Study shows that Public School teachers are overpaid.

It's hard for me to trust studies after seeing how easy they can be faked.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

imo The issue should not be how much teachers are being paid but the level of misguided information they are made to dish out on a daily basis.
Don't worry though everyone is just doing their job.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by I See You


Oh ok.. My wife teaches in Dekalb county. By my observation, damn near the WORST district in the WORLD!!!

I've got no problem with paying GOOD teachers an excellent wage, IF they are teaching the kids the skills they will need to succeed in life, instead of a bunch of touchy-feely self-esteem garbage.

The problem is; the teacher's unions won't allow schools (or is that scolls? ) to reward the good teachers and cut out the dead weight. They won't even allow the school districts to shop around for the best deals in benifit packages in many states costing taxpayers even more money.

In Wisconson, the schools are already seeing HUGE savings by being able to shop around for benifits and pension plans.

Wisconsin Schools Already In Line to Save $155 Million Through New Contracts

Saving Money and Teachers’ Jobs in One Simple Stroke

The bottom line is; Public sector unions are sucking the taxpayers dry and destroying any attempts at accoutibility within their ranks.

I wouldn't have any problem paying good teacher's salaries if the US school system wasn't ranked one of the worst in the developed world. The problem is that we're not getting our money's worth out of the investment and the only solutions proposed are to throw more money at the problem, which obviously hasn't been working.

Fix the system, raise up the quality of the education our sons and daughters receive in America and then, maybe, the teachers will be able to say they earned their paychecks.

Originally posted by deadeyedick
It's hard for me to trust studies after seeing how easy they can be faked.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

imo The issue should not be how much teachers are being paid but the level of misguided information they are made to dish out on a daily basis.
Don't worry though everyone is just doing their job.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Well put, it's not so much the teachers but the curriculum their forced to teach. There are laws on what you have to teach and standards that have to be met for the curriculum handed down from the top.

Yeah like Beyonce is worth 650 million and many CEO's make tens of millions of dollars not to mention our military budget.

Dream on and WTF up.

Teachers (of which we have several in our family), child care workers, the person who gets your morning coffee and waits on you make $hit wages compared to people who have absolutely no real value or do any real work.

Wake up...............start researching wage differential.

Your another sheeple drinking the corporate koolaid.

My sister in laws (2 of them) are teachers as is my best girlfriend and they don't make jack compared to what they have to put up with.

As long as people keep believing this misinformation you toot, the injustice and inequality will continue and that is partly why there is a 1% and the rest of us.

How about a study that shows the researchers who conducted this sham are not only overpaid but shouldn't have been paid at all because they are full of crap?

I'm not sure where some think the teaching degree is one of the easiest to get. The Missouri Praxis was something that every teacher must have to become a teacher and is extremely difficult to pass (and I assume this is something each state has...just some different questions particular to each state).

Now, my wife is a over-achiever of the highest degree so this example may be more unique but she is just about to her masters and the student loans are around $40k. She makes $35K now and gets about $1k per year raise.....IF she gets more hours for her degree and IF (and this is a very big if) they are allowed to claim another year of tenure. The tenure issue has come up every year for the last 5. Basically the board has to approve the tenure raise and with deficits everywhere they keep threatening to take them away due to not being able to afford them.

And their job isn't a 9 to 5 kind of job. They bring it home, they do extra (for the kids of course), and are involved in so many committees trying to make things better. I hardly see my wife just out enjoying a day off (only happens during summer break).

And one last point. Somebody here mentioned the parents. That is absolutely correct. You can't teach a kid anything useful when he goes home to parents that can't get along, parents that beat their kids regularly, parents who are not home because of work, sexually abused kids, etc..... The kids these days are either entitled little #s, think telling other kids sexually explicit stuff is acceptable (6th grade), or generally don't care because the parents don't punish them for bad grades. I'm thinking a license to have kids is the next step in our socialist progression (and I actually might agree with that...and I"m a conservative!!!). It's horrible. And just getting worse every year.

Anyhoo, there's my 2 cents.

Peace!!

reply to post by Cryptonomicon




Good reply

I forgot to post a link to the study in question:

Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers


Its from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, so their negative slant towards the teacher's unions is to be expected but, is the study any less biased that any other study out there?

Originally posted by I See You

Originally posted by My.mind.is.mine
reply to post by I See You

 

My wife is a teacher here in GA. She makes something hovering around 33k.... 75k though??? really???

She teaches in Marion county. Lives in Buford. Supposedly second best school county in America.

Second best county in the country, and you are mad upset she makes 75K?

....imagine how many teaching jobs at 75K could be filled for the 3.2 billion we gave exxon as a tax refund last year. EDIT: or dont imagine, and do the math:

Instead of giving exxon 3.2 billion last year, our government could have created 42,666 and 2/3s full time middle class teaching jobs. If that stat alone doesnt prove that the corporations rule our country, I dont know what will.

our country is ignorant and #ed up.

Originally posted by FortAnthem
In fact, for some reason, damn near every government job seems to be paid way over the going rate for the same job in the private sector. In hard economic times like this, maybe we should take a long, hard look at government salaries and determine whether they aren't overpaying everyone in the public sector with our tax money.

Public sector jobs are considered the Holy Grail of employment by most job seekers because of the great pay rates and free benifits. With all of these generous pay packages coming out of the pockets of hard pressed local taxpayers, is this system really sustainable anymore?

edit on 11/3/11 by FortAnthem because: Damn public scoll teachers didn't even teach me to spell "school" properly.

While I agree that SOME teachers may be overpaid based on their ability to teach most of them are underpaid as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't put up with a bunch of bratty arsed kids for months on end with no ability to discipline them for what they make!

As for the B.S. that government workers are paid more than private sector...well it's complete b.s. Is there job security? Yes. Could I (a government worker) make more in the same profession in the private sector? Absolutely. The benefits? Comperable to any other job as far as medical and out of pocket expenses.

When you say anything about the "pockets of hard pressed local taxpayers" it makes me wonder if you understand that we pay taxes also.

reply to post by occy30


Absolutely good post.......most kids now come from very splintered families and education is no longer high on anyone's list except for the very rich............they know that knowledge, real knowledge is power.

Teacher have it very hard, I know several and I wouldn't trade them jobs for twice what they make which is squat.

The OP is very misinformed in my opinion.

Originally posted by I See You

Originally posted by My.mind.is.mine
reply to post by I See You

 

My wife is a teacher here in GA. She makes something hovering around 33k.... 75k though??? really???

She teaches in Marion county. Lives in Buford. Supposedly second best school county in America.

One of the local school districts in nearby Bucks County, Pa has a starting salary of 70k. That's for new hires right out of college.

I guess the salaries vary widely based on what the local tax base can cover, so maybe I'm a little prejudiced based on the local salaries in my neck of the woods. I don't think many people can argue that 70k for a brand new teacher isn't a little outrageous.

I guess it also has to do with how much bargaining power the unions have in your state. In Pa, they have the right to strike but, in some other states, they are barred from striking and interfering with the school year.

Teachers have to deal with kids that come from all walks of parents, which includes abusive parents, alcholic parent, drug attic parent, non-english speaking kids and parents, single family parents, ADHD kids, autistic kids, mentally handicaped kids etc. etc. and they have to deal with it everyday.

reply to post by aching_knuckles


My sister in law that teaches first grade made less than me (she made $30,000, me 45,000).

My sister in law that teaches high school "special ed" makes 40,000 and she has it rough

My girlfriend that makes 43,000 in a inner city school (also special ed) has it really rough.......some of the stories she tells and she is very very well educated and motivational and she has been through hell and back with the idiots she has to deal with on a day by day basis.

Now, my husband could teach college Trig but he is in another line of work because the money stinks compared to private corporations.

I have facts............cold hard facts.

Teachers shape the minds of our youth and yet we put more money into the military and such, shows you where our priorities lie as a nation.

Our children come last and they are our future.

Here's a fun little test for all you folks that think teachers deserve more...

Test from 1895

There have been questions about it's authenticity but...

Although the original reads, “Examination Graduation Questions of Saline County, Kansas,” there has been some debate about the exam’s authenticity and whom it was intended for — either eighth graders or potential teachers. The recent discovery of handwritten notes for the grammar section of the exam, found by a Saline County school superintendent’s grandchildren, support the legitimacy of the test. Read more: www.farmcollector.com...

Found HERE

Now when I hear my Grandfather only graduated 8th grade, it's easy to see 8th grade used to be worth more than 12th is today.

Originally posted by TreadUpon
Here's a fun little test for all you folks that think teachers deserve more...

Test from 1895

There have been questions about it's authenticity but...

Although the original reads, “Examination Graduation Questions of Saline County, Kansas,” there has been some debate about the exam’s authenticity and whom it was intended for — either eighth graders or potential teachers. The recent discovery of handwritten notes for the grammar section of the exam, found by a Saline County school superintendent’s grandchildren, support the legitimacy of the test. Read more: www.farmcollector.com...

Found HERE

Now when I hear my Grandfather only graduated 8th grade, it's easy to see 8th grade used to be worth more than 12th is today.

Oh yeah? Can someone from 1895 clean my carboreuters, or run a CNC machine? They were better educated about certain historical facts because they had more free time to do as they wanted, and not nearly as many leisure activities. Dont try to skew the debate with senseless arguments.

I guarantee the people of 1895 iowa were still largely uneducated and ignorant.

reply to post by FortAnthem


I wonder what constitutes "overpaid this days in America" I guess anything that is just a penny more than minimum wages right?

Because if I am not mistaken many teachers in the US are on welfare in the nation as they are falling into welfare benefits to be able to survive even with now their "overpaid" jobs.

Sorry but I see the article as nothing but propaganda. The character assassination and the history of how public servants like (teachers) has been targeted because they are easy pray

Teachers, however, are a much easier sell as the new "welfare queens," which is why they (and other, less visible public servants) find themselves in the conservatives' crosshairs. In the last year, public education has undergone a sustained, highly successful character assassination from billionaires and the corporate media, transforming educators from dedicated public servants to lazy, self-interested bureaucrats who care more about pensions than their students. "The Myth of the Bad Teacher"has prevailed, popularized by "Waiting for 'Superman,'" discussed at length on Oprah and repeated ad nauseam on the covers of popular magazines like Time, which proclaim that these "bad teachers" have caused a crisis in education. Wading in this swamp of negative propaganda, teachers are easy prey. After all, "bad teachers" working in a "bad" school system clearly don't deserve our hard-earned money when they aren't earning it in the first place. Why not take away their Cadillac benefits?

www.truth-out.org...

reply to post by TreadUpon


I would flunk the hell out of that test.

I guess its time for me to put on my dunce cap.[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3b1362227119.gif[/atsimg]

I am NOT smarter than an eighth grader from 1895.

reply to post by FortAnthem


I know what you mean!

And to think, those teachers had students of all levels in the same one room school!

I don't blame teachers for sucking so bad, btw. I'm pretty sure the baby boom after WWII had something to do with the down turn.