Northam to make permanent raise for teachers’ salaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School choice now. I was anti-voucher before, but not now.

Well, you and every other uneducated and brainwash-able citizen were probably always doomed to become Republicans. If the last 4 years didn’t teach you any lessons about that party and its policies, you are a lost cause.

Um. Democrats are the ones keeping schools closed and then paying teachers more for staying home. It’s galling. I am very educated (HYP, thanks) and have, over the course of the past year, become pro-voucher. The bottom line is that private school teachers are teaching!!!! DL for my first grader is no better than watching “educational” tv all day. Worthless.

Exactly! If privates are having no problems, why aren’t public school teachers going to work????

First of all I’ve been working the whole time
Second of all I go back in Monday

So shut upppppppp this was never up to us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GOOD NEWS: Because of our strong fiscal management, and Virginians working so hard to mitigate #COVID19, we are projecting an additional $700 million in revenues over the current budget cycle—that means a permanent raise for teachers and additional relief for Virginia families.

That cash belongs to us taxpayers.
Give it back!

That’s not how taxes work.

In many cases, that’s exactly how taxes work. Excess taxes are debated or used to pay down debt.

What I want to know is exactly how we ended up with a 700M surplus. If it is (as I suspect) because it is much cheaper not teach kids via DL without the building and maintenance overhead, then no. I am not in favor of using that money to reward the teachers who kept the schools shut.

Plus, if we are finally opening schools, why is this money not being spent to remediate every kid who needs it this summer? Teachers can earn their raise. Win-win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope this extends to other staff. The pay for those who support the school (IAs, subs(!!!), custodians and food service) is way below where it should be for the amount of work required of them. Everything rolls downhill at schools and the lowest paid are put in the worst positions.

I'm a teacher and I agree x100!

Thank you! It is galling to hear complaints from admin and parents when they can't find anyone who can support a 2E child in math or language arts at the secondary level, or find qualified subs for special ed. Maybe, just maybe, they should try raising the pay above poverty wages and they could find people fluent in math or skilled enough to handle a special ed classroom. Also, the custodians and food service workers have been busting their asses this whole time. They deserve hazard pay.

SPED teachers should have their own pay scale that factors in the extra time for meetings, writing and updating IEPs, etc. Plus, SPED teachers that work with ED kids, etc should get bonuses.

Agreed, but I get the feeling that teachers are all married to lawyers or something. What constitutes being poorly paid? To me that's under $40,000 net pay after benefits. Are there a lot of teachers and staff who get paid this? I feel like each year teachers and staff get pretty high raises and each year are still "underpaid".

The per capita average income for Fairfax is around $57,000 which net would be around $43,000, so under the average for the county would be under $43,000 net pay. How many FCPS employees are we talking about that make under the median income for the county? How many teachers and if so, how many years have these people been working? This is the average income which would put the average age around 40.

Not sure about teachers, but very very few IAs, PHAs, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, or subs make over $40,000 per year. The few who do have been at it for a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope this extends to other staff. The pay for those who support the school (IAs, subs(!!!), custodians and food service) is way below where it should be for the amount of work required of them. Everything rolls downhill at schools and the lowest paid are put in the worst positions.

I'm a teacher and I agree x100!

Thank you! It is galling to hear complaints from admin and parents when they can't find anyone who can support a 2E child in math or language arts at the secondary level, or find qualified subs for special ed. Maybe, just maybe, they should try raising the pay above poverty wages and they could find people fluent in math or skilled enough to handle a special ed classroom. Also, the custodians and food service workers have been busting their asses this whole time. They deserve hazard pay.

SPED teachers should have their own pay scale that factors in the extra time for meetings, writing and updating IEPs, etc. Plus, SPED teachers that work with ED kids, etc should get bonuses.

Agreed, but I get the feeling that teachers are all married to lawyers or something. What constitutes being poorly paid? To me that's under $40,000 net pay after benefits. Are there a lot of teachers and staff who get paid this? I feel like each year teachers and staff get pretty high raises and each year are still "underpaid".

Pay might be ok but I wouldn’t agree with the part in bold.

Pay is not ok when I can’t afford a single family house on 60k before taxes.

Get in line. I’m a 46 year old federal lawyer and I certainly couldn’t afford a single family home in Fairfax County on my salary. A 500k house is inexpensive here, and you would need to earn about 250k to afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GOOD NEWS: Because of our strong fiscal management, and Virginians working so hard to mitigate #COVID19, we are projecting an additional $700 million in revenues over the current budget cycle—that means a permanent raise for teachers and additional relief for Virginia families.

That cash belongs to us taxpayers.
Give it back!

That’s not how taxes work.

In many cases, that’s exactly how taxes work. Excess taxes are debated or used to pay down debt.

What I want to know is exactly how we ended up with a 700M surplus. If it is (as I suspect) because it is much cheaper not teach kids via DL without the building and maintenance overhead, then no. I am not in favor of using that money to reward the teachers who kept the schools shut.

Plus, if we are finally opening schools, why is this money not being spent to remediate every kid who needs it this summer? Teachers can earn their raise. Win-win.

Excellent point that DL is SO. MUCH. CHEAPER. Our tax bill needs to drop!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School choice now. I was anti-voucher before, but not now.

Well, you and every other uneducated and brainwash-able citizen were probably always doomed to become Republicans. If the last 4 years didn’t teach you any lessons about that party and its policies, you are a lost cause.

The last 4 years taught me the opposite. You vote for policies and people’s records. Not political parties. Everyone knew who and what Trump was in 2016. He was a Dem most of his life. And if he had run as a Dem I would have run screaming to the much less destructive embrace of whatever version of Mitt the Rs would have run. And don’t say Dems don’t have bad politicians. Trump is uniquely awful. But I am not voting for Omeish again for SB, full stop. She is all kinds on in over her head and incompetent. And I wish I lived in Fritch or Cohen’s District so I could vote against them (I have Pekarsky and am impressed. I don’t love all her decisions, but I think she does a good job making thoughtful choices).

So no. I’m not going to ignore a full year of closed schools that didn’t have to happen in order to toe the party line. Especially at the state and local level. I’ll see who prioritizes kids over unions and vote for that person. It sickens me that thus far the Dems have shown little willingness to consider kids over union dollars. I thought Dems were better than that. Fool me once...

How about this— bring me Dem who care about public education. You know, like Dems are supposed to. And by that I mean educating kids, not serving as a job program for staff. I’m furious I have to vote R to get this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GOOD NEWS: Because of our strong fiscal management, and Virginians working so hard to mitigate #COVID19, we are projecting an additional $700 million in revenues over the current budget cycle—that means a permanent raise for teachers and additional relief for Virginia families.

How is there 700 million in revenues? Seems like many states are facing budget shortfalls due to the pandemic.

This is the question Northam hasn’t answered and won’t answer directly. I’m sorry “good fiscal management,met” does not create $700M during a once in a century disaster. Is he repurposing CARES Act, in which case, sorry, the unemployed low wage workers need it more and for the love of all things holy why are we not funding distance learning hubs for the three days kids aren’t in school? Or the savings of not opening schools? In which case nope, not rewarding teachers for that. Or ???? Sales and hospitality taxes are down. Job loss means loss of state income tax. UI payments are way up. We aren’t saving money on Medicaid in a pandemic. Local governments are laying people off. And we are supposed to funding a mass vaccine event.

So where, exactly, did $700M come from? Before we give anyone a raise, the taxpayers deserve an actual answer. Since Northam is being so cavy, I expect people won’t like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope this extends to other staff. The pay for those who support the school (IAs, subs(!!!), custodians and food service) is way below where it should be for the amount of work required of them. Everything rolls downhill at schools and the lowest paid are put in the worst positions.

I'm a teacher and I agree x100!

Thank you! It is galling to hear complaints from admin and parents when they can't find anyone who can support a 2E child in math or language arts at the secondary level, or find qualified subs for special ed. Maybe, just maybe, they should try raising the pay above poverty wages and they could find people fluent in math or skilled enough to handle a special ed classroom. Also, the custodians and food service workers have been busting their asses this whole time. They deserve hazard pay.

SPED teachers should have their own pay scale that factors in the extra time for meetings, writing and updating IEPs, etc. Plus, SPED teachers that work with ED kids, etc should get bonuses.

Agreed, but I get the feeling that teachers are all married to lawyers or something. What constitutes being poorly paid? To me that's under $40,000 net pay after benefits. Are there a lot of teachers and staff who get paid this? I feel like each year teachers and staff get pretty high raises and each year are still "underpaid".

Pay might be ok but I wouldn’t agree with the part in bold.

Pay is not ok when I can’t afford a single family house on 60k before taxes.

How many years have you worked and why do you need a single family home with no other tenants if it's just you? Why not an apartment or condo or townhouse? DC is a big city and is expensive. Many people live in DC and make under $53,000 and still rent or own. For that amount, you could probably afford a house around $250,000. There are 111 single family homes I'm finding in Prince George's County, 5 homes in Prince William, 4 in Montgomery County, and 1 in Loudoun. Good luck on your home search.

Family of 4. Live in LoCo. Not trying to go elsewhere.

I am an ES teacher and assuming you have a MA $60k is about what a third year teacher makes. I wouldn’t expect most families of 4 with a single income earner 3 years into a career to be able to afford a SFH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope this extends to other staff. The pay for those who support the school (IAs, subs(!!!), custodians and food service) is way below where it should be for the amount of work required of them. Everything rolls downhill at schools and the lowest paid are put in the worst positions.

I'm a teacher and I agree x100!

Thank you! It is galling to hear complaints from admin and parents when they can't find anyone who can support a 2E child in math or language arts at the secondary level, or find qualified subs for special ed. Maybe, just maybe, they should try raising the pay above poverty wages and they could find people fluent in math or skilled enough to handle a special ed classroom. Also, the custodians and food service workers have been busting their asses this whole time. They deserve hazard pay.

SPED teachers should have their own pay scale that factors in the extra time for meetings, writing and updating IEPs, etc. Plus, SPED teachers that work with ED kids, etc should get bonuses.

Agreed, but I get the feeling that teachers are all married to lawyers or something. What constitutes being poorly paid? To me that's under $40,000 net pay after benefits. Are there a lot of teachers and staff who get paid this? I feel like each year teachers and staff get pretty high raises and each year are still "underpaid".

Pay might be ok but I wouldn’t agree with the part in bold.

Pay is not ok when I can’t afford a single family house on 60k before taxes.

How many years have you worked and why do you need a single family home with no other tenants if it's just you? Why not an apartment or condo or townhouse? DC is a big city and is expensive. Many people live in DC and make under $53,000 and still rent or own. For that amount, you could probably afford a house around $250,000. There are 111 single family homes I'm finding in Prince George's County, 5 homes in Prince William, 4 in Montgomery County, and 1 in Loudoun. Good luck on your home search.

Family of 4. Live in LoCo. Not trying to go elsewhere.

I am an ES teacher and assuming you have a MA $60k is about what a third year teacher makes. I wouldn’t expect most families of 4 with a single income earner 3 years into a career to be able to afford a SFH.

5th year but just BA. Not MA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope this extends to other staff. The pay for those who support the school (IAs, subs(!!!), custodians and food service) is way below where it should be for the amount of work required of them. Everything rolls downhill at schools and the lowest paid are put in the worst positions.

I'm a teacher and I agree x100!

Thank you! It is galling to hear complaints from admin and parents when they can't find anyone who can support a 2E child in math or language arts at the secondary level, or find qualified subs for special ed. Maybe, just maybe, they should try raising the pay above poverty wages and they could find people fluent in math or skilled enough to handle a special ed classroom. Also, the custodians and food service workers have been busting their asses this whole time. They deserve hazard pay.

SPED teachers should have their own pay scale that factors in the extra time for meetings, writing and updating IEPs, etc. Plus, SPED teachers that work with ED kids, etc should get bonuses.

Agreed, but I get the feeling that teachers are all married to lawyers or something. What constitutes being poorly paid? To me that's under $40,000 net pay after benefits. Are there a lot of teachers and staff who get paid this? I feel like each year teachers and staff get pretty high raises and each year are still "underpaid".

Pay might be ok but I wouldn’t agree with the part in bold.

Pay is not ok when I can’t afford a single family house on 60k before taxes.

How many years have you worked and why do you need a single family home with no other tenants if it's just you? Why not an apartment or condo or townhouse? DC is a big city and is expensive. Many people live in DC and make under $53,000 and still rent or own. For that amount, you could probably afford a house around $250,000. There are 111 single family homes I'm finding in Prince George's County, 5 homes in Prince William, 4 in Montgomery County, and 1 in Loudoun. Good luck on your home search.

Family of 4. Live in LoCo. Not trying to go elsewhere.

I am an ES teacher and assuming you have a MA $60k is about what a third year teacher makes. I wouldn’t expect most families of 4 with a single income earner 3 years into a career to be able to afford a SFH.

5th year but just BA. Not MA.

So you’re a 27 year old single earner without a masters in the most affluent and educated part of the country and you expect to be able to buy a SFH? Wow.

Hon— the cost of living here is high, housing values are off the charts and you are wayyyyy overvaluing your (relative to everyone else here) education and experience. You’d be a lot happier if you headed back to Alabama or tried a second career as a first wife. Although the clock is ticking on that one. Or be an Admin Assistant. If your cute, maybe that would work. And you could buy a charming little cottage with the salary. SMH.

[Anonymous]

There are parts of Virginia where the teachers don’t make squat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope this extends to other staff. The pay for those who support the school (IAs, subs(!!!), custodians and food service) is way below where it should be for the amount of work required of them. Everything rolls downhill at schools and the lowest paid are put in the worst positions.

I'm a teacher and I agree x100!

Thank you! It is galling to hear complaints from admin and parents when they can't find anyone who can support a 2E child in math or language arts at the secondary level, or find qualified subs for special ed. Maybe, just maybe, they should try raising the pay above poverty wages and they could find people fluent in math or skilled enough to handle a special ed classroom. Also, the custodians and food service workers have been busting their asses this whole time. They deserve hazard pay.

SPED teachers should have their own pay scale that factors in the extra time for meetings, writing and updating IEPs, etc. Plus, SPED teachers that work with ED kids, etc should get bonuses.

Agreed, but I get the feeling that teachers are all married to lawyers or something. What constitutes being poorly paid? To me that's under $40,000 net pay after benefits. Are there a lot of teachers and staff who get paid this? I feel like each year teachers and staff get pretty high raises and each year are still "underpaid".

Pay might be ok but I wouldn’t agree with the part in bold.

Pay is not ok when I can’t afford a single family house on 60k before taxes.

How many years have you worked and why do you need a single family home with no other tenants if it's just you? Why not an apartment or condo or townhouse? DC is a big city and is expensive. Many people live in DC and make under $53,000 and still rent or own. For that amount, you could probably afford a house around $250,000. There are 111 single family homes I'm finding in Prince George's County, 5 homes in Prince William, 4 in Montgomery County, and 1 in Loudoun. Good luck on your home search.

Family of 4. Live in LoCo. Not trying to go elsewhere.

I am an ES teacher and assuming you have a MA $60k is about what a third year teacher makes. I wouldn’t expect most families of 4 with a single income earner 3 years into a career to be able to afford a SFH.

5th year but just BA. Not MA.

So you’re a 27 year old single earner without a masters in the most affluent and educated part of the country and you expect to be able to buy a SFH? Wow.

Hon— the cost of living here is high, housing values are off the charts and you are wayyyyy overvaluing your (relative to everyone else here) education and experience. You’d be a lot happier if you headed back to Alabama or tried a second career as a first wife. Although the clock is ticking on that one. Or be an Admin Assistant. If your cute, maybe that would work. And you could buy a charming little cottage with the salary. SMH.

She’s dumb to engage with you, but you’re a douche.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope this extends to other staff. The pay for those who support the school (IAs, subs(!!!), custodians and food service) is way below where it should be for the amount of work required of them. Everything rolls downhill at schools and the lowest paid are put in the worst positions.

I'm a teacher and I agree x100!

Thank you! It is galling to hear complaints from admin and parents when they can't find anyone who can support a 2E child in math or language arts at the secondary level, or find qualified subs for special ed. Maybe, just maybe, they should try raising the pay above poverty wages and they could find people fluent in math or skilled enough to handle a special ed classroom. Also, the custodians and food service workers have been busting their asses this whole time. They deserve hazard pay.

SPED teachers should have their own pay scale that factors in the extra time for meetings, writing and updating IEPs, etc. Plus, SPED teachers that work with ED kids, etc should get bonuses.

Agreed, but I get the feeling that teachers are all married to lawyers or something. What constitutes being poorly paid? To me that's under $40,000 net pay after benefits. Are there a lot of teachers and staff who get paid this? I feel like each year teachers and staff get pretty high raises and each year are still "underpaid".

Pay might be ok but I wouldn’t agree with the part in bold.

Pay is not ok when I can’t afford a single family house on 60k before taxes.

How many years have you worked and why do you need a single family home with no other tenants if it's just you? Why not an apartment or condo or townhouse? DC is a big city and is expensive. Many people live in DC and make under $53,000 and still rent or own. For that amount, you could probably afford a house around $250,000. There are 111 single family homes I'm finding in Prince George's County, 5 homes in Prince William, 4 in Montgomery County, and 1 in Loudoun. Good luck on your home search.

Family of 4. Live in LoCo. Not trying to go elsewhere.

I am an ES teacher and assuming you have a MA $60k is about what a third year teacher makes. I wouldn’t expect most families of 4 with a single income earner 3 years into a career to be able to afford a SFH.

5th year but just BA. Not MA.

PP here. Thanks for the additional info. I still don't think it is realistic to expect a 4 person family to be able to afford a SFH after 5 years with a BA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this better have a contingency for teacher teaching IN PERSON.. not virtual, not through an Ipad.. Teaching, in -person...

I’m a teacher who teaches in person. There hadn’t “better” be any such thing. My colleagues are working hard at home too and aren’t lesser teachers because they have health issues.

Yes it better be for teachers that are teaching in-person. That's where the demand and apparent shortage is.. there's absolutely no shortage of teachers who want to teach from home and get the same salary and benefits..

[Anonymous]

Oh the irony - when this all shakes out and NOVA realizes how many students they have lost to private/catholic schools, when word gets out how messed up our educational system is, housing prices will be affected, taxes will be affected, jobs in education will be affected. This is all going to look so different in a couple of years when the dust settles.