09-27-2009, 08:43 AM
Ric,
What Scott said was this:
"I wonder what it would be like to have a job and not have to produce daily and make money for the company and still take home a paycheck? The teachers, County and State workers need to get on the same program as private workers. Did you know it takes more than 18 months to get a permit from the DOH to install a dry well? I would like to see that guy’s desk."
If you say someone doesn't have to produce daily to earn a paycheck, you are saying they don't have to work, and he lumped teachers in with the paper pushers he is really mad at.
For your information, teachers in Hawaii have had rollbacks of benefits, pay most of the tab for our health insurance, pay all the tab when we retire, have a relatively small pension compared to other states and the cost of living here, and as a public charter school teacher I DO NOT have tenure. If you read my post you would have noticed that we do not have "summers off." Teachers are paid as 10 month employees whose pay is averaged out over 24 paychecks, but we are required to take classes, plan curriculum, produce professional portfolios, and otherwise work during the summer. Just because the kids are off school doesn't mean the teachers aren't working, we just aren't getting paid for it.
I love my job, in fact it is more than a job, it is a calling. But it really offends me that people like Scott are saying that I am somehow scamming the tax payers by earning some sort of monster paycheck with gold plated benefits while doing very little work. Just because I am doing work I find satisfying doesn't mean I shouldn't receive pay and benefits commensurate with my education and responsibilities. Most jobs that require a Masters degree pay much more than a teacher's salary, and teachers in this country earn much less than those in other developed countries. In a sense we are already taking a pay cut to pursue this career. The number of teachers who leave the profession within their first 5 years is huge, and the number 1 reason is the lack of respect for the work they do, the ability to earn more in the private sector is number 2.
Hawaii is almost last in the country for having teachers qualified to teach in their content area, most new teachers have between $25,000 and $50,000 in debt when they finish their Masters, and the cost of living here is high. How can Hawaii hire and keep qualified teachers while reducing pay? If you want to look for a place to cut, why not look at all the DOE employees who don’t directly work with the students, why not look at eliminating expensive extras like sports and spin them off to the private sector where they belong, or do what other states did years ago and go to pay to play for extracurricular activities? And why not look at all the sweetheart deals given to insiders for the contracts on public works projects like the resurfacing of the Kea’au to Hilo road that had to be done over?
I’m done here, I have stacks of papers to grade, two tests to write, and 25 classes to plan for next week before I drive into school to make copies of the tests, since I no longer have a daily prep period due to the cuts to charter schools (we get half the funding per pupil than DOE schools.) Enjoy your weekend.
Carol
What Scott said was this:
"I wonder what it would be like to have a job and not have to produce daily and make money for the company and still take home a paycheck? The teachers, County and State workers need to get on the same program as private workers. Did you know it takes more than 18 months to get a permit from the DOH to install a dry well? I would like to see that guy’s desk."
If you say someone doesn't have to produce daily to earn a paycheck, you are saying they don't have to work, and he lumped teachers in with the paper pushers he is really mad at.
For your information, teachers in Hawaii have had rollbacks of benefits, pay most of the tab for our health insurance, pay all the tab when we retire, have a relatively small pension compared to other states and the cost of living here, and as a public charter school teacher I DO NOT have tenure. If you read my post you would have noticed that we do not have "summers off." Teachers are paid as 10 month employees whose pay is averaged out over 24 paychecks, but we are required to take classes, plan curriculum, produce professional portfolios, and otherwise work during the summer. Just because the kids are off school doesn't mean the teachers aren't working, we just aren't getting paid for it.
I love my job, in fact it is more than a job, it is a calling. But it really offends me that people like Scott are saying that I am somehow scamming the tax payers by earning some sort of monster paycheck with gold plated benefits while doing very little work. Just because I am doing work I find satisfying doesn't mean I shouldn't receive pay and benefits commensurate with my education and responsibilities. Most jobs that require a Masters degree pay much more than a teacher's salary, and teachers in this country earn much less than those in other developed countries. In a sense we are already taking a pay cut to pursue this career. The number of teachers who leave the profession within their first 5 years is huge, and the number 1 reason is the lack of respect for the work they do, the ability to earn more in the private sector is number 2.
Hawaii is almost last in the country for having teachers qualified to teach in their content area, most new teachers have between $25,000 and $50,000 in debt when they finish their Masters, and the cost of living here is high. How can Hawaii hire and keep qualified teachers while reducing pay? If you want to look for a place to cut, why not look at all the DOE employees who don’t directly work with the students, why not look at eliminating expensive extras like sports and spin them off to the private sector where they belong, or do what other states did years ago and go to pay to play for extracurricular activities? And why not look at all the sweetheart deals given to insiders for the contracts on public works projects like the resurfacing of the Kea’au to Hilo road that had to be done over?
I’m done here, I have stacks of papers to grade, two tests to write, and 25 classes to plan for next week before I drive into school to make copies of the tests, since I no longer have a daily prep period due to the cuts to charter schools (we get half the funding per pupil than DOE schools.) Enjoy your weekend.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb