Texas teacher pay raise.

[Nolacycling 893]

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2019/02/25/senate-committee-unanimously-approves-bill-give-texas-teachers-5000-raise

tldr: Patrick "says" it's his #1 priority.

Senate committee passed it. Dem version includes support staff.

$5k

[TexArcher 39,074]

Every politician who opposes this should be kicked out of office at the next available opportunity.

[Spankytoes 1,748]

"Sometimes I work spring break. I work Christmas break. I work Thanksgiving break. I work summer break. I don't get to spend much time with my family," Caldwell said. "I have a bachelor's degree and master's and I still make not much more than a general manager at McDonald's."

I get paid for 40 hours a week despite the fact that I can work 60 or 70 hours, including weekends and long stretches of travel. I knew the deal when I took the job, and if it doesn’t suit me, I am free to find another one. Being an adult is hard.Teachers are a step above SAHMs when bitching about this kind of thing.

[Nolacycling 893]

So you're against it? 5k

Tell your wife to get a job, so she knows how miserable you are.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Nolacycling

[Telegraph_it 3,379]

I feel like I am missing something on teaching. In my friend group of late twentysomethings, the only people who consistently complain about their job are the teachers. The complaints are 1) not paid enough, 2) work outside of school, 3) dealing with parents (this would suck and probably worth of complaining about), and 4) standardized testing, need to meet a benchmark.

None of these are unique to teaching. Most people feel underpaid, and when you become a teacher, you know what the salary is. Most people work more than 40 hours in a week. Most people have to deal with unhappy people although parents probably take it to another level. Most people have metrics to meet, or some reprimand is inevitable. All I know is having a frikin summer break would be nice.

I don't know when the last time teachers got a pay bump though so if the state can afford it, then do it. 

[Spankytoes 1,748]

6 minutes ago, Nolacycling said:

So you're against it? 5k

Tell your wife to get a job, so she knows how miserable you are.

I'm not for or against it. I don't live in Texas, so it doesn't affect me in the slightest. My wife works and has for our entire 20 year marriage. It's the rhetoric that's tiring. $5,000 extra per year, minus taxes, is nothing. The education system isn't going to get any better, teachers are still going to beat the underpaid drum and the cycle continues. A blanket payment for every classroom teacher, shitty or great, is politics at its finest. 

[staboner 5,092]

Hey fat fingers go slorch it up elsewhere douchebag

good for them. it isn't fixing the world here but its something and for the teachers I know its very much welcomed

[Spankytoes 1,748]

4 minutes ago, Telegraph_it said:

I feel like I am missing something on teaching. In my friend group of late twentysomethings, the only people who consistently complain about their job are the teachers. The complaints are 1) not paid enough, 2) work outside of school, 3) dealing with parents (this would suck and probably worth of complaining about), and 4) standardized testing, need to meet a benchmark.

None of these are unique to teaching. Most people feel underpaid, and when you become a teacher, you know what the salary is. Most people work more than 40 hours in a week. Most people have to deal with unhappy people although parents probably take it to another level. Most people have metrics to meet, or some reprimand is inevitable. All I know is having a frikin summer break would be nice.

I don't know when the last time teachers got a pay bump though so if the state can afford it, then do it. 

This. Hence my comparison to housewives. Teachers constantly martyr themselves for whatever reason. Ask any white collar worker if they think that they deserve more $ and have to put up with bureaucratic bullshit with their employer, clients and vendors. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, staboner said:

Hey fat fingers go slorch it up elsewhere douchebag

good for them. it isn't fixing the world here but its something and for the teachers I know its very much welcomed

negged.

I'm on board with supporting teachers.  If we're going to invest, educators is a fine place to bump it up.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,874]

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-06-01-graph-where-do-us-teacher-salaries-really-go-the-furthest

 

 

 

A useful chart for teacher pay versus cost of living.  2017 data.  Looks like a $5k bump would put Texas teachers in the Top 5.  A bit of a blunt instrument put probably still useful.

[Coors yellow belly 105]

And sorority broads with MRS degrees are flocking to get margaritas with the girls as they read of the good news.

[Hawndoh 2,409]

I'll gladly take the raise.

For all the whiny teachers who complained all the time there are many more who enjoy it and never say anything. 

You just hear the complainers more. 

I know teaching will never make me rich but I do get to spend all summer with my kids and travel the country.

The only real downside is crazy parents, paperwork/grading, and the possibility of getting shot in a mass shooting. 

Could be worse. 

[Hank Scorpio 17,924]

[Hawndoh 2,409]

Oh. And our health insurance is terrible and has gotten progressively worse every year I've taught. I'd take half that raise if the health insurance would get substantively better. 

[El Tri 412]

if you're against giving teachers a raise you're a miserable fucking fuck.

[Coors yellow belly 105]

Outsource the grading of papers to India.

[El Tri 412]

1 minute ago, Hawndoh said:

Oh. And our health insurance is terrible and has gotten progressively worse every year I've taught. I'd take half that raise if the health insurance would get substantively better. 

yup, my wife is an AISD teacher. Luckily i work for a great company with great benefits and I added her to my plan for less than what she would pay for a shittier plan at AISD

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Hawndoh said:

Oh. And our health insurance is terrible and has gotten progressively worse every year I've taught. I'd take half that raise if the health insurance would get substantively better. 

Our school district is competitive as hell on that front.  Absolutely NOT shitty health insurance.

There are many facets of their coverage that is better than mine from a very large corporation.

(My ole lady is not a teacher, but is an administrator- not getting the $5k raise, nor should she)

Edited February 26, 2019 by slorch

[bad_teammate 13,562]

3 minutes ago, El Tri said:

if you're against giving teachers a raise you're a miserable fucking fuck.

Yeah, it's a really really weird one to get mad about.

[shnsajax 3,607]

I would have thought there would have been a way to pool in all public teachers from a state for insurance vs going district to district.

[David Dennison 19,560]

Bitching about teachers bitching about money is the new teachers bitching about money.

[hayden_horn 11,402]

3 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

Yeah, it's a really really weird one to get mad about.

this is the part where they explain they totally aren't mad, it's totally you that are mad.

this will be explained in pedantic, trollish tone.

Edited February 26, 2019 by hayden_horn

[David Dennison 19,560]

Just now, hayden_horn said:

this is the part where they explain they totally aren't mad.

They are labor who side with management.

Fucking weirdos.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, shnsajax said:

I would have thought there would have been a way to pool in all public teachers from a state for insurance vs going district to district.

Aligned  providers in every county?  254 of em... some with multiple school districts.

[formermav43 4,630]

18 minutes ago, Spankytoes said:

I'm not for or against it. I don't live in Texas, so it doesn't affect me in the slightest. My wife works and has for our entire 20 year marriage. It's the rhetoric that's tiring. $5,000 extra per year, minus taxes, is nothing. The education system isn't going to get any better, teachers are still going to beat the underpaid drum and the cycle continues. A blanket payment for every classroom teacher, shitty or great, is politics at its finest. 

You can’t expect to be taken seriously if you claim their complaints are illegitimate and simultaneously say $5,000 is nothing. 

[swraith 348]

Out of curiosity, how is the state paying for this? Will this money he paid directly to the school district by the state? Is it a 1 time annual payment or is it spread out ?

[Hawndoh 2,409]

5k is nothing? For most Texas teachers that is around 10% raise. 

Would any of you turn down a 10% raise because it's "politics"?

Edited February 26, 2019 by Hawndoh

[bad_teammate 13,562]

12 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

They are labor who side with management.

Fucking weirdos.

it's surprisingly easy to convince one of the cows in the slaughterhouse line that, if he cooperates, he'll get to hold the stun gun

[Woland 755]

Another band aid on the lack of school finance reform. So glad we spent all that legislative energy on concealed carry and bathrooms.

[David Dennison 19,560]

1 minute ago, OatmealRaisinCookie said:

I had elementary aged kids go to public school for a while, and let me tell you, even 10/10 on greatschools.org schools employ meat shields as teachers and they have my sympathy because generally kids are hard and it sucks because the majority of development issues occur in the home which they can't really interfere or meddle with (life isn't the Matilda movie or Dangerous Minds).

cue the rounders gif and PAY THOSE WOMEN THEIR MONEY!

Women?

[bad_teammate 13,562]

You know why teachers complain about pay? It's because their jobs are hard. Harder than yours, probably.

[sidis 10,019]

1 hour ago, OatmealRaisinCookie said:

I had elementary aged kids go to public school for a while, and let me tell you, even 10/10 on greatschools.org schools employ meat shields as teachers and they have my sympathy because generally kids are hard and it sucks because the majority of development issues occur in the home which they can't really interfere or meddle with (life isn't the Matilda movie or Dangerous Minds).

cue the rounders gif and PAY THOSE WOMEN THEIR MONEY!

jesus fucking christ.

[TexArcher 39,074]

2 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

I don't live in Texas

Best thing I've read all day.

[Bama Chick 28,596]

Women?

Heh. Assholes give themselves away, don’t they?

[UpperWestside 6,284]

Pay them more. They deserve it for all the bull the put up with from students and parents alike. I have plenty of friends in Texas who teach who deserve more.

My girlfriend is a kindergarten teacher for special needs children here on the UES. She absolutely loves what she does. She doesn't make as much as she would like to, but there is no other job she wants because this is her calling.

[TexArcher 39,074]

30 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

You know why teachers complain about pay? It's because their jobs are hard. Harder than yours, probably.

And their jobs are *important*.

Teachers, cops, firefighters, and nurses are all criminally underpaid.  They do some of the most important and most difficult work in this country.

Y'all wouldn't be on this site to bitch about teachers bitching about being underpaid if one of them hadn't taught you to read.  They're literally the only reason you're not picking lettuce for a living right now.

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by TexArcher

[Ten Bears 2,500]

I'm not sure cops are criminally or otherwise underpaid.

[bad_teammate 13,562]

4 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

cops ... are .. criminal--

That's tough, but fair.

[Spankytoes 1,748]

19 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

Best thing I've read all day.

Stop playing. You know you don’t read.

[horn4life 3,838]

The basic problem is that education is far down the list when it comes to the Republican Party, and they have ruled Texas a long, long time.  Education is the first place to look for cuts and the last place to look to fund.  And you wonder why kids in Texas go into debt to go to college in Texas now, when you used to be able to work your ass off all Summer and keep a part time job and come out with a degree largely debt free.  Education of the Texas population simply has not been a priority at any level for a long time.  Yes with kicking and screaming minor funding tweaks are made.  Paying teachers more is a good start.  Hell you can make a shit ton more as a cop with a high school diploma, and I think most teachers could be trained to carry a gun a lot quicker than the average police officer could start teaching your kids.  Maybe not a fair comparison, but from a dollars and cents I think it's fair.

Now.... the teachers that are good NEED to be rewarded for their abiliites.  Simply surviving for 15 years does NOT make you better, than a two year enthusiastic and motivated teacher.  Unfortunately unless you have a trust fund, have a working spouse that makes some pretty good coin, you are going to see your educated peers far outstrip your earning power in just a few years.  So attrition of the best and brightest is often the effect.

I wish we would invest in education.  It's honestly one of the best return for the dollar investments we can make. Maybe a few more election cycles and investments beyond the token, lip service variety will be made here in Texas. 

Edited February 26, 2019 by horn4life

[Nolacycling 893]

Fuck You.

 

 

Did this happen to you today at work? I don't mean your boss said you fucked up.  I know you say it's just a kid and don't take it personally. I don't anymore.

If your neighbor's kid said it to you, how would you act when he's parking in front of your house again the  very next day. How did you feel when that guy flipped you off on the road the other day? Hey, don't take it personally. Maybe this didn't happen at Highland Park, Churchill, Lake Travis or HSPVA today, but it happened all over the state and country today.

How would you feel if teachers had open bargaining like you? How would you feel if we could leave your child's classroom at the drop of a hat because a better teaching opportunity exists across town? Matching 401k donations? Ha. Social Security? lol You want a summer vacay? Great, cough up 25% of your salary.

There is no argument for any job that "if you don't like it leave", but just like your lawyer you get what you pay for. I'm happy to see that most here support a $5k raise. 

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by Nolacycling
proofreading. don't wanna even start that shit.

[RexWilson 1,502]

2 minutes ago, horn4life said:

 

Now.... the teachers that are good NEED to be rewarded for their abiliites.  Simply surviving for 15 years does NOT make you better, than a two year enthusiastic and motivated teacher.  Unfortunately unless you have a trust fund, have a working spouse that makes some pretty good coin, you are going to see your educated peers far outstrip your earning power in just a few years.  

Horn4life nails it here.

12th year of teaching. I am not one of the "we are under paid" complainers. The starting salary for educators is pretty decent in my opinion.

The area I would like to see improved is a salary scale that would reward for qualified experience and system that makes it easier to get rid of shitty teachers.

Most districts, each year your salary goes up 250 to 500 dollars a year. If you have a masters degree, you get an extra 500 to 1200.  That sucks for good teachers who are willing to do so much more work.

For bad teachers, you have job security, little incentive to go above minimum effort. The appraisal system is a joke and as long as you dont get sexual with kids, are not likely to get fired or not get hired in a different  district.

I teach PE and coach multiple sports (stipend amounts are my only financial complaint). Most days the job is great and the students are awesome. I appreciate the winter and spring breaks and 2 months at summer.  I know I will never be financially wealthy but I get to spend lots of time with my family and will be able to retire at 54. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

[scottsins 2,047]

I'm not sure cops are criminally or otherwise underpaid.

The average BASE salary for APD officers is just shy of $70k. BASE.

16 years of service, that number hits over $98k.

[Coors yellow belly 105]

APD gets paid well. AFD is paid obscenely well. Teachers making 55k is a nice salary as well. Enough with the histrionics.

[tantric superman 4,668]

My two cents in this.  During the election I went to a couple of presentations where the majority of folks were teachers.  While I have always been of the opinion that teachers should get paid more, I also am of the opinion that 50% of any raise should go to bonuses that principals or some other administrator would award for performance/effort/commitment.

During the discussions, it also seemed to me that the teachers expected raises and wouldn't go near the idea that to improve education you might have to make it pretty easy to get rid of bad performers.  I don't think Texas is anywhere near the horror story of some of the unionized New York school districts where you can't fire anyone, but I'm wondering if we'd be better off if more teacher comp was "at risk". 

Also, kind of what Rex said above.

A solid base to attract good teachers.

A great bonus system to reward committed teachers.

And easy way to get rid of ineffective teachers.

 

Edited February 27, 2019 by tantric superman

[Bullneck 19,545]

4 hours ago, bad_teammate said:

Yeah, it's a really really weird one to get mad about.

Well, it is spankytoes

[Bullneck 19,545]

31 minutes ago, scottsins said:

 

The average BASE salary for APD officers is just shy of $70k. BASE.

16 years of service, that number hits over $98k.

 

Sounds reasonable

[TexEx15 17,956]

24 minutes ago, Coors yellow belly said:

APD gets paid well. AFD is paid obscenely well. Teachers making 55k is a nice salary as well. Enough with the histrionics.

How long does it take a teacher to make 55K according to you?  My wife has been teaching 10 years and is not there yet.

[Nolacycling 893]

I won't pretend to speak for all teachers, but let's say you sell apples and are dependent on having your apples pass the chef's standards. But some of your apples are rotten(dyswidt) and no matter what you do won't improve. It's on you. What are you supposed to do give all your time towards the bad apple trees, while the rest suffer?

In reality, I don't mind being rated on student improvement, but can you imagine coming up up with a system that rates the physics 2 teacher at Southlake Carroll and the physics teacher at Brownsville Hanna? 

This is our concern, Dude.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Nolacycling

[Coors yellow belly 105]

18 minutes ago, TexEx15 said:

How long does it take a teacher to make 55K according to you?  My wife has been teaching 10 years and is not there yet.

How old are her students? It matters