  These jobs are vital, and underpaid all.

...if you live in the northeast have an education and are into your 30's and dont make 60 youre doing something terribly wrong

I don't make a third of that and I'm doing everything right.  Money ain't life.

They? now you sound like rush   I agree 100000% that 24 million is excessive for any profession, and I never said teachers are not underpaid. Teachers vote on their contracts, and at least in illinois have the chance to dictate who gets what (meaning newer or older teachers getting the benefits). My Bro in law struggled making it with  right around 30k his first couple of years.

The collective bargaining process can dictate to a degree what goes in the contract.  Unfortunately, Florida is a "right-to-work" state.  If the teachers vote down the contract, the district can declare an impasse and impose the terms for a year, and start the process all over again.  Earlier in my career, teachers worked without a contract for a three-year period.  Teachers can't strike, all they can do is "work the contract" - work exactly the contract hours and no more.  Problem is, you can't work just the contract hours and be an effective teacher.  It's the kids that lose out.

[Father Demon]

Median Salary by Job - All K-12 Teachers (United States)

[Geowhizzer]

Median Salary by Job - All K-12 Teachers (United States)

That's what I thought.  I know that some areas (like in the Boston-DC corridor), teacher's salaries are much higher, as are most other salaries and the cost of living.

In my district, a starting teacher makes $30,000 for the first year, and something like $32,000 for the next two.  The highest in our district is a shade under $60,000, which is about 22 years in.  24 now, since there has been no advance in the salary steps for two years running because of the budget crisis.

[shorebird]

again that has nothing to do with the importance of the job


and for every one of your examples of a bad teacher 10 teachers are out there going above and beyond the call of duty...or are just doing the normal good job most teachers do...like dio said people arent kicking down doors to teach in public schools...most do it because they wanna help children make a difference and better our society

typical right wing sweeping generalization...same thing you people do when you cite one person getting over on the welfare system and ignoring the millions of hardworking people assistance programs help every day

Either you've lost your friggen' mind or don't have kids in any school system.

Above and beyond the call of duty...yeah, right.

[Father Demon]

My own personal measuring stick:

I've had two kids go through elementary, which is 12 years total (K-5).  Out of that group, we had 2 teachers I would classify as "bad" and probably 3 I would classify as "superior."  The rest were somewhere in between.  So, much like almost everything else, it's a pretty standard distribution.

I'm not counting the middle school teachers, because we have much less interaction.  I do know that my son's 8th grade science teacher is a former NASA engineer, and got into teaching because she loves kids and wants to change someone's life.  She, obviously, is an exception.

[shorebird]

My son has had two exceptional teachers. One was his social studies/football coach, and the other was his twelfth grade trigonometry teacher. His coach was an Eagles fan, and his trig teacher was a hot piece of Latino ass.

[Butchers Bill]

again that has nothing to do with the importance of the job


and for every one of your examples of a bad teacher 10 teachers are out there going above and beyond the call of duty...or are just doing the normal good job most teachers do...like dio said people arent kicking down doors to teach in public schools...most do it because they wanna help children make a difference and better our society

typical right wing sweeping generalization...same thing you people do when you cite one person getting over on the welfare system and ignoring the millions of hardworking people assistance programs help every day

Either you've lost your friggen' mind or don't have kids in any school system.

Above and beyond the call of duty...yeah, right.

You are correct.  Either IGY does not have kids, or is just spouting off again.  Either scenario could be just as likely as the other.

I know a couple teachers who really bust their ass and love what they do.  I know many, many more that got into teaching for the schedule (summers off), for the hours (home by 3:15-3:30 each day) or for the benefits (retiring at 52 with 70-80% of their pay).  These teachers are also the ones who know the union handbook by heart and will not lift one friggin finger to help a kid if they don't "have to".

[Munson]

I have yet to have had or meet a teacher that wasn't willing to stay past their hours to help out a student. Most of the teachers at my middle and high school would even announce days they would be available for extra help.

Sitting in classes this past semester that were all about teacher/family interactions and classroom interaction and such really reminded me of all the shtein teachers have to go through every year, for 30,000. If they're lucky. Yeah there are some zesty teachers out there but IGY was right, there are far more who actually try and do their best at their job and for their students.

[ice grillin you]

60-70k a year for 9-10 months of work (again, not including stipends or additional education) is a pretty good living considering the average US income is 26k.

you do realize with sick leave vacation holidays ect...theres a ton of people who only work 10-11 months a years...granted i have a govt job with great benefits but i only work 10 months...teachers cant take vacations during the school...so when you go to the bahamas in february for a week teachers are always working...yes they get two months off in the summer but thats their leave...a teacher getting those two months off with all the extra hrs they put in during the school year 10 months all of a sudden becomes close to what most people work...not to mention all the teachers i know work in the summer

as for the pay you said 60 was a lot in nj...im not talking about the avg us salary...i specifically said outside of MA 60 is not a lot of money...its not peanuts but you acted like 60k was some amazing amount and you specifically referenced new jersey...its not a substantial amount...like i said i dont know a single person with a degree in their 30's that makes less than 60 and lives north of wash dc and south of boston...and id have to think hard to find someone i know withoput a degree that doesnt make 60...again its hard not to make 60 in this area of the country if youre educated and have been in the work for for 10-20 years

[phillymic2000]

yes they get two months off in the summer but thats their leave...a teacher getting those two months off with all the extra hrs they put in during the school year 10 months all of a sudden becomes close to what most people work...not to mention all the teachers i know work in the summer

2 weeks at Christmas, spring break and other holidays. In the districts I worked in teachers get around 12 sick days a year and all 4 districts you could apply that to early retirement.

I'm not saying Teaching is easy in any way. Some kids today are a bunch of disrespectful little pricks and get away with crap I could have never pulled when I was in school. The profession has its advantages and disadvantages like most jobs.

[Father Demon]

Christ, are we still here?

[Seabiscuit36]

I'm with Geo, no way do teachers make enough for the hours they put in.  Not to mention people are even bigger iceholes when it comes to their kids and their taxmoney. 

[Butchers Bill]

60-70k a year for 9-10 months of work (again, not including stipends or additional education) is a pretty good living considering the average US income is 26k.

you do realize with sick leave vacation holidays ect...theres a ton of people who only work 10-11 months a years...granted i have a govt job with great benefits but i only work 10 months...teachers cant take vacations during the school...so when you go to the bahamas in february for a week teachers are always working...yes they get two months off in the summer but thats their leave...a teacher getting those two months off with all the extra hrs they put in during the school year 10 months all of a sudden becomes close to what most people work...not to mention all the teachers i know work in the summer

You are conveniently telling half the story.  Do you get two-three weeks off at Christmas like teachers do?  How about a week at Easter (oops...not allowed to say "Easter" in school.  I meant Spring break), how about a number of "in service" days where a number of teachers don't bother to show up?  How about the day after Thanksgiving and numerous other holidays that most businesses do not recognize?  How about never having to work past 3:00 on a weekday and never having to work on a weekend unless you want to (and some teachers do that regularly though and in my experience they are the exception)?  How about never having to go back to school to further your education and having a guaranteed job for LIFE at the age of 25?  Don't all of these "perks" count for anything in your mind??

This is not meant to bash teachers in any way, because as I have said before their job is a thankless, very hard one.  I am just sick of people whining about how hard teachers have it.  They pay inequality was awful 15 years ago (I remember because I almost became a teacher) but that has changed dramatically.  The starting salaries in NJ are around 40k, and I know several companies right now that are paying Finance grads less than that to start.   

[Sgt PSN]

i've seriously considered the thought of going into teaching after i get out of the corps.....mostly because it's probably the only civilian job out there that will come close to giving me the same amount of off time that i get now.  but every time i see some teenage nitwit acting a fool at the grocery store or i see some parent letting his 7 yr old run up and down the aisles in a hardware store i realize that's the crap i'd have to put up with 8 hours a day, and unlike my kids, i can't threaten them with violence.  

farg that.