Teachers in Texas writing their wills before classes begin again

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Sacrificing grandma the American education system [/S] to own the libs.

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.

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

Maybe teachers should be paid a respectable wage, be given a pension, and be expected to retire at a reasonable time, particularly taking into account demographic change. A $100,000 salary and pension for someone who works as a teacher until 65 or 70 seems reasonable. In exchange, we can drop tenure contracts and fire bad teachers just like we can in basically every other line of work. Radical idea, I know.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

American teachers are the seventh highest paid in the world - effectively behind the Low Countries and the Germanic countries. Austria and maybe Germany are the only ones where we should be striving to be better than, but it's already close enough. The way to "catch up" is by fixing the Oklahoma/West Virginia problem far more than by further increasing the bloated budgets in Illinois, New York, New Jersey, etc. Texas is paid just fine by global standards.

Including total benefits is essential when comparing "salaries" across careers especially as pensions are increasingly less generous and as private employees barely stick around long enough for any meaningful vestment. The engineer for a private firm often must put tens of thousands of "salary" into savings each year to have the same pension output as the teacher. What people seem to be asking for is to make a job with months off into the highest paid profession with unmatched benefits as California, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut and others can hardly handle the existing liabilities.

[NerdyBohemian]

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.

Sorry but that 75k number is complete bs. Getting anywhere close to that requires 35+ years of service (in the most generous of states to boot) and very few of us make it to that long. Less than half of anyone employed as a public school teacher even make it to the amount of service required to even receive the smallest of pension.

You probably shouldn’t get your information from Republican think tanks and actually ask people in the profession.

[Xing]

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.

That only applies to teachers who get a job immediately after graduating from college, which isn’t necessarily representative of teachers in this day and age, as many districts are essentially asking for at least a Master’s degree from prospective candidates (if not several years of experience.) For many teachers, the age is realistically more like 61 or 62 (assuming they work as teachers non-stop for 35+ years) and even then, teachers have to contribute a significant chunk of their paycheck during their working years to receive these retirement benefits, so we’re seeing even less money during our working years.

Leave it to public school teachers to be dramatic af.

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.

Maybe, if they want to be paid more, then they should be engineers?  Take really hard classes in school for four years, operate under very strict project timelines, and and spend all day on CAD?  instead of, y'know, spending all their time with kids, and getting 2 weeks off at Christmas + the summer, and having virtually no accountability in their positions?

Wow, this is one of the most ignorant and idiotic comments I’ve seen on Atlas, and that’s saying something. It’s not worth a serious response detailing the many very wrong things with this post. I seriously hope you’re trolling because... just wow.

Sacrificing grandma the American education system [/S] to own the libs.

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.

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

Maybe teachers should be paid a respectable wage, be given a pension, and be expected to retire at a reasonable time, particularly taking into account demographic change. A $100,000 salary and pension for someone who works as a teacher until 65 or 70 seems reasonable. In exchange, we can drop tenure contracts and fire bad teachers just like we can in basically every other line of work. Radical idea, I know.

I don’t think anyone would disagree with the idea that bad teachers should be either fired or put on probation and an improvement plan. The problem is, how do we define a “bad teacher”? A few cases are very clear-cut, but too often, it would mean a teacher that fails a high number of students, and that’s often not at all representative of the quality of the teaching that’s going on, and most often, struggling schools struggle despite the work teachers do, rather than because of it. We are given yearly evaluations, but most states evaluate based on student achievement rather than student growth. This gives teachers in high-income districts/neighborhoods an enormous advantage. While I’m fortunate to live in a stage that evaluates based on student growth, the evaluation process is still very impersonal and doesn’t consider the diversity of schools or the student population we serve. Ideally, our evaluator would meet with us in person many times, observe our clases multiple times, and spend much more time discussing our curriculum and learning targets with us to get a more in-depth understanding of the work we’re doing, but principals and teachers simply don’t have that kind of time.

In short, I’m not saying that engineers, doctors, lawyers, etc. have it easy. Far from it. I’m saying that a teacher’s job is also very challenging and complicated, simply in a very different way, and most people who don’t work in education either don’t understand that at all or only have a very superficial understanding of it.

[Mr. Smith]

Leave it to public school teachers to be dramatic af.

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.

Maybe, if they want to be paid more, then they should be engineers?  Take really hard classes in school for four years, operate under very strict project timelines, and and spend all day on CAD?  instead of, y'know, spending all their time with kids, and getting 2 weeks off at Christmas + the summer, and having virtually no accountability in their positions?

Spoken like a true non-educator with no idea of the hoops to jump through to get credentialed, nor to stay credentialed, or dealing with everything else. Truly remarkable.

[Cassandra]

Jfc teachers need to go on strike if they insist on opening schools. Your job isn't worth your life.

I really hope we see another strike wave this fall like we did in 2018. I have a hard time imagine teachers NOT striking, given the situation. It's about the health of their kids and families as much as their own safety.

[Del Tachi]

https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1285313479361134592

See, this is why I can't take this seriously.  The teachers' union in Chesterfield County, VA is organizing to have teachers request mental health referrals, ADA accommodation and (yes) even write wills as a way to pressure local officials into keeping schools closed.  This isn't sincere concern about their health, it's underhanded union techniques to create a panic narrative and influence elected officials.   

[Badger]

https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1285313479361134592

See, this is why I can't take this seriously.  The teachers' union in Chesterfield County, VA is organizing to have teachers request mental health referrals, ADA accommodation and (yes) even write wills as a way to pressure local officials into keeping schools closed.  This isn't sincere concern about their health, it's underhanded union techniques to create a panic narrative and influence elected officials.    

Wow. You posted multiple stupid and oafish posts, and now you're just going to double down on them. Nice.

I restrained myself from posting this before, but on behalf of my mother, a career teacher bust her ass more than a spoiled kid like you apparently can comprehend, getting up Before Dawn month in and month out of the Year, staying till after Dark to keep up on her work, spending much of that vaunted summer break keeping up on her continuing educational requirements, coming home in tears from the abuse she took from parents of privileged kids like yourself, and did this 30 + years of her life despite frankly my father made a strong enough living that she didn't need to work but was dedicated towards helping kids, all the while raising two kids including an a****** like myself who was even far worse as a teenager, and every other teacher like her, up yours.

[Del Tachi]

https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1285313479361134592

See, this is why I can't take this seriously.  The teachers' union in Chesterfield County, VA is organizing to have teachers request mental health referrals, ADA accommodation and (yes) even write wills as a way to pressure local officials into keeping schools closed.  This isn't sincere concern about their health, it's underhanded union techniques to create a panic narrative and influence elected officials.   

Wow. You posted multiple stupid and oafish post, and now you're just going to double down on them. Nice.

I restrained myself from posting this before, but on behalf of my mother, a career teacher bust her ass more than a spoiled kid like you apparently can comprehend, getting up Before Dawn month in and month out of the Year, staying till after Dark to keep up on her work, spending much of that vaunted summer break keeping up on her face occasionally requirements, coming home in tears from the abuse she took from parents of snotty kids like yourself, and did this 30 + years of her life despite frankly my father made a strong enough living that she didn't need to work but was dedicated towards helping kids, all the while raising two kids including an a****** like myself who was even far worse as a teenager, and every other teacher like her, up yours.

There are people who work hard and make personal sacrifices in every professional pursuit; teachers are not unique or exceptional in this regard.  There are, of course, teachers who go above and beyond and deserve personal accolades for the work they do, but then again so do some doctors, attorneys, janitors or other professionals. 

It's obvious that teachers' unions are organizing things like writing wills and requesting EAP assistance as a way to increase public pressure to keep schools closed.  All of the quotes listed in the article linked by OP are from union officials, even.  This isn't a honest effort.  If you don't like that fact, sorry (I guess?) but I can't change it for you.

Instead of actually engaging on this issue, you laid out a personal anecdote about your mom and called me a "snotty kid".  With rhetorical skills such as these, I'm having a very hard time seeing the value you provide to your clients as an attorney.   

[lfromnj]

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/16/892043766/what-to-do-about-part-time-school-nyc-announces-free-child-care-for-100-000-stud

Yup, I'm sure this childcare wont have any effects on COVID but reopening the schools will. It's just white liberalism in action.(childcare workers and kids are very non white but teachers are 80% white)

[Battista Minola 1616]

Did a bunch of essential workers write their wills back in March and April?

[lfromnj]

Did a bunch of essential workers write their wills back in March and April?

Im sure certain people thought of writing their wills etc to be safe but teachers are the only one I have heard of being this dramatic(by mass reporting it to the media) I know some nurses were protesting against the lack of masks and similar stuff.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Did a bunch of essential workers write their wills back in March and April?

Im sure certain people thought of writing their wills etc to be safe but teachers are the only one I have heard of being this dramatic(by mass reporting it to the media) I know some nurses were protesting against the lack of masks and similar stuff.

Protesting against the lack of masks is different from writing one's will.

[lfromnj]

Did a bunch of essential workers write their wills back in March and April?

Im sure certain people thought of writing their wills etc to be safe but teachers are the only one I have heard of being this dramatic(by mass reporting it to the media) I know some nurses were protesting against the lack of masks and similar stuff.

Protesting against the lack of masks is different from writing one's will.

Oh i didn't compare the two as equal. Im not even saying writing your will is dumb(You should once you have any tangible amount of assets/property) Its just being overly dramatic to report it all to the media.

[Battista Minola 1616]

Did a bunch of essential workers write their wills back in March and April?

Im sure certain people thought of writing their wills etc to be safe but teachers are the only one I have heard of being this dramatic(by mass reporting it to the media) I know some nurses were protesting against the lack of masks and similar stuff.

Protesting against the lack of masks is different from writing one's will.

Oh i didn't compare the two as equal. Im not even saying writing your will is dumb(You should once you have any tangible amount of assets/property) Its just being overly dramatic to report it all to the media.

I agree that it is overly dramatic. It was actually the point of my post.

[Xing]

The worst part of this is the implication that teachers wouldn’t be working if classes were online in the fall. Or that we were lounging in our hammocks all spring. Having to suddenly give online classes meant creating entirely new curriculum from scratch for us, and in the case of my school/district, the task of getting laptops to students fell on us, and we also had to find contact information for every single student, since the district wouldn’t provide us with that information, and many of our students don’t have internet access at home. Online classes would suck for me, and would be a great deal of work that would, in the end, not provide the kind of education that my students deserve. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t the least bad option, since healthy and safe has to come first.

Sometimes unions play hardball because districts play dirty. For example, my union and district entered an agreement in which they were to communicate openly about the fall, and decisions would be made collaboratively. On multiple occasions, the union was able to get written evidence that the district violated that agreement, and made decisions without so much as notifying the union. Teachers have to be part of the conversation about the fall, and in many cases we’re being shut out of the conversation.

[NYSforKennedy2024]

I'm starting to fear that for Trump supporters to turn on their cult leader, several of their family members will have to die first. Right now they just see the Coronavirus as something that's "happening to everyone else." It's like these people have no object permanence; the virus doesn't stop existing just because you don't know anyone who has it.

[MAPZZ]

Leave it to public school teachers to be dramatic af.

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.

Maybe, if they want to be paid more, then they should be engineers?  Take really hard classes in school for four years, operate under very strict project timelines, and and spend all day on CAD?  instead of, y'know, spending all their time with kids, and getting 2 weeks off at Christmas + the summer, and having virtually no accountability in their positions?

Bwahahaha

God you're just a stereotype of SEC bubbas aren't you?

[Mr. Smith]

Leave it to public school teachers to be dramatic af.

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.

Maybe, if they want to be paid more, then they should be engineers?  Take really hard classes in school for four years, operate under very strict project timelines, and and spend all day on CAD?  instead of, y'know, spending all their time with kids, and getting 2 weeks off at Christmas + the summer, and having virtually no accountability in their positions?

Bwahahaha

God you're just a stereotype of SEC bubbas aren't you?

As an SEC Graduate, I find that rather insulting.