Before talking to Teachers about pay, always confirm the following:

1) Whether the compensation amount being discussed is for a full 52 weeks of scheduled salaried work;

2) Whether the compensation amount is just their "salary" or if they are also including their benefits (i.e., pension, health, etc);

3) Whether the Teacher also understands that it is common, if not normal, for other salaried professionals work unpaid overtime (grading, showing up early, staying late);

4) Whether the Teacher coming out of pocket for supplies is discretionary--whether or not the Teacher is prevented from actually Teaching because of a lack of supplies;

5) Whether the Teacher understands that despite the supplies are not actually necessary for them to do their job (supervise children, create and execute lesson plans), that they are still offered a tax deduction for some small portion of those supplies; and

6) Whether the Teacher understands the lack of money for supplies is purely a failure of their Union to negotiate a stipend for such supplies.

Just get all those facts up front. If they can't admit all of the above, then you really aren't having an honest discussion with the Teacher.

one other issue regarding buying school supplies...

we bought the required stuff. And went with quality as opposed to cheap crap when there was a choice.

The supplies were all mixed together and then the students got to pick from what became the community supply.

So my daughter ended up with the crappy stuff because her good stuff was all gone.

I have no idea why the teacher did this. But we paid for the good stuff and ended up with crap. I was pissed. those were gifts that I gave to my daughter. It was not school property.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
To answer a point made by urban warrior -

Sometimes one principal or vice principal is not enough.

I worked in a city district here in PA some years ago. Middle school shop teacher. 2,000 kids in that building. The administration essentially split it into two schools in one building. Still, one principal and vice principal for 1,000 students was stretching it a bit.

Granted, from the outside school districts seem to be top heavy with administration.

My Senior High School class was right at 1,000 plus we had Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors. Probably well over 2,000 kids.

One Principal, one assistant Principal. Chaos reigned.

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:
My daughter recently graduated from college with honors, Summa Cum Laude.
This week she will be starting to teach middle school math and science.

She has purchased many school supplies along with setting up her classroom which included purchasing paint along with other items. (Although, pretty sure my wife paid for the paint.)

She painted the room real nice along with replacing the small American flag posted in front of the class by the white board with an appropriate one, the size of which was displayed in school when I was a kid.

She is a conservative who will be teaching the three R’s, reading righting, & rythmatic.

As far as painting, our district does it right. Every Spring teachers are asked what color they want their classroom. Then, during the summer the County brings in prisoners to do the painting. This is because our Vocational Schools are run by the County with schools in 7 different towns.
One benefit with Covid, our courts are mostly on zoom so they put the Sheriffs normal in court at out schools.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Before talking to Teachers about pay, always confirm the following:

1) Whether the compensation amount being discussed is for a full 52 weeks of scheduled salaried work;

2) Whether the compensation amount is just their "salary" or if they are also including their benefits (i.e., pension, health, etc);

3) Whether the Teacher also understands that it is common, if not normal, for other salaried professionals work unpaid overtime (grading, showing up early, staying late);

4) Whether the Teacher coming out of pocket for supplies is discretionary--whether or not the Teacher is prevented from actually Teaching because of a lack of supplies;

5) Whether the Teacher understands that despite the supplies are not actually necessary for them to do their job (supervise children, create and execute lesson plans), that they are still offered a tax deduction for some small portion of those supplies; and

6) Whether the Teacher understands the lack of money for supplies is purely a failure of their Union to negotiate a stipend for such supplies.

Just get all those facts up front. If they can't admit all of the above, then you really aren't having an honest discussion with the Teacher.

Last week a local paper published the average salary for teachers in each county and listed the highest paying school vs. the lowest paying school in that county. My school is a STEM school, teachers now are required to have a Masters to be hired. There is a high school for the township on the same property as our school (township vs. county school). Average pay for teachers with 15 years on the job is $20K more than my school. But even with the higher pay you could not get me to work with the kids in the other school. Not worth the aggravation.

Thanks again everyone.
It seams to be common for most school districts around the country to have teachers put some money out of pocket for school supply's and have the student parents also be responsible for some of the supply's.

A buddy that happens to be a c.p.a. does his son's taxes every year.

The son makes pretty good money,
For a teacher in a middle school.

Five years ago the kid spent six hundred of his own money for school supplies.
Last year he spent $4,200.00
.
Yes he is getting raises every year.

The c.p.a. understands completely why his son does it.

With two young children now ,that money should be going too an account for their college education .

The teachers wife is very successful but she asked her f.i.l.to have a sit down with him and her.

There is a reason there is a national teacher shortage. It's a very tough job these days if the teacher cares. They make a decent living, but it isn't a cake walk like many here describe. I always wonder why the folks who make it seem so great don't go in to the profession.

I was married to a teacher back in the mid 1980's.

Same story back then. Every teacher was asking for more money just for the classrooms.

You will NEVER give the public schools enough money. NEVER.

The message is the same, every year, year after year. "We need more money for our students".

Bullshit. Money goes for salaries and benefits, especially always new vice-this and vice-that and diversity officers, etc etc etc.

Way back then, I heard the head of the teachers union make the statement, not verbatim, but darn close: We don't want a constant new flow of money every year for the kids. The kids can't vote. Adults do vote. We want more money every year that benefits teachers and staff, and we will add on to get more money for more our adults employees, because they vote, and students do not. They don't matter.

My ex taught school, my nephew taught school, some other relatives too, and some friends also taught.

They, the administration and board, "rob" the budget of all they can, divert it from the students, and every damn year parents have to cough up more money to each teacher "for the classroom and for the students".

Again, you will NEVER be able to give enough money to the public school system.
.

1) Whether the compensation amount being discussed is for a full 52 weeks of scheduled salaried work;

My ex had the option of getting 9 monthly paychecks for the 9 months of active teaching, or she could request 1 paycheck per month, for 12 months, to smooth out our budget. And BTW she always had a summer job working in a jewelry store.

So my Mom retired at the end of the last school year. TN recently passed a law allowing retired teacher to return to the classroom and keep their benefits. So she's starting on Monday. She'll continue to earn her retirement check and on top of that will be paid $290 a day. She will technically be a substitute, but the school is hiring her to take over a class for the full year while the regular teacher is out with medical stuff.

Not a bad deal as long as she can put up with the seventh graders she'll be teaching. Prior to this she was teaching 3-5 grade.

Article explaining the TN law.
Link

Married to a high school English teacher. She has taught at both public and private schools. Currently at 2nd year in a rural district about 45 mins from a fairly major city. District does give a budget for supplies available via an office supply store. The past 2 years are the first time we haven’t spent out of pocket.

Here in Broward County,FL the STARTING salary for a school teacher is $47,500. They work 2/3 of the days per year someone in the private sector does, remember they get every single holiday on the calendar off and winter break. Yet, they still cry that they don't make enough money. That's a good bit higher than both the mean and median income of the people that are paying their salary.