Highest paid teachers strike again!

The image of the underpaid teacher is a myth, at least where I live.

I live in the Chicago Suburbs, my wife is a public elementary school teacher and is earning $109,000 this year. My neighbor is a high school teacher and football coach and earns around $130,000 per year. Now granted, both my wife and my neighbor have been teaching for almost 20 years and both have masters degrees, and they’re both very good at what they do. They also work their butts off during the school year so I think they earn that pay.

IMO, they are paid very fairly for their talents and hard work. They are not egregiously overpaid or in any way underpaid. We are in the burbs though, the city is a totally different beast, granted.

a reply to: pexx421

The vast majority are privately owned or non profit. Some are state run, not many anymore

Dude, stop spewing ignorance. Public schools (non profit) are run by the government/state.
There are significantly more public schools than private.

nces.ed.gov...

originally posted by: sapien82
a reply to: JAGStorm

I am ignorant of this strike in the US , has the US government or the state put their pay on freeze for 10 years like in the UK ?
or is it just because they are greedy and want more so are striking ?

Some posters on here are not being truthful.

The OP was about Chicago, they are greedy and want more. This is a fact. They are the highest paid teachers in the country.

Some states are different and have different rules. There might be some freezes in one area and none in others.
I could see a state with the lowest paid teachers striking, that is not what we are talking about here.

a reply to: JAGStorm

yeh Im sitting here going , what are those teachers smoking , they are in jobs and arent on pay freeze and yet they want more !

Some people just arent happy until they have everything I suppose
all the while the whole reason they got into teaching was to teach and there are kids going without education because of their demands for further pay increase when already they are the highest paid in the country!

Crazy

originally posted by: artnut
a reply to: dfnj2015

What inflated gasoline prices? I am paying 2.49 a gallon, and I think that's quite reasonable.

The tax rate on gasoline is ridiculous in some areas.

Not bad... I'm paying $2.19 and get a 10¢ discount per gallon for being a member at Kroger. I remember, at one point, paying $4.50 per gallon about 4 or 5 years ago.

originally posted by: pexx421
Teachers deserve more than they are paid. Their work is worth at least 30/hr, and should venture much higher. Their job is much more intensive and involves much stronger and more intelligent people than college professors, who get paid more for doing less work and easier jobs.

But, like most things in our society, people believe more money should go to the things they value more, and Americans OBVIOUSLY don’t value education, or their kids futures. So naturally they feel those providing those things are over paid. They also don’t value labor or working class “entry level” jobs, as if a massive chunk of our work sector is not “entry level”. In fact, seems the only thing they value are CEOs, constructs of authority, and militarism. Oh, and rich people. This is clear because those are the areas they always support ridiculous salaries and tax decreases.

It’s very clear what most of y’all want. Drop bottom wages for the vast majority of working Americans. No limits on price fixing or price gouging. Privatization of all utilities, resources, etc. Unfettered power for corporations and capital. Why don’t y’all just move to Columbia or Honduras where you can have all of that and more??

Teachers definitely don't deserve more until our education gets better. When students stop scoring 50% on reading proficiency tests, and 40% on math proficiency tests, maybe they'll get the raise they think they deserve. But most teachers are arrogant know-it-alls that don't know much past a high school level. When they start acting like they care, I'll agree to a raise. Kids don't even know proper grammar these days. It's ridiculous.

originally posted by: pexx421
Right. Cause all the people falling over themselves to get teaching careers let’s the schools pick the cream of the crop, right? Sorry, but the myth of meritocracy and the idea that we are paid based off of ability and productivity really need to be laid to rest. Are you guys teachers?? If not then you have no clue what the job entails. And really no basis to have any valid opinion on what they should get paid. There’s no market for teachers, and there’s no price to performance evaluation involved in their salary, just as theirs none in any of your salaries. No one sits down with me and says, “well pexx421, your productivity has earned us an increased 20% return on your labor year over year, so we’re going to bump your pay up 10%” and neither do the employers of the 77% of non management Americans working in the service sector.

Instead it’s the same old “we have made more profit than ever before! But we can’t afford to give you a raise, or at least not one that even matches inflation. And we will need you to do the secretaries job too! That will push our profit even higher. “

Who give a flying # if we're not teachers. We were all students and saw what they did. In the 90's, just before they all started giving up, they were people we could look up to like we look up to our parents. They didn't tell us how to think about politics or other opinionated things. They didn't let us slide by if we weren't good enough, they made us work harder. It's ridiculously easy today compared to the 90's, which was ridiculously easier than it was compared to the 60's.

An education degree is the easiest degree to get, and the students who get these degrees usually have the lowest SAT scores, but no problem getting the highest grades to major in the course. That speaks volumes and is probably the reason so many teachers these days are lazy bleeding heart liberals that don't allow students to have their own opinion.

originally posted by: pexx421

originally posted by: sapien82
a reply to: JAGStorm

I am ignorant of this strike in the US , has the US government or the state put their pay on freeze for 10 years like in the UK ?
or is it just because they are greedy and want more so are striking ?

It’s different from job to job and place to place. In hospitals, where I work, there was about a 6 year gap with no raises, and now we are starting to see raises again at 2-3% a year. Less than inflation but better than nothing. Generally for us you have to switch jobs every few years to get your pay increase. Prior to that it was 5% a year.

"Are you guys teachers?? If not then you have no clue what the job entails.


Well would you just look at that.

originally posted by: sapien82
a reply to: JAGStorm

yeh Im sitting here going , what are those teachers smoking , they are in jobs and arent on pay freeze and yet they want more !

Some people just arent happy until they have everything I suppose
all the while the whole reason they got into teaching was to teach and there are kids going without education because of their demands for further pay increase when already they are the highest paid in the country!

Crazy

Same mindset of the burger flipper who knows he's in a job making minimum wage but wants more. Actually, it's probably worse because teachers who complain already knew what they were getting when they signed on.

a reply to: LSU2018

Teachers definitely don't deserve more until our education gets better. When students stop scoring 50% on reading proficiency tests, and 40% on math proficiency tests, maybe they'll get the raise they think they deserve.

Thank you for the voice of reason. That's exactly what i'm saying. In this example, if Chicago schools lead the nation in education i'd say they earned that top dollar spot. They don't! A few years ago I even read that Chicago was considered the worst schools in the nation!! Imagine being the worst at your job and getting the highest pay. Highest pay in the nation! You would say that's crazy. But low and behold, people think that is OK. No it isn't!
www.chicagoreporter.com...

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: pexx421

The vast majority are privately owned or non profit. Some are state run, not many anymore

Dude, stop spewing ignorance. Public schools (non profit) are run by the government/state.
There are significantly more public schools than private.

nces.ed.gov...

Wow. You’re accusing me of spewing ignorance, when you completely misunderstood what she asked “are most HOSPITALS private?” And it’s in my career field for the past 20 years. So maybe try thinking before you speak, and not always attacking people who you think you disagree with.

a reply to: pexx421

I will apologize as I did read that incorrectly! In this case I was truly ignorant.


However, I'm still correct about the teachers in Chicago

Maybe, jag, if they paid teachers more you could have had one that taught reading comprehension. At any rate, apparently the numbers here are all over the board. Some saying teachers making 100k? I’ve heard of principles making that much. Not teachers. But I believe you. However, in the op it’s saying they’re the highest paid, at 64k a year. So that’s 5200 a month. That’s @3700 after taxes and deductions. -1000 in piti for a modest 150k mortgage, -300 a month for a reasonable Honda Civic or other Econ vehicle. -150/month elec, 60 water, $130 gasoline, 80 for base cable, lowest internet tier. That leaves $1800 a month for food, clothes, car insurance, savings and entertainment. Assuming the teacher doesn’t have kids. I don’t think that’s terribly unreasonable for the “highest paid teachers in the nation”.

originally posted by: pexx421
Maybe, jag, if they paid teachers more you could have had one that taught reading comprehension. At any rate, apparently the numbers here are all over the board. Some saying teachers making 100k? I’ve heard of principles making that much. Not teachers. But I believe you. However, in the op it’s saying they’re the highest paid, at 64k a year. So that’s 5200 a month. That’s @3700 after taxes and deductions. -1000 in piti for a modest 150k mortgage, -300 a month for a reasonable Honda Civic or other Econ vehicle. -150/month elec, 60 water, $130 gasoline, 80 for base cable, lowest internet tier. That leaves $1800 a month for food, clothes, car insurance, savings and entertainment. Assuming the teacher doesn’t have kids. I don’t think that’s terribly unreasonable for the “highest paid teachers in the nation”.

www.illinoispolicy.org...

Highest paid at 5 years! That is with summers off. So if they do any other kind of work in the summer, they are probably looking at at least 70-74K. On top of that add in the richest pension benefits you can imagine. That is considered part of overall compensation. That salary is looking much much better than the national average of : 47K....

So now let's take your same argument. If the national average is 47K these teachers are making much more, and they are still asking for more. Is that fair to the taxpayer?

a reply to: JAGStorm

What does it matter saying “summers off”. Do you have any idea how many hours teachers actually work for their salary? I’m about to switch from Monday through Friday to just working weekends. My pay will largely remain the same, and my hours worked as well. Despite the fact that I will only be at work 2/5 of the days that I currently am. Is it fair?

Anyway, I don’t know how to answer your question. What makes one pay more or less fair than another? Are the majority doing focus intensive jobs where every minute demands their constant attention? In my view those jobs should pay the most. Me, I only do actual work about 15 minutes of each clocked hour, and I get paid a pretty unfair sum for what I do. Garbage men and delivery drivers have pretty non demanding jobs, but none of us argue they should make less.

I guess my point is, we are pretty arbitrary about what we think people deserve to get paid based upon what we think of their jobs. And that calculus doesn’t normally have any realistic calculations of how much profit their work creates, or how painful or frustrating the job may be.

And to add to this equation, the American gdp pie has gotten bigger and bigger every year, and yet the slice assigned to labor and wages has gotten smaller, not just comparatively, but actually. And yet when people want a raise, to keep pace with the actual growing of the pie, and the growing of the costs associated, they are told they’re greedy and lazy.

How about, base our wages off of how productive we are, and how much we add to profit. Increase minimum wage (and social benefits) along with inflation and cost of living requirements. As education costs, housing costs, and healthcare costs skyrocket (not because they need to, but because those industry leaders demand increased profits) then workers REQUIRE that their wages increase too. That’s how it works.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: pexx421
Maybe, jag, if they paid teachers more you could have had one that taught reading comprehension. At any rate, apparently the numbers here are all over the board. Some saying teachers making 100k? I’ve heard of principles making that much. Not teachers. But I believe you. However, in the op it’s saying they’re the highest paid, at 64k a year. So that’s 5200 a month. That’s @3700 after taxes and deductions. -1000 in piti for a modest 150k mortgage, -300 a month for a reasonable Honda Civic or other Econ vehicle. -150/month elec, 60 water, $130 gasoline, 80 for base cable, lowest internet tier. That leaves $1800 a month for food, clothes, car insurance, savings and entertainment. Assuming the teacher doesn’t have kids. I don’t think that’s terribly unreasonable for the “highest paid teachers in the nation”.

www.illinoispolicy.org...

Highest paid at 5 years! That is with summers off. So if they do any other kind of work in the summer, they are probably looking at at least 70-74K. On top of that add in the richest pension benefits you can imagine. That is considered part of overall compensation. That salary is looking much much better than the national average of : 47K....

So now let's take your same argument. If the national average is 47K these teachers are making much more, and they are still asking for more. Is that fair to the taxpayer?

And no, it’s not the richest pension benefits imaginable. Not even close. Less than an e5 retiree with 20 years of service. And I bet you that pension will be gone in the next decade.

originally posted by: sapien82
a reply to: JAGStorm

yeh Im sitting here going , what are those teachers smoking , they are in jobs and arent on pay freeze and yet they want more !

Some people just arent happy until they have everything I suppose
all the while the whole reason they got into teaching was to teach and there are kids going without education because of their demands for further pay increase when already they are the highest paid in the country!

Crazy

Sapien what you have to remember is that, unlike the uk, the us economy has been growing this whole time. We actually make money. And the gdp has grown drastically over the last 40 years, even after 08. Gdp has grown drastically, housing cost has grown. Inflation has grown. Healthcare costs have grown. Education costs have grown. 2 of those three things you don’t even have to deal with or worry about. We do. All those things have grown dramatically. Know what hasn’t grown? Wages. They have been stagnant for forty years. We have the lowest workforce participation since 1969, when women entered the workforce.

Now I’m sure you all have reasons or excuses why it’s totally fair for all the gdp gains from the last 40 years to go only to a tiny percentage of a percent of our population, meanwhile everyone else’s share shrinks. But I just call that a transfer of wealth.

Look at it this way. If my boss gives me a raise, how should I feel? Should I feel gratitude because I “earned” it? If so, let’s clarify our definitions. No salary is static. Each year we either make more real money than we did last year or we make less. So on years where our increase in wage outpaces inflation we can call that a raise. On those years where it doesn’t we can call that a lower. So on years where my boss gives me a “lower” should I feel resentment? How about if I know for a fact that my boss gave me that “lower” so he could give himself a “raise”? THATS the whole is economic model right now and THAT is a transfer of wealth. It’s not “fair” or justified. It’s arbitrary and totalitarian, because corporate business is totalitarian.

And THATS why people demand higher wages. That’s why teachers deserve more. They’re doing far more work! Ask anyone who has been teaching for 40 years if they had more work back then or now. Ask any nurse or doctor how their job now and their workload compares to 20 or 30 years ago. How many burgers are flippers selling today in a shift vs how many 30 years ago? And all the other paperwork, side jobs, etc.

I guess my major issue is this. In a country with massive wealth growth and increased productivity, why are the workers, whose wages haven’t risen in 40 years, considered greedy and lazy when they say they need higher wages to keep pace with increased costs of living.....but shareholders, execs, and the elite are not considered greedy when they short the wages of the very people who’s work creates the profits, just so they can have more disposable income?

That good pay for summers off.

Most people work all year around

originally posted by: jjkenobi
a reply to: JustJohnny

I started at $39k for my IT job that required a degree. And I don't get summers off, every holiday ever invented, snow days, teach work days, etc etc.

Wake up to the real world.

Yea, except in IT your salary can raise very quickly. In 20 years someone earning 40k will be making 120k + easy. Will teachers after a 20 year career be making 120k? Nope.