<p>Its seems cavalier to recommend moving without knowing the many factors that would make it the wrong move, pardon the pun. 
In any case, thumpers town doesn’t appear to have found the solution. It would be incorrect to assume that the reform many of us want is simply to cut per-pupil expenditures, which is apparently what has happened there.</p>
<p>In NJ a very expensive State teachers average $65,000 per year, pay 7% of that for their pension. They also pay social security. All public workers pay health care premiums up to 30% of the cost.</p>
<p>There are a lot of teachers so it is very expensive. In NJ that is not a lucrative income.</p>
<p>Emilybee,</p>
<p>So, what?</p>
<p>What ever the cause. Would you put yourself in a position to be ridiculed and become basically “enemy of the state” knowing you could not effect any change. I would be exposing my children to the ridicule as well. Why would I do that? </p>
<p>Unfortunately, there are many parents who are not educated about the inefficiency in the system and believe the cost cutting would be coming at the expense of their children. </p>
<p>Why don’t we merge school districts for cost saving? Why do we need so much administration? Bulk purchasing would save quite a bit of money. Why are we paying teachers to coach high school sports teams? Would you pay an architect salary to person to paint a room in your house? Why is this allowed?</p>
<p>The point I am trying to make is compromise must be reached. And I believe it can be reached while still allowing teachers to make an affordable salary while keeping costs down. I win for everybody.</p>
<p>Oh please. I got the formula for computing GPA changed at my kids’ high school. I was not a popular soul with a few parents but what they were doing was inaccurate. My kids were never shunned for my work which totally countered what the school was saying. </p>
<p>Not everyone on the BOE agrees. It’s good to have differing opinions as it fosters good thinking.</p>
<p>P.s. coaching salaries here are an addendum to the teachers contract. MOST of our coaches are NOT teachers. As an example, the varsity soccer coach gets $2800 for coaching. It wouldn’t matter whether the coach was a teacher…or not…they would get paid the same stipend. And that varsity soccer coach is one of the HIGHEST paid coaches in our district.</p>
<p>You are making it sound like coaches get paid teachers’ salaries. They don’t.</p>
<p>Well, simplystated, how should teams be coached? Are you saying that teachers should coach for free, or that parents/other volunteers should coach, or what? I’d say it’s “allowed” to pay teachers or other folks to coach teams because it’s a standard work-for-pay arrangement. Of course, you could always ask teachers/others to coach out of the kindness of their hearts, but why should they? It’s a huge time commitment with a ton of aggravation and even liability.</p>
<p>School sports are important in many ways (and I say that as a parent of kids who never played one minute of organized sports), not least because it’s a means of addressing the increasing obesity rate among young people.</p>
<p>Simply, if I felt strongly enough about something, yes. I also believe you can educate people about issues without be combative. Put your platform out there and run. </p>
<p>Personally, I am not a fan of huge districts (like the county wide systems they have in CA and Florida, for example.) I like having local control.</p>
<p>We do not merge districts because the majority of people in most towns do not want to merge.</p>
<p>The stipend paid to coach a sports team works out to less than minimum wage when you see the hours coaches put in.</p>
<p>My brother is a teacher in a very good district. He works at an elementary school. They pay him $25 to cover lunch hour $ 25 to cover after school and $25 to cover before school. Seems excessive give up lunch, get to school an hour early, stay an hour late and make $75. The board decided to save money so the went to $9 an hour and hired non-teachers. They ended up with some elderly people and a few questionable characters. The parents had a fit. They could not go back to the original policy fast enough. The $75 per day did not go towards pension earnings either.</p>
<p>By me the coaches make much more. Why can’t a young adult be a coach? If you look back at my previous posts I have never ever stated the teachers should coach for free. I think teachers should provide classroom help either in the afternoon or the morning as part of their salary. </p>
<p>I think it is important to remember teachers’ pay is based on 10 months a year, maybe less with all the holidays.</p>
<p>Teachers and the administration want status quo. I understand. You are trying to protect a system that works in your favor.</p>
<p>Tom, </p>
<p>I can only speak to the New York metro area.</p>
<p>I know plenty of coaches in little league who do it for no pay. I am sure they could have found some young adults who could have done a great job for a reasonable pay. </p>
<p>Specifically in your situation… they could have hired the worst to scare parents back to the old policy.</p>
<p>Um, Simplystated, what would “reasonable pay” be for coaches? Does it differ by sport?</p>
<p>Northern NJ is the NY metro area and that is where my brother teaches and coaches.</p>
<p>The board wanted the change and hired who applied. The elderly could not handle the kids and you are not going to get any great young candidate that gives up their entire day to get paid for 3 hours.</p>
<p>When my sister was looking to go back to work she looked into teaching. She spent 3 days in a school and said forget this. She is a very capable person. She has worked for and made large sums of money for major companies and she would not go into teaching for triple the money they pay. She now works for a large consulting firm and makes a very good salary.</p>
<p>simply- what should a teacher be paid and what should their retirement package be?</p>
<p>@tom1944 - On Long Island after ten years experience I’m comfortable with $100k, $300 per month for good health insurance and 401K no pension.</p>
<p>Is there a match on the 401k if so how much?</p>
<p>@tom1944 - Good point, match 2-3% of salary max $3000</p>
<p>If people like kmrcollege and simplystated get to decide how much teachers are compensated, I want to decide how much of my taxes go to support their lifestyles. I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for roads out to their leafy neighborhoods where the houses sit on 3/4-acre lots and each one gets municipal services. I’m “comfortable with” the idea of having them share utilities and have rolling outages to save money–it is inefficient to have every person in sprawling suburbia with access to the grid at all times. I would also like to ban air conditioning, because I think it is bad for the environment and I don’t use it myself. Oh, and the corporate subsidies–those are going to have to go too.</p>
<p>But I will give all the teachers a raise, because I wouldn’t want to deal with everything they have to on a daily basis.</p>
<p>@sally305 - You don’t make any sense. You are more comfortable with a bureaucrat in Albany deciding compensation then? Your choice is one or the other.
I guess you think EVERY person on LI lives the way you describe but the reality is much farther from the truth. The median salary of a tenured teacher in most LI districts makes more than the average HOUSEHOLD income without the added bonus of a pension and a 6.5 hour 180 day work year. Yet, I need to pay for their retirement. Until you have actually read a teachers union contract you don’t know what you are talking about.</p>
<p>“You are more comfortable with a bureaucrat in Albany deciding compensation then?”</p>
<p>Bureaucrats in Albany don’t decide teacher compensation. That is all done on the local level between the district and the teachers union.</p>
<p>kmr, I have no specific knowledge of LI teachers, although I question your data. I googled and found this:</p>
<p>[Teacher</a> Salary in Long Island, NY | Indeed.com](<a href=“http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Teacher-l-Long-Island,-NY.html]Teacher”>http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Teacher-l-Long-Island,-NY.html)</p>
<p>In any case, do you actually blame TEACHERS for the fact that the median HHI in LI is not as high as it ought to be? Shouldn’t you perhaps look at THIRTY YEARS of income stagnation and the growing gap between the rich and everyone else? Do you really think teachers are the reason you or others around you might be struggling? </p>
<p>Look, a lot of us are in the same boat you are. I would just challenge you to really look at the trends and what they mean. The greatest economic growth in the U.S. occurred after WWII when unions were strong and the income disparity was nothing like it is now. Teachers and other public workers are an easy scapegoat. Ask yourself why your parents or grandparents didn’t blame them for everything, but why people are now. It makes no sense.</p>
<p>And BTW: I challenge you to find even one teacher who works a 6.5-hour day.</p>