| Author |
Message |
    
Anonymous
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 22, 2010 - 10:18 am: | 
|
I just learned that our superintendent -- we live in Pleasantville, NY, is retiring on 90% of his $200K + and that he will get that retirement amount every year for the rest of his life - I must say I am stunned!What corporation in this country gives sucha a retirement? We are paying such high taxes that we are barely holding on and he is retiing with that! |
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 19023
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 1:55 pm: |
|
Teacher Salaries, Looking at Comparable Jobs
By Christopher B. Swanson / Education Week
Jan. 10, 2008
Teacher compensation has emerged as a major issue in efforts to strengthen the teaching profession and boost student learning.
Experts have argued that relatively low earnings pose an impediment to recruiting top-notch candidates and retaining talented veterans. The challenges may be especially severe in such fields as mathematics and science, where jobs in the private sector can command particularly high wages.
Although analysts have repeatedly attempted to examine the competitiveness of teacher pay, a variety of factors complicate this line of research. Nuances include whether teachers are nine-month or 12-month workers, whether fringe benefits should be considered in addition to salary, and whether to analyze hourly, weekly, or annual pay.
 I consider teachers to be 10-month workers. They certainly are not 12-month workers beyond the novice years. As for whether benefits like health insurance and pensions should be considered in addition to salary, there simply isn't an economic question about it. All payments, whether current, delayed or in-kind, should be included.
But perhaps the most basic and important consideration is how to determine “comparable” salaries.
In the real estate market, smart buyers and sellers base their decisions on the prices of comparable properties. In much the same way, gauging teacher compensation requires identifying relevant comparison groups—occupations against which teacher salaries are evaluated.
An original analysis by the EPE Research Center finds that public school teachers nationwide make 88 cents for every dollar earned in 16 comparable occupations. Ten states reach or surpass the pay-parity line, meaning teachers earn at least as much as comparable workers.
Several notes: 1. The EPE Research Center is Education Week, so it's quoting itself. 2. NY is one of the 10 states that reach pay-parity for the comparable workers selected. 3. The comparable workers selected are not comparable. The most comparable workers to teachers are public librarians and K-12 teachers in the private sector. These are excluded from the list of comparable workers. If public school teacher salaries were compared to these comparable workers, their salaries would soar well above the pay earned by them. Consequently, teachers don't compare their salaries to the most comparable of all workers.
Studies have chosen different routes, matching teachers against such classic professions as law and medicine, occupations with similar education or skill requirements, workers with a college degree, and even the labor force as a whole.
Not surprisingly, the lack of consensus has produced studies with mixed results. Teachers can appear to be well compensated based on certain comparisons, but underpaid based on others.
Yet there is one point of agreement: Very little is known about the competitiveness of teacher salaries relative to those of other occupations within individual states.
That's simply not true. Anyone can use Bureau of Labor Statistics data to make in-state salary comparisons between teachers and other occupations. It's easy and it's been done for years.
Explaining State Patterns
Occupations Comparable to K-12 Teachers
• Accountants and auditors
• Architects, except naval
• Archivists, curators, and museum technicians
• Clergy
• Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation
• Computer programmers
• Conservation scientists and foresters
• Counselors
• Editors, news analysts, reporters, and correspondents
• Human-resources, training, and laborrelations specialists
• Insurance underwriters
• Occupational therapists
• Other teachers and instructors (excludes preschool, K-12, and postsecondary)
• Physical therapists
• Registered nurses
• Technical writers
So, where are the public librarians, private sector K-12 teachers and personal fitness trainers? All the occupations listed compare apples to oranges. After all, if all of these jobs are comparable to a teacher's job, then they must be comparable to each other. Yet, there are broad pay differences within the occupations listed. And some of the pay difference is a matter of supply and demand. Why should highly abundant elementary teachers be paid the same salary as scarce nurses--or scarce calculus teachers?
SOURCE: EPE Research Center, 2008. Analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Occupational categories adapted from How Does Teacher Pay Compare? (Economic Policy Institute, 2004).
To shed light on this question, the EPE Research Center conducted an original analysis for Quality Counts 2008. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, or ACS, we indexed the earnings of public school teachers at the elementary and secondary levels against salaries for a set of 16 occupations with similar skill demands, identified in a 2004 study by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute.
Pooling two years of ACS data for nearly 6 million individuals allowed the Research Center to explore pay patterns at both the national and state levels.
With a median salary of $50,784 in 2006 dollars, workers in our set of 16 comparable occupations outearn teachers by a notable margin. This difference corresponds to a pay-parity-index value of 88.0 for the nation, meaning that teachers earn about 88 cents to every dollar earned by comparable workers.
Add in pension and health insurance benefits and almost all teachers are earning comparable salaries to the occupations selected for 10-months' work. Look, folks, do you really believe the most powerful unions of some of the most educated workers in the US are so incompetent that they're cheating their members out of better than average salaries?
Perhaps more telling, we found the distribution of teacher salaries rather tightly constrained, while far more workers in the comparable occupations enjoy well-above-average incomes.
State-level results show that the competitiveness of teacher salaries varies greatly across the nation.
In the states where teachers fare the worst, the parity index drops below 80, with North Carolina posting a score of 78.8 and Missouri, 79.3.
By contrast, teachers attain parity or earn more than workers in comparable occupations in 10 states, with the highest teacher-parity scores found in Montana (110.2) and Rhode Island (111.8).
Non-Negotiable Items for Compensation Reform
By Lori Nazareno / Education Week
Jan 10, 2008
Compensation reform represents the opportunity for teachers to have more control over how much money they make and over what period of time. Traditional systems compensate for longevity and education and provide little motivation for teachers to improve their craft, work together, take on challenging assignments, or assume leadership roles.
Redesigning compensation systems can help to encourage teaching practices and behaviors that can improve student learning and give teachers more opportunities to earn more money. Teachers should, however, insist on several things. Among the things that should be non-negotiable are:
1. Teachers should participate in the design of the compensation system.
Raise your hand if you participated in the design of your compensation system. Very few workers do. Compensation systems are designed by employers, not employees.
2. All teachers should have opportunities to earn additional compensation, not just those in tested subject areas and grades.
Raise your hand if you have opportunities, as a salaried worker, to earn additional compensation in your job.
3. Student learning should be measured in terms of learning gains. Teachers should be accountable for student learning relative to where the students started.
Fine.
Lori Nazareno is a teacher certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. She works as a math/science facilitator at Barnum Elementary School in Denver.
A Fundamental Redesign for a People-Driven Business
By Jason Kamras & Andrew J. Rotherham / Education Week
Jan. 10, 2008
Despite the centrality of people to education, current strategies for teacher recruitment, training, evaluation, and compensation are largely divorced from the goals of effectiveness and equity and are misaligned with what we know works (and does not work). While politicians repeatedly profess their respect for teachers, our public policies fundamentally disrespect them and the work they do. No enterprise, public or private, can thrive over time without paying close attention to how it recruits, trains, and retains its very best people. Considering that the majority of the $500 billion spent annually on American public education goes directly to supporting personnel, it is unacceptable that we have a system that does not manage human capital more effectively.
The nation needs a fundamental redesign of how we approach education's most important asset—its people. Policymakers and educators must develop a broad array of new initiatives to support four essential goals: higher aggregate quality in the teaching-candidate pool, more opportunities for educator-driven innovation and professional growth, better measurement of teacher effectiveness, and new forms of compensation and promotion based on skills and performance. Like other trends in education, human-capital strategies must move from being process- and compliance-oriented with little attention to performance, to being flexible, customized, and directly tied to results.
The quickest, most effective and efficient way to achieve these goals is to privatize education.
Jason Kamras is a special assistant to the chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools and was the 2005 National Teacher of the Year. Andrew J. Rotherham is the co-director of Education Sector, a Washington-based think tank.
What High-Performing Organizations Can Teach Us
By Judy Wurtzel / Education Week
Jan. 10, 2008
High-performing organizations recognize that great employees are essential to their success.
Thus, they have dependable systems to attract, develop, and retain productive employees. Those systems ensure employee satisfaction by creating a collegial work environment, recognizing performance, and providing career opportunities, quality managers, and decent compensation.
In “best practice” organizations in the corporate sector, employees understand how they can advance and are regularly evaluated and given frank feedback about performance to support their growth. High-potential employees are identified early and given “stretch” assignments with support. Middle managers are evaluated based in part on their ability to hire, develop, and keep excellent employees.
Urban school districts’ human-resource practices offer a stark contrast to such best-practice firms, as shown in the Aspen Institute's Framework for Human Capital Management in K-12 Education.
A typical new teacher receives minimal support and feedback, has little sense of his or her career trajectory or how to advance, and gets no monetary or nonmonetary recognition of a job well done. Few principals are trained or skilled in hiring and developing great teachers. While human-resource practices from other sectors are not all applicable to education, there must be something our sector can learn from organizations that take people management seriously.
Judy Wurtzel is a senior fellow at the Washington-based Aspen Institute Program on Education and Society.
|
Discouraged (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - 11:26 pm: |
|
I just withdrew from law school to pursue a career in education. I enjoyed my law school courses tremendously, and I will probably return at a later point in my life. I left because it disturbed me that I would be entering a profession known for high-stress mundane work, regardless of what the salary would be. I also didn't want to spend my life saving clients millions by reducing their liability to their customers, I want to spend my life in public service. I'd like to eventually teach Advanced Placement courses in History and Biology. s much as I loved my classes in law school, I couldn't help thinking about the part-time work I did in a Kindergarten class while earning my bachelor's.
I stumbled upon your blog when trying to research salaries for NY State teachers, and I was absolutely dismayed by your seemingly low opinion of teachers. While I found the information you've posted to be helpful, (thanks!) I've read a sampling of the posts and it is discouraging.
One of the reasons I could justify leaving a career that was likely to be lucrative was because I knew that teachers' salaries, though low, were supplemented by excellent benefits. If you change that, then you will ultimately discourage many intelligent people from pursuing a career in teaching. Right now, there is a glut of law students entering the legal field, and while many of them will find good jobs it is sad to think that some of them, such as myself will be discouraged from pursuing a career in teaching (or any of the public service jobs you've mentioned) simply because the salary is not commensurate to the amount of education and ability that they possess.
The current amount of compensation seems fair, but I would say that teachers should also be eligible for more student loan forgiveness, and I don't think it is unreasonable for them to earn $100,000 if they have a proven track record of success and put in at least 20 years.
I don't have time to address any of your points specifically, many have done a decent job at that so far, but the gist I gathered was that because in your opinion many teachers are not very bright that they should not be paid very much. I would argue that if you paid them very much, you would attract a lot more bright people. It is hard to justify the decision I made when I could start out making $120k more a year than I will when I start out as a teacher. In addition, it is almost as though you think that the jobs that teachers do are unimportant (while lawyers are important...?). All I can say is that really makes it seem like you've never been in a class room in any sort of teaching capacity. Even if kids forget what they learn, they learn how to think, which is truly important.
Good comments. While some lawyers start out at $120k a year, some start out with salaries and benefits below what teachers earn in their first year, despite their education and ability--which, btw, isn't the only, or even the most important, factor affecting salaries and benefits.
The issue of teacher compensation is very complex. Some teachers are paid way too much. Others are paid too little. If you pay the best teacher all that s/he is worth, and if all teachers are paid the same based on education and experience, which is generally the case, then all the rest of the teachers will be overpaid. How fair is that?
But my biggest problem is with the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of the classroom instructional model. We need schools for The 21st Century Student and paying teachers more isn't going to get us there. But once we re-engineer our schools, I believe teacher pay will improve. |
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 15998
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 4:05 pm: |
|
Local teachers' pay is among state's lowest
Meaghan M. McDermott / Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle Staff writer with reader comments
February 4, 2007
Katie Covert made about $35,000 last school year in her first year as a teacher.
If she'd started her career in the Chappaqua Central School District in Westchester County, instead of at Brighton's French Road Elementary School, she would have been paid more than $50,000.
Camille Perlo started teaching in the Rochester School District in the late 1970s, making about $18,000 per year. With 37 years of teaching experience under her belt 29 of those in city schools Perlo now makes about $88,000.
If she worked in Chappaqua, she'd have been paid $113,000.
Perlo thinks that's unfair.
"Teaching is teaching, and pay should be equal," she said.
Idiot. What is so difficult about understanding that areas with higher living costs have higher salaries? One reader commented: find the comparison to Westchester County rather odd. Rather than convince me Rochester teachers are underpaid, you've convinced me that the teachers in Westchester County are underpaid.
I have friends in Westchester and they get paid 3 times what I earn doing the same job and they can't afford to buy homes. They have to rent if they are going to work close to thier home.
Teachers here can also do something I can't do working all year in a 70+ hour a week job... supplement their incomes by working a 2nd job in the summer and / or save the expense of daycare all summer long. I know teachers who work as landscapers, waiters, camp counselors, in retail or who simply stay home with their own children, where I pay almost $300 a week in child care expenses during the summer.
Every career choice has a trade off but I happen to think teaching is the best "parent friendly" career you can have. Sure you might not make the best pay, but you sure get some really nice benefits. And those who stick with it a while are making some pretty good money.
On the other hand, another reader observes:According to the Rochester City School teach all teachers should be paid the same. I COMPLETELY AGREE!!!
Therefore, I think the overpaid teachers in Westchester County should immediately have there pay REDUCED to be in line with Rochester.
If $88,000 is paid in Rochester then $113,000 is too high in Westchester.
Continuing with her logic, all of the teacher's salaries should be set equal to salaries in say, Alabama. Im sure the average there is probably half what they are making in New York!
EQUAL PAY FOR ALL TEACHER, YES YES YES
GIVE ME A FREAK'N BREAK. New York state teachers have much better compensation the the vast, vast majority of us in the "real world"
Her $83,000 at age 47 for 180 days of work is bloated at best. Add to that that she is provided :
a VERY GENEROUS Pension at no cost to her,(approximately 80% of her ending pay, so a teacher in tier on makeing $88,000 per year, will get a pension of around $65,000 per year for life, plus cost of living increases!)
90% of the people in this country earn less than $50,000 per year while they are working !! An average teacher makes more than that retired!
Average retirement age of 55. Their retirement plan is so generous that they can make the same amount at age 55 in retirement than they can if they work. Therefore most teachers retire.
the pension receives special tax treatment (Not taxable in New York ),
she recieves health insurance at our expense (Most private sector employees now share the cost with their employers),
She will be paid for all unused sick and vaction time accumulated during her working career ( three weeks off DURING the school year) in addtion to the whole summer), at the rate of pay she earns when she retires. These payments to retiring teachers can eaily be engough to pay for a new car (after taxes even).
She will get Health insurance paid by us the taxpayers from age 55 to age 65 when she qualifies for medicare.
Her work day is contractually limited. she is not required to work one minute past the end of the school day. Therefore she is done working at 2:30 to 3:30 every day. No saturday or late night hours.
Most are now provided "teachers Aides" to help children in the class room. So even with a class size of say 22 children. there may be 1 or 2 other adults in the room helping.
She is given manadate "breaks" during the day in addtion to lunch.
She is given "tenure" which means terminating her is almost impossible. (talk about job security).
Finally, she is not responsible for the outcome of her teaching efforts. The fact that children can't read, write or gratudate does not effort her pay or benefits one bit. I think I heard that something like 50% of the children in the Rochester CIty School District drop out. How long would any business in the world stay in business if they delivered a product or service that did not work 50% of the time !!!
But Covert, 25, a native of Suffern, Rockland County, said she's not surprised there's a significant disparity between what teachers here and those downstate make.
"The cost of living there is ridiculously high," she said.
Salary data obtained from the state Education Department and the state School Boards Association by the Democrat and Chronicle show teachers in the Monroe County region have some of the lowest average salaries in the state.
A new teacher in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties was paid an average of $50,492 per year in 2005-06, while that same teacher in the Monroe County area brought home about $35,258. With 10 years of experience, that Westchester County teacher will pull in $74,375 while a local teacher will make about $43,527.
But much of the difference is because it costs more to live downstate, said David Ernst, spokesman for the New York State School Boards Association.
According to the most recent U.S. census data, the median household income in Monroe County is $44,139 and the median home price is $98,700. In Westchester County, the median income is $66,560 and the median home price is $571,700.
"The cost of living is a very real factor," said Ernst. "A $60,000 salary is generous in some parts of the state, whereas in other parts of the state it would be below adequate."
Yet salary disparities also exist among school districts in Monroe County. A starting teacher makes $37,500 per year in Spencerport and $31,500 in East Rochester.
But those differences are more a matter of competition, district finances and resources and what the marketplace demands, said Phil Oberst, assistant superintendent for human resources in the East Irondequoit Central Schools, where new teachers receive $33,422.
"Just like everybody else in industry, we have to compete against everyone," he said.
Historic contract in city
A historic contract negotiated in the late 1980s by the Rochester Teachers Association to attract and retain better-qualified teachers raised starting pay in 1990 to the second-highest in the nation, behind only Los Angeles, according to the American Federation of Teachers. "That triggered a wave or ripple effect where not only did most other unions start asking for comparable increases, but some stopped dead in their tracks in the middle of negotiations and changed their proposals," said union president Adam Urbanski.
But Rochester's lead won't last long. Although the district now offers higher starting pay than Buffalo and Syracuse city districts, salaries for teachers in some of Monroe County's suburban districts are only a few hundred dollars behind those in the city. For example, a starting teacher in Webster will be paid $37,332 compared with the city's $38,000.
Those suburban salaries will soon have more bearing on city pay under a contract the union signed in 2000, which benchmarks Rochester's salaries to an average of those in the top-paying Monroe County districts.
"That guaranteed Rochester salaries would never be the highest, but would always be competitive," said Urbanski.
But critics of Rochester's contract say it hurt local taxpayers.
"We gave away the store in 1989" by boosting salaries to match the city's, said Anne Miller of Greece's taxpayer group Citizens for Accountability and Reform in Education. "And our high taxes drive businesses away and make it impossible for young families to stay."
But David Lum of Perinton, who lives in the Pittsford Central School District, said the root cause of high taxes isn't bloated teacher salaries, but a state system that unfairly burdens property owners with school bills.
"The state makes sure each community has roads and highways of equal quality and safety by using state money, but that's not true with something as equally important as education," he said. "Each student, whether they're living on Joseph Avenue in the city or on Main Street in Pittsford, deserves equal opportunity, and I believe schools need to offer salaries to attract the talent they need."
Automatic raises
Employees at Mike Schelkun's Empire Radiator Service on Dewey Avenue haven't had a raise in three years. Schelkun would like to hand out raises. He just can't afford it.
As a taxpayer, he takes issue with automatic raises locked into teacher contracts.
"It's time for school boards and governments to look at things in a different way," he said. "They've got to pare back something if they're going to give raises."
Jody Siegle, executive director of the Monroe County School Boards Association, said that until 1967, school boards set teacher salaries individually.
But the situation changed after public school employees were granted the right to unionize by the state Legislature.
"There was a time where teachers were grievously underpaid," said Siegle, crediting the Rochester union's 1980s contract with pushing salaries everywhere to an equitable level. "But how do you qualify what teachers should be paid? It's very, very hard, especially when you see a listing of what people with comparable educations in other fields would earn."
Schelkun said he doesn't think teachers are overpaid: "The wages are decent for the job they're doing and it would be great if the better ones got more than the mediocre ones. I know it's a hard job, but at the same time, there's a lot of benefits."
Benefits include a 186-day work year, extended summer vacations, weeklong breaks in February and April, guaranteed pensions, health care and more. Small stipends are also available for taking on coaching or club adviser duties.
But Urbanski of the Rochester teachers union, who says teachers should be paid on par with doctors, engineers and other professionals, said it's possible to pay teachers fairly while accounting for their benefits.
"Things could be pro-rated," he said. "It wouldn't take mathematical wizardry."
Charlie Hubbard, a member of the Greece Central School District Board of Education, thinks market forces should set salaries and benefits packages.
He said the current system is based on "entitlement, entitlement, entitlement."
"Supply and demand would be the rule in the real world," he said. "But then again, this isn't the real world" when teacher contracts lock in annual salary increases. He advocates switching to a merit-pay system.
Retired naval officer Kurt Albers, 50, started teaching earth science last year at Charlotte Middle School, making $37,410 per year. He advocates tying teacher salaries to achievement, not longevity.
"I think teachers should be paid on merit and looked at every year," he said, adding that he didn't go into teaching for the money. "I think districts should pay more and make the standards higher."
That could happen, as Gov. Eliot Spitzer has proposed a big boost in state education aid that would be coupled with greater accountability standards, expanded school hours, smaller class sizes and tougher tenure policies for teachers.
But longtime teacher Perlo, who teaches a fourth-grade class for academically accelerated students at School 50, thinks merit pay is a bad idea.
"I have amazing parental involvement, and my kids are immersed in education at home and as well as school," she said. "And my test scores are among the highest and I attribute that to parenting. My colleagues work just as hard as I do, if not harder, with children who have less of a start and are making amazing gains, but maybe not passing the state's tests."
But higher pay for certain teaching areas could be the wave of the future: Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in January proposed the Mathematics and Science Teaching Corps Act, which would give qualified math and science teachers annual federal stipends of $11,000 to $20,000.
East Irondequoit's Oberst said he would be on board with that.
"It is more challenging to find math, science and foreign language teachers," he said. "There's greater competition among school districts and a smaller pool."
Love of teaching
Oberst said the need for certain specialties has made the Monroe County area a "buyer's market" for those with degrees in math, science and languages. But, he said, the job market is tougher for English and social studies teachers.
Too many teachers competing for social studies jobs led Ann Kucsmas of Rochester back to school to earn certification in special education.
With that new specialty, she was able to land her first full-time teaching job at Perry Middle School in Wyoming County.
She said she doesn't believe teachers are overpaid and said some of the criticism about their benefits is unfair.
"Every single teacher I know works above and beyond the hours at school," she said. "I know I miss it when I'm not there. I miss the kids and the teaching over the summer."
Austin Weakfall, 25, said friends of his who just graduated from pharmacy school started out making more than $125,000 per year. As a first-year teacher in Spencerport, Weakfall will make about $37,500.
"I think we are well-paid for teaching, but with teaching it's not like you're looking to become a businessman," he said. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to make a lot of money or being in a profession where you make a lot of money, but with teaching it's more about the rewards, it's about the interactions with the students."
Weakfall, a social studies teacher, said he feels lucky to have a job where he gets to talk with kids all day about history and then go out and coach sports teams.
"Sometimes it doesn't even feel like a job," he said.
Money also wasn't a big consideration for Alfredo Feliciano, a third-grade teacher in Rochester's School 35.
"I'm a Hispanic male and there aren't too many of us teaching," he said. "I wanted to influence young Hispanic males by finding a place where I could do a lot of good."
But he'd also like to see higher compensation for teachers.
"I'm dual-certified in special education and general ed," he said. "I think depending on what you're certified in, you should be compensated accordingly if you put in the extra time and effort to be more competitive and marketable."
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 15432
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 08, 2006 - 9:54 pm: |
|
WHAT AREA TEACHERS ARE PAID
from "Salary stagnant for Toledo teachers over past 5 years; pay rising at most suburban, rural districts," By IGNAZIO MESSINA / TOLEDO (OH) BLADE STAFF WRITER, November 27, 2006, also located here [School Talk registration rq'd]
The average annual teacher salary in Ohio in 2004-2005 was $48,692. In Michigan, it was $56,973 fourth highest in the nation. Here are the pay schedules for public school teachers in the Toledo area counties of Lucas, Fulton, Ottawa. Wood, and Monroe. Mich., Ohio's large urban school districts, and a sampling of area charter schools that responded to a public records request from The Blade.
| School District | Current beginning annual salary with a bachelors | Beginning annual salary in Sept. 2004 with a bachelors | Current annual salary with a bachelors and 27 years of experience | Current beginning annual salary with a masters | Current annual salary with a masters and 27 years of experience | 2003-2004 Average teacher salary | 2005-2006 Average teacher salary | Percentage change 2003-04 to 2005-06 | | Lucas County | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | Anthony Wayne | $32,756 | $31,058 | $63,737 | $36,317 | $71,644 | $48,759 | $52,166 | 7.0% | | Maumee | $32,846 | $31,111 | $49,239 | $38,315 | $69,712 | $54,710 | $60,253 | 10.1% | | Oregon | $34,420 | $32,131 | $60,235 | $37,635 | $72,950 | $50,734 | $56,699 | 11.8% | | Ottawa Hills | $33,528 | $31,602 | $56,327 | $36,881 | $75,438 | $60,621 | $63,056 | 4.0% | | Springfield | $32,176 | $30,701 | $56,308 | $36,452 | $71,791 | $50,757 | $53,940 | 6.3% | | Sylvania | $33,282 | $31,986 | $60,240 | $36,277 | $71,057 | $52,150 | $54,524 | 4.6% | | Toledo | $32,697 | $32,697 | $55,577 | $34,255 | $60,595 | $45,868 | $49,859 | 8.7% | | Washington Local | $30,366 | $30,266 | $56,784 | $34,010 | $68,627 | $47,456 | $50,090 | 5.6% | | Fulton County | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | Archbold | $29,118 | $28,270 | $52,558 | $32,729 | $58,207 | $45,791 | $48,362 | 5.6% | | Evergreen | $29,231 | $27,553 | $50,587 | $32,008 | $56,767 | $42,112 | $43,040 | 2.2% | | Gorham Fayette | $28,462 | not available | $48,636 | $31,991 | $57,539 | $34,868 | $39,699 | 13.9% | | Pettisville Local | $29,376 | $28,235 | $49,352 | $32,607 | $57,577 | $47,124 | $48,975 | 3.9% | | Pike-Delta-York | $29,152 | $27,613 | $51,162 | $32,213 | $61,219 | $43,055 | $43,585 | 1.2% | | Swanton | $28,417 | $27,313 | $48,877 | $31,827 | $56,834 | $45,669 | $45,801 | 0.3% | | Wauseon | $30,607 | $28,781 | $49,410 | $33,362 | $60,112 | $45,069 | $48,239 | 7.0% | | Ottawa County | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | Benton Carroll Salem | $31,459 | $30,691 | $55,053 | $35,549 | $65,749 | $55,720 | $53,843 | -3.4% | | Danbury | $33,240 | $29,981 | $53,865 | $38,226 | $66,480 | $53,157 | $57,853 | 8.8% | | Genoa | $31,101 | $30,342 | $51,004 | $35,391 | $61,050 | $49,035 | $52,164 | 6.4% | | Port Clinton | $30,378 | $28,704 | $48,990 | $34,514 | $60,053 | $49,777 | $50,558 | 1.6% | | Wood Count | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | Bowling Green | $29,566 | $26,667 | $47,542 | $32,375 | $57,920 | $53,492 | $56,222 | 5.1% | | Eastwood | $30,157 | $29,208 | $51,807 | $33,173 | $63,330 | $46,360 | $50,495 | 8.9% | | Elmwood | $28,086 | $25,818 | $40,893 | $30,754 | $52,605 | $39,902 | $42,900 | 7.5% | | Lake Local | $28,849 | $28,849 | $49,851 | $32,060 | $59,063 | $46,943 | $46,392 | -1.2% | | North Baltimore | $27,526 | not available | $52,587 | $29,038 | $55,769 | $37,986 | $41,181 | 8.4% | | Northwood | $30,413 | $29,232 | $57,176 | $33,838 | $64,980 | $50,134 | $51,506 | 2.7% | | Otsego | $29,328 | $28,336 | $56,893 | $32,754 | $63,536 | $45,632 | $48,730 | 6.8% | | Perrysburg | $31,725 | $30,270 | $63,133 | $36,960 | $71,857 | $49,213 | $54,515 | 10.8% | | Rossford | $32,850 | $29,774 | $56,886 | $36,973 | $72,020 | $52,533 | $56,002 | 6.6% | | Monroe County | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | Monroe | $35,398 | $34,357 | $54,583 | $39,471 | $68,575 | $52,696* | $55,699 | - | | Bedford | $33,550 | $32,244 | $58,380 | $37,739 | $63,610 | not available | not available | - | | Dundee | $34,190 | not available | $57,712 | $36,574 | $64,471 | not available | not available | - | | Ohio's Urban School Districts | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | Akron | $32,404 | $31,770 | $59,876 | $35,277 | $68,260 | $41,773 | $46,855 | 12.2% | | Canton | $31,320 | $30,104 | $52,791 | $59,682 | $66,572 | $50,619 | $52,705 | 4.1% | | Cincinnati | $35,823 | $33,866 | $69,424 | $39,418 | $75,108 | $55,362 | $60,275 | 8.9% | | Cleveland | $35,264 | $35,264 | $60,251 | $37,105 | $69,991 | $53,613 | $60,688 | 13.2% | | Columbus | $38,542 | $36,775 | $68,049 | $39,504 | $74,945 | $53,032 | $56,433 | 6.4% | | Dayton | $32,860 | $30,381 | $54,737 | $35,836 | $60,692 | $43,021 | $50,575 | 17.6% | | Toledo | $32,697 | $32,697 | $55,577 | $34,255 | $60,595 | $45,968 | $49,859 | 8.5% | | Youngstown | $29,006 | $26,816 | $50,935 | $31,326 | $56,388 | $43,817 | $49,534 | 13.0% | | Charter Schools | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | Englewood Academy | $25,000 to $30,000 | not provided | - | $26,500 to $32,000 | not provided | - | - | - | | Performing Arts School of Metropolitan Toledo | $24,000 | - | not provided | $33,000 | not provided | - | $23,510 | - | | Toledo Academy of Learning | $29,174 | - | $50,472 | $31,174 | $52,472 | - | $25,192 | - | | Alliance Academy of Toledo | $26,000 | - | $27,800 | $27,800 | $27,800 | - | $26,655 | - | | Summit Academy Toledo | $29,000 to $32,000 | - | not provided | $31,000 to $34000 | not provided | $27,629 | - | - | | Horizon Science Academy Toledo | not provided | | not provided | not provided | not provided | - | $27,745 | - | | Life Skills Center of Toledo | $30,000 | | reported as not applicable | $31,000 | reported as not applicable | - | $29,745 | - | | Aurora Academy | $25,996 | - | not available | $28,407 | not available | - | $29,277 | - | | Winterfield Venture Academy | $29,656 | - | $35,222 | $33,398 | $38,964 | - | $30,661 | - | | Victory Academy of Toledo | $31,000 | - | $31,000-$33,500 | $31,000 | $31,000-$33,500 | - | $31,314 | - | | Toledo School For The Arts | $25,000 | - | $48,875 | $27,750 | $49,125 | - | $31,829 | - | | Glass City Academy | $30,600 | - | not provided | $33,660 | not provided | - | $33,324 | - | | Ohio Virtual Academy | $28,000 | - | $38,922** | $29,500 | $40,500*** | - | $35,059 | - | | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | *Monroe average is for 2002 | ** OVA 20 years | *** OVA 22 years | - | - | - | - | - | - | | Source: Individual school districts and Ohio Department of Education | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 12878
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 1:57 pm: |
|
Leading New Jersey's Schools Has Its Price: High
By RICHARD LEZIN JONES / New York Times
3.14.06
TRENTON, March 13 Local school boards in New Jersey, driven by stiff competition for top-flight administrators, have given them "questionable and excessive" compensation packages that cost taxpayers millions of dollars and are often hidden from public view, according to the results of a review by state officials released Monday.
The review, by the State Commission of Investigation, examined the payrolls of dozens of school districts and found that boards of education around the state have lavished officials with cars, computers, cellphones, improper pension increases and donations to tax-deferred annuities. Superintendents and other top administrators received, on average, extra compensation that was valued at slightly more than $70,000 over their base salaries, the state found.
In one instance, the superintendent of a district in Bergen County was granted nearly $600,000 in payments for unused sick time, vacation days and compensatory leave over five years, including $300,000 that was paid to his estate upon his death. And several leaders of relatively small districts earned hundreds of thousands of dollars more than New Jersey's education commissioner, whose salary, under state law, cannot exceed $141,000.
State investigators also found that school boards often tried to shield generous compensation packages for administrators by either understating their value or failing to draft written contracts that spell out the terms of such agreements.
Investigators, citing "a range of questionable and excessive practices" by school boards, said the competition for highly rated administrators had driven some districts to stretch rules on cashing in unused vacation time and to engage in often improper pension manipulation.
"It is a system that seems designed to pit school districts against each other in a 'sky's the limit' contest to recruit and retain top personnel," investigators wrote in their 71-page report. "All too often, the result is an unseemly spectacle reminiscent of sports teams and their competition for free-agent athletes with the cost, of course, underwritten not by fans and corporate sponsors, but by taxpayers."
By definition, no more than 10% of administrators are "top-flight." Yet, these administrators set the pace for the salaries for all the rest. $140,000 a year ought to be sufficient to ensure excellence in administration, especially with the benefit packages given. The public is being abused by elected officials who have no sense of proper proportion and no incentive to stop the artificially produced bidding wars.
The report, whose findings were drawn from payroll and other records from a sampling of 71 of the state's 616 school districts, said lax enforcement of pension guidelines and poor oversight of local school boards had cost New Jersey residents millions of dollars in unjustified expenses.
The state provides about $7.7 billion in taxpayer money each year to help pay for public education. About $20 billion of the roughly $34 billion collected through property taxes each year is also used for schools.
The report suggested that state officials take measures to ensure that expenditures by school districts are reasonable and appropriate and that citizens are adequately informed about how their money is spent.
Those who advocate property tax reform could not agree more. "It smells like corruption," said Bill Brown, a resident of Glen Rock and a member of the New Jersey Coalition for Property Tax Reform when told of investigators' findings. "Far too much is spent on administration and to cut these excesses in administration would probably mean savings to taxpayers or produce more money to spend on students needs."
Through a spokesman, Gov. Jon S. Corzine promised a thorough review of the report and its recommendation that school boards and pensions be held to greater oversight.
* * *
The leader of a state group of school administrators argued that the compensation packages simply reflected the market value of the state's best school leaders.
Wrong. The "market" is a monopoly of tax-funded school districts that provides insufficient information to voters for them to know whether to apply political pressure to put the brakes on administrator salaries. This is not a market, it's a cartel.
* * *
Investigators found that from 1997 to 2004, the average salary paid to top administrators rose by 31 percent, more than twice the increase in the average teacher's salary 14 percent over the same period.
The reported cited the compensation package of John Greico, the superintendent of the 25,000-student Bergen County vocational school district, who received $580,000 for unused sick time and vacation from 1999 until his death in 2004. Mr. Greico's estate was paid $327,881 from a tax-deferred annuity after he died.
There was also the compensation given to Thomas C. McMahon, superintendent of the Barnegat Township School District, which serves about 2,200 students in five schools.
According to investigators, Dr. McMahon's base salary was $166,228. In that same year, he was given nearly $100,000 in additional compensation, including about $43,000 for work as the district's business administrator, more than $15,000 for cashing in unused leave and an $8,000 payment to a tax-deferred annuity.
"It's a demanding job, 24 hours a days, seven days a week," Dr. McMahon said in an interview Monday when asked about his earnings. "It raises the question: 'What's education worth?' "
No, the question is "What's an administrator worth?" As for demanding 24-7 jobs, lots of people have them. You can start with military soldiers and sailors who get shot at for salaries of about $50,000 a year. What's a life worth?
* * * *
quote:The least-educated Americans are the most exploited people in our society. In many instances, the most educated Americans exploit the less educated Americans to acquire great wealth.
--E. Maner, Augusta Georgia Educator, from this editorial.
Any NJ administrator want to give minimum wage workers 4.4% annual raises plus increases in employer-paid health insurance and other benefits? That's NJ's average increase for administrators over the past 7 years. The Northeast-Urban inflation-adjusted value of 1968's minimum wage is $9.30 in 2004. The 2004 minimum wage in France is $10. 27 and all workers are covered by national health insurance. See, also, more articles on the minimum wage and Needs of hard-working, low-wage earners often unmet in modern world.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 12874
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 1:50 am: |
|
Is There a Qualified Teacher Shortage?
by MICHAEL PODGURSKY / Education next
February 2006
* * *
The headlines in those early years of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) were consistently alarming. As Standards Rise, Too Few Teachers, was the one the Christian Science Monitor story. . . . Federal Education Report Finds Shortage of Qualified Teachers, noted a headline in the Washington Times the following year.
In the flurry of activity surrounding implementation of NCLBs student proficiency mandates, the federal requirement to have a highly qualified teacher in every classroom by 2005 seemed more like an impossible goal. The concern predated NCLB, of course: Clinton Addresses U.S. Teacher Shortage was a headline from August 2000. But NCLBs demand that all new teachers hold at least a baccalaureate degree or higher, be fully licensed, and have demonstrated subject-matter competence in the areas they teach surely heightened the anxiety. However, 2005 has come and gone and the highly qualifiedteacher crisis never happened. Why not?
The shortest answer is that the dearth of qualified teachers is largely a myth. So is the related notion that raising teachers pay across the board would bring significantly more qualified numbers to the profession. In fact, the resources provided to most public schools are adequate to recruit and retain a competent teaching workforce. A much more productive line of inquiry is one that explores the costs of the inefficient, rigid structure of the teacher compensation system and the possible benefits of replacing it with a more market-based system.
* * * *
Read much more here.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 12863
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 12:00 am: |
|
Ever wonder how many reference librarians it would take to earn the pay of a football coach? See Salary Pecking Order on college salaries. I note that business managers of large departments earn $65,368. Scotia-Glenville, with a $40 million budget, pays its business manager $93,500. That's the same as earned by staff lawyers at universities. Who says K-12 public education doesn't pay well?
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 12581
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 3:02 pm: |
|
What's your teacher worth?
Alabama fears teacher flight
BEVERLY HARVEY / OPELIKA-AUBURN (AL) NEWS STAFF WRITER
February 15, 2006
Preventing new and veteran teachers from crossing the river is one of the biggest challenges school systems in Lee County face every year.
Georgia is one of Alabama's biggest competitors in the teacher hiring market.
School systems from the neighboring state are now regulars at teachers' hiring fairs at universities across Alabama. To add to Georgia's competitive edge, several school systems offer signing bonuses for new hires.
The competition for hiring and retaining teachers is most keen for schools closest to the state line such as Smiths Station and Beulah.
"It's always been a logistical management challenge that we face," said Lee County Schools Superintendent John Painter.
The upcoming Fort Benning expansion is expected to add even more to Lee County Schools' teacher hiring woes.
Between 400 and 500 new students are projected to enroll in county schools by Aug. 1 as a result of the military base expansion, Painter said. The school system added 269 students during this school year, he said.
Better pay and the ability to work after retirement are two main reasons Alabama teachers make the trek across the Chattahoochee River to seek employment in the Peach State, according to local educators.
The difference between beginning teachers' pay in both states is not significant. A starting teacher with a bachelor's degree in Georgia is paid a minimum of $30,441 as compared to $29,538 in Alabama, according to the School Superintendents of Alabama.
"Alabama compares pretty well with Georgia as you come out of college and go to work," said Auburn City Schools Superintendent Terry Jenkins, who is also the current president of the SSA.
As teachers begin to acquire years of experience and advanced degrees, however, the salary gap widens considerably between the two states.
A teacher with 21 years' experience and a bachelor's degree in Alabama is paid a state minimum annual salary of $36,715. In Georgia it's $48,773. In Alabama, a teacher with 21 years' experience and a master's degree makes $42,224 compared to $52,664 in Georgia.
The difference in annual pay is more significant for those with doctorate degrees at the 21-year mark - $48,832 for Alabama and $66,056 in Georgia.
"We don't do much in the state of Alabama to reward people for advance degrees," said Jenkins, adding, "I do not know why."
Those figures do not take into consideration teachers' salary supplements that many Alabama school systems provide. For example, Auburn offers beginning teachers $32,533, Opelika $32,168 and Lee County pays $31,839.
The salary figures also do not adjust for the fact that Alabama has a 182-day academic year as compared to Georgia's 190-day academic year. Those numbers can also vary depending on the individual school system. For instance, Auburn follows a 185-day contract that includes three additional days for staff development.
Jenkins said several bills currently pending in the state legislature could help to narrow the teachers' salary gap between the two states - one that proposes a 5 percent pay raise for Alabama teachers and another that seeks to add five days to the academic year in Alabama.
Neither bill, however, is expected to stem the number of veteran teachers who are retiring from local school systems after at least 25 years and traveling to Georgia to work a minimum of 10 years to draw a second pension, Jenkins said.
"I would say we lose one or two (experienced teachers) every year that does that," Jenkins said.
The practice is an unexpected byproduct of the state's Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP. The plan allows teachers to retire after 25 years, but continue to draw their salary and retirement funds for up to five years more, Jenkins said.
Teachers are able to retire as early as age 45, but are unable to draw their Alabama pension until they reach 55, which means that many of them cross state lines for employment and higher annual salaries.
"We've had a problem of people retiring with a lot of good years left crossing the river, I think, before their time," said Painter.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 11451
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - 7:32 pm: |
|
How Rich is Your Superintendent?
At Global Rich List, you can find your annual-income world ranking out of 6 billion inhabitants.
I decided to see just how good Scotia-Glenville's $125,000 superintendent's salary is. (NY superintendent salaries are here).
For the 2009-10 year, S-G's super's salary is $148,500, putting her in the top 0.34% richest people in the world. Only 20,783,236 out of 6.8 billion people earn a higher salary.
It turns out that Superintendent Swartz is in the top 0.45% richest people in the world! She's the 27,032,565 richest person on earth, with 5,972,967,435 people earning lower annual incomes. Pretty amazing, eh? (For reference, the U.S. has a population nearing 300 million).
Nearby Niskayuna's superintendent earns about $150,000 a year. That makes him the 18,057,565 richest person on earth!
The North Salem superintendent makes about $200,000 a year. S/he's in the top 500,000 based on annual income. Who says you can't get rich in public education? Half the world has an annual income of $870 or less.
In A Hard Lesson in Hunger, I've pointed out that America does more to improve impoverished conditions throughout the world than any country. Yet, we could do much more.
Think about this for a minute: If Americans spent more to assist the world's needy, our homes wouldn't cost a quarter million to a million dollars. Lot's of other goods and services would be cheaper, too. Why? Prices are a function of the availability of money. The more money available, the higher price people can afford to bid or pay. It's how we get homes with mountain views worth $1 million. These views aren't worth that amount of money in the grand scheme of human needs and wants. People pay that amount because they have the money. But if they had less money by sending more of it to help the world's needy, then, on average, they couldn't afford to drive up the value of "views" as high as they are.
And, of course, since most people keep most of their money, it forces everyone to keep most of their money so they can afford to pay the higher prices caused by the high availability of money.
Implicitly, as a nation, we make moral choices with how we spend our money. In America, it's more important to pay lots of money for "views" and high salaries for public officials than it is to help the destitute build better lives. That's the calculus of our morality.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 11410
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 5:12 pm: |
|
Public Workers Under Fire
Schwarzenegger Targets A Last Bastion of Security
By Harold Meyerson / Washington Post
June 9, 2005; Page A21
America has a problem with its public employees. They are not downwardly mobile enough.
Policemen, firefighters, teachers, hospital nurses -- they still belong to the one part of the U.S. economy where the New Deal hasn't been repealed. Fully 90 percent of them have defined-benefit pensions as of old. In the private sector, just 60 percent of employees have retirement plans, and a scant 24 percent still cling to defined-benefit plans. Fully 86 percent of public employees are covered by on-the-job health insurance; in the private sector, the rate has fallen to 66 percent.
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, public employees make on average $49,275 a year. A sub-princely sum, that, but better than the $34,461 that is the average annual income of private-sector workers.
There are a number of reasons public employees have been able to preserve the kinds of benefits and, in some instances, living standards that were once more common to American workers generally, but chief among these is unions. While 37 percent of public-sector workers are unionized, just 8 percent of private-sector workers are. Through their power at the ballot box, public employees have maintained the ability to bargain with their employers, who are either elected officials or their appointees. For all intents and purposes, their private-sector counterparts have lost the power to bargain collectively.
But are decent living standards in one sector sustainable when they're dependent on the taxes of an increasingly beleaguered private sector? More and more, conservative political strategists see an opportunity to weaken the Democrats -- traditionally the beneficiaries of public-employee union support -- by pitting private-sector voters against public-sector ones. That certainly was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's goal earlier this year when he backed an initiative that would have terminated the defined-benefit pensions for California's state and municipal employees and shifted them to 401(k)s instead.
* * *
But the problems faced by public-sector workers as the private sector grows steadily meaner aren't going away, whatever the outcome of the immediate battles in California. When public-sector workers were first joining unions in the '60s, they were largely playing catch-up with private-sector employees. But as Wal-Mart has supplanted General Motors as America's largest private employer (and GM announced a cutback of 25,000 more workers Tuesday), it's the teachers and their public-sector cohorts who have emerged as the relatively more advantaged -- and politically exposed.
From the period of the three decades after World War II, when the long boom in the American economy was felt in every class and quadrant, we have devolved into a nation of separate economies -- increasingly insecure private-sector workers, a public sector where the guarantees of the New Deal order still pertain and a stratum of mega-rich whose investment income is taxed at lower rates than the incomes of those who work for a living. If we can't create more security in the private sector (and universal health insurance would be a good start), the modest security of a work life in the public sector will surely be eroded, too.
|
Jerry Moore (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 11338
Registered: 01-2000
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 30, 2005 - 11:30 pm: |
|
Teachers' Cost of Living Matters More
Brief Analysis No. 535
by Danielle Georgiou, Pamela Villarreal and Matt Moore / National Center for Policy Analysis
October 24, 2005
Read Article as PDF
Public officials and teacher unions often compare teacher salaries in a particular city or region against the national average or against other U.S. cities. They assume teachers in areas with higher than average pay are doing well, whereas teachers in areas below the national average must fare poorly. Legislators in states where teacher pay is below the national average are under considerable pressure to raise salaries.
However, our analysis suggests officials may want to consider the cost of living the quantity of goods teachers can actually purchase with their salaries rather than simply comparing pay. Our analysis of teacher pay in 50 major metropolitan areas shows that after the adjustment, some cities regarded as higher-paying are actually below average, while cities that appear to pay so-so wages are actually quite generous.
Why Is the Cost of Living Important? Teacher pay is determined mostly by years of service and level of education; the grade level taught or a teacher's effect on student performance are not considered, and advanced degrees are given equal weight.
The average wage for elementary public school teachers in the United States is $45,670.
The average wage for elementary teachers in the regions considered in our analysis range from $59,514 in New York City to $32,209 in Oklahoma City.
Of course, other factors can affect a teacher's salary, such as continuing education credits and sponsorship of extracurricular activities. But simply totaling the number of dollars they are paid doesn't give a complete picture of how well, or poorly, teachers in a given city or region are faring. It is much more meaningful to know what a teacher's dollar will buy locally.
The local cost of living is determined by prices for a basket of consumer goods and services. Prices for housing, groceries, utilities, health care and so forth vary from city to city and region to region. The cost of living for each metro area was determined using the "ACCRA Cost of Living Index," published quarterly by the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association. The data shows the cost of living varies widely. For example: - The cost of living in San Francisco is 80 percent higher than the national average, largely because area housing costs are three times the national average.
- The cost of living in Memphis, Tenn., is more than 11 percent below the national average, primarily because housing prices there are only three-fourths the national average.
Methodology. Average teacher salaries for elementary and secondary teachers were determined using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates report. The salaries in each area were adjusted for the cost of living. We analyzed 50 metropolitan areas, selected according to availability of data, size and geographic balance. They include the United States' largest 20 metro areas (except for Detroit, Mich., which was not included in the ACCRA data).
National Results. When pay for elementary and secondary teachers is adjusted by the cost of living, the rankings of the 50 cities shift: - With an average salary of $59,514, New York City's elementary teachers receive the highest salaries in the nation, but when adjusted for the cost of living, the number drops to $42,662, making New York City's teacher compensation 25th among major cities. [See the table.]
- With an average salary of $59,284, elementary teachers in San Francisco rank 2nd in the nation; adjusted for the cost of living, the salary falls to $32,663, plunging the city to next to last (49th).
- In Honolulu, the average annual salary equals $45,467, but the adjusted salary is only $27,048, pushing that city to last place (50th).
The results are similar for secondary school teachers: - In Los Angeles, secondary teachers average $56,384, well above the national average of $47,120, and rank 5th among major cities; however, when adjusted for the cost of living, Los Angeles teachers' pay plunges to 45th.
- Salaries for secondary teachers in Houston rank 30th, but the cost of living adjustment moves the city up to 15th.
Slight improvements are seen in a few cities: in Beaumont, Texas, the average annual salary for elementary teachers is $39,960, while the adjusted salary is $45,513 and in Memphis, Tenn., average annual salary is $45,108 and adjusted salary is $50,797. [See the figure.] Overall, public school teachers who are paid above the national average may actually be compensated below the national average when the cost of living is considered.
Conclusion. Clearly, the cost of living makes a difference when examining teacher pay and making comparisons between different regions. Because the cost of living varies widely from city to city and region to region, public officials and teacher unions should consider how much a teacher's dollar can buy, not just numerical pay, when discussing teachers' wages.
Danielle Georgiou and Pamela Villarreal are research associates, and Matt Moore is a senior policy analyst, with the National Center for Policy Analysis.
This approach is fundamentally the same as I took in analyzing 2005 NEA data on average teacher salaries.
This study places NYC teacher salaries in the middle. I don't dispute that and it doesn't contradict my findings that NY teachers are the second best-paid in the nation when adjusting for living costs and median family income. Areas outside NYC pay higher teacher salaries, both in absolute terms and relative to living costs. These combine with NYC's average ranking to bring the state up to 2nd place when considering the average salaries of public school teachers from every district in the state.
Here's the table and figure from the report, followed by my national map of teacher pay.
|
|
