So, the teachers at my kids' school district are all bent out of shape that they're not working under a contract. They're citing that the administration makes too much money, and that the teachers should be getting a raise. So, I did a little investigating on my own.

The average teacher's salary in the district (roughly): $55,000.
Average cost in teacher benefits (rough calculation): $16,500.

The salary of the principal at one of the schools my kid attends: $180,000+.
Benefits of said principal: $80,000+.

The salary of the school superintendent: $250,000+.
Cost of benfits for superintendent: $100,000+.

Here's my basic problem: the teachers only woek something like 9 months out of the year. Secondly, I think their benefits are way too high. Third, I think the administration's pay is WAY out of whack.

Your thoughts?

School is in session 9 months, but the "good ones" go in early to set up their class, stay late and will close down their class in the summer. Most signed up because they'd have the summer's off.

2nd...yes they are too high.

3rd...yes it is out of whack.

My ex's family...almost all of them are teachers for the Rochester School District. Seen it, heard it...still couldn't rationalize their opinions away.

The OEA here got a sweetheart deal during the high of the tech stock boom for gaurenteed 8% retirement gain. Needless to say on top of their gold plated healthcare, this provision is a killer when markets are down.

Funny too, the fund managers invested heavily in mortgage backed securities.

Librarians here pay 175K plus bennies......PEU's run and have helped ruin this state.

Any government beaurocracy pays way too much to the managers and there are way too many of them. But the first things to get cut are workers not management.

^ and not the worst employees either.....least tenured.

Government jobs rock!

...and what was the timeframe for this?

It reads like the 1980s at the latest.

55k + 16k = 71k in total. They have to deal with snot nosed brats for the 9 months they do work... I'd say they are being compensated fairly... maybe deserve just a wee raise. The ones who deal with smart-mouth teenagers deserve more, probably...

That's MY opinion.

I agree completely!

The OP is well established as being abused by teachers. His opinions are invalid.

The average wage is around 31K per year here.

Public union employees average 48K per year.

In actuality, with a Masters Degree and seniority, a teacher in Michigan can make about 90,000+ per year...for only working 9 months.

While I wholeheartedly agree with you about the bratty kids, I'd also like to point out that I've had a few busybody teachers directly take issue with how I raise my kids. I'm a pretty strict and stern father. I certainly don't take crap from my kids. But they aren't exactly abused or neglected. Compared to other kids they are well mannered, respectful of authority, and polite. Yet, this doesn't stop some left-wing idiot teacher from inferring that I'm a bad father because I keep them in line.

So, uh, if they have to deal with "bratty" kids, it's probably because there have been enough left-wing busybodies in their ranks who are able to intimidate enough parents in to raising their kids the "new" way...which essentially produces bratty kids.

Mind you, I work and pay taxes so that some busybody liberal, who has been a teacher for 30 years but can't deal with a kid who has ADHD, can tell me that "all kids are the same." Frankly speaking, for saying something that profoundly stupid, she should be on the unemployment line.

That aside, I don't take too much issue with the teacher's salaries, though I think with benis added in they're too high. My real problem is with the administrative salaries. I thought those were WAY out of whack.

Normally, I have no problem with increasing teacher salaries. They deserve (well most of them do) every penny. However, Del State Univ employees just got a $1000 bonus this past week. Being state employees, they haven't gotten a raise in years either. Their president is saying they're taking the money from student tuitions and fees however, DSU gets state and federal tax dollars. Last year as a matter fo fact they were bemoaning the fact that if their tax dollars were reduced, they would be unable to operate.

So, since they gave out $651,000 as a bonus, that should mean that we can reduce the amount of maney we give them by that much next year? And how about all of the fliers and propoganda they distribute to the students telling them where their fees are going. Will they be updating that to explain bonuses too?

Of course they'll just find creative ways to hide it from now on.

At $55k, GOOD teachers are drastically underpaid.
Bad teachers are overpaid by about $55k

Damn shame there is no way (currently in place) to tell which ones are which.
I know several teachers who would LOVE to have real performance measurement.
They are well aware of who the hacks around them are, how those dimwads make them look.
They are also well aware that they are drastically outnumbered by the idjits, and MUST be very careul about what they say, or their worklives will be miserable.

Union benefits in general are out of touch with the real world, and this is true for teachers.

I'm puzzled by the post about guaranteed 8% return on retirement plan.
Is this an annuity? Defined benefit (old style) pension?
If this is a defined contribution plan, your negotiators got JOBBED!

And a principle at $180k?!
Guess it depends - if this is a high school with 5,000+ kids and having to deal with all the issues that potentially happen in some schools, I guess so.

But the vast majority of schools are a few hundred kids tops.
Elementary and most middle schools don't often have to deal with security issues, drugs, pregnancy, truancy, wide ranging curricula, etc.

For this group, $180k is crazy.

PRIVATIZE EDUCATION !!!!!!!!

get the gubment union hacks out of your wallet!

[-o<

We should be spending as much money as we can on GOOD teachers because there are too few out there. My wife taught Freshman and Juniors English in Pensacola. Starting wages for teachers there is $24.4K but they started her out at $28K because she was already teaching at Pensacola Junior College. She did not get 9 months off - she worked for nearly a month after school was out and they go back in early. Also, she brought work home EVERY night which took one to two hours to finish. Also, she frequently had work to do on the weekends. The students were unruly, rude, and she had to have at least one arrested for threatening to punch her in the face (a Freshman). The parents of many kids are out of control and refuse to allow the schools to discipline the children. So, they suspend or expell students which solves nothing for that student but perpetuates the problem.

Teachers can barely live on $24.4K. This is why our college grads aren't going into teaching as much as they used to. They have student loans to pay off, car payments, insurance payments, gas, food, rent, clothes, etc. and they are suppose to do it on no pay. Only the truly dedicated (and those who can't get a job elsewhere) become teachers at 24 years old because they aren't making much money in most places.

My wife also spent her money on classroom supplies, decorations, training aids, books, etc. out of her own pocket because the school district was broke. I know for a fact that several of her teacher friends did exactly the same thing - spent their own money. It's these teachers who aren't in it for the money but for the joy of teaching and concern for future generations. She also worked next to worthless teachers who had no control of their class. She worked with those who taught students that Abe Lincoln was a big racist and never should have been President. She also worked with another English teacher who didn't understand Shakespeare and frequently discouraged his students about reading Shakespeare.

I could go on and on. Bottom line to me: We should privatize the schools and refuse to let unions get involved. Teachers should be evaluated and kept each year based on merit and teaching ability, not tenure. The U.S. already lags behind most of the world in Math and Science and the gap widens each year because of the faulty system we have. The unions are so strong and have so much power that they influence the politicians to keep the status quo. And, we should pay these good teachers as much money as we can afford to pay them. If you think about it, we can't afford not to pay them or our society will falter.

Should I go on????? We need good teachers, we need to pay them well, and we need to hold them accountable for teaching our kids what they are supposed to learn.