The wisdom of rewarding Montgomery’s school employees (Washington Post)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is my response to Dr. Starr

1. MoCo already pays more than other school systems for teachers, why bid 107 for teachers, when 100 will do.

2. Many MoCo Taxpayers have not seen raises the last 3 years. My company has not given raises, Federal employees haven't received a raise, other county workers haven't received a raise. What makes teachers so special.

huh

Then explain why my friend - who's a GS13 - just received a $2000 bonus, plus time off.

3. Stop taking credit for educating the kids of all of the phds, lawyers, doctors, and other highly educated folks in Potomac, Bethesda, North Bethesda. Bring Einstein and other 'red zone' schools in the top 100 and then I will give you credit.

I teach seniors in a "red zone" school who are walking this year because of my help. These are mainly ESOL and special ed kids. I've worked with hundreds over the past two years who struggled during their high school career.

4. Don't generalize parents view because I am not happy.


This all said, let me point out that I am happy to have MoCo pay teachers more than any other school system in the area. I think our teachers do a great job. I just think the system is going in the wrong direction and this pay raise was the wrong signal to send. It pretty clearly lays out the case that the union is in charge.

I deserve my pay raise. My CHILDREN do, too. So while you sit back and sip your coffee at your desk, getting up to use the restroom when you please, think about ignorant you sound when you have no idea what it's like to work with kids from broken homes who struggle not only in school - but at home.

By this reasoning, MCPS teachers who work in the green zone should be paid considerably less than those who work in the red zone. Do you agree with that? A salary approaching 80K to teach in a green zone elementary school 10 months a year sounds decent to me.

[Anonymous]

Oh please.

I love all the griping on here when I bet you either 1. send your kid to private school or 2. send your kid to one of the "top 5" like Wootton, Whitman, Churchill, WJ, or BCC (or a beloved "magnet").

Before any of you make any sort of assumption about the "lower" schools, spend a day in one or get to know a kid that goes to one. Ask them what their teachers are like. Ask them what they are doing and learning in class.

My sister taught a remedial reading class at one of the "lower" schools (yes, there is a need for a remedial reading class in high school) and whle her kids weren't reading on a 12th grade level by the end of it, they did go from a first grade reading level to an 8th grade reading level in one semester. She, and other teachers like her (and there are MANY of them), deserves every percentage of the raise she is going to get. Most if her kids will probably not go to college, but at least they can now read on a functional level.

I am shocked at how ignorant so many of you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh please.

I love all the griping on here when I bet you either 1. send your kid to private school or 2. send your kid to one of the "top 5" like Wootton, Whitman, Churchill, WJ, or BCC (or a beloved "magnet").

Before any of you make any sort of assumption about the "lower" schools, spend a day in one or get to know a kid that goes to one. Ask them what their teachers are like. Ask them what they are doing and learning in class.

My sister taught a remedial reading class at one of the "lower" schools (yes, there is a need for a remedial reading class in high school) and whle her kids weren't reading on a 12th grade level by the end of it, they did go from a first grade reading level to an 8th grade reading level in one semester. She, and other teachers like her (and there are MANY of them), deserves every percentage of the raise she is going to get. Most if her kids will probably not go to college, but at least they can now read on a functional level.

I am shocked at how ignorant so many of you are.

+1

[Anonymous]

Maybe Mr. Starr can explain what he's going to do when the Council treats the MOE as a ceiling in FY14. These raises will eat up any increase. How will MCPS choose to cut other services or positions to stay within the funding cap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh please.

I love all the griping on here when I bet you either 1. send your kid to private school or 2. send your kid to one of the "top 5" like Wootton, Whitman, Churchill, WJ, or BCC (or a beloved "magnet").

Before any of you make any sort of assumption about the "lower" schools, spend a day in one or get to know a kid that goes to one. Ask them what their teachers are like. Ask them what they are doing and learning in class.

My sister taught a remedial reading class at one of the "lower" schools (yes, there is a need for a remedial reading class in high school) and whle her kids weren't reading on a 12th grade level by the end of it, they did go from a first grade reading level to an 8th grade reading level in one semester. She, and other teachers like her (and there are MANY of them), deserves every percentage of the raise she is going to get. Most if her kids will probably not go to college, but at least they can now read on a functional level.

I am shocked at how ignorant so many of you are.

+1

+2

[Anonymous]

doesn't everyone deserve a raise?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:doesn't everyone deserve a raise?

no

A lawyer making $500K doesn't. But a preschool teacher in a 3s class, for example, definitely does!

[Anonymous]

No, everyone doesn't deserve a raise; in fact, I believe, even in the MCPS organization, there's at least one person who deserves to be fired.

And, as a government employee who has not had a raise in several years (and has endured mandatory furloughs) while having benefits cut (and also paying substantially more for health insurance), it's off-putting to me that a 7% raise seems like no big deal to MCPS teachers. As a government worker, I, for one, I'm grateful that I have a job in this economy -- and even though my workload is ever expanding with NO additional compensation (in addition to the pay freeze, we've had a hiring freeze: as workers depart, their duties are doled out to those of us that remain). So I would be overjoyed with ANY raise -- even the one-half percent raise that has been proposed for the feds. But I think a 7% raise for any government employee -- federal, state, county, or municipal -- is indefeasibly high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, everyone doesn't deserve a raise; in fact, I believe, even in the MCPS organization, there's at least one person who deserves to be fired.

And, as a government employee who has not had a raise in several years (and has endured mandatory furloughs) while having benefits cut (and also paying substantially more for health insurance), it's off-putting to me that a 7% raise seems like no big deal to MCPS teachers. As a government worker, I, for one, I'm grateful that I have a job in this economy -- and even though my workload is ever expanding with NO additional compensation (in addition to the pay freeze, we've had a hiring freeze: as workers depart, their duties are doled out to those of us that remain). So I would be overjoyed with ANY raise -- even the one-half percent raise that has been proposed for the feds. But I think a 7% raise for any government employee -- federal, state, county, or municipal -- is indefeasibly high.

+1. I'm in the private sector and no one in our company has seen a raise for the last 3 years. No raises in sight either. In fact, despite the fact that I put in long hours, do additional work because of colleagues who have been "let-go", and consistently get glowing annual reviews, I would hesitate to even ask my boss about a raise. He would laugh me out of the room.

I don't understand why so many post on this thread want to turn this into "teacher bashing" or "teachers deserve the moon" type rhetoric. I think there are many of us out here paying MD taxes and valuing our teachers, who simply cannot relate to an across-the-board raise like 7%. Doesn't mean we don't appreciate the teachers, doesn't mean we don't think they're great. Just means we don't have endless supplies of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, everyone doesn't deserve a raise; in fact, I believe, even in the MCPS organization, there's at least one person who deserves to be fired.

And, as a government employee who has not had a raise in several years (and has endured mandatory furloughs) while having benefits cut (and also paying substantially more for health insurance), it's off-putting to me that a 7% raise seems like no big deal to MCPS teachers. As a government worker, I, for one, I'm grateful that I have a job in this economy -- and even though my workload is ever expanding with NO additional compensation (in addition to the pay freeze, we've had a hiring freeze: as workers depart, their duties are doled out to those of us that remain). So I would be overjoyed with ANY raise -- even the one-half percent raise that has been proposed for the feds. But I think a 7% raise for any government employee -- federal, state, county, or municipal -- is indefeasibly high.

I'm so sorry that you're jealous of our cushy, high paying jobs in the field of education.

FWIW, my friend who's been a Fed for fewer years than I've been teaching is making almost twice my salary.

So I have no idea what you're complaining about, as I'm certain your pay isn't exactly at the low end either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, everyone doesn't deserve a raise; in fact, I believe, even in the MCPS organization, there's at least one person who deserves to be fired.

And, as a government employee who has not had a raise in several years (and has endured mandatory furloughs) while having benefits cut (and also paying substantially more for health insurance), it's off-putting to me that a 7% raise seems like no big deal to MCPS teachers. As a government worker, I, for one, I'm grateful that I have a job in this economy -- and even though my workload is ever expanding with NO additional compensation (in addition to the pay freeze, we've had a hiring freeze: as workers depart, their duties are doled out to those of us that remain). So I would be overjoyed with ANY raise -- even the one-half percent raise that has been proposed for the feds. But I think a 7% raise for any government employee -- federal, state, county, or municipal -- is indefeasibly high.

+1. I'm in the private sector and no one in our company has seen a raise for the last 3 years. No raises in sight either. In fact, despite the fact that I put in long hours, do additional work because of colleagues who have been "let-go", and consistently get glowing annual reviews, I would hesitate to even ask my boss about a raise. He would laugh me out of the room.

I don't understand why so many post on this thread want to turn this into "teacher bashing" or "teachers deserve the moon" type rhetoric. I think there are many of us out here paying MD taxes and valuing our teachers, who simply cannot relate to an across-the-board raise like 7%. Doesn't mean we don't appreciate the teachers, doesn't mean we don't think they're great. Just means we don't have endless supplies of money.

AGAIN - teachers DON'T pay taxes?

We just sit around and collect, right? But we never add a thing to the pot.

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry that you're jealous of our cushy, high paying jobs in the field of education.

FWIW, my friend who's been a Fed for fewer years than I've been teaching is making almost twice my salary.

So I have no idea what you're complaining about, as I'm certain your pay isn't exactly at the low end either

.

I'm neither jealous of your job in the field of education nor complaining about my equally high paying job in the field of social work. But I do believe that a 7% raise IS unequivocally CUSHY in the current economic climate (e.g. the County and State are crying "broke"). So enjoy your raise but please stop bitching about it -- particularly to your fellow public servants who are "raise-less" (and hoping that our particular jobs -- of helping children in crisis -- aren't eliminated/diminished when the budget ax comes around).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm so sorry that you're jealous of our cushy, high paying jobs in the field of education.

FWIW, my friend who's been a Fed for fewer years than I've been teaching is making almost twice my salary.

So I have no idea what you're complaining about, as I'm certain your pay isn't exactly at the low end either

.

I'm neither jealous of your job in the field of education nor complaining about my equally high paying job in the field of social work. But I do believe that a 7% raise IS unequivocally CUSHY in the current economic climate (e.g. the County and State are crying "broke"). So enjoy your raise but please stop bitching about it -- particularly to your fellow public servants who are "raise-less" (and hoping that our particular jobs -- of helping children in crisis -- aren't eliminated/diminished when the budget ax comes around).

The problem is not a 7% raise per se. I would love to see teachers earn 7%, 20% more BASED ON THEIR SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE. Across the board raises don't make any sense in general, much less in the economic context we live in. It is another example of a special group, be it greedy Wall Streeters or unionized teachers, beating the general interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing I will say ... happy teachers = better schools. Regardless of how you get there, that's just plain true. Not saying it needs to be a pay raise, but I would not want my child in a classroom with a disgruntled employee of the county.

Hence, let's pay all teachers $100k, bankrupt local and state budgets, raise taxes 30% across the board, cut non-education budgets, and have China own more of our outstanding debt. Do you really think teachers will be happy?

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher and I would LOVE to see teachers get fired. The problem is, you can't really "prove" they are bad teachers. I mean, if you ask any teacher in a school to name the three worst teachers, they could (and this would be mostly based on classroom management which leads to poor learning). It is obvious, but there is just no way of proving it to the point where someone can be fired.

BTW, our "huge" raise equates to an extra $65/month for me. While I am thankful to be getting it, everyone sees "7%" (I still don't know where that number comes from) and is all over us. I think because so many of you have such inflated salaries you think more is being paid out than it is.

Also, stop the "raise taxes" b.s. Where did the county say they were raising taxes to pay for this raise?