[Vision2020] Letter to the Editor: Teacher salary article was incomplete
Donovan Arnold
donovanarnold@hotmail.com
Mon, 28 Jul 2003 19:43:49 -0700
This has never happened before, but I agree with Mr. Kaag. (What is
happening to me, I agree with Luke, Dale, and now Mr. Kaag on something!)
I think teachers are treated horriblely, and I would fight to have them keep
the pay they have. I think many teachers already spend their own free time
and income helping students.
Tim, I think having teachers agree to a pay cut is a BAD idea. This is
saying that they can afford a pay cut and will be used in the future as a
way to save money. I think members of the community need to agree to pay our
teachers more pay, not have the teachers agree to take less pay.
Thanks!
Donovan J Arnold
>From: Tim Lohrmann <timlohr@yahoo.com>
>To: Don Kaag <dkaag@turbonet.com>
>CC: vision2020@moscow.com
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Letter to the Editor: Teacher salary article was
>incomplete
>Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 19:02:29 -0700 (PDT)
>
>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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