Newsweek 2009 top 1500 schools (Smithtown, Union, Melville: public schools, to live, professionals)

[thepokerdepot]

Originally Posted by djdairyp

It says they want increases in how much is put into pension/health (not a total coverage of it right, increased contribution), I agree ... but, the pension portion is small actually, Learning Abount NYSTRS | Library | NYS Teachers' Retirement System, if you scroll down you will see the percentage of salary given to pension, and some years it is near zero.
Many teachers also do contribute to health care. For me, 20% of the cost is taken out of salary to pay for the health care package. This should be extended to all districts (some pay zero or smaller amounts) as well as other govt employees. I understand what you are saying about the extra 30% or so (I think its less, but don't know) .

With respect,..
Reconsidering teacher salaries and benefit contributions gets mixed support
However, there was considerable enthusiasm for increasing the amount that teachers and local
Government employees contribute toward their health care so that it is more in line with the benefits provided to private sector employees. Sixty-eight percent supported this proposal.

Also on the Chart it says,.."People polled strongly Favor Increase "OF" contributions "TO" Pension ect,...this means as the flow of the article states: People approve teacher salaries,..However approve teachers put their own money in benifits.

The other thing I think we're a little off on is,..I'll give you an example:
It cost my employer 3500 a week to employ me.
I get 1000 after taxes
1200 goes to Uncle Sammy
1300 goes to my Union Plans for Health, pension etc.

My Salary is 2200,..the 1300 doesn't count on my tax return because it goes directly to the Union. So, I make 114,400/year for Salary. 67,000 Goes directly to my Union from my employer,..in your case that's the County.

I don't want to know your salary,..just how much does it cost extra (what does the County put in to your Package).

[djdairyp]

Originally Posted by thepokerdepot

With respect,..
Reconsidering teacher salaries and benefit contributions gets mixed support
However, there was considerable enthusiasm for increasing the amount that teachers and local
Government employees contribute toward their health care so that it is more in line with the benefits provided to private sector employees. Sixty-eight percent supported this proposal.

Also on the Chart it says,.."People polled strongly Favor Increase "OF" contributions "TO" Pension ect,...this means as the flow of the article states: People approve teacher salaries,..However approve teachers put their own money in benifits.

I don't get it, don't I agree with you. All I am saying is the poll didn't indicate that teachers should pay 100% of the cost, just that their contribution level should increase (which in some cases but not all is zero now)

Originally Posted by thepokerdepot

The other thing I think we're a little off on is,..I'll give you an example:
It cost my employer 3500 a week to employ me.
I get 1000 after taxes
1200 goes to Uncle Sammy
1300 goes to my Union Plans for Health, pension etc.

My Salary is 2200,..the 1300 doesn't count on my tax return because it goes directly to the Union. So, I make 114,400/year for Salary. 67,000 Goes directly to my Union from my employer,..in your case that's the County.

I don't want to know your salary,..just how much does it cost extra (what does the County put in to your Package).

I dont have the figure for you, buy doesn't it actually cost your employer more than 3500 to employ you. Don't they pay some of the cost of healthcare and benefits which is not included in the 1300 taken out. For example, my friends have an IBM pension. Lets say their salary is about 6000 per month reported on their paycheck gross salary. The company pays more than 6000 for this person because in addition to this 6000 the company makes a 75% of cost to healthcare contribution for this person and also puts money into the pension for that person (or maybe its 401K matching for some). Their was a rule of thumb a few years back that everyone should add something like 20,000 to their salary or some number I cant recall to see the total package.

[sean sean sean sean]

One thing I always find hilarious about this......why are there so many parents out there deluding themselves into thinking that AP/IB test scores have absolutely anything to do with their kids? The VAST MAJORITY of high school students do not take these tests, in any state, and even at some of the best public & private schools on LI. Sorry if that sounds harsh, I don't mean it as an insult...just trying to point out the facts here. In what way is it going to benefit a student to attend a high school where there are kids they will never meet (aside from passing in the hallways) scoring 3 or higher on AP tests? It doesn't matter, it's completely skewed. It's just a fancy headline for some empty statistics; and if you can't see passed it, I wouldn't put too much stock in your spawn being genetically predisposed towards a perfect SAT score.

[LauraC]

Not every school competes in all of the science and math competitions. I always thought Siemens offered the top competion in science and math but again, you have to actually compete:

Siemens Foundation - 2008 Winners.


It looks like a school had to apply to be ranked on the Newsweek List. Also, the scoring is based on the total number of advanced placement, International, Baccalaureate or Cambridge Tests given, not on the test scores.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by rocafeller05

^^ Zulu400- actually there were only 2 winners out of NY state. 5th & 8th place.

Intel Education: Intel Science Talent Search: Getting Started

True, but NYS had a very high percentage (38%) of the 300 semi finalists when compared to the rest of the country. "NY ranks high in Intel science competition." May 01, 2009. NYSUT: A Union of Professionals. www.nysut.org

59 students were from LI. 59 LI students are Intel science semifinalists -- Newsday.com

At the finalist stage, 9 out of 40 were from NYS and of those 9, 4 were from public schools on LI - 1 from Roslyn, 1 from Smithtown, and 2 from Ward Melville. The remaining 5 were from NYC -- Stuyvesant, John Jay, and Bronx HS of Science. Correct me if I am wrong, but don't students have to test to be accepted into those city schools?

NYS is the only state which had two students in the top 10 winners - Roslyn 5th place, Ward Melville - 8th place. Nothing to sneeze at!

Although participation in Intel isn't a qualifier for the Newsweek list, it does display another facet of that school's impact on student education. Is it possible that Newsweek omitted it simply because it would have helped skew the results (albeit slightly) in NY's favor? After all Intel, like AP & IB, is not mandatory for students.

[dman72]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

One thing I always find hilarious about this......why are there so many parents out there deluding themselves into thinking that AP/IB test scores have absolutely anything to do with their kids? The VAST MAJORITY of high school students do not take these tests, in any state, and even at some of the best public & private schools on LI. Sorry if that sounds harsh, I don't mean it as an insult...just trying to point out the facts here. In what way is it going to benefit a student to attend a high school where there are kids they will never meet (aside from passing in the hallways) scoring 3 or higher on AP tests? It doesn't matter, it's completely skewed. It's just a fancy headline for some empty statistics; and if you can't see passed it, I wouldn't put too much stock in your spawn being genetically predisposed towards a perfect SAT score.

I agree with this completely, but for the sake of the arguments on this thread, in order to avoid the school-bashers from saying I was trying to change the game..I played their game to a certain extent. The vast majority of students don't take AP tests, don't go to specialty or magnet schools, etc, ad infinitum. In my opinion, the best way you could gauge a schools performance is graduation rate, type of institutions these graduates went to after graduation, and (MOST IMPORTANT TO ME, but most difficult to gauge)..how those students fared in those secondary institutions ie how well they were prepared by their grade schools.

I'm pretty confident that Long Island students would be at the top of the heap in those categories.

[dman72]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

The remaining 5 were from NYC -- Stuyvesant, John Jay, and Bronx HS of Science. Correct me if I am wrong, but don't students have to test to be accepted into those city schools?

Yes, and it's very competitive. I worked with a woman who lived in Queens who drilled her kid every day on math that was way past what she was learning in school..."she is getting in one of these specialty schools!"

The kid was in 3rd grade.

[dman72]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

*** SIGH ***

I cannot go into explaining percentiles versus percentages. No time.

Please point us to where we can search the actual salaries of the public school teachers in your examples. I think we will find that proportionately there are many more teachers in your LI example who earn well above "the 75th percentile" of 63K than there are teachers in Bethesda MD earning "the 75th percentile" of 62K and above.

You think.

I pulled the information off salary.com. Public school teacher. enter zip codes. Zip codes in Nassau: 63K. Zip codes in Bethesda, 62K, both at the 75th percentile. Again, for what reason, other than a preconceived notion, do you think the data is skewed at under-reporting Nassau Cty salaries, but over-reporting those in Maryland? Give me a break.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by dman72

Yes, and it's very competitive. I worked with a woman who lived in Queens who drilled her kid every day on math that was way past what she was learning in school..."she is getting in one of these specialty schools!"

The kid was in 3rd grade.

Nothing like a little pressure.

[dman72]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

Nothing like a little pressure.

My co-worker was Indian. This kind of stuff is normal in many Indian households.