Teacher How Much Do You Make?

[Z-06]

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued,"What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Teacher Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make?
(She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 min.without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?
(She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them how to write and then I make them write.
Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math.
They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life

( Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN ALL YOUR LIVES,EDUCATING KIDS AND PREPARING THEM TO BECOME CEO's, AND DOCTORS AND ENGINEERS..........

What do you make Mr. CEO?

His jaw dropped; he went silent.

[G. David Felt]

Excellent Read, still our teachers are underpaid for preparing and training the future workers of America.

It seems most states want to use a general fund rather than actual department funds. Money that was supposed to go to schools or to roads go into the general fund and then get spent on other things.

We need to put in place term limits, reduce the socializing of making people dependent on a gov hand out and properly compensate those that train the future work force of America.

If we can start a computer Engineer at $75K a year, why do teachers have to start at $35K? Go to year round schooling with 3 months on, 1 month off so that kids remember their education better.

[regfootball]

I'm all for good pay and benefits for teachers but do recognize that benefits for many teachers is quite good as well.

I'm all for improving the overall compensation of teachers, but as a condition to that I would require that lots of the admin and operational fat get trimmed from education as a whole because a whole $h!load of money keeps getting shoveled into the education sinkhole and the end result is not better educated kids.

Like every other facet of our economy I would like to see more done with less like everyone else.

One good start is get the mandatory union BS out of education, that is a sinkhole and siphon to the public dollars that gets funneled right back to one party for their election campaigns. I'd like to see as a condition of compensating teachers more that they would not be as protected with regards to tenures and all of that as well. If we want the best and pay them more, we can't have as lavish as employment guarantees. Get some right to work stuff going on. Wouldn't it be nice if your wage as a teacher were uncapped and not on scale?

And I would like to see more of the ability for parents to use their education funds for competitive schools, charters, home schools, private schools, etc. This would help foster education innovation and keep the public side of it on its toes.

You also have to factor in the benefits and pensions etc. that compared to a lot of folks are gold plated in some instances.

Edited September 6, 2013 by regfootball

[regfootball]

Excellent Read, still our teachers are underpaid for preparing and training the future workers of America.

It seems most states want to use a general fund rather than actual department funds. Money that was supposed to go to schools or to roads go into the general fund and then get spent on other things.

We need to put in place term limits, reduce the socializing of making people dependent on a gov hand out and properly compensate those that train the future work force of America.

If we can start a computer Engineer at $75K a year, why do teachers have to start at $35K? Go to year round schooling with 3 months on, 1 month off so that kids remember their education better.

computer engineers might be the only engineers making 75k out of school. when my sister graduated electrical engineering back in the mid-late eighties, i think she had been expecting and got around a 40k start.

in 2013, at least in my field the starting electrical engineers don't make much more than that, if. 25 years since and the same pay.

[OhioTom76]

I'm all for good pay and benefits for teachers but do recognize that benefits for many teachers is quite good as well.

I'm all for improving the overall compensation of teachers, but as a condition to that I would require that lots of the admin and operational fat get trimmed from education as a whole because a whole $h!load of money keeps getting shoveled into the education sinkhole and the end result is not better educated kids.

Like every other facet of our economy I would like to see more done with less like everyone else.

One good start is get the mandatory union BS out of education, that is a sinkhole and siphon to the public dollars that gets funneled right back to one party for their election campaigns. I'd like to see as a condition of compensating teachers more that they would not be as protected with regards to tenures and all of that as well. If we want the best and pay them more, we can't have as lavish as employment guarantees. Get some right to work stuff going on. Wouldn't it be nice if your wage as a teacher were uncapped and not on scale?

And I would like to see more of the ability for parents to use their education funds for competitive schools, charters, home schools, private schools, etc. This would help foster education innovation and keep the public side of it on its toes.

You also have to factor in the benefits and pensions etc. that compared to a lot of folks are gold plated in some instances.

Charter schools are a sham that private companies are taking advantage of to funnel public dollars into their pockets. There have already been reports of these schools selling their buildings off to a third party, who then leases it back to them at ridiculously high rates. They are also engaging in shady methods of reporting their progress, in one example I read they were comparing real students grades and performance at the charter schools with a fictional composite of a student at the public schools.

[Robert Hall]

Excellent Read, still our teachers are underpaid for preparing and training the future workers of America.

It seems most states want to use a general fund rather than actual department funds. Money that was supposed to go to schools or to roads go into the general fund and then get spent on other things.

We need to put in place term limits, reduce the socializing of making people dependent on a gov hand out and properly compensate those that train the future work force of America.

If we can start a computer Engineer at $75K a year, why do teachers have to start at $35K? Go to year round schooling with 3 months on, 1 month off so that kids remember their education better.

computer engineers might be the only engineers making 75k out of school. when my sister graduated electrical engineering back in the mid-late eighties, i think she had been expecting and got around a 40k start.

in 2013, at least in my field the starting electrical engineers don't make much more than that, if. 25 years since and the same pay.

I'm sure it's changed over the years, when I got out of grad school in '97 as a software engineer my starting salary was $56k....a little over 2 years later I was making almost $90k and then 2 years after than over $100k...

[regfootball]

I'm all for good pay and benefits for teachers but do recognize that benefits for many teachers is quite good as well.

I'm all for improving the overall compensation of teachers, but as a condition to that I would require that lots of the admin and operational fat get trimmed from education as a whole because a whole $h!load of money keeps getting shoveled into the education sinkhole and the end result is not better educated kids.

Like every other facet of our economy I would like to see more done with less like everyone else.

One good start is get the mandatory union BS out of education, that is a sinkhole and siphon to the public dollars that gets funneled right back to one party for their election campaigns. I'd like to see as a condition of compensating teachers more that they would not be as protected with regards to tenures and all of that as well. If we want the best and pay them more, we can't have as lavish as employment guarantees. Get some right to work stuff going on. Wouldn't it be nice if your wage as a teacher were uncapped and not on scale?

And I would like to see more of the ability for parents to use their education funds for competitive schools, charters, home schools, private schools, etc. This would help foster education innovation and keep the public side of it on its toes.

You also have to factor in the benefits and pensions etc. that compared to a lot of folks are gold plated in some instances.

Charter schools are a sham that private companies are taking advantage of to funnel public dollars into their pockets. There have already been reports of these schools selling their buildings off to a third party, who then leases it back to them at ridiculously high rates. They are also engaging in shady methods of reporting their progress, in one example I read they were comparing real students grades and performance at the charter schools with a fictional composite of a student at the public schools.

I don't dispute that there are many instances of that going on.

In fact, one project I am working right now is a charter school old building renovation. It's more about project cost and the return on investment and tax credits that are being farmed out of the project, etc. It makes me a bit edgy as it should be about the educational environment......

However, on the educational side of it, this particular organization is turning out excellent students, and there are lines of people waiting to get in to it. People are sending their kids from long distance with public schools right in their back yard. The methods used and the teachers are good.

There was another charter school i had worked on a few years ago, same deal, lines of parents wanting to get their kids into it.

In the end, this is what the parents have decided they want for their children. It is not your choice or more importantly, the government's choice to overly specify how they should be educated, aside from basics like, can johnny due multiplication and write complete sentences.

The competitive aspect (while perhaps improperly funded) of this keeps public school systems accountable. That check and balance is needed in a bad way to keep a certain element from being fostered in the system.

Excellent Read, still our teachers are underpaid for preparing and training the future workers of America.

It seems most states want to use a general fund rather than actual department funds. Money that was supposed to go to schools or to roads go into the general fund and then get spent on other things.

We need to put in place term limits, reduce the socializing of making people dependent on a gov hand out and properly compensate those that train the future work force of America.

If we can start a computer Engineer at $75K a year, why do teachers have to start at $35K? Go to year round schooling with 3 months on, 1 month off so that kids remember their education better.

computer engineers might be the only engineers making 75k out of school. when my sister graduated electrical engineering back in the mid-late eighties, i think she had been expecting and got around a 40k start.

in 2013, at least in my field the starting electrical engineers don't make much more than that, if. 25 years since and the same pay.

I'm sure it's changed over the years, when I got out of grad school in '97 as a software engineer my starting salary was $56k....a little over 2 years later I was making almost $90k and then 2 years after than over $100k...

boy did i make a bad choice.

I had a girlfriend in college who was a math / comp sci double major. I think part of the reason she dumped me is because she figured out that she was in a good money field and I would never be.......women are wise that way........

computer industry by and large still has relatively good pay scales, if your job doesn't get outsourced......

Edited September 6, 2013 by regfootball

[Robert Hall]

Excellent Read, still our teachers are underpaid for preparing and training the future workers of America.

It seems most states want to use a general fund rather than actual department funds. Money that was supposed to go to schools or to roads go into the general fund and then get spent on other things.

We need to put in place term limits, reduce the socializing of making people dependent on a gov hand out and properly compensate those that train the future work force of America.

If we can start a computer Engineer at $75K a year, why do teachers have to start at $35K? Go to year round schooling with 3 months on, 1 month off so that kids remember their education better.

computer engineers might be the only engineers making 75k out of school. when my sister graduated electrical engineering back in the mid-late eighties, i think she had been expecting and got around a 40k start.

in 2013, at least in my field the starting electrical engineers don't make much more than that, if. 25 years since and the same pay.

I'm sure it's changed over the years, when I got out of grad school in '97 as a software engineer my starting salary was $56k....a little over 2 years later I was making almost $90k and then 2 years after than over $100k...

boy did i make a bad choice.

I had a girlfriend in college who was a math / comp sci double major. I think part of the reason she dumped me is because she figured out that she was in a good money field and I would never be.......women are wise that way........

computer industry by and large still has relatively good pay scales, if your job doesn't get outsourced......

Software engineering is one of those fields where to excel you really have to enjoy it...often long hours and intense schedules..but I get to work with a lot of smart people..I love writing code, debugging systems, designing complex systems, learning new things...my experience w/ outsourcing is that the work produced by outsourced groups is often crap and has to be redone....I've had a couple of down periods (mid '01-mid '02 and mid-08) but I find there is always demand, even in a relative tech dead zone like Arizona.. I've bounced around between being an employee, independent contractor, w2 contractor, and working for consulting companies...it's been a fun ride the last 16 years.

As far as teaching goes, I taught math (algebra, calculus) and intro CS courses while in grad school....my sister trained to be an elementary teacher, but went into hr, then management and then management consulting instead...our parents were both educators--Dad was a teacher then a principal then a superintendent, Mom was an elementary school teacher..

Edited September 7, 2013 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[G. David Felt]

I feel that charter schools and all these alternatives other than out right Private for profit schools are part of the problem, not the fix. Having graduated from public schools and pushed myself hard in the Computer Industry, yes I have enjoyed a great career and am still working tonight so that proves that 16hr-18hr days are not uncommon, but the flexibility is great.

Public schools fail due to two large issues:

Union Corruption and manipulation

Parental lack of drive to drive their kids.

My mom was always home till I went to college and then she joined the work force. She was there to make sure my sisters and I got our homework done, did our projects and did the best we could do. Today to many households are caught up in the jones jones race of having all the toys and careers and ignoring their kids to daycare and others.

Parenting is a minimum of 20yr commitment to make sure your kids get off on the right foot and at times it means punishing your self to enforce punishing your kids when they do wrong and stay on the road to success. You cannot ignore not being involved in your kids lives.

[Lamar]

One good start is get the mandatory union BS out of education, that is a sinkhole and siphon to the public dollars that gets funneled right back to one party for their election campaigns.

Not all states have teachers' unions. Especially not down here.

That said, some of these unions are especially pernicious.

[G. David Felt]

Totally agree with you Lamar, Unions are Pernicious!

[Paolino]

I'm not going to read the comments in this thread because honestly, I have a feeling it's going to get political and we're on a sensitive subject for me. I got a pack of chalk today. I was told it needs to last me the year. The copier worked and I didn't get punched and no one came to my class high, so all-in-all, a good day, even if I just did get home at 10PM.

[G. David Felt]

Glad you got home safe and sound and had a productive day Paolino.

In regards to the teachers and their unions, the only issue I have is with this promise that the oldest teachers are the last to be laid off. Performance is what it should always be about as I have teacher friends that are excellent and some are old, some are young and yet the ability to go only by senority is wrong as good teachers have been laid off and in affective ones left in a job that are not doing anything to keep the students engaged.

We need to grow our future workers of America and that means teachers can never stop learning and finding new ways to excite the students desire to learn. If a person is not doing a good job you loose it and yet the unions of teachers seems to be all about keeping the least affective teachers in their jobs. I feel this is one reason you do not find people so eager to be a teacher and their dismal pay.