[Vision2020] Idaho Teachers Among Nation's Lowest Paid

Wed Oct 12 00:37:52 PDT 2005

The Average salary in the US is only about 20K a year.
With an average two income household income under 50K.

I think if a teacher starts off, entry level first day
of class, at about almost 30K a year, has 2 1/2 months
off a year, and gets medical, she/he is doing pretty
damn well and better than most college graduates out
of college.

The problem with the teachers salaries is that it is
tied to how long and how much education they have. It
has nothing to do with how good of a teacher they are.

Frankly, I think we should factor in skill and ability
as a teacher into the salary chart, just like they do
with any other profession. 

Donovan J Arnold

--- J Ford <privatejf32 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Median wages, according to Idaho Job Serivce, is
> $25,911 
>
(http://lmi.idaho.gov/cgi/dataanalysis/incomeReport.asp?menuchoice=income)
> 
> Some people can live off that - others can't. 
> Should it be expected that we 
> do?
> 
> J  ;)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >From: "Pat Kraut" <pkraut at moscow.com>
> >To: "vision2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> >Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Idaho Teachers Among
> Nation's Lowest Paid
> >Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 12:42:57 -0700
> >
> >I have lived in Idaho a long time and know the $29
> thou would go a long 
> >way.
> >Especially if its a two income household. I would
> ask what is the median
> >income of Idaho residents? I think this is another
> very misleading NEA
> >argument. Thre are more ways to understand the
> differences that just that
> >Idaho pays less.
> >
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
> >To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> >Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 6:40 AM
> >Subject: [Vision2020] Idaho Teachers Among Nation's
> Lowest Paid
> >
> >
> > >From today's (October 11, 2005) Spokesman review
> -
> >
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Idaho teachers among nation's lowest paid
> >Low salary structure makes state 'training ground'
> >
> >Anne Wallace Allen
> >Associated Press
> >
> >October 11, 2005
> >
> >BOISE - Idaho teachers are some of the lowest-paid
> in the nation, according
> >to a report from a teachers union.
> >
> >Idaho ranked 32nd in the nation for its annual
> teacher salaries, and 44th 
> >in
> >the nation for starting teacher salaries, according
> to the American
> >Federation of Teachers. Idaho was also one of 28
> states where the increase
> >in average teacher salary was lower than the
> national rate of inflation.
> >
> >"Teachers are underpaid," said John Davis, chairman
> of the University of
> >Idaho's College of Education in Moscow. "We lose
> people because salaries in
> >teaching are not commensurate with comparable
> professions."
> >
> >Idaho teachers made starting salaries of just under
> $25,908 in the 
> >2003-2004
> >school year, the year on which the AFT report was
> based. That amount hasn't
> >changed since then, though Idaho schools
> Superintendent Marilyn Howard
> >proposed in September a budget that would raise
> teacher salaries for the
> >first time in five years.
> >
> >The national average in 2003-2004 for starting
> teacher salaries was 
> >$31,704.
> >
> >Experienced teachers in Idaho had an average salary
> of $40,111 in that
> >school year; the national average was $46,597.
> >
> >Connecticut had the highest average teacher salary,
> at $56,516, while South
> >Dakota had the lowest at $33,236, said the AFT,
> which represents school
> >staff and government employees. The group said in a
> statement that Alaska's
> >beginning teacher salary was the highest, at
> $40,027, and Wisconsin's was
> >the lowest, at $23,952.
> >
> >Howard proposed a $1 billion education budget for
> the fiscal year that
> >begins in July. It includes $47.5 million for the
> payment that Idaho sends
> >to school districts to pay for teacher and staff
> salaries and benefits - an
> >increase of 5.2 percent over the current year's
> spending.
> >
> >The Legislature will vote on that spending plan
> next winter.
> >
> >Education policy-makers in Idaho have long said
> that good teachers often
> >leave to take jobs in neighboring states with
> higher pay.
> >
> >"If your salary structure is sufficiently low
> overall, then what happens is
> >you are a training ground for teachers who then
> leave," said state Sen. 
> >Gary
> >Schroeder, R-Moscow and a former chairman of the
> Senate Education 
> >Committee.
> >"California and Las Vegas come up to Idaho
> recruiting."
> >
> >California's average salary for experienced
> teachers is one of the highest
> >in the country, at $56,444; Nevada's is $43,211.
> >
> >Davis, a former middle-school teacher in Utah,
> noted that the salaries 
> >cover
> >a nine-month period, not a 12-month period, but
> added that they are still
> >low compared to other professions, and the matter
> comes up frequently for
> >discussion in his department.
> >
> >"My students talk about it," he said. "Would they
> like to earn more? Yes.
> >But they want to be teachers. They know that it's
> not high pay, and yet
> >they're here getting their degrees in it."
> >
> >---------
> >
> >At a glance
> >Teacher salaries
> >Average salary for experienced teachers
> >
> >for the 2003-2004 school year:
> >
> >.Idaho: $40,111
> >
> >.California: $56,444
> >
> >.Nevada: $43,211
> >
> >.Connecticut: $56,516
> >
> >.South Dakota: $33,236
> >
> >.National average: $46,597
> >
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Take care, Moscow.
> >
> >Tom Hansen
> >Moscow, Idaho
> >
> >Every day you may make progress. Every step may be
> fruitful. Yet there will
> >stretch out before you an ever-lengthening,
> ever-ascending, ever-improving
> >path. You know you will never get to the end of the
> journey. But this, so
> >far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and
> glory of the climb.
> >
> >-Sir Winston Churchill
> >
> >
>
>_____________________________________________________
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> >                http://www.fsr.net
> >           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>
>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
> >
>
>_____________________________________________________
> >  List services made available by First Step
> Internet,
> >  serving the communities of the Palouse since
> 1994.
> 
=== message truncated ===

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