Monday, May 10, 2010

Teachers Steamed At Loss Of Taxpayer Subsidy


This story has been bugging me ever since I originally read it this weekend. I also want to thank the reporter(s) who wrote the story who were gracious enough to answer a question I had about the story.

Here it is in a nutshell. Georgia has decided to stop paying a bonus to teachers in the state who posses a national certification due to budget costs. The amount of the bonus amounts to 10% of their salary. I do not begrudge anyone how much money they make, unlike the president I don't feel that at some point you earn too much.

What had me interested was the fact that the story gave a few examples of the impact this would have on some teachers, and using the information contained in the article I drew the conclusion that teachers were making far more money then we are led to believe. The reporters confirmed that indeed the amount the teachers would lose amounted to 10% of their pay, but they left it up to the reader to determine how much the teachers were making.
Thanks for the note. You make a good point. We stated how much they would lose (say, $6,000) and let readers do the math (if they lost $6,000 for instance, they were making $66,000). We probably should have just used their salary number up front.

Why did this bother me? The simple reason was because in all the examples cited the teachers were going to lose between $6,000 and $8,000 dollars which means that the average salary of these teachers was between $60,000 - $80,000. Not exactly the model of teachers living in poverty is it? I am not going to argue that losing $6,000 when you make $66,000 is not going to have an effect, but it should hardly make you homeless, destitute, and ready to flee the country. Most of us get by on far less then that and we don't get 3 months off in the summer, spring break, and other 1 or 2 week breaks throughout the year.

The other part that got me is that they mentioned the cost of the certification, which could cost up to $2,500. While squeezed in there was a mention that part of it was paid by the teacher.
The process costs $2,500 — with at least some of the money often coming out of the teacher’s pocket – and the certificates are good for 10 years.

So let me get this straight. I pay some portion of a $2,500 bill and in exchange I get to draw at least $6,000 extra a year for 10 years. Sign me up!

They gave one example where both husband and wife are teachers and they stand to lose $11 - $12,000 dollars. That makes their total income somewhere in the neighborhood of $110 - $120,000 a year.

I get by on far less then a teacher makes. It means shopping around for the best price, driving a 15 year old pick up truck and using coupons generously, but I somehow manage to get by. My last vacation was 5 years ago.

I am sympathetic to them losing some income, but when that income comes from us the taxpayers I am less then sympathetic. My favorite comment was this.
Gail Tillery, literature teacher at North Forsyth High School, said she’s working three jobs to make up for the money she’s lost.

Just how much was her bonus that it takes two additional jobs to make up the difference? The other side is I would think a teacher would qualify for a little better job or else she can be the poster child for how academia doesn't translate into the real world as far as job skills. I am sure those who are out of work have a real soft spot in their hearts for somebody who taking a job they could have also.

Maybe if the teachers association hadn't come out in opposition to the state trying to get a $400 million grant from the federal government there might have been money for their little bonuses.

No comments: