Fairfax public schools - pay freeze for teachers again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spouse of FCPS teacher here. What everyone has to remember is that teachers never get to take advantage of the "good times." Teacher pay is atrocious all the time, even when everyone else's bonuses are rolling in. Don't make teachers make yet another sacrifice. That is why the teachers are getting out of the profession. Parent should consider who they want teaching their kids. It is hard to afford to live in this area on $60,000 a year.

I'm not a teacher, but that is very close to my salary and I'm a professional. Don't kid yourself, there are lots of people in this area who make killer money, but there are plenty who make similar salaries and more than understand how difficult it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spouse of FCPS teacher here. What everyone has to remember is that teachers never get to take advantage of the "good times." Teacher pay is atrocious all the time, even when everyone else's bonuses are rolling in. Don't make teachers make yet another sacrifice. That is why the teachers are getting out of the profession. Parent should consider who they want teaching their kids. It is hard to afford to live in this area on $60,000 a year.

I guess this must be a matter of perspective because 60,000 doesn't sound bad at all. It's not an attorney's salary but it's not atrocious. My babysitter is married with two kids and they only make 30,000 combined. And they live in Fairfax. That is what I consider atrocious. My husband and I lived in DC for 2 years with a combined 65,000 and we didn't feel very poor. Had to budget like crazy, but it wasn't horrible. I volunteered to not get a raise this year because my company not doing well obviously affects me and my job security. My boss gave me a raise anyway but it was a hell of a lot less than and extra $200 per month after taxes, but I appreciated the sentiment. Sometimes we do all have to pitch in in hard times.

[Anonymous]

No, teachers don't get a big jump up in boom times, but they get (almost year in and year out) annual increases in pay which the rest of the world calls raises ("COLA" at a minimum normally), they get summers off, they get pretty strong job security, and they get very generous pension benefits which are almost unheard of in the private sector now. The benefits help round out the total compensation. And personally i'd be happy to pay teachers higher salaries in exchange for more typical 401K benefits instead of cushy pensions and for working summers so I don't have to cobble together summer camps for weeks on end.

The main people I know leaving teaching are those that are SAH w/ little kids and all plan to go back to teaching when they're done being SAHMs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, teachers don't get a big jump up in boom times, but they get (almost year in and year out) annual increases in pay which the rest of the world calls raises ("COLA" at a minimum normally), they get summers off, they get pretty strong job security, and they get very generous pension benefits which are almost unheard of in the private sector now. The benefits help round out the total compensation. And personally i'd be happy to pay teachers higher salaries in exchange for more typical 401K benefits instead of cushy pensions and for working summers so I don't have to cobble together summer camps for weeks on end.

The main people I know leaving teaching are those that are SAH w/ little kids and all plan to go back to teaching when they're done being SAHMs.

I am not a teacher nor married to one, but I don't think you can cosider summer as time "off" if it is not paid for. They are paid 52 weeks/year like the "rest".

[Anonymous]

I don't think you can cosider summer as time "off" if it is not paid for.

But teachers quote their salaries as $x,000 per year, not prorated down for the roughly 10 months they work. So yes, it's fair to count the summers if we're talking about how much teachers are compensated with - in money or benefits - a year. It may be "tough" to live on $60,000 a year but in the talk for higher salaries I don't normally see mention of a willingness to work the extra 2 months in exchange.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a kid in half-day K here. There must be more schools than I thought that put off full-day K, or everyone posting today is my neighbor.

Not much of an opinion on the raise thing -- if all FFX employees are doing it, so should the teachers. But if they're being singled out while other departments arent, then something is very wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, teachers don't get a big jump up in boom times, but they get (almost year in and year out) annual increases in pay which the rest of the world calls raises ("COLA" at a minimum normally), they get summers off, they get pretty strong job security, and they get very generous pension benefits which are almost unheard of in the private sector now. The benefits help round out the total compensation. And personally i'd be happy to pay teachers higher salaries in exchange for more typical 401K benefits instead of cushy pensions and for working summers so I don't have to cobble together summer camps for weeks on end.

The main people I know leaving teaching are those that are SAH w/ little kids and all plan to go back to teaching when they're done being SAHMs.

I am not a teacher nor married to one, but I don't think you can cosider summer as time "off" if it is not paid for. They are paid 52 weeks/year like the "rest".

I thought the salary was for the entire year, but teachers have the option of having it paid over 10 months or 12. At least that's the way it works for allt he teachers I've known. Is that not true?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a kid in half-day K here. There must be more schools than I thought that put off full-day K, or everyone posting today is my neighbor.

Hah! I thought the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought the salary was for the entire year, but teachers have the option of having it paid over 10 months or 12. At least that's the way it works for allt he teachers I've known. Is that not true?

Former FCPS teacher here. Salaries are for 10 months of work, teachers can opt to have it paid out over 12 months if they choose (essentially saving some in the county's "summer fund," with no interest paid for leaving it with FCPS). I never understood that when I was working for FCPS, so I chose to take my salary over 10 months and put some in savings each month so I could accrue interest. I lived off of that each summer, as well as working odd-jobs during my summers "off."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought the salary was for the entire year, but teachers have the option of having it paid over 10 months or 12. At least that's the way it works for allt he teachers I've known. Is that not true?

Former FCPS teacher here. Salaries are for 10 months of work, teachers can opt to have it paid out over 12 months if they choose (essentially saving some in the county's "summer fund," with no interest paid for leaving it with FCPS). I never understood that when I was working for FCPS, so I chose to take my salary over 10 months and put some in savings each month so I could accrue interest. I lived off of that each summer, as well as working odd-jobs during my summers "off."

Current FCPS teacher here. I also get paid over 10 months not 12 and take my own money out each month so I get paid over the summer. I am very disciplined and don't touch that money until July and August, but many I know do the 12 month pay because they don't think they could save the money on their own.

And I agree with the pp who said most teachers who she sees leaving are leaving because they have young kids and want to stay at home with them. I have been at the same school for 10 years and have seen many, many teachers leave and never return once they have kids. It is very rare for a teacher like me with two little kids to keep working full time (at least in my school).

[Anonymous]

Tax payer with 1/2 day kindergarten. Am I the only one wondering where my HEFTY tax payment goes every year? Go ahead, surprise me.

[Anonymous]

We have half-day K, too, and I'm happy about it. But I'm a SAHM, so maybe that's the difference? I just feel that 5 is too young for such a long day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in FCPS and while it stinks not to have gotten a raise or step increase this year, I am OK with it. It seems that cuts are being made throughout the county with regard to various programs, so I am just going to suck it up for the time being. And honestly, while the raises are nice, they are never really that huge (maybe $200/month after taxes) so as long as I watch my spending, it is not too much of a hit for me to not have that pay increase. Now if the economy really starts to improve and we still are not getting a raise, that is a different story. But right now I am just happy I have a job because there are many out there who are not as fortunate.

Don't sell yourselves short. Various programs should be cut and fees implemented. . Roll back full day kindergarten for everything but schools with specific demographics. This county ignored input from last year's community budget meetings. Lead teachers should get stipends. The debt service is huge for bond projects- some of which should never have been built and others should have been reduced in scope. FCPS should go back to traditional contract lengths with summer school as a stipend. Boundaries should be changed to maximize efficiency and good teachers should be paid. No South County Middle School, get rid of IB.

NOt all schools have full day kindergarten. Those with "specific demographics" are the ones that have it, currently. Modified calendar schools are being cancelled next year (even in the schools with the demographics that I think you're referring to).
Which boundaries do you think should be changed?

"The debt service is huge for bond projects- some of which should never have been built and others should have been reduced in scope." That's neither here nor there.

Here nor there? Just where do you think the cash comes from? Your taxes and the money could be used for something else or never collected. The specific demographic bar for full day has been lowered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spouse of FCPS teacher here. What everyone has to remember is that teachers never get to take advantage of the "good times." Teacher pay is atrocious all the time, even when everyone else's bonuses are rolling in. Don't make teachers make yet another sacrifice. That is why the teachers are getting out of the profession. Parent should consider who they want teaching their kids. It is hard to afford to live in this area on $60,000 a year.

I'm not a teacher, but that is very close to my salary and I'm a professional. Don't kid yourself, there are lots of people in this area who make killer money, but there are plenty who make similar salaries and more than understand how difficult it is.

I am a parent who for 4 years volunteered in a FCPS elementary school 3 mornings a week and in the school library 1 morning a week. Not only do I think that teachers in the area should be making more than 60K a year, but it is terrible that they are not consistently getting annual increases. Teaching is a tough job and most of the teachers I have met have been dedicated professionals. We did move on to private school, but still I would happily support tax increases to support public education and specifically teacher's salaries.

[Anonymous]

$60K a year with great benefits and off for the summer? sign me up. I took a $50K paycut already this year, and I work 12 months a year.