Curmudgeon's Corner

Thanks Al for trying to clarifying this issue. As a taxpayer, I do not begrudge anyone the opportunity to earn a good living. What I get upset about is that the teachers constantly are saying that they are losing ground to inflation with the QEO. The fact is that every year teachers get a raise and then get an additional raise with the contract increases. Not many of us poor slobs get a raise just for showing up every year and then an additional raise as well. Not bad work if you can get it.

Al - do you have detail on what comprises the $34k worth of benefits?  That seems very high.

Gtownie,

The additional costs for Jane Doe can be summarized as follow:

Benefit Costs:

Wisconsin retirement System @ $5,914

FICA @ $3,802

Health Care @ $19,279

Dental Care @ $1,119

Long Term Disability Insurance @ $280

Long Term Care Insurance @ $601

Life Insurance @ $209

Balance of extra costs are for coaching or being a club advisor or mentoring a peer, or filling in as a 'substitute teacher' from time to time even while being paid her regular salary, etc.

I reconize this seemed high, but that is the reality.

I am finding this interesting, too.  But I am also a bit confused, or maybe not.  I want to make sure I understand this.

Jane's union contract and the pay schedule it contains "expired" in June, 2007.  Jane's pay continued to increase on the old plan, just because one year, and then another, went by and she gained some more tenure, and made about $1800 more in 2007-08, and another $1800 in 2008-2009.  And a QEO would double that?  If I am not mistaken, teachers work 180 days a year, so she's already gotten a raise of $10 per day, $50 a week, for each of the last 2 years?  Honestly, that sounds pretty good to me.  But now doubling it to $100 a week, strikes me as excessive.  And as I understand it, the GEA has rejected this as not being enough of an increase for Jane.

Am I understanding this correctly?

I don't understand that QEO either.  But I do know that for years and years teacher pay has been debated with many good points on both sides.  Based on what you have posted Al, $50,000 may seem like alot to some but if the teachers have masters degrees, that pay seems to lag behind that of the private sector.  Masters degrees alone cost in excess of $15,000 which will take quite a few years to pay off.  If they had an MBA and had a 'regular' day job - I'd imagine they wouldn't settle for $50,000 when they can command much more.  But hey - God Bless 'em - I couldn't do that job.  

Denny, most districts, if not all, pay the cost of the Master's Degree.  That is another perk that is often not included in the discussion.

FYI, a private school teacher, (parochial) will start with a salary in the range of $25,000 and there is no extra pay for coaching recess duty, lunch duty, choir, Sunday School teaching, covering for absent teachers, after school performances, etc. etc.  It is all part of the job that they do willingly and with virtually no complaints.  

The health care plan must be pretty rich for $19k.  McCain was slammed for offering a $5,000 tax credit to be used to purchase medical insurance because the national average for family coverage is $12k per year.

Karen123

I am not sure where you got your information but I feel the need to correct your contention that school districts ("most, if not all") pay for teachers' masters degrees.  I know of one in the state that does this.  In the three districts in which I have worked I received not one dollar to off set the costs of the credits I needed to take in order to maintain my teaching license. Yes, my salary increased as my education increased but that is a very different thing than being reimbursed for tuition.

This seems like a fairly low salary for a masters degree... I have mine and I make well over the quoted salary + benefits package. Quite frankly, I wouldn't even entertain the thought of accepting the position at that salary.

Karen123, I will second CMS' point about districts paying for master's degrees. It simply isn't done in most districts. Plus, in order to maintain their licensure, teachers must take additional coursework and pay for it on their own. Health care professional must do so as well.