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So the NJEA is complaining about 1.5 percent for healthcare? Last I checked, I'm paying 6%. We really need to have someone comparing what teachers do compared to private sector.
Anybody who even makes the notion that teachers work harder or have it worse off than cops or firefighters need a severe reality check.
Teachers do not work any harder than anyone else who has a job. I respect the teaching profession, but some of the more vocal people are some of the most expect-to-be-entitled fools I've ever heard.
Agreed - I'm tired of union propaganda stating graduation rates and trying to correlate it with high pay/benefits for their union members.
There are good and bad apples in every profession, not just teaching.
high pay where? in about 3 districts where teh median income is about 80-100k? The average teacher salary in NJ is 54k.
Where were you guys 10-15 years ago when NJ couldn't hire teachers if they tried? Oh that's right you were the ones cracking jokes about them. It's funny to see who throws who under the bus when tough times hit. Usually the ones complaining in life, have always fallen short in life.
I am not "against" teachers. Or police, or fire fighters, or anyone else for that matter. I also have no problem with people being paid well for doing their jobs well. What i have a problem with is the public sector thinking they are immune to the state of the economy.
Let me come up with a straight forward simple idea that for some reason nobody wants.
All state and municipal workers take a salary freeze for 2 years and then lets see what happens. If they have done so already kudos to them. If not its time to do so. Cops,Teachers,FF,everybody. Who would be against that? When revenues rise we can go ahead and figure things out. Why all the hate on my proposal? It saves money and is fair.
Let me come up with a straight forward simple idea that for some reason nobody wants.
All state and municipal workers take a salary freeze for 2 years and then lets see what happens. If they have done so already kudos to them. If not its time to do so. Cops,Teachers,FF,everybody. Who would be against that? When revenues rise we can go ahead and figure things out. Why all the hate on my proposal? It saves money and is fair.
I agree with your comments in this thread.
Indeed, when it comes to gouging the tax payers via gaming the retirement system (running up overtime to increase pension payouts, carrying over unused sick days and using them as a windfall bonus package, etc), cops are probably the worst offenders, whereas teachers compensation packages don't permit this sort of abuse.
oooooooh... little deflection. You'll be fun to play with.
You mean... TEACHERS HAVE TO WORK!? HOLY FARKING CRAP, I HAD NO IDEA!
So do cops! So fire fighters! So do people in the private sector. For as much teachers like to complain about parents protecting their "special little snowflakes", teachers like to complain about their workload like it's something special.
I don't think he's saying they're special. He's saying that all the other public sector workers should suck it up, not just teachers.
I am not "against" teachers. Or police, or fire fighters, or anyone else for that matter. I also have no problem with people being paid well for doing their jobs well. What i have a problem with is the public sector thinking they are immune to the state of the economy.
LOL!
So when the economy was booming the teachers, police, firefighters and other state workers were bringing home the same bonuses the private sector was?
The reality is those who choose teaching are exchanging high pay for stability. John Q Public is fine with that as long as the economy is booming but when his higher risk job starts to look not so great all of a sudden its teachers problem for picking the more stable, lower paying profession?
I am a teacher, I have a masters degree in chemistry (not paid for by my district fyi) and I make 48k after 5 years. I am not overpaid. I used to work in the private sector, where I made more money. That being said I am not underpaid either. So since I never get the benefit of a booming economy why should I be penalized when its a bad one?
Are all of those who want us to take a pay cut now (which is what a freeze AND a health care percentage are) willing to give us the kinds of raises seen in the private sector for people with our level of education as soon as the recession turns around?
So when the economy was booming the teachers, police, firefighters and other state workers were bringing home the same bonuses the private sector was?
The idea that everyone who is not paid from tax dollars is getting an investment bankers bonus is a myth. So is the idea that the public sector was left behind by the boom -- property taxes grew by about 50% during the housing bubble during a period where median income increased by more like 20%. That property tax revenue one way or another went into compensation -- either hiring more people, or paying raises.
The reality is that while teachers aren't paid that much, and while they don't take pay cuts when the economy goes downhill, the public sector in NJ did pretty well for itself in 2000-2006.
Quote:
Are all of those who want us to take a pay cut now (which is what a freeze AND a health care percentage are) willing to give us the kinds of raises seen in the private sector for people with our level of education as soon as the recession turns around?
I think the primary concern of the tax payer is that they are fed up with their tax bills spiraling out of control. The issue isn't that they want to cut your pay in particular, they just want taxes brought under control one way or another. What happens in the private sector, is that if your clients or customers are not willing and able to pay, you don't just get a revenue "freeze" or growth at a slower rate -- you get a reduction in revenue and you have to deal with it. In NJ, the tax payer is no longer willing (and close to being unable) to pay, so the state and the towns will have to figure out how to get by with less. Like the private sector.
Contrary to your post, the housing bubble years were not an enormous windfall for everyone in the private sector. Incomes have not kept up with housing costs, or growth in property taxes. Therefore, they are looking to reverse that trend. The NJEA do not have any ideas about reversing this -- they simply aren't interested in addressing the tax payers concern, their primary agenda is to squeaze as much out of the tax payer as possible.
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