Teachers in Texas writing their wills before classes begin again

[Kingpoleon]

Wow. What’s next, will they take out responsible life insurance policies? Outrageous!

[Kingpoleon]

Maybe if we were given an iota of respect and paid more than 50% of what engineers are paid, we wouldn’t have to be.

A teacher who works thirty-five years can retire in virtually all states at the age of 57 - seven years before the average person. And the average teacher who does so today, can expect a pension of almost $75,000 annually for the rest of their lives. The sixty percent of teachers eligible for Social Security can expect to have a fixed income of $85,000 annually by their mid-60s.

If teachers want to have a higher salary, they should ask for smaller pensions as a trade. Pensions cost the state more money beforehand than a simple salary raise does.

[Kingpoleon]

Maybe states could pay teachers a respectable wage AND give them a pension? Radical idea, I know.

Canada and America pay very similar salaries to teachers based on GDP (PPP). However, the average annual pension for a Canadian teacher after ~35 years of service is less than $38,000. The average annual pension for an American teacher after ~35 years of service is $75,000.

I’m not exactly saying to abolish teacher pensions. But we have the fourth highest starting teacher salaries, the fifth highest salaries after fifteen years of experience, and the ~3rd highest teacher pensions in the world. The average teacher, retiring before or at the age of 60, can expect an annual income three to four times that of the average person over the age of 65. That is a stunning gap. The only equivalent to it? A Brigadier General who has served forty years in Active Duty would have a similar pension.

By the way, Florida’s entry level engineer salaries is in the $45-50k area, the exact same as Floridams entry level teacher salaries. But saying teachers deserve the same base pay as lawyers, doctors, accountants, and engineers is nonsense. When teachers begin saying $60-70,000 annually isn’t enough money, plus a gigantic pension, they sound out of touch. That’s double what the average American makes. There’s a reason public sector unions like for police and teachers are unpopular.

Sources:
https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/
(Canada and America).
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/how-bc-teachers-measure-up-against-others-in-canada/article20378154/
https://www.heritage.org/education/commentary/teacher-pensions-sweeter-they-would-you-think
https://www.chalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Most_Least_Paid_1.png
https://www.pensionrights.org/publications/statistic/income-today’s-older-adults

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Entry-Level-Engineer-Salary
http://www.nea.org/home/2017-2018-average-starting-teacher-salary.html