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Wrong. I'd say most of the so called "teacher bashers" are those in the private sector scraping by to live on Long Island and have seen:
1) their taxes triple over the last 12 years
Don't know where you live, but my taxes have not tripled in 12 years.
2) their medical contributions increase to the point where they are paying most of their premium, and the only benefit the employer provides is a group rate discount
3) Their salaries stagnant for most of the last 10 years
4) A pay cut the last 3 years... that's IF they haven't already lost their jobs
5) The constant fear of losing their jobs
6) Their retirement accounts dwindle while their tax dollars go to funding the ever increasing pensions of the teachers and police
7) Teachers and police salaries increasing at a greater rate than private sector salaries
8) Teachers and police getting retiree healthcare, despite it's virtual eradication from the private sector
Complaining about taxes and the main drivers of the high taxes (teacher and police compensation) is not something done by "bashers". It's done by responsible Liers who realize the current situation mirrors what's going on in Greece and cannot be sustained.
And before some teacher chimes in about their salary freeze, keep in mind more budgets on LI failed than the number of districts where teachers accepted a freeze. LI teachers have greatly benefitted from the situation (I don't blame them) but any teacher to say pay freezes or cuts hurts the children is at best disingenuous and at worst, stupidity.
See category # 3. I'd stay and do this all day but it's so nice outside.
Just think of where teachers' salaries will be 5 - 10 years from now - some of them will be making around $200K+, the younger teachers will have much higher salaries than now and then base their pensions on that. Wow. Salaries are increasing exponentially from year to year. Meanwhile, the rest of us non-teachers will still be making salaries in the neighborhood of $60 - 80K if we're lucky and if there are jobs out there for us. And it will be the poor(er) taxpayer carrying these way overpaid and over-compensated teachers. Until us non-teachers are so poor that we can't carry them anymore.
Perhaps things will come to a head when most people won't be able to pay their RE taxes since the taxes will have to increase enormously in order to carry the teachers and their forever increasing salaries and pensions.
Eventually this teacher union pyramid scheme will have to come to an end one way or another.
Some of them already do make over $200k. Not bad for 9 months worth of work.
You are correct about the pyramid scheme coming to an end - see what's happening with Greece right now.
See category # 3. I'd stay and do this all day but it's so nice outside.
Wrong, the vast majority of folks are those who have been cut, not performed the "cutting" of benefits. And now we get to pay for the golden benefits of the teachers and police, lucky us.
It's not about taking something from someone else, it's about fairness and equity. Teachers and cops wanted pay levels commensurate with the private sector and they got it... but they refuse to give up the benefits straight out of 1950. We simply can't afford it.
Last edited by Fanofavatar1; 05-23-2010 at 12:54 PM..
Wow, teachers defending their bloated salaries. Can any one of them explain why a teacher, who works 75% of what a normal FT employee does make about 50% more then the islands average income.
Can any one of them explain why a teacher, who works 75% of what a normal FT employee does make about 50% more then the islands average income.
I'll give them a little help:
Extremely well organized unions that take full advantage of their ability to separately bargain with each of the 50+ relatively small school districts in each county, run by boards of education elected by a small minority (typically less than 3.5% of those eligible to vote) in each school district, where the majority of those eligible to vote, complain, but don't vote.
Extremely well organized unions that take full advantage of their ability to separately bargain with each of the 50+ relatively small school districts in each county, run by boards of education elected by a small minority (typically less than 3.5% of those eligible to vote) in each school district, where the majority of those eligible to vote, complain, but don't vote.
Extremely well organized unions that take full advantage of their ability to separately bargain with each of the 50+ relatively small school districts in each county, run by boards of education elected by a small minority (typically less than 3.5% of those eligible to vote) in each school district, where the majority of those eligible to vote, complain, but don't vote.
(Professional union = oxymoron)
What caught my attention to Walter's post is Extremely well organized unions. Somone in that situation sould be well organized, lucky for teachers it's their union. Unlucky for the taxpayers, their 'representatives' (school boards) aren't.
What caught my attention to Walter's post is Extremely well organized unions. Somone in that situation sould be well organized, lucky for teachers it's their union. Unlucky for the taxpayers, their 'representatives' (school boards) aren't.
I don't want to come across as the defender of the schools boards, but they are up against a stacked deck.
The cost of living is higher here on LI, so the teachers have a legitimate claim to be paid more than their counterparts in other regions of the country.
You then have the police union, which used a bad law and a terrible county executive to skyrocket their pay and benefits within the last 15 years -- and the teachers union was smart enough to use this in their negotiations.
You also have all of the rhetoric that goes along with education ("support the budget or you don't value education" or the classic "it's for the kids"). It's easy to rubber stamp spending in schools because at the end of the day, there's nothing better to spend money on than our future and education.
That said, there comes a point where a responsible investment turns into padding the pockets of a select few, and boy have we crashed through that point!
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