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That's a good point. The state sets the pay level for all teachers, I assume so that no one county/system can get away with paying ultra low salaries. Then each district has the option to give additional pay. So Wake County seems more desirable. It just isn't. (If I had my druthers I'd work in a smaller community in NC that didn't have such oversized elementary schools.)
But if the GA doesn't set the pay levels....wouldn't teachers get paid less?
If we want teachers to be paid more, we can raise State taxes or we can raise County taxes.
We wouldn't have to do that up to NY state levels to make a difference.
We have the collective mentality vs. the independent mentality, and the outcome is not all that productive.
I understand the value of the flow of tax money from wealthier counties to support schools in poorer counties for the good of all. And, I understand the value of the flow of tax money within a county that has a disparity of wealth, such as Wake County.
What I don't get is that Cary (Or any other municipality with a higher cost of living) cannot put more money on the table for school teacher paychecks. Throttling that, as happened with Glen Lang's initiative, seems like wielding political power for the sport of it with no desire to provide value.
If we want teachers to be paid more, we can raise State taxes or we can raise County taxes.
No tax increase needed. There's plenty of waste in the NC/local budgets to give teachers a raise. Even in the school budget itself the bloated administration could do with a good pruning. Take these 'savings' and raise teacher pay. Just a reallocation of tax revenue.
In 1978 I started teaching in NJ and my contract was for 10,900
Fast forward to 2014 Here in wake County NC starting contract 34,000..
36 years later!!! Absurd. Oh the starting contract in 1978 here in Wake County was around 6,000.
This is a true embarrassment for anyone who thinks the salary is adequate.
A real good question is why would you start a career in teaching in a right to work state! ?? I know of 15 young teachers who have left NC in the past year.
In 1978 I started teaching in NJ and my contract was for 10,900
Fast forward to 2014 Here in wake County NC starting contract 34,000..
36 years later!!! Absurd. Oh the starting contract in 1978 here in Wake County was around 6,000.
This is a true embarrassment for anyone who thinks the salary is adequate.
A real good question is why would you start a career in teaching in a right to work state! ?? I know of 15 young teachers who have left NC in the past year.
Just playing devil's advocate here, but what are you suggesting a non-embarassing adequate salary should be for a 9-month work year? Since most starting jobs only get 2 weeks of vacation tops, there is something to be said for being in the office the whole year and most jobs are now expecting more then the typical 40 hours a week.
I have a lot of teacher friends, granted not in NC, but they all like the flexibility of the time off to do other things on all of their numerous breaks throughout the year. Life comes with tradeoffs.
Just playing devil's advocate here, but what are you suggesting a non-embarassing adequate salary should be for a 9-month work year? Since most starting jobs only get 2 weeks of vacation tops, there is something to be said for being in the office the whole year and most jobs are now expecting more then the typical 40 hours a week.
I have a lot of teacher friends, granted not in NC, but they all like the flexibility of the time off to do other things on all of their numerous breaks throughout the year. Life comes with tradeoffs.
First off, teachers do work closer to 10 months of the year, even if they list it as 9 months..... they're being generous with themselves over at DPI.
Let's just say that with that starting salary around 30k a year for 10 months we do the math... if they worked 12 months that would be a salary of 36k a year.
It's still a crappy salary for a college-educated professional that is held to such high standards of accountability. There are admins in RTP who make more money to do less. No offense to admins, of course.
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I am floored as I keep track of this discussion. Several teachers and office staff have resigned at my kids' school over the past four years we've been here. I didn't know all of them personally but it seems like compensation and overall respect for what they do is sorely lacking based on the ones I have spoken to directly.
Just playing devil's advocate here, but what are you suggesting a non-embarassing adequate salary should be for a 9-month work year? Since most starting jobs only get 2 weeks of vacation tops, there is something to be said for being in the office the whole year and most jobs are now expecting more then the typical 40 hours a week.
I have a lot of teacher friends, granted not in NC, but they all like the flexibility of the time off to do other things on all of their numerous breaks throughout the year. Life comes with tradeoffs.
That argument gets old. They have a 9 (or 10) month work year because that is what the school system demands of them. It's not something they negotiated. And many teachers are working year round, with summer school and whatnot.
But to answer your question:
It's very subjective, but I don't think anyone would argue that a teacher should be making less than the average graduate with similar credentials. I tried to look it up on City Data, but got an error. I looked at another site, and the average for ALL salaries in Raleigh is $39k. That includes non-degree'd workers, as well as the various levels of degree. I would think that teachers with Batchelors, and certainly those with Masters should fall somewhere above this average.
The problem of underpaying our teachers is a US problem, and is likely one of the biggest reasons we are falling behind in our global leadership. I don't know the answer, but certainly it is "higher then they are getting paid now".
If the 9-month thing bothers you so, then let teachers work all year, or let kids attend school all year, but don't hold it against them. (You can't go get 20% of a career, spread out at intevals throughout the year, to fill that gap)
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