For me taking on teacher’s pay itself does not strike a nerve. What strikes a nerve with me is that I wonder what axe you have to grind as to teachers and I want to comment on your anti decent pension and good health benefits that teachers can get.

First, I am not one to necessarily say that teachers are underpaid. I am not a teacher but there are teachers in my family, and that included my mother. I think teachers earn a fairly decent wage. But, they will need to get a masters to earn the upper levels that you mentioned. Some teachers may be lazy and bad teachers, and they don’t deserve to even have the job. But, for the teachers that work very hard and are dedicated, I think they deserve every penny. Isn’t a teacher’s job supposed to be one of the most important jobs there is? If that is true how can anyone complain about a good teacher making 70 K a year. That amount of money ain’t what it used to be either. I have to question why you would even go after teachers. It’s offensive to me the attitude that this connotes to me.

My main complaint about your article and where it really irritates me is your picking on the teacher’s health care funds.

but, first so you know, I am a state employee. In fact, I am an attorney. I now earn the maximum I have ever earned, $66,600 a year and I will retire at the end of December.

and I also take exception with your comment about the teachers’ pensions and that the Illinois pension system is bankrupting the state.

That is a blatantly incorrect statement because the state is being bankrupted by several economic factors, but the pension is now problematic because the legislature, ( and I cannot understand how an intelligent person does not know this), has not properly funded the system for, I don’t know how long, 20 or 30 years!!! It is not the fact that teachers and other state employees get a decent pension, it became a problem when Mike Madigan and the boys decided to spend the money that should have gone in the fund to pay for their projects probably to get themselves reelected. And this whole idea where everyone in your position, I presume who has no pension, can’t stand the fact the some people have good pensions and health care in retirement. You should be standing up and screaming that everyone deserves to have a decent pension and good health care. It is not the state employees fault that forces combined to break unions and corporations have no interest in treating their employees as human beings. So, don’t perpetuate the Civic Federation, right wing Fox news crap.

Every one in this country should have “gold plated” insurance whether retired or not. This is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, so mighty and so much a defender of justice and liberty, if that is true, why shouldn’t everyone have a good pension and good health care in retirement? Why because the corporations, their criminal partners/politicians and their naive, illogical and narrow minded pawns are buying the crap that the right wing corporations are selling.

And I have to presume that, that is where you come in.

Want to know how much my pension will be? Just ask me. Hint, it is not fantastic, but I am damn glad I have it and I am thankful everyday that I have it. I feel that people all deserve good heath care and a good pension, that is what we should be fighting for. Instead the corporations, and the megarich are robbing us blind. Gus Russo called it the Supermob.
Have you read it?

sincerely,

James Greve

Dear Ms. Hart, Thank you for sharing your ideas re teacher compensation. I taught junior high vocal music for 33 years on the north shore and never felt underpaid. However, the recent spate of media indignation about our pensions rings not a little hollow, if not totally predictable given the economic climate of our times. When I began my career in 1969, the salary was $6800 a year, and all my friends said I was silly to work for that. But from the beginning, I loved my students and the work. Not for a moment was I thinking, either then or in my 50′s, “Gee, I’ve got to keep doing this for that sweet pension deal!” And no one, for all of those years, in either public or private arenas, ever suggested to me that the system was a bad thing. I’m now getting a princely $52,000 a year, which, as you know, is not an envy-inducing sum for anyone whose home, like mine, is on the north shore of Chicago. But I’m happy with it, because it’s fair, I earned it, and, frankly, for all those years, that was the deal, that was the compact with the public. 8 to 9 per cent came out of every paycheck for 33 years–no choice, no option for me. The state, meanwhile, chose to “borrow” portions of that money for other government business. So, as you can readily see, a large chunk of what I contributed amounted not to just a mandated pension contribution, but also basically, taxation without representation. So NOW–after all these years, I’m suddenly a bad guy? A leech on the body politic? Please! And yet, whenever there are bad times, as predictably as the snows of winter, one can expect particular groups of people to be scapegoated, for whatever (very real) agonies folks are experiencing in their daily struggles to survive. Yes, our pay is perfectly acceptable, compared to the private sector, at this point in America’s economic narrative. But please don’t feed misplaced resentments of teachers because of other people’s (legislators’) corrupt and venal mismanagement of the public trust, over many years. We don’t deserve this public “stoning.” Do you understand how hurtful, how unjust it must feel to us? Thank you for listening. Jane Artabasy

You really are out of touch with what most teachers receive as compensation. I have a daughter who has taught K-1s and 2nd grade for over 17 years-as of last year she made-before taxes $53500 factor in about 25% for taxes and when she had to pay for family (4)health ins that came to a nice little sum of over $900 a month. That is with a Double bachelors degree and masters + 30 sum credit ced.This is in a average suburban school district.
She loves her job and would not consider another career.I do not understand why High Scool teachers average twice as much as grade school teachers! The primary grades are where the children learn the basices needed to succed in furure grades.

Linda P. and Jane, hooray for you in setting the record straight. Betsy, I don’t care about the administrators, but I have a feeling they are villains to you also.

What about the felonious corporate leaders, how much have they outright stolen?

do you care about that?

I am going to write soon about the myth that columnists have any brains.

Hi friends – well I have received tons of e-mails on this topic. Most have been pretty vitriolic. The vast majority have mentioned pay as being okay to unsatisfactory, but almost focused on the number of hours worked as the biggest complaint.

Re: the hours, I note that on the EPA website, they union says, to paraphrase, that “unlike other professionals,” teachers often have to work nights and weekends and bring work home. That says a lot, in particular that the union is out of touch with the working world. EVERY professional I know has to routinely work nights, bring work home, put aside time on the weekends and on it goes. That is simply what it means to have a job in the private sector. (A few brave former teachers told me that when they went from the teaching world to the private sector they couldn’t believe how many more hours they were working.)

And in fact, the bureau of labor statistics takes all of this into account when coming up with their statistics on who works how many hours. I’m afraid more than anything the response I received speaks to the “vicitm mentality” that the NEA has worked to create in our teachers, and I think that’s a shame and degrading to your profession.

Yes, teachers deal with kids and that is so important! But so do, say, pastors who, I’m betting, typically work more hours, and more crazy hours, with more stress and demands on them, for less pay and a lot less job security than the typical teacher. But we don’t hear about that much!

Regarding the pay, obviously teachers are choosing to teach – and lining up for those jobs almost everywhere! – vs looking elsewhere in the economy so I have to take away from that that, by definition, it’s not terrible.

Finally, over and over again I heard that summer is used to “hone skills and take classes.” Do you know how many professionals in the private sector would love to be paid full wages and benefits to do such things during regular working hours?

Look, some teachers really have tough jobs. Inner city, special needs kids, etc. Overbearing parents can’t be much fun either. But by and large such jobs are safe, comfortable, and relative to other folks in the community (pastors, police, and even other professionals according to the BLS, whom we don’t hear routinely complaining) they are pretty good. If you don’t feel well compensated overall for what you are doing, then it seems to me it would be wise to do something else.

Thanks for all you do for kids. I think you could do more by being proud of how well your profession is treated relative to others, and sharing that with the kids, vs. making them think you are victims, which believe me the kids pick up on! Many teachers have a great attitude, but most of the ones I heard from apparently don’t, and I think that’s a shame for your profession and for the students.

Anyway, thanks for letting me hear from you!

Betsy