Ahh...thats where my $10,000+ in taxes goes

[Jrprofess]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

Its really at the County level.

CT does just fine without County Government.




Crooks

Agreed (as a CT native) in some respect. But you can then take that to the functional government level within the towns and note that they basically all have one room with a receiver of taxes, and a very modestly paid first selectman/woman...and that's about it...and yes, for those who cite the parks and beaches, CT has those too...

Public service in Long Island is awfully enriching relative to public service in most other states.

[Hi, my name is...]

Originally Posted by Jrprofess

Public service in Long Island is awfully enriching relative to public service in most other states.

Truer words have never been spoken.

[Mantaray14]

Originally Posted by Jrprofess

Public service in Long Island is awfully enriching relative to public service in most other states.

That's at the heart of the problem, and too many layers as well. Nassau county taxes going up 4.4% and there is still a huge budget gap. Too many people are too close to the edge (job losses and salary cuts), to absorb the hikes that are coming. We must make sure our government fears the taxpayer more than the union bosses. People from the private sector (the majority), must send a clear message!

Don't wait until we become California!

[JudiPatooti]

Mantaray14, thanks for the link to the article about people leaving LI. We're trying to decide whether to move back from FL to LI or not right now. I like to hear all sides of the story. Just out of curiosity I wonder how many people move back once they've left.

[BeginingFlipper]

Originally Posted by KENNY GUIDO

come on....its central islip. who in thier right mind would want to be a teacher there? of course they have to pay them more. bullet proof vests arent cheap!

. I went to high school in Central Islip for a couple of years. It's pretty rough.

[KarenBo]

Originally Posted by TubaFish

You have no way of knowing whether I am "suffering" or not. . .

Unlike teachers, though, I am not drawing a paycheck from the government and "professing" to be a public servant. They don't work for an institution that makes a profit and don't take the same risks that private sector employees do, as a result. Why then should their rewards mirror - and in many cases exceed - those of the private sector? Knowing that your job is safe should be enough of a reward.

I work in a NYC public school. You have no way of knowing whether my job is safe or not. Lots of teachers are being excessed. Second, safety is measured in many ways. Do you have to walk through metal detectors to get into your job? This year, I've had a student suspended for coming to school with a knife, another for coming with an axe, another with a machete. That's just on the days of random scanning. Who knows what's coming in on other days. I've had my life threatened. I've had tires slashed, and windows smashed. You don't want people making assumptions about your life, so don't make assumptions about others. Just because you're a student doesn't mean you know what its like to be a teacher.

I'm not complaining about my job. I love my job. I'm just sick to death of all these threads bashing teachers and their salaries under one guise or another.

[TubaFish]

Originally Posted by KarenBo

I work in a NYC public school. You have no way of knowing whether my job is safe or not. Lots of teachers are being excessed. Second, safety is measured in many ways. Do you have to walk through metal detectors to get into your job? This year, I've had a student suspended for coming to school with a knife, another for coming with an axe, another with a machete. That's just on the days of random scanning. Who knows what's coming in on other days. I've had my life threatened. I've had tires slashed, and windows smashed. You don't want people making assumptions about your life, so don't make assumptions about others. Just because you're a student doesn't mean you know what its like to be a teacher.

I'm not complaining about my job. I love my job. I'm just sick to death of all these threads bashing teachers and their salaries under one guise or another.

Whoa, way to misinterpret what I said.

1) When I used the term "safe," I was referring to job security and not actual, physical safety.

2) You are not an LI teacher and are therefore not overpaid and, most importantly, not overpaid on my, my family's, and my friend's dime.

I give NYC teachers a lot of credit, actually. They do a much more difficult (and dangerous) job than their LI counterparts for about half the pay. Your very real danger of having an inner-city teen pull a knife on you is much more life threatening than the "danger" that LI teachers experience as they try to break up a fight between little Suzy and Elizabeth over whose brand-new BMW is shinier.

[KarenBo]

Originally Posted by TubaFish

Whoa, way to misinterpret what I said.

1) When I used the term "safe," I was referring to job security and not actual, physical safety.

2) You are not an LI teacher and are therefore not overpaid and, most importantly, not overpaid on my, my family's, and my friend's dime.

I give NYC teachers a lot of credit, actually. They do a much more difficult (and dangerous) job than their LI counterparts for about half the pay. Your very real danger of having an inner-city teen pull a knife on you is much more life threatening than the "danger" that LI teachers experience as they try to break up a fight between little Suzy and Elizabeth over whose brand-new BMW is shinier.

I understood what you meant about job security, but I was trying to point out that there are other kinds of job safety issues.

No, I don't work in Long Island, but I do live here. My taxes go the same place yours do. Many people asked me if I would start teaching in Long Island now that I live here. I won't for the very reasons that keep getting brought up in these threads.

I imagine that some of the same issues that I face are here in some of the rougher neighborhoods, and yet those teachers don't get the same respect I get. The high school I work at isn't really a bad high school. Most of the kids come from decent neighborhoods. Some are coming in from inner city schools via No Child Left Behind, and there are some gang influences. Yet, if you saw my school, you might think that it is a safe, beautiful school in a nice neighborhood. What goes on under the surface, however, is a lot darker than people want to believe. People were really shook up when we had random scanning this year and they saw how many weapons were in school.

Long Island ties its real estate values into its school system - there are so many posts about the "bad" school districts like Central Islip, Malverne, Freeport, Amityville, etc. - yet people love to complain about how overpaid these teachers are, and how cushy their jobs are. Then there are other threads about how you have to know someone to even get a teaching job here, and how many teachers aren't given tenure so that school administration can keep costs down, maintain stronger control, etc. Its confusing how a job that hard to get can be considered so easy.

Its easy to bash teachers because everyone has gone through the school system and so they think they know what its all about. On top of that, we generally don't refute that negative image as a cohesive group. Our union is not as strong as people think.

If you posted my earnings from last year it would look like I make more money than my annual salary because I do extra things like teach night school two nights a week, and Summer school. In addition, my partner's health insurance (which I pay a portion of), also gets added in as taxable income. You might think that I'm overpaid if you thought all of that was from 180 days (although I still make less than 65K even with all my extras).

People complain about the pay raises, yet those raises were contractual agreements that were signed a couple of years ago. You want to make changes to something, change the contract system. Maybe the contracts shouldn't be 3 years or more in duration. Again NYC is different than Long Island so I can't speak with authority about this system, but in NYC it took over a year past the contract expiration for them to finally agree to our current contract. I imagine that's why our contracts are 3 years long because, by the time the new contract took effect there was just over a year left to it.

This is a long winded reply but the bottom line is teaching is the hardest job I've ever held, but its also the best job I've ever had. I feel for any teacher that has the compensation for their life's work continually questioned without actually looking past the numbers in Newsday, to the person him or herself.