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.

So which is it: it's a sweet gig, or it's such a demanding job that you deserve to paid a premium?

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have better health and retirement benefits than most people on dcum.

Quick show of hands: who got an 8% raise last year?

Anyone?

8% is a lot.

What's a raise... neither my husband or I have gotten one in years.

8% increase to reward and retain the best teachers, I can see.

8% increase to reward ALL teachers for just showing up, that's a joke.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8% raises would be insane...especially for a teacher who has summers off and a tremendous amount of vacation days (winter and spring break, holidays).

Many of us work over our breaks - planning and grading.

I know you don't care, which is fine with me. I'm not here to "compete" with you. I'm a career changer. So I know what working 12 months is like.

I will say, however, that many of us took these jobs fully aware of the fact that we'd be hitting 6 figures after TWENTY YEARS. Yes, that's how long it took me to make that much. I'm also factoring in two advanced degrees.

Having said that, while this job takes away some time from my kids - as in quality time b/c I'm planning and grading - I'm still around. I'm physically present. We spend our breaks together and we're home (two teacher HH) to meet the buses. I wouldn't trade this time with my kids for anything. never dread summers either!

We all choose jobs that fit our personalities and lifestyles. I was a teacher long before I had kids, but it's the best fit for our family.

So to all of the "haters," as my kids would say, hate away. If we get a raise, I'll be thrilled. If not, I'll still love the job despite the fact that it's the most difficult career I've ever had.

I never understood the "hate" people on DCUM show teachers. Anything... even teacher appreciation week and they are up in arms. I absolutely love my child's teacher. It's amazes me what my little kindergartener is able to do now. I think teachers is sorely, sorely underpaid.

Anonymous wrote:I know I'm an old rust belt refuge, but union folks really need to cut out the old "salary that shows the importance of their job" and "they work way harder than people think" cliches. We're pretty sick of hearing them. Come up with some new material.

In the real world, the 1950s are over. We are paid as little as it would take to be replaced with the next available person (/robot /algorythm /person in India) who can do the job. And, seriously, nobody cares how "hard" you work.

Speak for yourself. Nobody cares what are sick of hearing and your dismissive rude attitude. They deserve a raise. It matters and we care.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that the Council members are still giving themselves raises while denying others their previously negotiated raises.

That's the hard part of this to swallow for me. It is never "we're in this together". Council members and top execs still get raises and everyone else is told to shove off.

While the raises are high, they were actually designed that way because these workers agreed to forgo raises during the economic crisis. First things, first, why doesn't the county try to trim some wasteful spending? For example, why do county parks need their own police department? How much are they wasting on unnecessary business travel? And if the situation is so dire, why is there still a development impact tax exemption for downtown Bethesda?

Since they are failing to address real issues and only want to break employment agreements and increase taxes on citizens, I cannot believe that the county is serious at all. Frankly the shoddy state of our county government bothers me a whole lot.

When are they up for re-election?

It's back breaking but you are also home for bus pickup? Doesn't sound so tough. I'm happy if I'm home for dinner.

Anonymous wrote:8% raises would be insane...especially for a teacher who has summers off and a tremendous amount of vacation days (winter and spring break, holidays).

Many of us work over our breaks - planning and grading.

I know you don't care, which is fine with me. I'm not here to "compete" with you. I'm a career changer. So I know what working 12 months is like.

I will say, however, that many of us took these jobs fully aware of the fact that we'd be hitting 6 figures after TWENTY YEARS. Yes, that's how long it took me to make that much. I'm also factoring in two advanced degrees.

Having said that, while this job takes away some time from my kids - as in quality time b/c I'm planning and grading - I'm still around. I'm physically present. We spend our breaks together and we're home (two teacher HH) to meet the buses. I wouldn't trade this time with my kids for anything. never dread summers either!

We all choose jobs that fit our personalities and lifestyles. I was a teacher long before I had kids, but it's the best fit for our family.

So to all of the "haters," as my kids would say, hate away. If we get a raise, I'll be thrilled. If not, I'll still love the job despite the fact that it's the most difficult career I've ever had.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone checked the history of the 8% raises? Teachers voted to give up their raises during the economic crisis in exchange for no new initiatives being introduced until raises were restored. That was many years ago, maybe about 7-8. They have lost thousands in aggregate income since they are still actually one step below where they should be. Meanwhile multiple new initiatives were implemented during this time. Basically the raise in question is the one that would have gotten them back to where they should be on the step scale.

I don't begrudge teachers the raises that had been previously negotiated. I think that the County Council is self-serving and should offer to forego their raises if they're expecting the same of others. They also need to start to limit the incredible amount of overtime that some county employees (not teachers) are eligible to earn. Some doubled their salary in overtime.

Very few county employees get OT... usually just police and fire fighters. When I was a county employee, we never got OT. Sometimes we could get comp. time or flex but that was about it.

Have to agree that 8 percent is insane when inflation is so low. Absolutely crazy.

Has anyone checked the history of the 8% raises? Teachers voted to give up their raises during the economic crisis in exchange for no new initiatives being introduced until raises were restored. That was many years ago, maybe about 7-8. They have lost thousands in aggregate income since they are still actually one step below where they should be. Meanwhile multiple new initiatives were implemented during this time. Basically the raise in question is the one that would have gotten them back to where they should be on the step scale.

I don't begrudge teachers the raises that had been previously negotiated. I think that the County Council is self-serving and should offer to forego their raises if they're expecting the same of others. They also need to start to limit the incredible amount of overtime that some county employees (not teachers) are eligible to earn. Some doubled their salary in overtime.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have better health and retirement benefits than most people on dcum.

Quick show of hands: who got an 8% raise last year?

Anyone?

8% is a lot.

While my employer is legendarily stingy on salary increases, I got a 2% raise the last several years. However no raise in 2016 due to reorganization and related expenses.

Next raise opportunity is March, 2017. I'm not holding my breath.

8% is pretty large.

We didn't get raises during the recession (like many orgs). We got 3% increases last year, and we are hoping to get 3% raises this year.

I'm sorry, but 8% is crazy.

What was their increase last year? And what about step increases?

Anonymous wrote:They have better health and retirement benefits than most people on dcum.

Quick show of hands: who got an 8% raise last year?

Anyone?

8% is a lot.

While my employer is legendarily stingy on salary increases, I got a 2% raise the last several years. However no raise in 2016 due to reorganization and related expenses.

Next raise opportunity is March, 2017. I'm not holding my breath.

8% is pretty large.

I know I'm an old rust belt refuge, but union folks really need to cut out the old "salary that shows the importance of their job" and "they work way harder than people think" cliches. We're pretty sick of hearing them. Come up with some new material.

In the real world, the 1950s are over. We are paid as little as it would take to be replaced with the next available person (/robot /algorythm /person in India) who can do the job. And, seriously, nobody cares how "hard" you work.

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that the Council members are still giving themselves raises while denying others their previously negotiated raises.

That's the hard part of this to swallow for me. It is never "we're in this together". Council members and top execs still get raises and everyone else is told to shove off.

While the raises are high, they were actually designed that way because these workers agreed to forgo raises during the economic crisis. First things, first, why doesn't the county try to trim some wasteful spending? For example, why do county parks need their own police department? How much are they wasting on unnecessary business travel? And if the situation is so dire, why is there still a development impact tax exemption for downtown Bethesda?

Since they are failing to address real issues and only want to break employment agreements and increase taxes on citizens, I cannot believe that the county is serious at all. Frankly the shoddy state of our county government bothers me a whole lot.