The $100K teachers

[Mizmoon]

The $100K teachers
Faced with growing budgets, districts turn their attention to ways to keep personnel salaries in check

Like many taxpayers, Eleanor Morris got a bulletin from her East Islip school district, citing "uncontrollable" costs of employee pensions and health benefits as responsible for much of the 9.25 percent increase in next year's $83.9-million budget.

Morris, a longtime civic activist, knows something about school spending. And she questions why the bulletin didn't also explain a far bigger expense: teacher salaries that are due to increase locally next year by 7.5 percent -- 70 percent faster than inflation.

Next year's raises are on top of an East Islip payroll that already totals $28.1 million, and includes more than 100 teachers -- out of about 400 -- making more than $100,000 apiece annually.

"It's the biggest part of the budget, and it's not just a one-year thing -- it's increase after increase," said Morris, a retired business manager of an appliance repair firm who serves on the board of East Islip TaxPac, a watchdog group.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lipay0510,0,6004163.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

[jab105]

1. WOW!! I make less than $30K...with a masters degree...

n/t

[woosh]

11. Yeah, English degrees aren't exactly money-makers.

:)

[leftofcool]

67. You got that right!!!!!!!!!!!! eom

[jab105]

71. Umm...I don't have a degree in english, where in the world did you get tha

that from?

I have a masters degree in Materials engineering...

ANd yea, otherwise it would be a money maker...

[woosh]

86. just joking around...

:)

[Daphne08]

87. I never made more than $30,000 in my 17 years of teaching

Started at $12,000. Sad.

[Dufaeth]

2. Wait, this is supposed to be bad?

?????

[MountainLaurel]

14. My thoughts exactly

If we had more teachers making $100K, and fewer stockbrokers, HMO administrators, and football coaches who do, America would be a better place and somewhat closer to joining the rest of the world in terms of social priorities.

[Dinger]

43. Thank you

From a teacher who does not make 100K a year, or in 2 years for that matter.

[MountainLaurel]

49. You're welcome

I was speaking with one of my best friends from high school last night, a special education teacher of probably seven years who can't afford to buy a home in her area. However, she's applied for a position in the county that borders hers, which is in another state. For the same position, she will receive $15K more a year than what she's making now. Once she finishes her master's in reading in December, that goes up to $20K more a year.

Meanwhile, a story from my fiancee sticks with me. He has a German friend whose wedding he attended. The friend at one point commented on the wealth of his in-laws, which made the gorgeous ceremony possible. Their occupation: teachers. Apparently, in Germany and at that point in time, educators were one of the most well-compensated professions, and not just at the college level.

:cry:

[HockeyMom]

51. Not a starting salary

The starting salary for a teacher is around $45,000 I think. So those teachers making $100,000 must have at the very least 15-20 years in. With that you are talking those with families.

The housing costs here are insane: $400,000+ for 3 bedroom houses, one room studios going for around a $1,000 a month. My older daughter has several friends who are young teachers. They are still living with Mom and Dad because they cannot afford the rents, even with roommates. One of her friend's just graduated last year. With the new state requirements requiring a Master Degree within 2 years of certification, she is working during the day, going to school part time at night, paying for it herself, and still living with Mom and Dad. She cannot afford to rent on her $45,000 a year salary and pay for her Master's degree.

I was recently looking for rental housing. This is not an area known for rentals. The majority of rentals are mostly "illegal" apartments in somebody's home. I looked into the few apartment complexes (real estate management corps). I was given a 3 page listing of all the requirements before approval would be met. They wanted to see pay stubs, W2 forms, credit and criminal background checks (paid for by YOU) before your application would be approved. The requirement to be met was that your annual salary must be 3 times the annual rent. One bedrooms were renting for $1,400 to $1,800 a month, utilities not included. Two bedrooms were $1,900 to $2,300 a month. You do the math and see the kind of salary you would need to be making for these rentals.

As that poster said, $100,000 here is not a lot of money, epically for anybody with a family. And you can bet the young 20 somethings are not even making close to that.

[SoCalDem]

79. My son lives in Concord, CA, and most "public servants"

cannot afford to live there either.. I don't know WHERE they live, because that whole area is very pricey .. They bought a small 3 BR that was built in 1950-something, and had to put about 30K in repairs to it before they moved in,., They paid $435K for it and were LUCKY to find it. It was on the market for less than 8 HOURS..

Our society is cannibalizing its young generation. It is costing them so much to just exist...most will not be able to even save a penny.

[calimary]

63. Agreed. HEARTILY agreed.

Begrudging a teacher some really decent pay is pure chiseling - being penny-wise and horrendously pound-foolish. How the hell are we supposed to attract more people to the teaching profession? How do you make it more of a plausible vocation? How do you meet the needs of our kids if we can't attract good people who want a good wage for their daily struggles? Are our kids not worth it? Or would you rather see another CEO, or maybe another famous, spoiled steroid-sucker get the big bucks? I'd rather give it to the teachers. Especially considering the hell some of them go through just trying to do their jobs. A terrific salary would make it all a lot easier to bear, and we wouldn't be losing good teachers to other jobs simply because they pay better.

[midnight armadillo]

66. You must not know the argument

For every profession, it is acknowledged that higher salaries attract better people. It is often payback for the time it took to get into it...such as lawyers, doctors, etc.

However, for teachers the argument is pay them as little as possible, that way only the really dedicated people will do it, and they'll be the best teachers.

Imagine running a software company, deciding your product wasn't up to snuff, and slashing your programmer salaries by 50% in order to weed out the undedicated. This would never happen...in fact, the "dedication" argument only seems to be applied to teaching.

It's a fucked up country. I love teaching, but would take a massive paycut to go do it. I can barely afford the cost of living for my family near Boston as it is.

[calimary]

80. But that's my point. You shouldn't have to face the likelihood of a

massive paycut to teach - something you love and something our entire society needs. You should be well-compensated for it. It's a vitally important service.

And as for that theoretical software company - I've never worked in one, but I do know what happened at every radio station or other broadcasting outlet (or anywhere/thing else) where I've ever worked - if the pay is cut, people leave. And some of them ARE incredibly dedicated and hard-working. I left the AP for that reason - coming to the realization after years of taking shit and working unpaid overtime that the paltry salary (and some pretty good benefits, I'll admit) just wasn't enough to compensate for the shit and workload that I faced every day. I think you might call it the "life's too short..." argument. And at other places where I've worked - where the pay was not cut, necessarily, but was just plain abysmally low, there was a constant turnover. Management always complained that they could never keep people. One of 'em even grumbled about a bigger station (that offered much more, including pay and benefits) - "they always take our best people." Well, fuckin-A - what the hell do you expect?

My point is - people shouldn't have to move around, or leave the profession, or struggle with lousy pay to TEACH OUR KIDS. The good pay should be built-in, right there, so these people can stay put and build a relatively good life on better than subsistence wages.

[davekriss]

69. And those are my thoughts, exactly! (n/t)

[tinrobot]

64. Exactly

Teachers need to make as much as scientists and engineers, IMHO.

A friend on mine who's a teacher has to buy crayons for her kids out of her own pocket. She pulls a $30k salary and lives in Los Angeles. That's just wrong.

[Burma Jones]

3. You need $100K a year to lead a middle class life on Long Island

And they have some pretty decent schools out on Long Island as well.

[woosh]

13. Household income.

How many households only have 1 income-earner? $100K is a good chunk of change, even in metropolitan New York.

[Burma Jones]

16. I live in Metro DC and $100K keeps your head above water

You are correct about single earner households, but why shouldn't we say that teachers should be paid as much as police officers or at least a third of what a NY lawyer makes?

I used to live in Westchester County New York where $100K makes you lower middle class, so I don't know about that being a good chunk of change....

[woosh]

36. This is the whole worthy argument.

I'm not going to get caught up in that.

100K is a lot of money, anywhere. I've lived in Boston and San Fran, so I know how far a buck can go, even without ascribing ambiguous "class" to the equation.

[Toots]

53. It isn't enough though for the importance of their job

It may seem a lot of money to you but in reality for the safeguarding and instructing of our children it is abismal. As long as jocks make millions and teachers scrounge to get by we are fools.

[davekriss]

73. $100k is a good chunk of change...

...in NY, Boston, San Francisco, and Miami. However, it is a splendid chunk of change in Des Moines, Peoria, Fargo, and a host of other cities and towns across the U.S.

Considering that the teacher making $100,000 in East Islip probably has worked to at least a Masters degree, has met continuous education requirements, probably has achieved 20+ years of service -- and, most importantly, is a gatekeeper to the quality of life of the generation that comes after us -- I think $100,000 is not overly generous at all. It's probably just sufficient.

A 3 bedroom house on an eighth of an acre and built in the fifties costs about $350,000 in East Islip. $100,000 there probably equates to $50,000 in Des Moines, Peoria, and Fargo. Is $50,000 too much, in your opinon, for a teacher with a Masters and 20+ years of service in your current place of residence? If you were to compare compensation with other professions, which would you compare teaching to? Truck driving? The legal profession? Retail selling? Astronauts?

Long Island is one of the few places where teaching is paid near what it should be. Considering the education requirements. Considering the importance of the job to the futuure of this nation. I just don't get it when people balk.

[bunny planet]

39. It might be servicable income for one person in the NYC metro area but

if that teacher has a family, that income hardly gets you by in that part of the country.

[FourStarDemocrat]

91. That's absolutely true, and most of these teachers deserve this pay..

This pay scale comes anyway after many years, and completing at least 30 graduate education credits beyond a masters degree. They are responsible for the education of 20-30 children a year, see them more hours per week than anybody besides their parents, advocate for special services for them, teach them and help shape their characters and their futures.

They put a ton of work into what they're doing, and should not take the backlash of people's furor over rising real estate taxes due to George Bush's underfunded federal mandates.

[DS1]

4. *sigh* Republicans

They want good schools, good roads, good fire departments, good cops, good airline safety, good air traffic controllers, but they'll be damned if anyone actually makes more than them in their shitty appliance repair shops while doing it :eyes:

[Bridget Burke]

5. Newsday has a Real Estate section....

Check out the prices to see community standards.

A taxpayer complaining in the article cited rising healthcare costs as a reason taxes were unfair. Dreadful, surely. But why not attack the health care costs rather than the teachers?

[Kerrytravelers]

7. Because attacking teachers is fun!

arnie has made an art form out of it. Attacking those who serve the most vulnerable (teachers and nurses) is the GOP way!

Everybody, follow me! Goosestep high and seig heil with a firm, straight arm to our Lord and Master, king shrub!

[Mizmoon]

9. Actually it has more to do with exorbitant property taxes

than any animosity toward teachers. And the taxes rise without mercy every year.

Not saying it's right, but that's why.

[FourStarDemocrat]

93. Because of Bush's unfunded federal mandates the towns take up the slack

And people who are not informed about this react against the school district, and the local governments.

[underpants]

18. Funny how they turn that around when a "wealthy Vet" makes $25K

I have mentioned that "welathy Veterans" making more than $25K a year have to pay a $2,500 deductible and the standard response is "Well 25,000 is a lot in some areas" (no it isn't) but when it comes to teachers' salary it is one size fits all.

I also don't think it helps the kids respect their teachers when they (can't help but) hear them trashed regularly on TV and at home.

[FourStarDemocrat]

92. Exactly, and without high quality schools, real estate prices go down--for

those concerned about real estate prices. When house values go down precipitiously because of poor quality schools, tax assessments on the lowered valued homes also go down, and hence less taxes are collected to support the town in general. Yes, there is some waste in every school budget that can be trimmed, But supporting your schools is the best insurance that the children in your neighborhood/town will grow up to be healthy, contributing members of a vital community, and that your community will remain a place where young families will want to settle in, support, and be a part of.

[bookman]

6. Administrator's salaries

Check those out in those districts. I bet we'll see some huge numbers there. I also suspect the 100 thousand dollar teachers have masters plus and about 30 years experience.

[boredofeducation]

27. School Administrators make twice that

School Administrators make twice that. Many pull 150-200K easy. I seen an School Administrator make 200K a year while the average teacher was making 50K.

[la la]

68. where

did you 'seen' that?

School Superintendents make that kind of money, not school site administrators. With masters and experience.

Teachers? no way---maybe $75,000- with many, many years of experience, a masters, or even a phd.

[boredofeducation]

96. New Jersey

Take a look at some of New Jersey's Administrator Salaries. Than take a look at Teacher's salaries. You would be amazed. Also New Jersey is not a cheap place to live either.

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. I have 25 years experience

plus a master's degree and I make nowhere near 100K. Neither does my principal. The only employee in our district who makes 6 figures is the superintendent.

[Wickerman]

8. I suppose that will piss off all those home schooled kids

who are still sitting at home in their mom's basement being RW pundits. Sorry, I imagine 100k on Long Island is like 70K in Texas.

Oh, wait, it is:
http://www.homefair.com/homefair/servlet/ActionServlet?pid=200&tool=salarycalculator&previousPage=116&cid=homefair&fromState=NY&toState=TX&salary=100000&fromCity=36F0006&toCity=4865000&ownrent=own

I think those who teach our young deserve a middle class lifestyle.

[MadisonProgressive]

17. HA! I only would need to make $39,663 in Madison, Wisconsin

That doesn't seem too terribly high for a teachers salary here.

[MadisonProgressive]

22. Oops, I was comparing to Manhattan and not Long Island

For Long Island I'd need to make $82,852 in Madison to equal 100K. That would be a pretty hefty salary for teachers here. More like high school principal money.

Why does it drop down to $39,663 for Manhattan???????

[Mizmoon]

28. cause city kids that can't afford private school

are expendable.

Naw, it's cause city taxes are so bad then can't raise them enough to have decent public schools. They don't even bother.

There was an article not too long ago about city school custodians taking kickbacks from vendors ... the city public schools are (mostly) a nightmare.

[Wickerman]

25. Well, the top 1/4 of salaries

are undoubtedly administrators, folk with advanced degrees, and folks with a lot of years in. And yep, you are underpaid. Its a shame the way we treat teachers.

How long have you been teaching?

[SOteric]

20. And can afford to live within 150 miles of where they teach

Nah. That would be spoiling them.

[pagandem4justice]

90. Speaking as a teacher...

...who works in a slum area of deep (border) South Texas and makes $36K with 5 years experience and a Master's degree, I can say with authority that teachers everywhere are undervalued and underpaid. I have also noticed -- and this jibes with the previous poster's comparison of $100K in Long Island with $70K in "Texas" (I guess a city?) -- that districts tend to pay teachers "just enough" to keep us in the lower middle class ... not so poor that you'd want to quit immediately, but not too "uppity" so that you feel like a real professional.

BTW, in our district, base pay (no experience) is $28K, and scale maxes out at $49K. You can add to that with "stipends" for Master's degrees (a whopping $800 a YEAR), additional certifications (variable, typically $500 or so), bilingual certification ($1000 a year), Master Teacher licensing ($5000 if you land a position that requires it), and so forth.

On the other hand, I am applying for a lower-rung administrative position (grant writer) that pays $55K-$77K depending on experience. Our former superintendant, who had all of eight years' experience when we got him, made $130K a year, plus perks and bonuses.

I guess in Long Island that would be in the $250K+ range?

:mad:

[FourStarDemocrat]

94. Most superintendents in LI average between $175K and $200K...

I know this from another Newsday article that was published about a month ago. Most districts are cutting back on raising salaries of Supt's and limiting their perks, becasue of fear of another outrageous scandal that took place in Roslyn, LI last year (and is still ongoing), where that town's Superintendent embezzled millions of dollars in tax payer funds over the span of his employment, desptie being paid a hefty salary with all of the extras.

[OzarkDem]

10. Isn't it interesting

how many of the posts today have to do with Republican "red meat" issues?

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[smoogatz]

15. What do post counts have to do with anything?

Do your 2500 posts make you automatically right? What's the median income there in E. Islip, anyway? Bet that $100k is pretty close.

[Burma Jones]

21. Self Delete

I couldn't have been more mistaken........

[Mizmoon]

23. the post implied

that I am a troll by stating that so many posts resemble repuke talking points. That is annoying. I have been here for a long time and am not a troll, that's what the post count part is about.

<<Do your 2500 posts make you automatically right?>> No.

<<What's the median income there in E. Islip, anyway? Bet that $100k is pretty close.>>

The median income in e islip is $71,000. I assume that's two wage earners.

[smoogatz]

35. Post counts don't prove anything, ideologically speaking

Any idiot can rack up 1000+ posts. Not that you're an idiot. But you do seem a little tweaked about this teacher salary issue--is it your opinion that teachers shouldn't make $100k?

[boredofeducation]

40. So you assume

Assume has three words in it ass-u-me. Plus that data you cited is 5 years old. Can you buy a house in East Islip for 190K right now? I don't think so....

[Mizmoon]

42. Ah, the old "ass-u-me" comment

phuleeeese .... :eyes:

If you look through my posts I point out myself that it's older data.

[OzarkDem]

32. I recently met an aquaintance here

who is a known die hard Republican posing as a Dem. She had over 3,000 posts.

I normally post on other Dem forums and read DU regularly. I've only recently decided to comment on the increase in strange, inflammatory posts.

[bemildred]

38. There is some bizarre stuff posted. And best ignored. nt

[bunkerbuster1]

46. 999 times out of 1000 I do just that, but

here I thought I'd just echo what the admins always say: Why would anyone waste their time trying to "infiltrate" this message board?

I've never had the slightest inclination to become a faux-Freeper and post so much as a single message that'd potentially give aid and comfort to some RW asshole.

I figure at best, the results of such an effort would be miniscule, and the time spent rather prodigeous.

BTW, I don't really care if a person I'm replying to is a "real" DUer or a pretend one, because it's really not about what's behind the message. The message is what it is. It's two dimensional. There's no depth, no backstory, and that's the way most like it.

You want depth and backstory, there's this thing called "real life" where you talk to people 'n stuff.

[bemildred]

54. Well said.

While I like DU and think it's important, I don't think getting
in flame wars with KoolAid drinkers helps the cause at all.

[conflictgirl]

85. I totally agree with this.

I don't really have time to waste on wondering if someone's a real DUer or a mole. I enjoy this board and for me I think I would cease to enjoy it if that became my focus.

[Horse with no Name]

52. But yet

You have been a member since 2001. Longevity vs. post counts. Which is really most important? Which is harder to obtain?
:)

[CrispyQ]

19. Why don't they complain about CEO pay?

http://www.aflcio.org/corporateamerica/paywatch/

snip...

"Every year, shareholders and America’ s workers learn of new jaw-dropping executive compensation packages that seemingly defy rational explanation. In 2004, the average CEO of a major company received $9.84 million in total compensation, according to The New York Times.

What’s wrong with CEOs taking a disproportionate share of the wealth? Excessive CEO pay takes dollars out of the pockets of shareholders—including the retirement savings of America’s working families."

[boredofeducation]

24. Take a look at the average salaries in those communities

Take a look at the average salaries in theose communities, I bet they are higher than 100K. I know of some school districts in New Jersey that the Teachers make about 40K a year while the average wage in the community is 130K a year. 95% percent of the teachers live outside of that community because they can not even afford a cozy 3 bedroom ranch home that sells for 400K.

[Mizmoon]

26. no, the average is $71,000

The numbers are a little old, though.

http://www.city-data.com/city/East-Islip-New-York.html

[salib]

33. Do you really want to keep this up?

Why are we arguing over silliness. The "we need to reduce taxes" mantra is what needs to be attacked. School teachers need to be paid. Hell, they need to be paid well. We all need that.

There is plenty of money out there. We are squandering it on ignorance.

[boredofeducation]

37. What about surrounding neighborhoods?

What about surrounding neighborhoods? Because schools have to compete to keep teachers if a neighboring district is offering higher salaries. Some schools turn into an revolving door if they are paying teachers very low.

[Mizmoon]

41. It's hard to do estimates on LI

for example, you have Old Westbury with mansions (jennifer lopez lives there) next to Hicksville, a much more humble place.

To be fair, E Islip is known as a less-expensive place to live on LI. Ironically, their school district is actually known to be crappy.

[boredofeducation]

47. What is there starting Salary

Many schools have pay scales that you meet with certain degrees and years of experience. So some teachers making a 100K a year is not new, not in the New York Metro area.

[FourStarDemocrat]

95. That's true, but their higher pay scale is part of a teacher's incentive

to get qualified, experienced teachers to stay there.

[pschoeb]

81. Actually that is the median not the average for East Islip

There is a big difference. A community with a median income of $71,000 is quite well off. The median income of New York City is $38,293, some place like Buffalo is $24,000. Even a super duper wealthy town like Armonk has a median income of $108,508. The median income for all of New York State is $43,643.

[fishwax]

29. I wish more teachers made 100 k a year (n/t)

[salib]

30. This is the same crap used against unions of any stripe

As soon as they actually get something, they are painted as greedy and overpaid. I think it is awfully easy to find someone who makes less or more than some group. Moreover, one of the main goals is improvement of working conditions, isn't it? Of course they are going to improve. So, get on the bandwagon and improve your conditions as well. Remember, these is over $10 Trillion (with a T) being hidden away off-shore for tax purposes. Those are the ones to complain about, not those who work hard for a living, just maybe a little less hard because they organized.

Quit letting this one get turned around on us!

[underpants]

44. Standardized testing --> break teacher unions --> vouchers -->

Two tiered education system of the haves (already there) and the worker bees.

My wife found a great article on the Hudson Institute site (I will try to find it) spelling out that (2 tiered system) is the goal in all this.

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. What is this lady's problem?

Salaries are the biggest expense for MOST businesses. And she claims to be a retired business manager? Sure . . .

And why don't teachers deserve to make this kind of money? Do caring citizens like her want the schools to succeed or not? Does she want the best and brightest to enter the teaching profession? Well then she needs to know that the best and brightest can make a whole lot more money doing almost anything else besides teaching.

I graduated from college 27 years ago and every single one of my friends I graduated with (except the teachers) have always earned way more than I do. Most now earn at least twice as much as I do. Why is this okay???

[underpants]

45. Well they are ONLY responsible for the education, health, safety...

of what 40 kids. THEIR kids their validation (inside joke with my wife) their government funded choice (tax deduction) I mean come on why would someone think they deserve more money for THAT??? It's just 40 Lives that's all

:sarcasm:

[proud2BlibKansan]

50. oh underpants,

how right you are and how sad that is.

[underpants]

55. As I said above-How constructive is all this bad mouthing of teachers?

When it comes to how the kids see them. The kids probably pick at least some of this up from the TV and their parents (it doesn't help win there is just no way little Johnny could have done ANYTHING wrong :eyes: and they just KNOW that even though they weren't in the classroom or on the playground) are bad mouthing teachers all the time. How does that effect position teachers are supposed to take in the classroom?

[proud2BlibKansan]

60. It's not constructive at all

Even kids whose parents support us are now saying "I am going to tell my mom" when they get into trouble.

And this will probably get me flamed, but I just read this LTTE in my local paper. I believe it says a lot.

Bless Leonard Pitts! His May 3 column (“Taped tantrum reveals key issue — child's inappropriate behavior”) gave me great comfort. No one else seemed to be questioning the out-of-control behavior of the videotaped 5-year-old in Florida. I'd begun to think I was the only one thinking the child needed to be disciplined. If that discipline doesn't come from the home, where else but at school will any child learn what society considers acceptable behavior?

When did we so totally lose the common sense that allows educators to handle cases like this? The eroding of school authority has been gradual but steady. Lawsuits by parents against school districts have been one of the reasons for the erosion. School boards and administrators have become very “gun shy” when it comes to litigation.

The handcuffing of the girl may have been the best solution. Had any one of the people involved tried to bring her under control by using their hands, they would surely have been accused of brutality or using excessive force. With the child's hands cuffed behind her, she could no longer hurt herself or anyone else. It may have been the one logical action in the whole episode.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/opinion/11604901.htm

[underpants]

61. Mmmm lots of blame to go around in that case

I agree with some of that but not other parts.

[proud2BlibKansan]

65. The point brought out

is that this was obviously what we call a 'parenting issue'. This little girl was most likely disturbed, but I felt it was also obvious that Mom dropped the ball big time. I saw the family on TV. The little girl was riding her bike in the living room and another child was jumping from one piece of furniture to another - while Mom was being interviewed. Then when the little girl was asked why she tried to hit her teacher, she said 'because she was looking at me'.

We are deluged with kids just like this - more and more all the time. They have no self-discipline whatsoever. And we can't give them that at school. We also have more and more 5 year olds every year who don't know their name. The family has called them 'poopsie' or 'junior' and no one thought to teach them their actual name is Billy or Suzie. Ten years ago the number of kindergarteners who didn't know their phone number was scary, now they don't know their name.

Parenting issues - more and more of a problem every year.

[Norquist Nemesis]

48. Eleanor is on the Board of a Grover Norquist Wannabe Group

The East Islip TaxPac...that really says it all with this woman.

I'm guessing here, but I bet those 100 teachers making more than $100K annually also have some administrative responsibilities in addition to their classroom time.

The 7.5% increase sounds fishy to me. Could this be part of a negotiated 3 year contract that gives an OVERALL 7.5% increase? Or maybe 7.5% the first of the three years and some much small increase in years 2 and 3? I don't think we're getting the whole story on that figure.

And finally, I'm curious as to just exactly what her "knows something about school spending" is. Sitting on the board of a tax-watchdog group? Those groups scream if a nickel of taxpayer money is spent on chalk!

[Horse with no Name]

56. Well my take is

That we have no qualms paying athletes, entertainers, Doctor's, lawyers...etc. six figure salaries.
Why do we begrudge teachers? Good teachers are worth a million bucks. Bad teachers aren't worth the paper their teaching certificate is on.
In order to reach that type of pay, they should have a proven track record.
However, I will say that there does need to be a cap on the annual increases, and at the point they max out the cap, then offer annual bonuses of 3%.
$100k is a fair cap.
Personally working as a nurse, I only received 3% max annual raises.
To get the maximum raise, you have to publish case studies, do community service, do a certain number of inservice hours, serve on committees, etc, as well as do your job and keep up with the continuing education your licensure requires. We do have salary caps as well.
7.5% is very generous, yet I don't wish them less, I wish me more,lol.

[K-W]

57. Gee I wonder why our education system is floundering.

Could it be that school districts have been under assualt by tax watchdog groups for decades who, under the facade of fiscal responsibility have waged a sustained campaign to defund education and villianize teachers.

We as a society should practically worship teachers for the job they do, we have a long way to go before we have to worry about them being overpaid.

[leftofthedial]

58. newsday

I know a few teachers. Most of them struggle to get by. The best paid teacher I've known makes about $60K, that's with 20 years and multiple degrees.

Teachers being overpaid is an absurd complaint on its face.

[Cerridwen]

59. Thank [insert favorite omnipotent being or science here]!!!

I am so happy to see that some teachers might be paid a real salary. I am not a teacher. I have many teachers to thank for who I am. I wish we could point to more teachers making good salaries.

Then I saw the posts debating teachers' salaries. Why is it when someone does well there is frequently someone else who says something along the lines of "I don't make x, why should you/they?"

It happens with unions frequently - "those union people sure are over paid." Er, uh, if you don't like the fact they make more than you, join a freaking union and make what they make!

"Those damned teachers make x?! Why I don't even make x." Then become a freaking teacher and put in the time so you too can make x.

What's this idea that "if I can't have it, no one can"?!

How about trying, if they can have it, maybe I can, too. Or here's one - if I help others get "it" maybe it'll help me get "it" too. Quit trying to freaking destroy and concentrate on creating.

Let's get more teachers making 100K. Let's get parents involved while we're at it. And maybe use some money so schools are palaces. How about teaching our children in ways in which they'll learn and grow and prosper. Let's recognize that children learn differently from one another. Let's teach to their strengths. Aw, hell, can't we do this one thing well without beating up on each other?

[underpants]

62. "We need more firemen, teachers, and cops"

"Of course if you have more teachers you need less cops"

-David Letterman

[Stinky The Clown]

70. Teachers (among other 'lowly public servents') need to be paid MORE than

the non-contributors (I'm thinking here of the worst of the worst ... the 'personalities' of every stripe that suck the air - and money - from the environment they happen to inhabit.) I know that won't happen, but they deserve every penny they get ... and then some.

Its sad when, as a society, we think so little of our teachers (and fire and police and medics, etc.) that we don't even pay them enough to live where they work.

[GOPBasher]

72. I'm a teacher making $25,000/yr. This is very rare, but of course

the right wingers will use this to say, "see, school teachers are payed too much." :puke:

[Hamlette]

74. every teacher should make $100K +

they should be the highest paid profession in any society along with cops.

What do you tell kids about the value of education when you pay teachers crap.

[LizW]

75. Median teacher salary in this district: $67,800

Yet the article keeps talking about the "six-figure teacher". Only the top 5% of teachers make six figures. The one they mention specifically has a Master's degree plus 75 credits above that and 34 years of experience.

I'll bet someone in a private business with post-graduate education and 34 years of experience would do okay, too.

This article is dishonest. They are trying to use a small minority fair teachers salaries to stir people up against teachers.

I would guess $67,800 on Long Island does not buy a grand standard of living.

[noonwitch]

76. I'm a social worker and I would love to make $67,000 a year!

I make about $40,000. Teachers, social workers, cops, fire fighters are all underpaid. That's a high-paying school district, like most in my area (metro Detroit). The Detroit Public Schools, as bad as they are, pay very well, if you're not getting laid off.

[Stinky The Clown]

82. "This article is dishonest."

What's new?

[entanglement]

84. Exactly, see my reply #83 n/t

[pschoeb]

77. I find the 100 teachers at $100K to be dubious data

Strange how the number cited is a nice round figure? makes me suspicious

I couldn't find data that listed the salaries for every teacher. But I did find the salaries for all administrative ranked personel for all of East Islip.
Dcode School Type Title Salary
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 1 Superintendent of Schools 154,397
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 2 Asst. Supt. for Instruct/Pers 139,050
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Principal 123,333
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Principal 115,000
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Principal 108,461
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Principal 103,000
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Principal 113,164
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Principal 125,738
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Principal 103,000
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Asst. Principal 124,351
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Director of Special Education 146,454
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Director of Foreign Language 111,726
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Dir. of Careers/Student Serv. 125,255
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Director of Athletics 110,001
580503 EAST ISLIP UFSD 3 Director of Art and Music 101,288

My guess is that outside of these persons who are also fullfilling adminstrtaive functions, there are unlikely to be 100 actual teachers making $100K or more. My guess is that there may be only a handfull of teachers, where the job is primarily teaching, who might just barely make $100K in this ditrict.

[AnneD]

78. If there were justice in this world........

People would be paid based on their contributions to the betterment of society. But instead, the money goes toward sports figures, air head actors, talking heads, etc.
I have discovered that working in the public school system, I make under half of what I make as a nurse in the hospital (this is an apples to apples comparison). What makes it work for me is that I work during the summer to make up the difference. There were some districts where the school nurse salary was 1/4 of the hospitals...they had trouble finding a nurse (Duhhhh). Hope this provides a perspective reguarding the teachers salary.

[entanglement]

83. Tenured, experienced college professors

in top universities make anywhere from $90,000 to $150,000, so I guess $100k for school teachers is a pretty good deal. I'm guessing the percentage of teachers making 100k and above is quite small.

[Rex]

88. 100k a year? I'm happy starting off at 30k!

It's not like we do anything important. :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[dsc]

89. I make right about 30k

and I have a Masters and some experience. I also live in an area with a much smaller median rent. I do want to comment on one thing, I think that any teacher who has a Masters and enough experience to be in the age range of having a family, should be able to raise a family on just the one salary. I also think this should be true of many full time jobs. One of the huge problems we have is that it takes two incomes to do now what one income did only a few decades ago.