178 replies to this topic

[ducky]

So what's your point? You don't feel teachers should make a good living? I challenge anyone who thinks a teacher has a cushy job to step in and do the job for just one week, including all of the planning, teaching and grading!

 

If you go back and look at her post, she highlighted the unfortunate lack of proofreading or not understanding when to use a contraction instead of a possessive pronoun.

[cw68]

 

The same could be said for a lot of jobs, especially ones that work 12 months a year and don't have a weeks off, a ton of minimum days, and time off for every holiday and other "breaks." Plus most jobs require changes, not using the same teaching plans for 10 years straight.

 

I'm not a teacher and I'm no fan of the teacher's union, but teachers work their butts off. Yes, they get more weeks off than the average American, but it's not like they show up at 9am and leave at 3pm with no other time spent working.

[The Average Joe]

When you include the 20 k in medical benefits and the 60 k per year in retirement benefits (what it would take an Average joe to contribute to receive the same guaranteed retirement after 30+ years), it is hard to cry fro a 10 month profession. Not to mention the weeks off at xmas and easter and every state holiday. Cry me a river on cost of living increases and having to work harder for the same pay. Try private sector. Again, as I have stated before. I'm not saying good teachers don't deserve a good pay, but stop your whining about how bad you have it. If your job is so terrible, find another one.

 

As an aside, you are already amongst the highest paid teachers in the country. Instead of comparing your Mercedes salary to those with Bentley salaries, a better perspective would notice the teachers all over the country working for used Honda wages and be grateful for what you have.

[cw68]

So the fact that they took a pay cut during the recession and haven't received a COLA in six years but now that the economy and budget are doing better they should get nothing because they get lots of holidays?

I hate the slamming teachers because of the things they get. What a thankless job. No mentioning of the late nights, the hundreds and hundreds of dollars spent out of pocket or the fact that they provide one of the most important functions in our society.

Again, I hate the teacher's union. It has far too much power and wastes far too much money. It is harmful to our students and our educational system. However, with all the teacher bitching and bashing, it's probably a necessity.

[tessieca]

Just to be clear, the district has offered a salary increase commensurate with the "new" (really partial reinstatement of state cuts) money.  The last offer was at 8.38% over a 2-year period.  That would cost over $6M and would be just for teachers although all employees need a raise.  Also, many teachers have received regular increases just by being a teacher for another year (step) or taking additional courses (column).  Lastly, teachers were compensated for their furlough days that they took in the tough times, so in effect they got paid holidays.

[cw68]

Thanks for the info. What do you mean that they were compensated for furlough days?

[Deanna H]

So what's your point? You don't feel teachers should make a good living? I challenge anyone who thinks a teacher has a cushy job to step in and do the job for just one week, including all of the planning, teaching and grading!

 

Thank you cw & ducky for understanding and explaining my post. My point, mac_convert, is that I find it ironic that an item, written by teachers, extolling their worth as teachers, is not written well and contains a glaring misuse of a contraction. I would think that if a student wrote it as an assignment, it wouldn't receive a stellar grade.

[Rich_T]

 

Thank you cw & ducky for understanding and explaining my post. My point, mac_convert, is that I find it ironic that an item, written by teachers, extolling their worth as teachers, is not written well and contains a glaring misuse of a contraction. I would think that if a student wrote it as an assignment, it wouldn't receive a stellar grade.

 

People, it's much worse than the misused contraction (which might have been a typing error, to give the benefit of the doubt).  This is one time when I can legitimately be pedantic.  I actually counted ten errors of grammar or usage:

 

- no comma needed between "linked HERE"

- "pay-cuts" should be written as "pay cuts"

- "their" should not refer to "the district"

- "cost of living" should be written "cost-of-living" as an adjective

- "out of pocket" should be written "out-of-pocket" as an adjective

-  "component to" should be "component of"

-  the word "young" was erroneously repeated

- a comma is needed after "upon us", to separate the clause

- either the word "dollars" should be removed, or the dollar sign should be removed (and then "ten" instead of "10")

- "it's" should be "its" (as already noted)

 

I would have marked all those items, had I been editing the document.

 

Here is the corrected version:

 

• We URGE you, the parents of our students, to contact the Board Trustees to tell them to support their teachers; contact info for Board Trustees linked HERE.
• We took pay cuts when the district needed us to balance its budget, now the district won't support us.
• We haven't had any cost-of-living increase since 2009.
• Our out-of-pocket healthcare costs have more than doubled since 2009.
• Our district is near the bottom in salary and benefits compared to surrounding districts.  Salary is a key component of teacher satisfaction and retention.
• Young, bright, energetic young teachers are leaving FCUSD for other districts.
• Highly qualified, experienced teachers are retiring or leaving the district.
• Our workload has doubled, tripled, etc with all the new federal, state, and local programs forced upon us, without giving us any extra time or salary.
• We spend countless hours of our personal time doing what's best for students.
• The district will be receiving nearly $10 million extra dollars next year, but hasn't changed its offer to us, nothing, none at all.

 

 

Having now commented on the written word, I will turn my attention to the actual content of the message, to see if I have anything to contribute.

[cw68]

To nitpick (once a copy editor, always a copy editor), one through nine are written out. 10 and above the number is used.

[Rich_T]

To nitpick (once a copy editor, always a copy editor), one through nine are written out. 10 and above the number is used.

 

Ha!  I was wondering whether I set myself up for anything...  However, I have always understood the cutover number to be 20.  In any case, I opted for the "$10 million" approach.

[Deanna H]

 

Here is a small sample of why teachers are seeking more compensation. Elk Grove just settled with similar numbers, but the salary in Elk Grove is $6,000-$8,000 and the benefits for a family are almost double what FCUSD offers.

 

 

 

 

• We URGE you, the parents of our students, to contact the Board Trustees to tell them to support their teachers; contact info for Board Trustees linked, HERE.
• We took pay-cuts when the district needed us to balance their budget, now the district won't support us.
• We haven't had any cost of living increase since 2009.
• Our out of pocket healthcare costs have more than doubled since 2009.
• Our district is near the bottom in salary and benefits compared to surrounding districts.  Salary is a key component to teacher satisfaction and retention.
• Young, bright, energetic young teachers are leaving FCUSD for other districts.
• Highly qualified, experienced teachers are retiring or leaving the district.
• Our workload has doubled, tripled, etc with all the new federal, state, and local programs forced upon us without giving us any extra time or salary.
• We spend countless hours of our personal time doing what's best for students.
• The district will be receiving nearly $10 million extra dollars next year, but hasn't changed it's offer to us, nothing, none at all.

 

 

Plus, does this make any sense as written in this sentence?

[Rich_T]

Turning my attention to the content of the message:

 

- I appreciate the point about pay cuts in the past, and about the relative low salaries in this district compared to surrounding districts (if that is indeed the case). 

 

- I also appreciate the point about having a greater workload without an increase in pay.

 

So my initial reaction is that the teachers have a decent argument regarding salary. 

 

On the other hand:

 

- As AverageJoe wrote, the pay is already high relative to most teacher pay in the nation, and - even more importantly - the total pay should include a measure of the future pension benefits that most working people can only dream about.  Pension pay should be factored into current salary.

 

- As tesseica wrote:  <<The last offer was at 8.38% over a 2-year period.  That would cost over $6M and would be just for teachers although all employees need a raise.  Also, many teachers have received regular increases just by being a teacher for another year (step) or taking additional courses (column).>>

 

That sounds reasonable on the surface.  As a Corporate IT employee myself, that's more that I or my peers will be seeing.  However, I don't know if the offered raise would bring back the pay level to where it was before the pay cuts took place.

 

- A cost-of-living increase has become a luxury item that is no longer part of typical employee contracts these days.  So forget about that one.

 

- Out-of-pocket healthcare costs are rapidly increasing for everyone, so there won't be any special preference given to teachers.  In fact, the California Teachers Association has been effectively throwing money at promoting healthcare reforms that add to the out-of-pocket healthcare costs. This is not the fault of individual teachers in our district, of course, but I find it ironic nonetheless.

 

- While I am curious to learn how the "extra" $10 million will be used, I don't think it would make a huge dent in teacher salaries.  I don't know how many teachers are in the district, but if it's 500 (just a wild guess), and if the entire amount went to teacher salaries, then it would average out to $20,000 per teacher, spread out over however many years of salary.  If it were used to fund five years, for example, then the average annual salary increase would be $4,000, which of course is subject to taxes.  It might work out to an increase of about $200 net per month for the next five years.  Not bad, but not a crucial impact on one's life.  We would need to know how many teachers are in the district, which of those merit salary increases based on their ability and track record, what other budget considerations are involved, etc.  In other words, I certainly don't have enough information to have a final opinion.

[Rich_T]

 

Plus, does this make any sense as written in this sentence?

 

Good catch.  Add that to the list!

[cw68]

 

Ha!  I was wondering whether I set myself up for anything...  However, I have always understood the cutover number to be 20.  In any case, I opted for the "$10 million" approach.

 

 

Quick geek thread hijack – I generally use the Chicago Manual of Style, but only have a copy of the AP Stylebook here at work. It says, “Spell out a numeral at the beginning of a sentence. If necessary, recast the sentence. There is one exception – a numeral that identifies a calendar year… For uses not covered by these listings: Spell out whole numbers before 10, use figures for 10 and above.”

[Rich_T]

 

 

Quick geek thread hijack – I generally use the Chicago Manual of Style, but only have a copy of the AP Stylebook here at work. It says, “Spell out a numeral at the beginning of a sentence. If necessary, recast the sentence. There is one exception – a numeral that identifies a calendar year… For uses not covered by these listings: Spell out whole numbers before 10, use figures for 10 and above.”

 

I don't like it personally - I prefer to write out the teens, unless as part of a list of numbers.  I can understand why the AP would prefer using numerals for 10-19, since they are concerned with media stories.  But for other forms of writing (not media), I'm not so sure.

 

But thanks for the geek hijack, I'm always into it.