Teachers in NJ

[noonereal]

NJ faces major financial troubles so the Governor wants to freeze teachers salaries and have them contribute 1% of their salary to their healthcare. As it is now, they pay nothing for medical, dental and vision. The governor is receiving fierce opposition with this. In fact the head of the teachers union issued a statement to members encouraging them to pray for the governors death.

So I did a search on a very ordinary middle class town in NJ that I briefly lived in years ago to check teachers salaries to see if it made sense to have the teachers contribute 1% toward there own benefits. Here is what I found.

http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?county=BERGEN&district=CRESSKILL&school=Cresskill+High+School&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&Submit=Submit

In addition to these salaries we have to factor in that teacher do not work a full day nor full year and by statute have first rights to any "part time" jobs as sports coaches (where they have to have zero qualifications).

So what do you think?

[Sandy G]

They oughta not just pray for this arsewhole's death, he oughta be hunted down & murdered slowly & painfully...Of all the nerve...Expecting those poor, downtrodden, overworked, GROSSLY UNDERPAID humble pedagogues to pay for their own healthcare, when everybody KNOWS they really oughta be getting COMBAT PAY in the 1st place...$50K ONLY for a Science teacher ?!? Good Gawd, man, that's ACTIONABLE !!!

[finnbow]

It makes me think that when I retire from my current job (2-3 years), I may have to teach math or German in high school for $100K. I think teachers' pay scales in this area are similar.

Actually, I'm all for paying teachers a salary commensurate with their contributions to society, but when it comes to belt-tightening in these trying economic times, they're part of the mix too.

Damn Sandy. I wish I could write like you. The crazy thoughts swirling in my head likely aren't all that different than yours, but my written word comes out "bureaucratese."

[Sandy G]

I wish I could write like me, too...Too much National Lampoon, Mad Magazine, & Monty Python back in the Old Days...

[noonereal]

NJ voted down 58% of the school budgets in the state Tuesday.
It's about time the teachers club has been exposed.
http://maplewood.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/new-jersey-assesses-the-school-vote-damage/

[BlueStreak]

It looks to me that the budgets were voted down because of the cuts.
Is that correct?

Dave

[Grumpy]

I have always been a proponent of compensating our teachers well. With that said being asked to pay 1% of their insurance is not out of line. Hell most people wish they only paid single digit percentages of their HC insurance. Me included. !

[noonereal]

It looks to me that the budgets were voted down because of the cuts.
Is that correct?

Dave

"The union responded by declaring that it is precisely those property taxes, which they say districts have been forced to raise because of the governor’s cuts, that have resulted in the voters saying no to the budgets."

in other words the budgets were voted down because they would cause property taxes to rise. This became a referendum on taxes not education. The general feeling is that the teachers/budgets need to take cuts rather than increasing taxes to compensate for the state revenue losses.

[noonereal]

I have always been a proponent of compensating our teachers well. With that said being asked to pay 1% of their insurance is not out of line. Hell most people wish they only paid single digit percentages of their HC insurance. Me included. !

$104,000 a year for a Spanish teacher who works what others would consider a part time job paid for by my tax seems out of whack to me, especially when you consider that that is just the tip of the iceberg. Add to that full healthcare coverage till death and a palatial retirement payment. Teachers have silently become the best job in the US at the taxpayers expense. The days of the hard working under paid teacher is 50 years obsolete, they have done well to keep the myth alive.

[westgate]

hmm, 'joizey' has the 4th highest cost of living in the u.s. according to this (questionable) list-
http://www.costoflivingbystate.org/cost-of-living-by-state.html

everything there costs an arm and a leg, it seems. gotta pay folks more.

edit-with md close behind.
more edit-i do agree tho, 1% isn't asking too much, imo.

[piece-itpete]

Texas is so big it covered two entries :)

A few years back when I was living in '50 American dream pink flamingo Parma Ohio, they tried to get the teachers to pay that same 1%. The teachers practically revolted, ran a great 'it's for the children' campaign next levy (huge billboards on school property!), and got their butts handed to them on a platter.

Pete

[Grumpy]

Our schools are always asking for more. Its their nature.

School of choice came along and dropped a few grand per student in their lap and they were quieted for a little while.

Yes I would vote for a raise in for our teaches. I hear the starting salary in our town is in high 20's. Far from part timers earning 100K.

[merrylander]

I somehow doubt that any of the teachers here in Howard County are getting $100,000 salaries.

[noonereal]

Our schools are always asking for more. Its their nature.

School of choice came along and dropped a few grand per student in their lap and they were quieted for a little while.

Yes I would vote for a raise in for our teaches. I hear the starting salary in our town is in high 20's. Far from part timers earning 100K.

Starting salary is over 40 for a 10 month year. I won't even start with the holidays and benefits.

http://mi.aft.org/dft231/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=bf8c4433-d22b-4a75-8f66-80fccd4efdde

also keep in mind, this is just their base salary. All those after school activities that they do are extra. Most teachers pick up a minimum of 5 grand a year extra.

[noonereal]

I somehow doubt that any of the teachers here in Howard County are getting $100,000 salaries.

Starting pay is $45,000 in Howard County. I would be shocked if you did not have teachers making 6 figures.

[Grumpy]

Starting salary is over 40 for a 10 month year. I won't even start with the holidays and benefits.

http://mi.aft.org/dft231/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=bf8c4433-d22b-4a75-8f66-80fccd4efdde

also keep in mind, this is just their base salary. All those after school activities that they do are extra. Most teachers pick up a minimum of 5 grand a year extra.


That's Detroit where they go on strike for raises all the time. Its also where they just let hundreds of teachers go and closed a crapload of schools.

I would bet money our town of 2 x 1/2 square miles has a different pay scale. Plus were in a different county which is like being in a different state compared to Detroit. Well it used to be till they started sending droves of their kids in to our school system...

[noonereal]

That's Detroit where they go on strike for raises all the time. Its also where they just let hundreds of teachers go and closed a crapload of schools.

I would bet money our town of 2 x 1/2 square miles has a different pay scale. Plus were in a different county which is like being in a different state compared to Detroit. Well it used to be till they started sending droves of their kids in to our school system...

well you would know better than me but I have a hunch you'd be very surprised

the myth of the underpaid school teacher I have found is just that a myth