Wash Post article on Montgomery County salaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You get what you pay for....in long island where they pay teachers top dollar, you have hundreds of applicants vying for slots. This is true in most any profession....if you want the best and brightest then you must compensate them better than others (or offer other unbeatable benefits )

Anonymous wrote:As a school employee looking to move to the area, I was most interested in Montgomery County Public Schools because the pay and the benefits were better than any neighboring district. Money talks

It may attract top talent but the environment is very much about nepotism. So it's not always the best qualified person will get the job and it's not uncommon to see family members or their extended family members working in the system.

Then once they get the job it is very hard to push them out if they don't perform well and they still get the same raises every year as everyone else.

Many of the people within the school system are great at what they do, regardless of how they got their job. But there are low performers that reaps the same benefits as the people that bust their butts everyday on the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have no problem paying teachers if they started working year round. With 3-4 weeks of leave like most occupations get.

Parents are usually against year round school more than teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the "hate" stems from jealousy.

We have a great gig. We make an actual difference in peoples' lives. If you ask anyone who has had the biggest impact on your life, I bet you more than 50% of people would say a teacher or coach is that person.

Add that, to the fact we have eight consecutive weeks off and snow days, and we are not liked. They think we should be paid minimum wage as glorified babysitters.

We all had career day - some of us were smart and chose to become teachers.

Ironically if 22 families paid a babysitter 10 dollars an hour each to babysit 22 kids for 7.5 hours a day they'd make a lot more money than a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the "hate" stems from jealousy.

We have a great gig. We make an actual difference in peoples' lives. If you ask anyone who has had the biggest impact on your life, I bet you more than 50% of people would say a teacher or coach is that person.

Add that, to the fact we have eight consecutive weeks off and snow days, and we are not liked. They think we should be paid minimum wage as glorified babysitters.

We all had career day - some of us were smart and chose to become teachers.

Ironically if 22 families paid a babysitter 10 dollars an hour each to babysit 22 kids for 7.5 hours a day they'd make a lot more money than a teacher.

Is that year round, or 10 months? Because mcps teachers work 10 months (and have off for spring break, winter break, additional holidays, teachers convention, snow days, etc.).

What about taxes? And the Cadillac health benefits?

[Anonymous]

I have been on this thread but never understood where the "8% raise" numbers have come from. I don't know if the general public understands.

We are slotted to get two step increases plus a COLA next year. Steps are around 3% and the COLA is 2% so that would be the 8%.

The step increases are normal part of being a teacher. You get a step each year between years 1-20, then they stop until year 25 where you get one, then a final step in year 30. Steps are around $2,500 depending on which step you are on.

Back during the worst part of the recession we went three years without steps. The county has made up two of them, but we are still one behind. So the September step is our normal, annual step, and the March step is to make up for the step we lost in 2012. The loss of steps have a serious impact on our retirement so it is important they are made up.

The COLA is supposed to be 2%. As a teacher, I am fine with dropping that in order not to increase property taxes or cut from other areas, but I do not want to negotiate on those steps. Those are increases that we, as teachers, expect to get every year and were promised when hired for the job. I don't think those should eve be negotiable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Is that year round, or 10 months? Because mcps teachers work 10 months (and have off for spring break, winter break, additional holidays, teachers convention, snow days, etc.).

What about taxes? And the Cadillac health benefits?

What Cadillac health benefits?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is that year round, or 10 months? Because mcps teachers work 10 months (and have off for spring break, winter break, additional holidays, teachers convention, snow days, etc.).

What about taxes? And the Cadillac health benefits?

What Cadillac health benefits?

Without going into details but some people mentioned how the benefits at MCPS are above average and should be a reason to consider not leaving the school system in this thread:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/538409.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The step increases are normal part of being a teacher. You get a step each year between years 1-20, then they stop until year 25 where you get one, then a final step in year 30. Steps are around $2,500 depending on which step you are on.

The step increases might be normal for a teacher within MCPS but it's not necessarily the norm when comparing against other school systems. And is a reason why the pay and benefits at MCPS are above average when comparing against surrounding areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers are underpaid even at 90k (after 20 years). Now if you stated them off at 90k that would be make more sense. My kid's education is too important.

Pay isn't tied to the importance of your job, it's tied to the scarcity of your skill. Supply and demand people - clearly a teacher has failed to teach you a very basic concept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers are underpaid even at 90k (after 20 years). Now if you stated them off at 90k that would be make more sense. My kid's education is too important.

Pay isn't tied to the importance of your job, it's tied to the scarcity of your skill. Supply and demand people - clearly a teacher has failed to teach you a very basic concept.

Yup. And good teachers are a scarce resource -- even more so in US society, where smart kids who want a well-paid, high-prestige job almost never consider a career in teaching, due to the low prestige and low pay.

How to attract good candidates to a job? Offer good pay and good working conditions. Also a basic economic concept!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers are underpaid even at 90k (after 20 years). Now if you stated them off at 90k that would be make more sense. My kid's education is too important.

Pay isn't tied to the importance of your job, it's tied to the scarcity of your skill. Supply and demand people - clearly a teacher has failed to teach you a very basic concept.

Yup. And good teachers are a scarce resource -- even more so in US society, where smart kids who want a well-paid, high-prestige job almost never consider a career in teaching, due to the low prestige and low pay.

How to attract good candidates to a job? Offer good pay and good working conditions. Also a basic economic concept!

No, they aren't. Dumbass.

A lot more people want the job than there are positions. If it were the reverse, they would be paid more.

True, you can argue that *good* teachers are hard to find, but I still disagree with the assertion. Look at your typical private school, in most cases, their teachers are paid less than they are paid at public school. And the private schools can certainly be selective in their hiring process and many can afford to pay their teachers more, but they don't. And again - the reason - is that there are many more interested teachers in the job than there are available jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers are underpaid even at 90k (after 20 years). Now if you stated them off at 90k that would be make more sense. My kid's education is too important.

Pay isn't tied to the importance of your job, it's tied to the scarcity of your skill. Supply and demand people - clearly a teacher has failed to teach you a very basic concept.

Yup. And good teachers are a scarce resource -- even more so in US society, where smart kids who want a well-paid, high-prestige job almost never consider a career in teaching, due to the low prestige and low pay.

How to attract good candidates to a job? Offer good pay and good working conditions. Also a basic economic concept!

No, they aren't. Dumbass.

A lot more people want the job than there are positions. If it were the reverse, they would be paid more.

True, you can argue that *good* teachers are hard to find, but I still disagree with the assertion. Look at your typical private school, in most cases, their teachers are paid less than they are paid at public school. And the private schools can certainly be selective in their hiring process and many can afford to pay their teachers more, but they don't. And again - the reason - is that there are many more interested teachers in the job than there are available jobs.

Evidently you believe that any warm body with the right credentials on paper can fill the position as well as any other warm body. I disagree. I don't want a warm body in my child's classroom; I want a highly-qualified, highly-skilled professional.

Evidently you also believe that private school teachers are better than public school teachers. Again, I disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers are underpaid even at 90k (after 20 years). Now if you stated them off at 90k that would be make more sense. My kid's education is too important.

Pay isn't tied to the importance of your job, it's tied to the scarcity of your skill. Supply and demand people - clearly a teacher has failed to teach you a very basic concept.

A few of the people I know making a ton of money have no skills at all. They have luck and connections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers are underpaid even at 90k (after 20 years). Now if you stated them off at 90k that would be make more sense. My kid's education is too important.

Pay isn't tied to the importance of your job, it's tied to the scarcity of your skill. Supply and demand people - clearly a teacher has failed to teach you a very basic concept.

A few of the people I know making a ton of money have no skills at all. They have luck and connections.

Yup. But isn't it funny how the harder you work and the more extensive your skill set, the more connected and luckier you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers are underpaid even at 90k (after 20 years). Now if you stated them off at 90k that would be make more sense. My kid's education is too important.

Pay isn't tied to the importance of your job, it's tied to the scarcity of your skill. Supply and demand people - clearly a teacher has failed to teach you a very basic concept.

A few of the people I know making a ton of money have no skills at all. They have luck and connections.

This is so funny. Some people who don't know me very well wonder how I make the money I make, especially for my age. I'm a fairly attractive female, with a very goofy attitude.

On the surface, it looks like I party and travel a lot. They don't see all the hard work that I put in, that I'm an electrical engineer with a pretty specialized and in demand specialty, that I have a master's degree in chemical engineering, and that I have social skills that customers love.

Some people like you probably think I only have "luck and connections." ha.