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NC Budget

HeltonCreek said:
I know a lot of young people who are teaching in the schools in my hometown. Most of them probably shouldn't be teaching.

I think that the pay is way too low to get more qualified people to want to teach. Why would I pay for four years of college to take a job only making in the low to mid $30,000 neighborhood? Why would I get a master's to only get a raise to maybe $40,000?
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I'm not opposed to your general position, but let's remember that teachers work much less than a full time job (in terms of yearly weeks worked). If you extrapolate those dollars out to the equivalent of a full time job, the numbers wouldn't be quite so disappointing. I can't recall the exact schedule from my elementary and high school days but I would guess they work 3/4 of the year (i.e. 3 months off per year) with teacher work days and holidays off. Not really a bad gig for a bachelors degree.
 
You wonder why our education system is lagging behind the rest of the world?

In Finland becoming a teacher is as respected as becoming a doctor. In the US every RW political blames them for all the problems of the world and blaances budgets by taking away resources from education.
 
weeks worked is highly misleading, look at the actual hours worked. and then you lump in teacher workdays with holidays?

I know folks in education who earn low 30s with a masters.
 
RJKarl said:
You wonder why our education system is lagging behind the rest of the world?

In Finland becoming a teacher is as respected as becoming a doctor. In the US every RW political blames them for all the problems of the world and blaances budgets by taking away resources from education.
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Paying people more money doesn't automatically make them more respected.

Glad to see your rant continues without any facts....I can't see that anything has been blamed on teachers here, can you?
 
fuheel said:
weeks worked is highly misleading, look at the actual hours worked. and then you lump in teacher workdays with holidays?

I know folks in education who earn low 30s with a masters.
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I don't get teacher work days at my job, so to me that is a day off. I always had the impression it was an extra holiday for my teachers.

I'm not minimizing the work teachers do, I'm merely stating that the weeks worked per year would not classify a teacher as a full time worker and that statements about wage without that qualifier aren't transparent.
 
but you do realize they don't get the day off - they still have to go to work and they spend the time preparing grades, parent-teacher conferences, professional development, etc.
 
BacktoBack said:
Paying people more money doesn't automatically make them more respected.

Glad to see your rant continues without any facts....I can't see that anything has been blamed on teachers here, can you?
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keeping people who are college grads underpaid clearly sends a message that they aren't valued.

Add to that many tteachers have to buy supplies for their students out of their own pocket.

Do you have to buy office supplies for your stafff out of your pocket?

As to respect, in most European countries, the respect isn't about the money. It's about the importance of the job they are doing.
 
fuheel said:
but you do realize they don't get the day off - they still have to go to work and they spend the time preparing grades, parent-teacher conferences, professional development, etc.
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I was not under that impression. If that's what truly happens then my apologies for lumping that in with holidays


I don't disagree with your general theme RJ- teaching requires incredible dedication and little thanks. I'm just not sure we can fix that with money alone.
 
BacktoBack said:
I don't get teacher work days at my job, so to me that is a day off. I always had the impression it was an extra holiday for my teachers.

I'm not minimizing the work teachers do, I'm merely stating that the weeks worked per year would not classify a teacher as a full time worker and that statements about wage without that qualifier aren't transparent.
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It's pretty obvious you don't value teachers and I don't blame you. You don't even have the verbal skills to understand something as simple as the term "Teacher Work Day." That means that the teachers work on that day.

Also, teachers work 10 out of 12 months, not 9. You should check with your math teacher about this as you should be able to calculate that they work 83% of the year as opposed to 75% of the year. Your teachers should have taught you that there are only two months between mid-June when teacher workdays end and mid-August when teacher workdays begin.

They might get a few extra days at Christmas, but I can assure you that much of the business world takes a few extra days at Christmas. Teachers are also likely to spend some of that time readying the classroom for the next semester and preparing their lesson plans for the first week.

These posh teaching jobs do however have the added benefit of spring break. I'm sure you've heard of it, it's the time of year when people take off work and take their kids to Disney World or go to the beach. Teachers usually spend this time at some resort working on their golf games or at the spa, trying to spend some of that ill-gotten fortune bloating their bank accounts.
 
HeavyPetter said:
It's pretty obvious you don't value teachers and I don't blame you. You don't even have the verbal skills to understand something as simple as the term "Teacher Work Day." That means that the teachers work on that day.

Also, teachers work 10 out of 12 months, not 9. You should check with your math teacher about this as you should be able to calculate that they work 83% of the year as opposed to 75% of the year. Your teachers should have taught you that there are only two months between mid-June when teacher workdays end and mid-August when teacher workdays begin.

They might get a few extra days at Christmas, but I can assure you that much of the business world takes a few extra days at Christmas. Teachers are also likely to spend some of that time readying the classroom for the next semester and preparing their lesson plans for the first week.

These posh teaching jobs do however have the added benefit of spring break. I'm sure you've heard of it, it's the time of year when people take off work and take their kids to Disney World or go to the beach. Teachers usually spend this time at some resort working on their golf games or at the spa, trying to spend some of that ill-gotten fortune bloating their bank accounts.
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Awwh, did I step on your toes and make you resort to name calling? How mature of you.


Glad you've taken what I said and grossly exagerrated it. I will say again that I don't disagree that teachers place in the world and pay should be improved. However, I stand by my point that teaching is not a full time job and quoting salary as though it were is disingenous.

The Bureau on Labor Statistics reported that in 2008 elementary school teachers enjoyed working an average of over 600 hours (or 30 percent) less per year for their full-time job than average workers in the United States.

Just to see if I can get you even a little more upset, I don't know of too many jobs that end their day at 3-4 pm either. And yes, I know that there is a lot of prep time that goes into being a teacher.

I don't want this to turn into an anti-teacher thing because I had some amazing teachers that I think the world of, it just needs to be a transparent discussion, not some knee jerk name calling and fear mongering.
 
Link please?

And your argument about they deserve less pay because they work less hours is central to why we don't have the best people working as teachers: They can't make enough money to live.

Yes, teachers are done by 3:30, but they're also there at 7 AM. I've never met a teacher who works less than 40 hours a week.

The fact is that we don't pay our teachers enough to make them want to stay in the job. North Carolina, which is what we're talking about here, is ranked #45 in teacher pay. That sucks. The state is also #46 in per pupil spending in the country. South Carolina is now ahead of us in both categories.
 
The notion that teachers work fewer hours is woefully misinformed. If all you're counting is school in to school out bells, you're missing a lot. My fiancée is a high school teacher. She's out the door by 6 every morning and rarely home before 5. After school is out and kids go home, she has meetings, parent teacher conferences, club meetings, ASD duty, etc., every single day. At night when she's a home she is usually prepping for the next day (with supplies she likely bought) or grading papers. During the summer when she's "off"? She's attending conferences, meetings, often switching classrooms, learning the curriculum changes, applying those changes to all her files and presentations, and much more.

I'm not picking on anyone specifically, but this idea that teachers don't work as many hours as everyone else is grossly incorrect.
 
I always get a kick out of people on this board talking about how teachers don't work enough. A lot of people on here are "at work" posting on these boards and farting around on Facebook while a teacher is in the classroom actively teaching their kids. If you really look at who actually works more during a work day, teachers are definitely competitive.
 
Perdue Veto official. Looking to get support from the Democrats voting with the GOP to prevent the override.

Also, Tom Tillis...WHY DO YOU LIE?
 
Budget Veto Override completed. NC now at the bottom in education spending per pupil. Nice job, GOP.
 
It will be interesting to see what Judge Manning has to say about the budget (if anything). For those not in the loop, google Judge Manning + Leandro
 
fuheel said:
It will be interesting to see what Judge Manning has to say about the budget (if anything). For those not in the loop, google Judge Manning + Leandro
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I would guess nothing much will change on that front. My hope is people will remember this when the next election occurs. Cumberland county laid off 300 employees following the announcement.
 
WRAL reporting today that layoffs have started across the state. Cumberland County cut around 300 positions in the school system, with the vast majority being teachers and assistants. I feel absolutely terrible for all the people headed to the unemployment line...exactly what we did not need.
 
Too bad they are letting teachers go and not the bureaucrats.

ETA: What were the other options that were proposed?
 
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