[Vision2020] Letter to the Editor: Teacher salary article was incomplete

[Tim Lohrmann]

Don,
     This is an era when teachers are being laid off
from their jobs because of either a lack of funding or
a decline in the number of students or both.
    Why doesn't the teacher's union, in the spirit of
solidarity, voluntarily adopt an across the board pay
cut for all teachers and especially the higher paid
administrators in the approximate per-capita amount
that it would require to retain those teachers?
    The issue these days doesn't seem to involve
teachers with much bargaining power to make demands
other than retaining their jobs. There are many
qualified teachers in Moscow who are unemployed,
underemployed etc. Most teaching jobs advertised in
the public schools hereabouts receive dozens of
applications. 
    If the union is sincerely concerned with the
cutbacks and layoffs it would seem that they should
demonstrate it.    

 TL




--- Don Kaag <dkaag@turbonet.com> wrote:
> Dale:
> 
> As the token public school teacher, I have a couple
> of questions and 
> comments...
> 
> 1.  Our compensation package is not as good as
> either UI or WSU.
> 
> 2.  In the last three years, the cost of our medical
> insurance to each 
> member (and we are required to be members of the
> pool...) has increased 
> each year by more than the district has increased
> their contribution.  
> Given that our salaries have not come close to
> matching annual 
> cost-of-living inflation, that means that, in
> effect, we have 
> experienced pay cuts for at least the last three
> years.
> 
> 3.  What summer school?
> 
> 4. Continuing recertification requirements generally
> require teachers 
> to go to school every summer, and no, the school
> district does NOT pay 
> us to attend!  We pay tuition like everyone else. 
> Most of us not 
> attending college courses in the summer are working
> on curriculum, on 
> our own time, "off the clock", for the next school
> year.
> 
> 5.  If you are attending summer school most of the
> summer, the chances 
> of A) other employment, or B) extended vacations,
> are slim.
> 
> 6.  There are very few coaches as a percentage of
> the total number of 
> teachers in this district.  Those teachers who do
> coach make a 
> pittance, and work long hours on nights and weekends
> to earn it.  Most 
> of the extracurricular activities requiring teacher
> presence are 
> covered by volunteer teachers, i.e., WE DO NOT GET
> PAID FOR OUR TIME 
> OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL DAY!
> 
> 7.  Most of the teachers I know come early and stay
> late.  
> Additionally, we work nights and weekends on
> correcting assignments and 
> exams, writing lesson plans, contacting parents, and
> on professional 
> reading and education.
> 
> 8.  Salaries in Idaho are so low, and the attitude
> of many Idahoans 
> towards public education is so poor, that very few
> of our student 
> teachers stay here and teach in the state.  We are
> supporting higher 
> education to train teachers to teach in Idaho
> schools, and they are 
> very intelligently packing their bags and going
> elsewhere to teach upon 
> graduation.  So, what will happen to both the public
> and private 
> schools in Moscow when the 77% of the district
> teachers who are at the 
> top of the experience and education scales hit
> retirement (Most of them 
> in the next 5 years.), should be interesting to
> watch.
> 
> 9.  I am all for merit pay.  My salary will go up. 
> I have a Masters 
> degree (3.93 GPA) in History, and the equivalent of
> another in 
> post-Masters courses.  (I teach Advanced Placement
> U.S. History to high 
> school juniors, and my kids are tested by worldwide
> competitive exam, 
> administered by the Educational Testing Service, the
> same folks who 
> write and administer the College Boards.)
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Don Kaag
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Monday, July 28, 2003, at 04:27 PM, Dale Courtney
> wrote:
> 
> > I wrote the following Letter to the Editor in
> response to Alexis 
> > Bacharach's article last weekend. It ran in
> today's Daily News.
> >
> > Best,
> > Dale Courtney
> > Moscow, Idaho
> >
> <image.tiff>
> >
> >
> > Moscow teachers are paid more than the state
> average because teacher 
> > pay is based on a) the number of college credits
> attained (in any 
> > subject) and b) the number of years of teaching.
> However, the article 
> > left out many important details. Teachers are
> further compensated in 
> > at least three significant ways that are typically
> ignored in salary 
> > discussions. First, teacher benefits account for
> an additional 28.6% 
> > of their salary. In the private sector, fringe
> benefits average 15.8% 
> > of salary.
> >
> > Second, MSD teachers instruct 168-170 days per
> year for the salary 
> > discussed above (the national average is 180
> teaching days per year). 
> > The average American works 240 days per
> year—nearly 30 percent more 
> > days than government teachers for the pay they
> receive; plus, they 
> > have the opportunity to teach summer school, go on
> vacations, take 
> > other employment opportunities, or be paid by MSD
> to attend college to 
> > add to their salary. To compare MSD teacher
> salaries to the rest of 
> > the nation's salaries, teacher salaries must be
> "annualized"—converted 
> > from a school year to a 12-month scale. To see the
> results of this 
> > normalization, visit
> http://courtneys.us/msd/Teacher_Salaries.htm
> >
> > When you include these first two compensations
> (benefits and 
> > annualized salary), the real average MSD teacher
> salary is $63,663; 
> > and 77% of all MSD teachers are making over this
> amount.
> >
> > Third, these salary figures do not include extra
> pay for all the 
> > extracurricular activities, such as coaching. This
> compensation at MSD 
> > can be significant—up to 48% again the teacher's
> base salary.
> >
> > Three things fall out from the above discussion.
> First, teacher pay is 
> > not based on merit or excellence in teaching.
> Second, the fastest way 
> > to a pay raise is to get more college credit—in
> anything! Third, 
> > having 77% of all teachers at the top of the
> salary grid is 
> > mismanagement of taxpayer funds.
> >
> > Dale Courtney
> > Moscow
> >
> 


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