DCPS budget cuts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

100% this. And the joke is on all of us, because corporations have done everything they can to profit off the public (eliminating pensions, avoid paying taxes, refusing to pay a living wage, cutting corners, and eliminating safety and epa regulations all to create revenue for shareholders). And the best part - they get you to think teacher pensions are the problem. Guess we really are as stupid as they think we are…

[Anonymous]

Teachers also pay into the pensions and are required to contribute a percentage of their paycheck, it’s not just free money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like there's an awful lot of wasteful things they could get rid of. The number of "safe passage" employees I see standing around is comical.

Teachers pensions are a massive cost. They can live with 401ks like the rest of us.

That’s not the problem here. But nice try

It’s insane that teachers get pensions. They are ungodly expensive. But, sure, let’s cut a whole bunch of classes for children whose lives have barely begun so that teachers can retire in their mid 50s.

What an offensive comment, do you say this about firefighters and police officer who ALSO get a pension?
Who can retire even earlier than teachers and make a similar salary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like there's an awful lot of wasteful things they could get rid of. The number of "safe passage" employees I see standing around is comical.

Teachers pensions are a massive cost. They can live with 401ks like the rest of us.

That’s not the problem here. But nice try

It’s insane that teachers get pensions. They are ungodly expensive. But, sure, let’s cut a whole bunch of classes for children whose lives have barely begun so that teachers can retire in their mid 50s.

What an offensive comment, do you say this about firefighters and police officer who ALSO get a pension?
Who can retire even earlier than teachers and make a similar salary?

In the modern world, teachers face far more violence at their workplace than they should. It should be zero.

But firefighters and many policemen **risk their lives everyday**. The stress toll they face is much higher than teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

100% this. And the joke is on all of us, because corporations have done everything they can to profit off the public (eliminating pensions, avoid paying taxes, refusing to pay a living wage, cutting corners, and eliminating safety and epa regulations all to create revenue for shareholders). And the best part - they get you to think teacher pensions are the problem. Guess we really are as stupid as they think we are…

Do you know how much regular people would have to save in their 401K to get what teachers get in their pensions? You'd have to save, like, $5 million. Do you know many people who have $5 million in their 401ks? Teacher pensions are a *complete* boondoggle. The reason pensions don't exist anymore except for, like, teachers and cops is because they are comically expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

100% this. And the joke is on all of us, because corporations have done everything they can to profit off the public (eliminating pensions, avoid paying taxes, refusing to pay a living wage, cutting corners, and eliminating safety and epa regulations all to create revenue for shareholders). And the best part - they get you to think teacher pensions are the problem. Guess we really are as stupid as they think we are…

Do you know how much regular people would have to save in their 401K to get what teachers get in their pensions? You'd have to save, like, $5 million. Do you know many people who have $5 million in their 401ks? Teacher pensions are a *complete* boondoggle. The reason pensions don't exist anymore except for, like, teachers and cops is because they are comically expensive.

Many CEOs make 50 million dollars. Now that is expensive. And even when they run a company into the ground, they walk away with piles of cash. I’m way more outraged about that than teacher pensions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

This is one of those things that people tell themselves that they wish were true but is really just complete bullshit. Companies would go bankrupt if they had to pay pensions. Those completely absurd exec salaries are a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of pensions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

100% this. And the joke is on all of us, because corporations have done everything they can to profit off the public (eliminating pensions, avoid paying taxes, refusing to pay a living wage, cutting corners, and eliminating safety and epa regulations all to create revenue for shareholders). And the best part - they get you to think teacher pensions are the problem. Guess we really are as stupid as they think we are…

Do you know how much regular people would have to save in their 401K to get what teachers get in their pensions? You'd have to save, like, $5 million. Do you know many people who have $5 million in their 401ks? Teacher pensions are a *complete* boondoggle. The reason pensions don't exist anymore except for, like, teachers and cops is because they are comically expensive.

Many CEOs make 50 million dollars. Now that is expensive. And even when they run a company into the ground, they walk away with piles of cash. I’m way more outraged about that than teacher pensions

I know it's fun to shake your fists at CEOs, but do the math. A teacher typically gets a $70,000 pension. Multiple that by 30 years. $2.25 million. Now multiple that by tens of thousands of teachers. You can easily get up to more than $50 BILLION real quick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

100% this. And the joke is on all of us, because corporations have done everything they can to profit off the public (eliminating pensions, avoid paying taxes, refusing to pay a living wage, cutting corners, and eliminating safety and epa regulations all to create revenue for shareholders). And the best part - they get you to think teacher pensions are the problem. Guess we really are as stupid as they think we are…

Do you know how much regular people would have to save in their 401K to get what teachers get in their pensions? You'd have to save, like, $5 million. Do you know many people who have $5 million in their 401ks? Teacher pensions are a *complete* boondoggle. The reason pensions don't exist anymore except for, like, teachers and cops is because they are comically expensive.

You can get a public service job. Firefighter, police, teacher - take your pick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

100% this. And the joke is on all of us, because corporations have done everything they can to profit off the public (eliminating pensions, avoid paying taxes, refusing to pay a living wage, cutting corners, and eliminating safety and epa regulations all to create revenue for shareholders). And the best part - they get you to think teacher pensions are the problem. Guess we really are as stupid as they think we are…

Do you know how much regular people would have to save in their 401K to get what teachers get in their pensions? You'd have to save, like, $5 million. Do you know many people who have $5 million in their 401ks? Teacher pensions are a *complete* boondoggle. The reason pensions don't exist anymore except for, like, teachers and cops is because they are comically expensive.

Many CEOs make 50 million dollars. Now that is expensive. And even when they run a company into the ground, they walk away with piles of cash. I’m way more outraged about that than teacher pensions

I know it's fun to shake your fists at CEOs, but do the math. A teacher typically gets a $70,000 pension. Multiple that by 30 years. $2.25 million. Now multiple that by tens of thousands of teachers. You can easily get up to more than $50 BILLION real quick.

Who is retiring at 55? I’m a teacher and the people getting close to retiring at my school at all over 64. One person is close to 70. I’d love to see the magical unicorn that is retiring at 55 with full benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

100% this. And the joke is on all of us, because corporations have done everything they can to profit off the public (eliminating pensions, avoid paying taxes, refusing to pay a living wage, cutting corners, and eliminating safety and epa regulations all to create revenue for shareholders). And the best part - they get you to think teacher pensions are the problem. Guess we really are as stupid as they think we are…

Do you know how much regular people would have to save in their 401K to get what teachers get in their pensions? You'd have to save, like, $5 million. Do you know many people who have $5 million in their 401ks? Teacher pensions are a *complete* boondoggle. The reason pensions don't exist anymore except for, like, teachers and cops is because they are comically expensive.

You can get a public service job. Firefighter, police, teacher - take your pick.

What if the city was paying lifeguards at public pools $800,000 per year? Would your response be, "well, if you think that's too much, maybe you should just become a lifeguard?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

100% this. And the joke is on all of us, because corporations have done everything they can to profit off the public (eliminating pensions, avoid paying taxes, refusing to pay a living wage, cutting corners, and eliminating safety and epa regulations all to create revenue for shareholders). And the best part - they get you to think teacher pensions are the problem. Guess we really are as stupid as they think we are…

Do you know how much regular people would have to save in their 401K to get what teachers get in their pensions? You'd have to save, like, $5 million. Do you know many people who have $5 million in their 401ks? Teacher pensions are a *complete* boondoggle. The reason pensions don't exist anymore except for, like, teachers and cops is because they are comically expensive.

You can get a public service job. Firefighter, police, teacher - take your pick.

What if the city was paying lifeguards at public pools $800,000 per year? Would your response be, "well, if you think that's too much, maybe you should just become a lifeguard?"

DP but yes. And I’d probably be a lifeguard too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but if private companies can’t afford pensions any longer ( I’ve worked for 30 years and just have my personal 401k) how can taxpayers afford them?

Private companies choose not to afford them. It's no coincidence that exec salaries have skyrocketed as pensions have disappeared.

100% this. And the joke is on all of us, because corporations have done everything they can to profit off the public (eliminating pensions, avoid paying taxes, refusing to pay a living wage, cutting corners, and eliminating safety and epa regulations all to create revenue for shareholders). And the best part - they get you to think teacher pensions are the problem. Guess we really are as stupid as they think we are…

Do you know how much regular people would have to save in their 401K to get what teachers get in their pensions? You'd have to save, like, $5 million. Do you know many people who have $5 million in their 401ks? Teacher pensions are a *complete* boondoggle. The reason pensions don't exist anymore except for, like, teachers and cops is because they are comically expensive.

Many CEOs make 50 million dollars. Now that is expensive. And even when they run a company into the ground, they walk away with piles of cash. I’m way more outraged about that than teacher pensions

This is just a diversion argument: "...but look over there!" You can actually be outraged by both these things. I think CEOs make too much money, and I also don't want foreign language classes cut because of unsustainable teacher pension costs (And central office costs. Don't get me started...)

[Anonymous]

As a highly effective teacher, the only two things keeping me in DCPS as opposed to teaching in another district are the pay and the pension. I'd be out of here pretty fast if either of those things went away. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. DCPS already has a problem with teacher retention because of working conditions and it would almost certainly get worse without our compensation. As it is, I'm planning to hang on another 15 years until I can retire at 60 ( not 55). Also please note that DCPS teachers do not pay into social security, we pay into the pension instead. So we are sacrificing that safety net in order to have our pension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a highly effective teacher, the only two things keeping me in DCPS as opposed to teaching in another district are the pay and the pension. I'd be out of here pretty fast if either of those things went away. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. DCPS already has a problem with teacher retention because of working conditions and it would almost certainly get worse without our compensation. As it is, I'm planning to hang on another 15 years until I can retire at 60 ( not 55). Also please note that DCPS teachers do not pay into social security, we pay into the pension instead. So we are sacrificing that safety net in order to have our pension.

That's a fair point about not having Social Security.

Of course, the rest of us may end up not getting much from Social Security despite paying into it forever....