Teachers, how much do you earn?

[proud2BlibKansan]

Poll question: Teachers, how much do you earn?

Don't list your salary in your reply. Just answer in the poll.

Feel free to comment about the equity of teacher pay but I would advise for privacy reasons not to mention your salary in your reply.

Please think of your salary only, not extra pay like after school tutoring or summer school pay.

[tonysam]

1. Even though I am unemployed now,

I was making around $47K per year with a Master's plus 16 credits. I was too expensive when the district could merely rehire a "retired" teacher.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. And I think we will be seeing more of that

My district is hiring retirees as contractors.

[OnlinePoker]

4. I read yesterday...

...that over 400,000 working age teachers in Britain are no longer in the classroom. They couldn't handle the pressures of the job or chose early retirement. Surprisingly, there were about 25,000 who had completed their teacher's qualifications but chose not to go into the profession after their education.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. It's not an attractive profession anymore

We are public enemy #1 and we are losing tenure and benefits. I don't blame any young person for not choosing a teaching career. As much as I love it, I sometimes wish I had listened to my mother (who was married to a teacher) and gone into computers. But in the 70s I was too naive to understand what kind of a career a computer degree would have provided for me.

I know. Really dumb move. :)

[OnlinePoker]

7. Same boat, different career

Hindsight is 20/20, but at the end of the '70's, on the tail end of the baby boom generation, it didn't like there would be any jobs to go to in computers. They were limited to large corporations and universities and they weren't hiring (nobody was at that time). In my small burg, the community college had one training computer for about 100 students so there wasn't a lot of hands-on anyway if I had chosen to go that route.

[Diane R]

3. Their benefits should be counted, too. District provided health, dental, vision, & life insurance.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. There's a good reason I didn't include fringes

I am not sure how much my fringe package is and I figured most of us probably don't know. :)

[femmocrat]

22. I don't know either, but we pay a portion of our health care.

Our vision and dental are a joke. They pay $28.00 toward glasses! LOL

[tonysam]

8. Fringe benefits don't put food on the table or pay for housing. Salaries do.

Anti-public education and anti-public employment propaganda includes those as "compensation" in order to piss taxpayers off.

[dkf]

9. With a guaranteed pension, and lots of time off, this looks very attractive indeed.

Median looks like 60 to 70 k.

[tonysam]

10. ANY outfit that has a defined benefit program has a guaranteed pension.

IF you work five years, of course, to get vested, and school districts are canning teachers all over the country so they don't have to pay retirement or cut veteran teachers' retirement. Oh, by the way, you have to work 30 years to receive the maximum pension. If you live in one of the 15 states which doesn't pay into Social Security, you get fucked over on your own Social Security if you paid into it, because it is REDUCED thanks to WEP/GPO. If you are like me and don't have quite 30 years into Social Security and have vested into retirement but don't have these "huge" pensions, you get fucked over on your Social Security.

IF I wait until I am 65, I will get less than $500 a month in PERS, which REDUCES my SS which I paid into.

Besides, teachers don't sit on their asses with their "time off." They're not paid for summers, winter, or spring break, by the way. The paychecks are spread over 12 months.

[dkf]

11. Who has defined benefit programs anymore?

Only institutions with unions have them. The rest shut them down.

[stray cat]

12. Not in my profession - its all 401Ks - good luck with that; sure as hell not tenure

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. My mom was able to retire and had a 401K

Her retirement income was a greater percentage of her pay than my dad's pension as a teacher. And my dad had a much better pension than what I will get.

[tonysam]

16. I don't doubt it.

The health and dental insurance wasn't very good in my district also.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Ours is ridiculously expensive for retirees

It's also not a great plan but it's better than most nowadays.

I am very concerned they are going to force some of us older teachers to retire because of budget cuts. I am trying to hang on as long as I can because of health insurance. We can use our severance pay to buy our health insurance but I'd sure like to time it so I can pay for my premiums with my severance until I am eligible for Medicare.

Or I could wait for Congress to do something about health care. LOL I know. Fat chance.

[tonysam]

21. It appears districts are going this way

It's insane, because kids NEED experienced teachers. My old district would do buyouts every year of teachers who were at least 50 years old and had 20 years in with the district. They'd sweeten the pot, of course, to encourage these teachers to retire, but it was detrimental to the students, in my opinion.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. Tenure is not such a great benefit

They can still fire us. Tenure just gives us due process. BFD.

[tonysam]

23. And "due process" hearings are almost always jokes favoring the principals.

All tenure does is put a brake on principals to not fire teachers illegally or frivolously. It didn't work in my case, as the principal didn't know what in the hell she was doing, but without tenure, wrongful termination lawsuits would skyrocket and break districts and insurance companies.

Tenure really protects school districts rather than teachers.

[tonysam]

50. This is how negligent principals "pay" for wrongfully terminating teachers

I'm counting the days until I leave for Hawaii. 3 more to go!!! Can't get here soon enough. Wishing all my FB friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I wish you good health, happiness and fun!
December 15, 2009 at 5:14pm


And this:

Getting on a plane in 12 hours. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...see you in 2010. ALOHA!!!
December 18, 2009 at 4:40pm


And today:

Back from a beautiful two weeks in the sand and surf. Great friends, beautiful scenery, lots of relaxing and reading. Highlights: being "belly bumped" by huge manta rays as they were feeding, scuba diving on Xmas and New Year's day, seeing whales and dolphins lots of times, and getting a one of a kind tattoo. A permanent reminder of a great vacation. Happy New Year to all!!!
about an hour ago


This perjuring shitbag is pulling down 100K a year plus benefits and doing it on the back of my career. She can afford to take fancy vacations, while yours truly is struggling to survive.

Hatred and contempt for her and Washoe County School District doesn't BEGIN to describe my feelings.

This arrogant shitbag appears to have absolutely no conscience over what she did to me...she thinks she has it made...

Just you wait...

Yours truly, from a blog post.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Lots of time off?

LOL

[dkf]

14. Yes, lots of time off.

My sister works in the school system so I know.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. She must not work as hard as I do

I spent several days over Christmas on school work. Some vacation. LOL

[femmocrat]

20. Same here--- as soon as we get back it's budget time.

Followed by semester grades. I brought a big stack of work home with me.

And summer vacations are spent taking coursework to keep my certification.

[tonysam]

24. And at your expense, of course. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. I was blown away when I learned that other professions paid for certification coursework

Most of my friends who worked in other professions got masters degrees and their employer paid for the coursework.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. When my kids were growing up I had no choice but to work summer school

That's how we paid for all the extras, like music lessons and summer camp and sports. We barely kept the bills paid from month to month and had nothing left over for all the extra curricular activities. When our oldest was in 1st and 2nd grade, my husband was in school and we lived off of my salary alone. Our kid was eligible for free lunch; we were that poor. On a teacher salary. I kept thinking I went to college for a career that puts my family at the poverty level.

[dkf]

27. Its your summers and lovely 2-3 week breaks that do the trick.

My sister's kids LOOOVE her job. All her friends work in the state education system too, and my cousin. Maybe its because they work with elementary school kids though so it sounds pretty easy going.

My family are all state employees. They've been telling me I should quit my job for years. They are probably right.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. I am an elementary teacher

I don't get summers off. I can't afford to take them off.

[dkf]

29. My sister does. And she makes the same amount as I do.

I have to put away much more for retirement than she does, so her take home pay is quite a bit more than mine. She feels sorry for me.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. My retirement is a huge chunk of my paycheck

By the time all of my taxes, benefits and retirement are deducted, I bring home less than half of my pay.

Retirement really varies from one district and state to another. And in many districts teachers don't pay social security.

[dkf]

31. I accidently saw her paycheck once and I was AMAZED.

I had no idea. And I've been working for 6 years more than she has.

[tonysam]

32. See post 10 for details

You're screwed if you don't pay into SS in public employment yet paid SS for years thanks to WEP/GPO. Generous pensions? Not in many states thanks to states stupid enough to opt out of SS and if you get a public employment job later in your working career.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. There are only two districts in my state where teachers pay into SS

Mine is one of them. Both districts are AFT and our union negotiated this for us.

It's downright stupid not to pay into SS.

I have worked with several teachers who have retired from a non SS district and then come to work in our district so they can build up a SS account plus a second pension.

[tonysam]

34. What in the hell was ever the justification for states

to opt out?

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. I don't know

But when I was looking for my first job 30 years ago so many people told me to try to work in a district that took SS out of my paycheck.

So 30 years ago they knew this was fucked up and it still hasn't been fixed. :banghead:

[tonysam]

36. From Social Security

Can the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) fully eliminate my monthly Social Security benefit?

Answer

No. While Social Security benefits are lower using the modified WEP formula, they are never totally eliminated.

The maximum reduction under the WEP formula is $380 per month. However, the reduction can be less under special rules. One of these rules limits the reduction under the WEP to no more than one-half of the amount of the pension from employment not covered by Social Security. For example, if the person's pension is $500 per month, the WEP reduction could not exceed $250.

You also can get information about the WEP when you visit the Social Security Retirement Planner. Learn about factors that may affect your retirement benefits (see first page of the Planner). Among other facts, you can learn the maximum monthly amount your benefit may be reduced because of WEP and the calculation of your retirement benefit.

For more information, see the fact sheet titled Windfall Elimination Provision and our WEP calculator.

[spedtr90]

38. Ditto

I don't know how any teacher really gets the job done within "contract hours". Nights, weekends, holidays - we're still working. Christmas break! Spent a full day working on learning plans. Updating grades tomorrow. Summers! Curriculum planning, classes, and workshops are part of that.

[noamnety]

39. I get lots of time off some years.

(Of course we call those layoffs, and it comes with a cut in pay in addition to the cut in hours.)

[spedtr90]

37. pensions

Pension comes from a teacher's contributions and the district's contributions which are part of the settlement package. When you hear teachers got a certain % increase it includes the cost of all benefits. Pension is less than half of salary, and funds are tied to the stock market. Not a sure thing. Insurance ends at retirement unless you choose to continue and pay it all. This expense keeps people from retiring.

[Dinger]

43. We Got A $1,700 Cut Two years In A Row Because

of tommy fucking thompson's fucking QEO. Our insurance went up 40 % + and ate up our 3.8% total package "increase.' Nice. God, I'm glad that fucker is gone.

[Dinger]

42. That Is Bullshit

and you know it.

[Dinger]

40. There Are Teachers That Make More Than $100,000???

??? I don't believe it. Probably people with an agenda.

[tonysam]

41. I suspect anti-public education propagandists are including benefits in with salary

to get that figure.

100K teachers are few and far between regardless of what part of the country.

[Dinger]

44. You Mean They're Lying?

Now, why would they do that?:evilgrin:

[tonysam]

45. I sure as shit don't know. n/t

[adnelson60087]

46. Sure do, if some things are true...

1. Have 20+ years of service
2. Max out the Salary schedule in term of education attained
3. Work in a relatively wealthy school district.

In this area in chicagoland, if you have these 3 conditions met, you probably are close to (if not exceeding) 100K per year. It's very rare of course nationwide.

[tonysam]

47. My guess is that those people who push the 100K nonsense

are including benefits, which of course is as good as a lie.

Benefits aren't salaries, and one doesn't live on them.

In my school district, teachers maxed out at 67K at the time I left there.

[proud2BlibKansan]

48. I believe we had some 'others' respond

If you know what I mean. :)

[Smarmie Doofus]

49. You can make that much in NYC.

http://www.uft.org/member/contracts/moa/salary_schedules_html/index.html

That's TOP scale including all longevity increases PLUS maximum post-grad credit.

But... try finding a decent two BR apt in NYC on even 100,000. If you are single and or have kids. You are quickly looking to the outer boroughs and still having trouble.

That's TOP scale. The average is closer to half that.


Edit to fix math error.