Time to turn the tide on high public sector compensation
Friday, June 8. 2012
The victory in Wisconsin this week over the power of public employee unions sends a strong message that things have to change in the country. Too many government employees at all levels of government are over-compensated in both their salaries and benefits. Pension commitments alone to public employees in many states is a severe threat to the fiscal health of those states. The benefits given public sector employees are paid for by taxpayers who have no direct say in the matter. We hear a lot about the riches of America’s “1% vs. 99%;” but the real one percent in the nation are public sector employees who have compensation far superior to most of their private sector counterparts.
This isn’t a distant problem. As a story this week details, even here in Winder there are public-sector employees who exploit the system and get huge benefits at taxpayer expense.
Former Winder administrator Ernie Graham has continued to suck off the public tit for over a decade since he retired at a youthful age 50 from the city. Winder councilmen illegally went behind closed doors in 2002 to temporarily lower the city’s retirement age and also changed the retirement formula. So Graham retired young from his $91,000-a-year job, but now gets the same public dollars by “consulting” part-time while still drawing taxpayer-provided health benefits.
The result is that Graham collects over $4,500 per month in retirement from Winder taxpayers plus he has half of his and his wife’s health insurance paid by Winder taxpayers. Since he has retired, Winder taxpayers have given him nearly $600,000 in direct benefits.
But that’s not all. Soon after he retired, Graham became a “consultant” for the city through a third-party firm before creating his own consulting firm. In that consulting role, Graham has collected an additional $348,000 in taxpayer money from Winder taxpayers. What he has done exactly to earn that money isn’t very clear.
On top of all that, Graham also began doing consulting work for the Town of Braselton in fiscal year 2006. That was to be a temporary job, but it has continued and he has collected another $230,500 in consulting fees from the taxpayers of Braselton. What he actually did to earn those dollars also isn’t very clear.
So since he retired at age 50, Graham has collected over $1 million in taxpayer money from an inflated retirement plan and dubious consulting work. That’s obscene.
But it’s not too unusual. Public-sector employees feel entitled to their offensive pay and benefits. That’s why the Wisconsin teachers’ union and other public-sector unions tried to unseat that state’s governor after he made public employees pay a small part of their benefit package. Teachers and other public-sector employees in Wisconsin went crazy, marched on the state capital for weeks and then launched a failed recall of the governor.
The truth is, most public-sector employees across the country don’t deserve the kind of pay and benefits they’re getting; and even if they did, taxpayers can’t afford to pay it any more.
But you can’t tell public-sector employees that. They don’t care that the economy has crashed and private-sector jobs are hurting. They want pay hikes and more and more benefits for themselves.
You see that “me-first” attitude now that many local governments, including school systems, are having to make serious cuts. At one time, public-sector employees not only had gold-plated benefits, they had almost 100-percent job security.
All of that is starting to change and public employees are throwing a tantrum. Every night on television we see some group of teachers around Atlanta demanding no job cuts and higher pay. “Our morale is low,” they sob.
Spoiled babies. Teachers make darn good money and benefits for what they do. Show me any similar part-year job (just 180 days of work) in the private sector that has better compensation than is found in education. Such part-time private-sector jobs don’t exist with that kind of pay.
The reality is that those in the private sector who work hard for reasonable pay are tired of paying high taxes to compensate overpaid public sector employees.
That was the message from Wisconsin this week. States and local governments can’t continue promising rich pensions and other benefits to public sector employees when there is no money to meet those obligations. (California is another extreme example of public sector excess.)
This situation isn’t unlike Greece and other European nations that have tried that route and are now teetering on the brink of financial collapse because of the massive amount of debt they’ve taken on to keep paying fat public-sector benefits and massive social-welfare programs.
The reality is, no nation, no state, no county or city can provide all the benefits their employees or citizens demand. There simply isn’t enough money floating around to do that. But too many governments have gone into too much debt in an effort to avoid having to say “no.” Gutless politicians have instead tried to buy votes by always giving everyone what they want, the future cost be damned.
Now the well is running dry and public-sector employees are getting a dose of the real world. They don’t like it.
And then you have high-ranking government officials like Winder’s Graham who use their inside connections and influence to feather their own fiscal beds when nobody was watching.
And like pigs at a trough, greedy public employees oink and oink while they eat, then squeal if anyone dares question their right to pillage the taxpayers’ pockets for their own benefit.
Wisconsin public-sector employees got the rebuke they deserved this week. Let’s hope that will ignite a taxpayer movement across the country to put a stop to high public-sector compensation and abuse.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of the Barrow Journal. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
Former Winder administrator Ernie Graham has continued to suck off the public tit for over a decade since he retired at a youthful age 50 from the city. Winder councilmen illegally went behind closed doors in 2002 to temporarily lower the city’s retirement age and also changed the retirement formula. So Graham retired young from his $91,000-a-year job, but now gets the same public dollars by “consulting” part-time while still drawing taxpayer-provided health benefits.
The result is that Graham collects over $4,500 per month in retirement from Winder taxpayers plus he has half of his and his wife’s health insurance paid by Winder taxpayers. Since he has retired, Winder taxpayers have given him nearly $600,000 in direct benefits.
But that’s not all. Soon after he retired, Graham became a “consultant” for the city through a third-party firm before creating his own consulting firm. In that consulting role, Graham has collected an additional $348,000 in taxpayer money from Winder taxpayers. What he has done exactly to earn that money isn’t very clear.
On top of all that, Graham also began doing consulting work for the Town of Braselton in fiscal year 2006. That was to be a temporary job, but it has continued and he has collected another $230,500 in consulting fees from the taxpayers of Braselton. What he actually did to earn those dollars also isn’t very clear.
So since he retired at age 50, Graham has collected over $1 million in taxpayer money from an inflated retirement plan and dubious consulting work. That’s obscene.
But it’s not too unusual. Public-sector employees feel entitled to their offensive pay and benefits. That’s why the Wisconsin teachers’ union and other public-sector unions tried to unseat that state’s governor after he made public employees pay a small part of their benefit package. Teachers and other public-sector employees in Wisconsin went crazy, marched on the state capital for weeks and then launched a failed recall of the governor.
The truth is, most public-sector employees across the country don’t deserve the kind of pay and benefits they’re getting; and even if they did, taxpayers can’t afford to pay it any more.
But you can’t tell public-sector employees that. They don’t care that the economy has crashed and private-sector jobs are hurting. They want pay hikes and more and more benefits for themselves.
You see that “me-first” attitude now that many local governments, including school systems, are having to make serious cuts. At one time, public-sector employees not only had gold-plated benefits, they had almost 100-percent job security.
All of that is starting to change and public employees are throwing a tantrum. Every night on television we see some group of teachers around Atlanta demanding no job cuts and higher pay. “Our morale is low,” they sob.
Spoiled babies. Teachers make darn good money and benefits for what they do. Show me any similar part-year job (just 180 days of work) in the private sector that has better compensation than is found in education. Such part-time private-sector jobs don’t exist with that kind of pay.
The reality is that those in the private sector who work hard for reasonable pay are tired of paying high taxes to compensate overpaid public sector employees.
That was the message from Wisconsin this week. States and local governments can’t continue promising rich pensions and other benefits to public sector employees when there is no money to meet those obligations. (California is another extreme example of public sector excess.)
This situation isn’t unlike Greece and other European nations that have tried that route and are now teetering on the brink of financial collapse because of the massive amount of debt they’ve taken on to keep paying fat public-sector benefits and massive social-welfare programs.
The reality is, no nation, no state, no county or city can provide all the benefits their employees or citizens demand. There simply isn’t enough money floating around to do that. But too many governments have gone into too much debt in an effort to avoid having to say “no.” Gutless politicians have instead tried to buy votes by always giving everyone what they want, the future cost be damned.
Now the well is running dry and public-sector employees are getting a dose of the real world. They don’t like it.
And then you have high-ranking government officials like Winder’s Graham who use their inside connections and influence to feather their own fiscal beds when nobody was watching.
And like pigs at a trough, greedy public employees oink and oink while they eat, then squeal if anyone dares question their right to pillage the taxpayers’ pockets for their own benefit.
Wisconsin public-sector employees got the rebuke they deserved this week. Let’s hope that will ignite a taxpayer movement across the country to put a stop to high public-sector compensation and abuse.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of the Barrow Journal. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
While I agree that there are specific instances locally of abuse, the vast majority of folks are simply hard-working people trying to get by.
Does the system need to change? You bet! I am all for a private sector type 401k plan that allows employees to share in the risk/reward of their retirement funds. This type of system also protects the employer (taxpayer) by limiting outlays and providing predictable costs.
My pay is too high? Really? Tell that to my bank. Tell that to my other creditors. Could I make more outside of education? You bet! Given the current contempt towards teachers, I doubt that good ones will hang around long for the continuing abuse.
I went into education with the silly notion that I was there to help the kids to be productive members of society. If I wanted to just make money, I could have chosen other options.
Your continued disparaging against teachers is getting old. You really should find a new target to whine at. I'm turning my hearing aid off!
Range for a teacher with 21+ years: $46,000 to $72,500.
These figures DO NOT include local stipends which can raise the salary by another $2,000 to $6,000
Right out of college I was making in the high $20s with a MBA and didn't get summers off. Okay, we DID get the entire month of December off.
If teacher are so goo then let them compete in an open eductaion system where they have to be accounable. Compitition with private schools will help to fix the problems in education.
Right now the teachers unions have fought against any kind of standards or testing that would hold them accountable.
Decent people are sick of picking up the tab for leftwing teachers that do little more than to teach children to hate the US.
Instead, true parternerships between the business sector and local school districts should take th helm. We are developing into an age where individualized education trumps the 1950's style currently used across the country.
Perhaps compulsory education laws need to be rethought and instead put in rigorous exams at specific points to gain access to higher level education. Return education to a priviledge instead of a "right" that has turned into free babysitting for all too many. Then, pay/benefits could be allocated based on outcomes from a common standard of incoming students.
Graham and his consulting firm: I dont know about , yes it looks like a scam on the surface, but a lot of small and large govt. hire consultants.Whats wrong with him having more than one client? Is the barrow journal suddenly against free enterprise?
Its all about the "newspaper" stirring the pot and getting people riled up at one another so that they can sell more fishwrappers and that is all there is to it.
Whose fault is that more is owed than earned?
Why is it the taxpayers obligation to insure your high paying job?
http://www.barrowjournal.com/archives/6723-BOE-faces-tough-financial-decisions-in-the-coming-weeks.html
Oh, and let me quote you:
"So the BOE does have a valid argument that it faces a lot of financial issues over which it has no control and that it has been conservative with taxpayer money when compared to other school systems."
Did you just state that the local school system is conservative with TAXPAYER MONEY?????
And these are some facts you give about the overly compensated public employees of this county (Teachers):
• The system’s local teacher supplement, which is the only part of teacher pay the local BOE has control over, is among the lowest in the area.
• Compared to other systems in the state, the BCSS has a low per student administration cost.
• At $7,815 per student, the BCSS is among the lowest in the state in per student spending.
INSERT FOOT IN MOUTH!
You can try to spin this anyway you want. The fact is you are just a journalist attempting to get readers. It is obvious based on prior articles and editorials, that you really think the BOE does a good job financially. So go ahead, incite a riot if you'd like, but deep down it is obvious you believe this county does a good job with its education spending.
By Rex Nutting | MarketWatch
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-08-10-1Afedpay10_ST_N.htm
Also, your NYC teacher friend is lying. Georgia teachers make more than that after 10 years and NYC teachers are union, so they make much more.
Also, Europe's troubles aren't due to private debt, they're due to huge welfare states and massive over-employment in the public sector. You are correct that it was mostly private debt that created the 2008 problems here, but much of that debt was driven by federal mandates that had banks lending to people who couldn't afford the loans.
Organized labor has fought for:
1. Weekends without work
2. All breaks at work, including your lunch breaks
3. Paid vacation
4. Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
5. Sick leave
6. Social Security
7. Minimum wage
8. Civil Rights Act/Title VII - prohibits employer discrimination
9. 8-hour work day
10. Overtime pay
11. Child labor laws
12. Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
13. 40-hour work week
14. Workers’ compensation
15. Unemployment insurance
16. Pensions
17. Workplace safety standards and regulations
18. Employer health care insurance
19. Collective bargaining rights for employees in most states
20. Wrongful termination laws
21. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
22. Whistleblower protection laws
23. Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) - prohibits employers from using a lie detector test on an employee
24. Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS)
25. Compensation increases and evaluations (i.e. raises)
26. Sexual harassment laws
27. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
28. Holiday pay
29. Employer dental, life, and vision insurance
30. Privacy rights
31. Pregnancy and parental leave (FMLA)
32. Military leave
33. Public education for children
34. Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 - requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work
35. Laws ending sweatshops in the United States
As for “absurd”, that is what you are if you can’t acknowledge these items before you as what they are. All of these privileges are now elemental to our everyday way of life, and benefit almost all working Americans.
Being a student of history, and not desiring to repeat our past, I can foresee an aggressive demonstrative attempt to reverse and abolish many of the privileges which have struggled for and been successfully in achieving.
As for those of you that say that Unions as a whole are no longer a need entity in today’s society; To this I say it is no different than having a standing army during a time of peace. We need to stand vigilant and protect our investments, as well as have the strength to have an impact within political arenas. Not hate the player hate the game!
To the gentleman that is inferring that fire fighters have an disproportionate amount of free time and all have second jobs… Well two things; first, there are 168 hours in a week, any given week we are at work and away from our family 32% of the time. The majority of the blue-collar, or 9-5ers in comparison are gone only 24% of the time. Secondly 7.5 million Americans Moonlight (US Dept of Labor). Moonlighters comprise a trend that is steady increasing. As the mounting cost of living soars and wage levels are ever stagnated, this trend will surely continue, and we are just a cross-section of the population.
The burden of the job impacts us more than you will ever know. Public safety officers, police and fire alike have divorce rates 3 times higher than the general public.
Additionally, fire fighter’s health issues are detrimentally impacted by job related factors. Cancer, cardiovascular and Parkinson’s disease rates are similarly disproportional to the everyday man on the street:
Cancer: “Researchers found firefighters have a 100% higher risk of developing testicular cancer, a 50% higher risk for multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and for prostate cancer it's a 28% increased risk, compared with non-firefighters” (A study released by the University of Cincinnati).
Heart attacks: firefighting was associated with a risk of death from coronary heart disease at markedly higher risk in contrast to the everyday public. Fire fighters are associated with the highest risk, which was approximately 300 times higher as that for non fire fighters.
Parkinson’s Disease: In 1990 a study in completed in Huston Texas demonstrated a finding of 3-4 cases per 1,000 in the general population. Conversely fire fighters have had 30 Parkinson's cases per 1,000 firefighters.
And for the record not one of these condition is covered under workmen’s compensation here is Georgia, but is in 38 other states to varying degrees. So we still need to fight for what is right…
That's why unions are anti-productivity, anti-business, anti-little guy.
And Illinois teachers' AVERAGE starting pay is $37500 with an AVERAGE of $58686 after 10 years. There may be some with doctorate degrees and tenure that make $75000 but your use of average appears wrong.
http://www.teacherportal.com/teacher-salaries-by-state
Where do I start? While not always agreeing with Mike, I've never attacked him for his opinions (I have questioned him). You say you aren't angry? When you say, " I'll start small for you, Mike." - I sense a tad bit of anger when you demean another person.
Your comment, "It's sad that the only thing you have to do is sit at your tiny computer and type up a bunch of BS on these blogs." Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?
Your next comment, "I'm just disgusted that I live in a town full of hicks who like to lie and throw people under the bus to save their own sorry asses..." - Your use of profanity proves how classy you aren't, so don't let the door hit you on your way out of this hick-filled town. By the way, what does throwing people under the bus and saving a$$es have to do with this article?
Your self-serving post on this subject, makes me very happy that you have absolutely no say in how our hard working Teachers are paid in this county. Thank the Lord, for small blessings......
DuWayne Anderson,
Winder, GA
Let's take back all the money from the Teachers that taught you over the years. Wonder where you would be now without those Teachers.......and the degrees that you now have, and the salary and benefits you personally enjoy.......
DuWayne Anderson
Winder, GA
DuWayne Anderson
Winder, GA
DuWayne Anderson,
Winder, GA
DuWayne Anderson
Winder, GA
DuWayne Anderson,
Winder, GA
DuWayne Anderson
Winder, GA
DuWayne
On average, how much do you think a teacher who has been teaching for 10 years make? 20 years? 30 years?
Seems you want teachers to make $15 or $20,000 a year. That's ridiculous.
Your right Mike, we are overpaid, over worked Labor groups have no place at the table to discuss the needs, concerns of any specific profession. That’s right elected officials and management are above all question. This because they have been elected or given a sliver spoon, thus they know everything about every aspect of what we do and can do it far better than we can from the comfort of an plush leather office chair within the confines of a well-furnished and from reality removed board room!
History lesson… Unions built this county; from the government buildings and monuments, to the highways and byways of America. The sweat of organized labor built the arsenal that defeated the axis, and again built the arms and infrastructure to win an arms race that allows us the freedoms we enjoy today. This is was a credit to a way of life that the middle class was accustom to until the last decade.
So again Mike your right! Unions are BAD, and the reason we are where we are today! We are the crybabies that suck the bosoms of the American taxpayers dry. It was not Halliburton, or the government bailouts for bankers who rolled the dice with money from checks they could not cash, giving loans to high risk to those that they knew were doomed from the get go. So what is next; are we to be blamed for being the group that nailed Christ to the cross. Give me a break…
Education for you… What is a union? A union is a group of individuals that come together around a command cause. If a “unions” is defined as “an association, alliance, or confederation of individuals or groups for a common purpose” Then should you not be also vilifying The GOP, the Boy Scouts, the Chamber of Commerce or any given church group? What about the Good Ole U.S. OF A., that’s a union too! They are nothing more than a mob of Villainous thugs, right? Of course not! Every one of these groups has similar missions and strives to achieve like goals. Each looks out for the best interests of their membership and attempts to forward the quality of their membership by lobbying and working in the community to better the conditions around them. And yes even the Boy Scouts of America have lobbyists, as do Right to Life Organizations and the banking industry alike. All pushing their agenda for a command end…
So why is it that we the working class professional’s organizations have gotten the stamp of blood sucking leaches, villains and worse by the press and politicians alike? Teachers are the instrument to which our future education is built upon. Police officers are the security we depend upon, and Fire fighters and EMS providers are the one you call for everything else… So why I ask are we target of vilification?
I can speak only to what I know best and this may enlighten some of you…
As fire fighters we work on average 54 hours a week; receive overtime compensation only after they exceed 54 hours, not after a standard 40 hour work week, like the private sector; thanks to a FLSA exemption. Our health benefits are comparable or less than the private sector’s, in the EMS field. Retirement benefits are poor at best; this is in comparison to what they were in the past and other fields… I for one will not be able to retire and look forward to any real security in my golden years… We are under staff, scarcely equipped and work in at times, the worst of conditions you can imagine.
Unions and collective bargaining are good things, as is the idea of compromise and cooperation. Why then is it that one of our nation’s oldest and most fundamental ideas is being figuratively cast upon the tides of the river of Styx, hopelessly flowing towards the internal fiery depths of Hades itself. To what end will this name calling persist. Groups of persons with similar likes and dislikes do gather to achieve a common cause every day. This is our constitutional right.
And Mike you can take your paint roller that you choose to use as a method to paint this picture, and turn it on the truly corrupt; the politicians and financial barons that are attempting to pad their deep pockets on the backs of those on the front lines… Indentured servitude of the 21 century…
Corruption and greed unfortunately are a part of human nature, and it is found in all cross-sections of life. There is corruption in government, Churches, youth groups and yes even the press…
“Like pigs at a trough,” “oink and oink” Mike please! That’s a bit of a nursery rhythm. Look for something else news worthy rather than just regurgitating Fox News. By the way “while they eat, then squeal” is that not after all what is that not what Yearwood has been doing for the last 4 years.
But those answers have been given; those problems solved. Americans, thanks to unions, work in a safer, more fair workplace.
So what are unions now? They are a small minority of the workforce, taking money from hard-working citizens to finance political candidates, usurp small businesses from trying to contribute to the economy by employing more folks, and making the union bosses into a neverending rulers.
Unions nowadays are propagated mostly by public-sector workers, sucking off the public for more raises and benefits. Instead of the employhee working for the company, the union demands the employee work for the union, demanding no contact betweeen worker and employer, for fear of the employee realizing what a bad deal unions are.
Make no mistake, public-sector employees are a needed part of American life, just as private sector employees. But without Obama's minions on the NLRB, unions would be fast fading from the face of the country, residing only in communistic ideology.
Unions were once the answer, but for the most part, are a fading part of history. Thanks for what they did, but their job is done.
Let's pay them like they provide a daycare service. I say, $150.00 per week, per child. So, $150.00 x 20 students= uh-oh. That would be a raise. Crap. Ok, maybe they don't make that much when you think about it.
$ 150.00 x 20 per week = $ 3000.00 per week.
3000 x 50(2 weeks vacation = 150k
150,000k total
-22,500 SS
-10,500 medicare tax.
-7,200 Inusrance based on avg of $ 600.00 month
-30,000 for retirement a year to be put away to get the same amount needed as the averge teacher after 30 years.
Total left $ 79,800 but not quite done..
Daycare works 250 days a year.
Teachers work 180 days a year.
Hours 2000 for daycare
Teachers 1440
79800 divided by 2000 = $ 39.90
$ 39.90 x 1440 = $ 57,456..
So each teacher should make $ 57,456.. I can live with that. Then the ones making in the 60k,70k,and 80k will take a cut.. The ones make in the 40k will get a raise.
I say let's do it and see how much we save.
Stop whining.
And get your facts right. The highest rate of union membership in the workforce was about one-third meaning that two-thirds of the work in this country was done by non-union employees. The claim that unions built this country is absurd.
To say the president is out of touch is a vast understatement.
draft-dodging chickenhawk with a Swiss bank account.
It is currently fashionable for people like you and those that you influence to think of them as modern day slaves who should just be happy to be working for ungrateful people like yourself.
Anyone of themthat is worth their salt has already left the only ones that stay are the ones that have been here too long to leave and start over or the abosolute dregs, which is apparently who you and your ilk want.
Soon enopugh , when the few good ones that are left are retired then you will writye an editorial decrying the poor job performance and total lack of any work ethic of those working for the public and you can then look in the mirror and see who caused it all.
This particular instance really needs further review from folks higher up the food chain in law enforcement. Fraud, corruption....just a couple of terms that come to mind.
Also, can you compare a private sector job to that of teaching? Your argument is the same one made by many and that is, there are no other jobs in the private sector that compare in the way teachers are compensated. List the type of jobs in the private sector that are similar to teaching.
No, there is no private job like teaching which was my point. No private sector job pays full time salaries for 180 days a year of work. That's another reform that is needed; get rid of the antiqued school year calendar and move to a full time school.
In regards to the private sector and comparing it to teaching, you are telling me what it is not, but I'm asking you compare, not just contrast, what jobs are similar to teaching in the private sector. To put it bluntly, tell me what a teacher does, and then compare it to to a job(s) in the private sector.
Mike has taken some other states problems and extrapolated them to Georgia in order to enflame the populace , sell more papers and view himself as a pundit.
My experience when employees do not improve the end product (improve sales, new version of product, etc.) replacements are found.
My experience is the one writing the checks is the boss. Government employees and receivers of government welfare work for the taxpayer. When the taxpayer is making less its time for the employees to be reduced in number or paychecks cut.
Typically they love the place they work and are committed to teaching the children. There is no fear of parents and grade inflation.
It is very easy in difficult financial times to start a debate on micro-managing public sector jobs vs. private sector jobs. After all, why should a Teacher make more than anybody else, what do they do that is so much more important than what I do? Let's cut their pay, increase their hours, increase class sizes, reduce funding, so all of us private sector cry babies, can feel better? I think not!! By the way, the Union debate that has been brought up in this forum, does not apply to Georgia Teachers, as they have no collective bargaining union. That represents them. God bless our Teachers, and all that they do!!
DuWayne
To say that what they do is not available in the private sector is just plain untrue. There are private schools all over the world.
To say that government indoctrinators prepare students for the capitalist work force has been proven wrong many times.
Just this one post shows your ignorance or desire to mislead and renders all above comments worthless for debate.
See, it is thoughts like this one that infuriate me, a lowly teacher, the most. Why paint us all with the same brush? Have you never had/met a competent, caring, sincere teacher who actually taught students to think for themselves? Never? If any statement is ignorant and honestly unworthy of debate, it is that one. What a shame...
Yes, there are incompetent teachers. Let's figure out a way to allow administrators to deal with that. But to infer that we are all mindless, spineless government puppets is, at the least, insulting, and at most, ridiculous.
Indeed I had a first grade teacher who recognized I wasn't reading and stayed after school everyday and taught me to read. Without her intervention and caring I would likely not have the dedication to helping others or the love of learning I have.
The easiest way to rid the system of incompetence is to stand up as fellow teachers and administrators say that person is incompetent and should be fired. Also why should incompetence be paid the same as competent or extraordinary?
And no, you didn't use the word "all," but your subject is teachers, so it is implied that unless you specify otherwise, you are making a blanket statement.
As much as you would like to think otherwise, the large majority of teachers work very hard to prepare their students for a successful future.
If I had to work beside an employee not pulling there weight I would certainly want the company to remove them and I most certainly would want to be paid for my performance vs their nonperformance.
Mislead? Cuts both ways. Worthless? Well, I suppose I wasted some time with the reply.
When half of the freshman class in college lose their HOPE funding and or drop out, that is not prepared. I would say in the private sector if the autos coming out of the GM (a government facility) plant failed within the first year that would not be considered success.
Just a reminder to all, that Teachers do not make or execute policy decisions on their contract work schedules. The State BOE and Local County BOE make those final decisions within the normal 180 day school year schedule.
Teachers work the contract schedule that they are given, and the pay is still spread out over 12 months. Rather than concentrating on complaining, maybe the energy would be better served, if folks showed just a bit more appreciation for the work that Barrow County Teachers put into the classroom,and leave the "wealth envy" rethoric to Obama and the Democrats in Washington........
DuWayne