Pay Teachers More

Cracking the Nest Egg: The Privatization of Alaska's Retirement System

By David Lawrence

Labor in the Era of Globalization

Right-wing Alaska legislators, working in conjunction with an arrogant and mean-spirited governor, have pushed through a new, privatized retirement plan for public-sector workers such as teachers and state employees. This plan is very similar to the increasingly common 401(k) plans that have been favored in the last couple of decades by corporations looking to increase profits.

The idea is pretty simple. Take away the traditional “defined benefit” pension that paid a retired working person a guaranteed monthly payment, and replace it with a cheaper “defined contribution” plan. In a defined contribution plan, the employer and the employee regularly contribute an amount of cash into the employee’s private account for retirement – maybe.

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*Investing in Teachers will Pay for Itself

2005-09-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

From the Teaching Commission,
a blue-ribbon panel of 19 leaders
in government, business, philanthropy, and education:

January 14, 2004
Economist Eric Hanushek points out, investing in teaching to address student achievement problems will pay for itself.

Hanushek estimates that significant improvements in education over a 20-year period could lead to as much as a 4 percent addition to the Gross Domestic Product. In today's terms, that would be over $400 billion, an amount that rivals total current expenditure on K-12 public education.

"The quality of teachers in our schools affects every aspect of our society, from jobs to national security," said Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., former chairman of IBM and chairman of The Teaching Commission. "The nation will not continue to lead or to create new jobs if we persist in viewing teaching-the profession that makes all other professions possible-as a second-rate occupation."

http://www.theteachingcommission.org/press/2004_01_14_01.html

The Teaching Commission is a three-year effort funded by private donations and headquartered in New York City at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan.

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=260627

Taxing Wall Street Transactions

2005-08-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

Better pay to keep the city's best and the brightest teachers
A look at education in the mayoral race
2005 MAYORAL CAMPAGIN

Miller still mum on school choic

BY CAROL EISENBERG
STAFF WRITER
New York Newsday, Inc.
NYNewsday.com

August 29, 2005

This is one in a series of stories on major issues in the Democratic mayoral primary race.

Soon after his election, Michael Bloomberg told voters that he expected to be judged on one issue -- whether he made good on his promise to reform the city's beleaguered public schools.

"The buck stops here," he promised.

Nearly four years later, advocates give the mayor mixed reviews on his turnaround of a famously intractable system with about 1.1 million students and 1,300 schools. Yet the Democratic mayoral hopefuls have gotten little traction with critiques of school overcrowding, high dropout rates and the flight of seasoned teachers to suburban schools -- in large part because the mayor has been able to trumpet strong gains in elementary school students' scores in reading and math and his successful takeover of the schools.

"Voters understand that turning a bureaucracy like that around is like turning around a battleship," said Douglas Muzzio, a political science professor at Baruch College. "They're saying, 'There are signs of progress. We know the mayor is committed. Let's give him a shot.'

"The flip side is that there are a lot of issues that are unresolved, such as overcrowding. But it doesn't seem as if the candidates have been able to put together a coherent, cogent and compelling critique of the mayor and a blueprint of what they would do differently."

Certainly, that inability to galvanize public opinion is not for lack of trying. All four Democrats have raised questions about the significance of higher scores on standardized tests, accusing the administration of teaching to the tests and hammering away at the need for smaller classes and competitive pay to stop the brain drain of seasoned teachers.

Focus on class size

"We've seen all four candidates trying to point out the mayor's record, though not necessarily all that successfully," said Leonie Haimson of the city-based advocacy group Class Size Matters, which supports dramatic reductions in class size.

To that end, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller (D-Manhattan) is spending $700,000 to broadcast a TV advertisement spotlighting his proposal to reduce class size by 20 percent, a centerpiece of his campaign.

"You know how kids learn best?" he asks in the ad. "When they get attention, when they're challenged. It's tough when you have too many kids in a classroom."

Miller proposes to put no more than 17 students in kindergarten through third-grade classes, 20 students in grades four and five, and 23 students in junior high classes -- a plan he would pay for by extending a tax surcharge on people who earn more than $500,000 a year, which is set to expire at year's end.

Class sizes for kindergarten through third grade average about 22 students, compared with 20 statewide, according to Class Size Matters. Junior high classes average 28 students in the city, compared with 21 statewide, according to the group.

While some predict state lawmakers are unlikely to support Miller's proposed extension, he believes officials would back proposals pushed by both the mayor and the City Council. The surcharge was imposed at the city's request to deal with the economic fallout of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Fernando Ferrer, the former Bronx borough president who is the Democratic front-runner, has tried to switch the conversation from test scores to low graduation rates.

Graduating more kids

"Let me be crystal clear," he said in a speech last month at the CUNY Graduate Center. "The mayor's education plan revolves around raising the test scores of kids who stay in school. When up to 50 percent of our kids don't make it through school, I don't call that a plan. I call that a failure."

Ferrer vows to graduate 50,000 more students in four years through a centralized student tracking system, smaller classes and expanded pre-kindergarten and after-school programs. He said he would pay for some of those proposals by restoring an expired tax on Wall Street transactions -- an idea criticized as another middle-class tax increase by rival Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens/Brooklyn).

Weiner also supports smaller classes, but spends more time talking about what he calls the core issues -- better pay to keep the city's best and the brightest teachers, restoring discipline in the classroom and a back-to-basics curriculum. He derides Bloomberg's much-ballyhooed reforms as "gimmicks."

Eye on prize teachers

"We need to be sure that education dollars go to real priorities first, like teacher pay raises and classroom instruction," he said. "I am committed to doing that as mayor."

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-skul0829,0,3780544.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-left

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2005-08-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

Barbara Oaff looks at the best UK careers for a new start

Sunday August 28, 2005
The Observer

Want to change careers and ensure that you get snapped up once you get trained? The trick is to pick a profession that's in short supply - and there has never been a better time to take this approach.
The Lloyds TSB Business in Britain Survey suggests that demand for particular skills is at a 12-year peak. More than half of British companies say they are experiencing sustained difficulty in recruiting. The big question is: which jobs, in which industries?

Education

The National Union of Teachers says there are dire shortages in almost all secondary school subjects. The most acute are in music, languages, maths, science and technology. Undergraduates must do a three-year teaching degree; graduates take a one-year qualification. Bursaries are available and 'golden hellos' can be offered on top of the basic pay of £18,560.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/cash/story/0,6903,1557630,00.html

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All Scientists are Born Teachers

2005-08-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

Niswonger Foundation Is Now Focusing On Educational Policy
By: By TOM YANCEY/Staff Writer
Source: The Greeneville Sun
08-27-2005

Oliver “Buzz” Thomas, director of the Niswonger Foundation, told the Noon Rotary Club on Tuesday that the locally based philanthropic organization is “diversifying” into educational policy.

Thomas presented an overview of the foundation, which was created four years ago by Scott Niswonger, a local business leader, philanthropist and chairman of Landair Transport Inc.

Speaking of the Niswonger Foundation, Thomas said, “We’re not just in the scholarship and leadership training business, and we’re not just in the school project business, we’re in the policy business.”

The Niswonger Foundation “is starting to get involved on the policy side in our state,” he said, because “what goes on in Nashville affects Greeneville.”

He noted that Gov. Phil Bredesen and Niswonger were the keynote speakers at a meeting on mathematics and science education that the foundation co-sponsored last week in Oak Ridge, as reported in last Saturday’s newspaper.

“A lot of great things happened” at that summit, Thomas said, not the least of which was that 25 businesses “signed up to partner with schools” on designing and implementing improvements, including professional development and tutoring, “things that need to be done to improve the quality of education” in our state.

Another policy development urged by the Niswonger Foundation that Thomas noted was that of a rule change by the state Department of Education that will “enable talented scientists to get certified” to teach in their area of expertise by taking only 50 hours of pre-service training, instead of two years of college.

Gov. Bredesen, who earned a degree in physics from Harvard University, has said many times that he does not believe it is reasonable that he should have to go back to college for two years to teach a high school physics class in Tennessee, or that the president of Eastman Chemical Co., the state’s largest industry, should have to have two more years of college before being allowed to teach high school chemistry.

Thomas said Gov. Bredesen changed the rule for scientists who want to go into full-time teaching as a second career.

To supplement that, he said, the Niswonger Foundation lobbied successfully for creation of a special rule for people with a strong scientific background who might want to teach one class.

Recruiting Scientists

Few scientists who retire are likely to want to go into teaching full-time, Thomas said, but they might be willing to teach one advanced placement (AP) course in chemistry, physics or mathematics “to help the local school system out.”

Another way the Niswonger Foundation is seeking to influence policy is its sponsorship, as a partner with the state, of the “Tennessee Teacher of the Year” contest.

“We agreed to do that on the condition that they would change the criteria” by which the winners are selected, he said.

The main criteria that the Niswonger Foundation asked for and got was that teachers be selected whose students’ scores on value-added tests have improved consistently.

“We need to pick teachers whose kids learn,” he said, and Tennessee has a tool for measuring this in the value-added scores, he said.

He said value-added “tells us what every kid in every classroom learns, from the beginning of the year to the end.”

To be the teacher of the year, Thomas said, “You ought to have data to show your kids learn more than other kids learn,” as measured by value-added scores.

As an incentive to get more teachers to apply for the award, the Niswonger Foundation offered, for the first time, “big cash prizes,” specifically, $5,000 for the top teacher in each of the state’s three major regional divisions (east, middle and west) and $1,000 each to the three top finalists in each division.

The prizes go directly to the teacher as “money in your pocket,” not to their school systems, he said.

To apply, he said, teachers have to agree to participate in professional development, and to mentor younger teachers.

Mentoring is a critical need, he said, because 40 percent of new teachers drop out of the field in the first five years after receiving their college degrees.

To overcome this, “You have to give your teachers the support and mentoring they need,” he said.

Foundation’s Local Efforts

Locally, Thomas noted that the Niswonger Foundation helped the Greene County School System start its first summer credit-recovery program this past summer.

“We got into it because of high school graduation rates,” Thomas said. Greene County’s rate is about 70 percent, while the federal No Child Left Behind law calls for graduation rates in the 90 percent range.

Failing a class and being unable to recover the lost credit quickly and efficiently is said to be the single biggest cause of high school dropouts, he said.

Greene County would have paid $2,000 for teachers participating in the six-week summer session, but “we doubled that, to get the best teachers, and we did,” Thomas said.

He said one teacher told him that the increase meant that, for the first time in his life, he did not have to do farm work during the summer to make ends meet.

This fall, he said, the Niswonger Foundation will start an after-school tutoring program in county high schools, also doubling the previously customary rate of pay.

Niswonger’s Objective

Thomas said Scott Niswonger became concerned about the future of Upper East Tennessee after hearing other business CEOs express hesitation about locating here because they did not think the local workforce was well enough educated to be competitive in the 21st century.

As America’s economy has shifted from being primarily agricultural and manufacturing to the point, Thomas noted, where 70 percent of jobs are in information or technology, new “cutting edge” industries were hesitant about locating where they had concerns about the educational systems.

Thomas, a former minister, attorney, author, educator and member of Phi Beta Kappa who was on the school board in Maryville when he was hired to head the Niswonger Foundation, said he had his own concerns about Tennessee falling behind not only nationally but internationally.

He said that Tennessee ranks 46th in the United States in spending per student, and 47th in its high school graduation rate. He noted that New York spends roughly $9,000 per year, per student, while Tennessee spends about $5,000. Importance Of Money

“Money’s not the only issue,” or even the most important issue, Thomas said, but it is a big factor. He also noted that Tennessee ranks third in the nation in personal bankruptcies, which can be affected by earning potential.

He said high school graduates on average earn $20,000 per year, while college graduates earn $42,000 on average, and those completing graduate school earn $56,000, on average.

The Niswonger Foundation’s two major programs are those of scholarships and leadership training for young people.

“We believe if you don’t have strong leaders, you don’t have much of a future,” Thomas said.

http://www.greene.xtn.net/index.php?table=news&template=news.view.subscriber&newsid=123847
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Missoula County Public Schools District and its Union

2005-08-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

Still no contract at MCPS
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian

A third day of mediated negotiations produced more proposals but little progress Friday between the Missoula County Public Schools District and its union of classified employees.

With school scheduled to start Tuesday, both sides appeared frustrated by the wide gap between their salary offers, but were willing to keep talking.

"If we get relatively close, we will continue to bargain as long as there is hope in the bargain," union negotiation adviser Bill Howell said Friday evening. "We don't want to strike."

The school district has scheduled a special school board meeting for Monday to discuss and act on a strike plan if the Merged Missoula Classified Employees Organization workers walk off the job.

The union represents about 350 workers, including secretaries, para-educators, media specialists, food service workers and custodians. Superintendent Jim Clark said he would prepare the plan over the weekend.

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/08/27/news/local/news03.txt

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Only the Poor Should Pay More to Fund Schools

2005-08-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sales tax may fund schools
Proposed change could cut property levy by two-thirds

By JAMES SALZER and NANCY BADERTSCHER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/28/05

Georgians are about to be asked if they prefer property taxes or higher sales taxes to fund local schools.

Choosing higher sales taxes would slash property taxes for many Georgians by two-thirds or more. But it would also mean a jump in the cost of everything from cars to cans of corn.

WHAT IT MEANS

Property tax: A family owning a home in the Gwinnett County school district with a value of $240,000 and an assessed value of $95,840, after exemptions, would pay $1,740 in school property taxes.

Sales tax: If someone spends $20,000 a year in taxable items in Gwinnett County, the amount they pay in sales tax would increase from $1,200 to $1,800.

WHAT THE CANDIDATES SAY

Gov. Sonny Perdue (Republican)
Position: Undecided
"We can't comment on hypothetical legislation," said his spokesman, Dan McLagan. "We have to see something on paper."

Secretary of State Cathy Cox (Democrat)
Position: Undecided
"If there's a better mix of revenue to support our schools that also provides tax relief, we should take a look at it. These hearings will give us a chance to learn the details of this proposal and explore any consequences. Whatever approach we take must do no harm to our public schools."

Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor (Democrat)
Position: Against
"I oppose this because it raises people's taxes and guarantees more school budget cuts."

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0805/28mettax.html

Teacher Performance Pay

2005-08-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

Fergus considering teacher performance pay
Fergus Falls, Minnesota
Friday, August 26, 2005

By Sarah Horner

Fergus Falls District 544 is cautiously investigating a new policy that could change the way teachers get paid.

http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/articles/2005/08/26/news/news03.txt

Teacher Reimbursement for Higher Education, too!

2005-08-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Sayre board, teachers to return to bargaining table
By: Aaron Cahall
08/24/2005

The Daily & Sunday Review

The Sayre Area School District Board and the Sayre Area Educators Association will return to the bargaining table following the second rejection of a fact-finder's report and proposed solution by the SAEA.

The report, released Aug. 10, contained proposed solutions to several issues, determined by an independent fact-finder through interviews and meetings with both sides. The teacher's union rejected the report Monday as well as at its Aug 4. meeting, while the board accepted the report during its meeting on Aug. 8.

If either side rejects the report, it is made public, and a second vote on the report is held between five and 10 days after the release date. The report, prepared on behalf of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board by John J. Dunn Sr., recommends a percentage increase in salary for all four years of the agreement, and would have teachers pay into health care costs during the third and fourth years.

Both sides said they will now return to the bargaining table in the near future, but neither the union nor the board named a specific date. Both said a meeting would be planned as soon as schedules allowed.

Sayre Area School District teachers have been without a contract since their previous four-year contract expired on June 30, 2004. Since that time, teachers have been working under the terms of the expired contract

SAEA President Christine Sindoni said the union seeks "clarification" about several issues, among them health care costs and teacher reimbursement for higher education.

http://www.thedailyreview.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15086426&BRD=2276&PAG=461&dept_id=465049&rfi=6

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html
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"Pay us like your child's future is in our hands."

2005-08-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

300 Seminole teachers rally for higher salaries
The county's $30,000 annual pay for a first-year instructor ranks at the bottom in the region.
Dave Weber | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted August 24, 2005

Teachers picket. (JULIE FLETCHER/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Aug 24, 2005

SANFORD -- Teachers unhappy with a proposed pay plan picketed the Seminole County School Board office Tuesday to press for higher salaries.

About 300 teachers paraded outside the school district office Tuesday evening while the School Board met inside. They carried placards saying, "A schools, F salaries" and "Pay us like your child's future is in our hands."

An airplane hired by the teachers union circled overhead pulling a banner reading, "Highest performance, lowest paid."

Teachers said they want higher pay and a more equitable pay scale.

"I couldn't even afford to live in Lake Mary anymore, so I moved to Volusia County, where the cost of housing is lower," said Marc Baltzell, 34, a technology teacher at Lyman High who has taught for 10 years and earns $31,874 a year. He grew up in Lake Mary.

Rich Hillman, president of the Seminole Education Association, which represents the county's 4,400 public-school teachers in collective bargaining with the School Board, said teachers are tired of working for inequitable pay and decided to protest.

Officials say it's the first major disagreement between teachers and the School Board in years. Hillman was elected president of the union in the spring after promising to take a stronger stand for teachers.

Most other area school districts have resolved teacher-pay issues. Negotiators in Seminole reached an impasse last week, and teachers have asked the state's Public Employees Relations Commission to recommend a resolution.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-picket2405aug24,0,5852374.story?coll=orl-news-education-headlines

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

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Not What Bush and Congress Intended?

2005-08-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

No teacher left behind
By The Associated Press
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Monday, August 22, 2005

WASHINGTON -- By the end of the school year, every teacher of every major subject in every school will be highly qualified. That's the government's promise, anyway.
The reality will be far less rosy, say experts who have analyzed how states are responding to President Bush's education law and its unprecedented review of teacher quality.

As the centerpiece of his domestic agenda, the No Child Left Behind Act aims to dramatically improve learning by ensuring that all students have highly qualified teachers.

Yet in a nation of 3 million teachers, the definition of highly qualified varies widely and may not ensure quality at all -- not what Bush and Congress intended.

Given considerable leeway, many states are declaring their teachers to be highly qualified without making sure those teachers know their subjects, independent reviews show.

The law also lacks specific penalties for states that fail to get all their teachers qualified, which could hamper enforcement by the Education Department.

Already, most states say that more than 90 percent of their teachers are highly qualified. Pennsylvania was one of six states and the District of Columbia that have not reported statistics to the Education Department.

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_366118.html

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

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EPISD First-year Teachers Make the Lowest Salary in the County

2005-08-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Boards of trustees wrestle with budgets
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Gustavo Reveles Acosta

El Paso Times

The boards of trustees of the three largest school districts in the city met separately Tuesday to discuss money.

The Ysleta Independent School District board set its budget and tax rate, while trustees of the Socorro Independent School District approved the new teacher and employee salary scale.

The El Paso Independent School District board discussed both its budget and teacher pay scales but approved neither.

Administrators and trustees this year were forced to plan their budgets -- most of which go to salaries -- without knowing how the state will fund them.

Lawmakers recently failed for a fifth time to overhaul the state's school funding system.

"The public needs to know that all districts in the state are in the same position," EPISD Trustee Sal Mena said. "It's been a very tough year."

EPISD employees seemed set to get either a $1,350 or $1,500 annual pay raise Tuesday before interim Superintendent Robert Ortega asked the board to postpone a decision on teacher pay until next week to further work out some figures. The administration had proposed raising teacher pay by $1,200, while teacher unions asked for $1,500.

"I hope everybody understands that this is a budget that is very lean," Ortega said. The $1,500 "is as much as we can stretch ... it puts us right against the wall."

EPISD first-year teachers now make $34,000 a year -- the lowest salary in the county.

http://www.borderlandnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS/508240341/1001

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

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Unacceptable

2005-08-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

Teacher pay rank at 47th unacceptable
WVEA, Kiss
By Michelle James/REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER

The Register-Herald

"It's unacceptable."

That's how the West Virginia Education Association termed the state's national ranking of 47th in teacher pay, and House Speaker Bob Kiss agrees.

"We cannot continue to ignore it (the salary problem)," Kiss, D-Raleigh, said. "It's time to do something about it."

The WVEA says it hopes to bridge the salary gap between West Virginia and the rest of the country and has set a goal of bringing the state's national ranking into the "early 30s." As part of its effort to aid state teachers in their battle with pay, the WVEA, at the Sept. 7 special session of the Legislature, will propose a salary increase of 15 percent over the next three years.

http://www.register-herald.com/articles/2005/08/23/news/28bbteachers24.txt

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

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$170 million to Spend on Recruiting Teachers - with few Restrictions

2005-08-24T08:12:00.000-07:00

N.C. marks $170 million to recruit teachers
Posted on Tue, Aug. 23, 2005
By Steve Hartsoe

Myrtle Beach Online

The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. - Larry Cartner sees the bleeding every year.

As superintendent of schools in rural Stokes County, north of Winston-Salem, he watches his teachers leave for better-paying jobs all the time. The district's annual-turnover rate has been around 17 percent, well above the statewide average of 12 percent.

"The biggest difference is we're bordered by systems that can pay much more in local supplement than we can," Cartner said.

Larger districts in neighboring Forsyth and Guilford counties pay more than twice the 4 percent local supplement, an amount on top of base pay, that is offered in Stokes County.

An unusual pot of money in this year's state budget aims to help struggling districts such as Stokes'.

Lawmakers gave Democratic Gov. Mike Easley $170 million over two years to spend on recruiting teachers - with few restrictions.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/12451260.htm

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

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Walking Off Job?

2005-08-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

West Virginia Teachers To Walk Off Job?
Posted 8/23/2005 09:30 PM
WTRF

Wheeling, WV

West Virginia's teachers could soon be walking off the job. Days before the school doors open in West Virginia, the words, 'teacher strike', can be heard amongst the ranks.
At issue: teacher's pay.

http://www.wtrf.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=4768#

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html
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Free Lifetime Health Insurance

2005-08-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

Free, fast care may not last
State may require more time for vesting

By JEAN P. FISHER, Staff Writer

Two little-discussed bills in the General Assembly would do away with a perk of working for state government. Currently, North Carolina teachers and state employees can get free lifetime health insurance after just five years of service. If the bills pass, the benefit would require more service in order to be vested.

Sherry Melton, communications director for the State Employees Association of North Carolina, or SEANC, said many employees think free retiree health benefits should be reserved for workers who dedicate their careers to the state. Some say the current policy invites abuse from people who spend the bulk of their working lives earning better pay in the private sector and then work the minimum necessary to get retiree medical insurance.

Less than 10 percent of employers that provide retiree health benefits make them available to people with five years of service, according to research by the Employee Benefits Research Institute in Washington.

http://newsobserver.com/business/story/2616071p-9051280c.html

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html
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Best-kept Secrets

2005-08-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Who Should Pay Property Tax?
By Stephenie Steitzer
Post staff reporter

One of Northern Kentucky's best, and increasingly controversial, sources of development financing is also one of its best-kept secrets.'

http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050723/NEWS02/507230327/1014

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Unprecedented Financial and Legislative Challenges

2005-08-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Nation’s Largest Union of Higher Ed Faculty to Focus on Proposed Federal Cuts and Proposed
Litmus Test for Curriculum and Teaching

Conference Also to Examine Minority Student Enrollment and Faculty Pay Inequities

MINNEAPOLIS –The nation’s colleges and universities are seeing record admissions but struggling to pay the bills as higher education is confronted with unprecedented financial and legislative challenges – issues to be discussed at this weekend’s American Federation of Teachers conference in Minneapolis. The conference will focus on the many challenges facing higher education, including:

http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2005/041305.ht

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Hamilton County Schools and the Hamilton County Education Association

2005-08-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

County Schools, HCEA Agree On 3.5% Raise, Supplement Reinstatements
July 21, 2005

The Hamilton County Schools and the Hamilton County Education Association have agreed on a 3.5 percent pay increase.

The pact in the annual negotiations also calls for the reinstatements of pay supplements that were cut earlier.

The package includes reinstatement of extended time for librarians, guidance counselors and band directors.

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_69798.asp

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Pay Disparity

2005-08-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Equal?

Statement by Edward J. McElroy
President, American Federation of Teachers, on Equal Pay Day

Washington, D.C. – The pay disparity highlighted on Equal Pay Day reaffirms that the promise of "equal opportunity for all" is not yet a reality for many American workers. Today, despite our nation's many advances in civil rights, one essential building block of equality—wages—still lags for women and minorities far behind those of men and nonminorities.

New polling data released by the American Association of University Women show that a college-educated woman on average makes $17,600 less than a college-educated male and that a woman of color earns on average 20 percent to 45 percent less than a man.

http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2005/041905.htm

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Lottery or Bake Sale?

2005-08-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

Paying for Learning via Lottery or Bake Sale?

Sunday, August 7, 2005
Five Democrats hold key to lottery's approval
Their standing in the way of its passage could prompt some 'serious horse-trading in N.C. Senate'

By David Rice
JOURNAL RALEIGH BUREAU

RALEIGH

The state budget that legislators are preparing to approve this week includes decisions about how to spend money from a state lottery that hasn't even been passed.

Legislative leaders say that even if they adopt budget provisions to distribute $425 million a year in lottery proceeds among various education programs, a separate vote in the state Senate will still be needed to formally approve a lottery.

But in a chamber where Democrats hold the advantage with just a handful of votes, and Republicans appear uniformly opposed, at least five Senate Democrats say they still oppose a lottery, effectively blocking passage for now and setting the stage for some serious horse-trading.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031784294896

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Teachers' pay, UK

2005-08-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

Teachers' pay, UK

TeacherNet contains details of teachers' pay since 1997. It includes recent editions of the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions document and its associated guidance, along with other publications relating to the annual pay cycle. These include DfES evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB), along with copies of the STRB reports and copies of the letter sent to statutory consultees about proposed changes.

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/payandperformance/pay/

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

blog by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!

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Scores of Area Classrooms Still Lack Teachers

2005-08-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Scrambling to fill teaching vacancies

Getting Ready For School
High School Teachers Get High Five For Their Work
Scores Of Area Classrooms Still Lack Teachers

POSTED: 4:21 pm EDT August 22, 2005
UPDATED: 5:12 pm EDT August 22, 2005

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Area school systems are still scrambling to fill teaching vacancies with less than a week until a new school year starts.

Durham Public Schools has about 300 vacancies, and Johnston County Schools has about 400 open teaching positions.

Wake County Schools, the area's largest public school system, has at least 40 teaching positions that remain unfilled, but after hiring almost 900 new teachers in recent months, district officials are already looking ahead to next year.

About a quarter of Wake County's new teachers are new positions needed to teach about 5,000 new students, while the rest replace teachers who have left the system.

"We need more teachers than most systems, and we think we get our fair share," said Diana Kent Parker, who recruits teachers for the district.

The district used a recruiting CD to help in its nationwide search for teachers. Representatives attended job fairs in 33 states, handing out the CD to prospective teachers.

For the first time ever, more than half of the system's new teachers -- 52 percent -- are from out of state. Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania produced the most recruits.

http://www.nbc17.com/education/4882149/detail.html

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

blog by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!

_____

"We don't physically go over the border at night, throw them in a bag and kidnap them across the border."

2005-08-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

Fat pay beckons teachers
Solution to exodus eludes legislators hoping to keep educators in W.Va.

Kris Wise
Daily Mail Capitol reporter
Charleston, West Virginia

Friday August 19, 2005

The exodus of teachers from the Eastern Panhandle to Loudoun County, Va., has become so fast and furious that people joke about the Virginia county starting a shuttle service for teachers living in the Mountain State.

"It's a suburban myth that people have started thinking is true," said Wayde Byard, public information officer for Loudoun County Public Schools, where the starting pay for first-year teachers is about $12,000 higher than in some West Virginia border counties.

Byard doesn't deny that his school system is taking advantage of the comparatively low pay and benefits teachers in West Virginia receive.

"We think of it as an opportunity," Byard said. "We don't physically go over the border at night, throw them in a bag and kidnap them across the border. We compete in a very tough market and our salaries reflect that."

The salary gap has been a tough one for West Virginia border counties and the rest of the state to bridge, and it's led educators to call on legislators not only to increase teacher pay across the board, but also to provide extra incentives to secure teachers on the state line.

Locality pay raises, as they're called, would increase salaries for teachers in border counties and in counties where the high cost of living makes it difficult to recruit educators for lower-wage jobs.

http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2005081926/

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

blog by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!
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Demonized

2005-08-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Dave Zweifel: Don't slam state workers over pensions
By Dave Zweifel
August 22, 2005

The Capital Times

The people who work for Wisconsin government are being demonized once again.
Government workers are either - take your pick - lazy and shiftless or coddled and overpaid.

The latest fuel for state worker bashers came from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, which last week issued a report that shows Wisconsin public employees pay a smaller share of their retirement costs than those in other states. Plus, they then receive higher pension benefits than nearly everyone else when they retire.

That news, of course, got the press releases flowing from the offices of those who blame all state budget problems on state employees. After all, if they worked for wages and benefits paid by private companies - Wal-Mart is an example - just think of the savings to Wisconsin taxpayers. What the heck, they could even be eligible for BadgerCare.

Even the research director for the supposedly nonpartisan Taxpayers Alliance commented that state and local governments, as they struggle in tight fiscal times, should be looking at employee benefit plans, including retirement.

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=51310&ntpid=1

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

blog by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!
_____

Negotiations Started with a Proposed 11.4 Percent Pay Cut

2005-08-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

Detroit teacher pay talks progress
Educators, staff delay vote on whether to return to classes after late-night meeting.
By Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News

August 2005
Negotiations continue

Negotiations started with a proposed 11.4 percent pay cut.

DETROIT -- City teachers and school administrators said Monday night they had made progress in what had been contentious negotiations for a new contract for the more than 10,000 teachers and other staffers.

Janna Garrison, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said that because "significant progress has been made between the parties" the union has postponed the vote on whether to return to the classrooms from today to Wednesday.

Detroit schools CEO William Coleman said the district's latest offer has been made to the union, but he would not discuss details.

"I think it is something they can live with, but they ultimately have the make that decision," Coleman said.

All sides agree a strike has the potential to further cripple the ailing school system plagued by budget problems, a leadership gap and significant student loss. The district already anticipates losing 10,000 students this year but guesses that could double if there is a prolonged strike.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/schools/0508/23/B01-289782.htm

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

blog by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!

____

Not all Teacher Pay Scales Created Equal

2005-08-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

Not all teacher pay scales created equal

Some districts count more experience for new hires than others

By Tim Waldorf
STAFF WRITER
The Naperville Sun

Teachers considering job openings in different school districts read the fine print before they accept new positions. Just because they may have made more money if they'd spent their entire careers working in higher-paying districts doesn't mean they'd make more money if they moved to such a district.

The contract Indian Prairie School District 204 keeps with its union allows teachers to enter the district at the same point on the pay scale they resided when they left their old jobs, said Beth Neu, a human resources administrator.

It works the same in Maine Township High School District 207 near O'Hare International Airport.

"We give people credit for as many years as they have up to 20 years, which is as high as our scales go," said Greg Dietz, District 207's assistant superintendent of general administration.

District 207 recently wooed away a talented young Naperville North High School teacher by offering him a much higher salary, said Ed Rosenthal, Naperville Unit Education Association chief negotiator, at a news conference Sunday.

If the district doesn't increase its compensation package, he said, "the best teachers are going to get picked off."

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/top/n0823salary.htm

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

blog by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!

_____

Teachers Blast Dstrict's Plan to Cut Pay

2005-08-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

Teachers blast Detroit district's plan to cut pay

Their union protests 11.4% salary concessions, and some disappointed members talk of strike.
By Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Some 2,000 teachers protested outside the city school district's main offices Wednesday over administrators' efforts to cut salaries to save cash.
Many talked about striking.

"If they can't come to their senses, we will see," said Shalon Miller, a Sampson Elementary teacher. "No other teachers in the whole state are under those concessions."
The unrest of the Detroit Federation of Teachers is just a sampling of the problems facing the 140,000-student district in the next year, which include closing up to 30 more schools and searching for a new superintendent.

The union's contract, which covers about 10,000 employees, expired in June, and district officials are asking the union to accept an 11.4 percent pay cut.

The move would cut an estimated $63 million in payroll costs, officials said.

Administrators say they are counting on the savings to balance their budget and meet a state-mandated plan to overcome a more than $200 million deficit. Union members maintain that would take them back to 1999 wages.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/schools/0508/04/B01-269382.htm

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

blog by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!

_____

House Higher Ed Bill Is a Step Backwards

2005-08-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

House Higher Ed Bill Is a Step Backwards

Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce on July 22 wrapped up its work on H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005. The bill—the House version of legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act—moved out of committee on a party line vote of 27-20. It now goes to the House floor for a vote in September.

http://www.aft.org/higher_ed/news/2005/house_higher_ed_bill.htm

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Filibustering School Bill

2005-08-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

Lawmaker says he'll filibuster school bill until midnight
07/20/2005 10:07 PM CDT
Gary Scharrer and Peggy Fikac Express-News Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — Saying lawmakers can do better by the schoolchildren of Texas, a Democratic senator threatened to kill the school reform bill Wednesday night, adding it to the legislative trash heap alongside a property tax overhaul.

Dissatisfied over a paltry pay raise for teachers and the likelihood of school board elections turning partisan if those elections were required to occur in November, Sen. John Whitmire said he’d filibuster the school reform package, known as House Bill 2, until the special session expired at midnight.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA072005.online.lege_schools.en.177d4d96.html

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

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If it's Important, They Find the Money

2005-08-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

Teachers Union Renews Fight for Higher Pay
NewsMax.com Wires
Monday, July 4, 2005

The typical starting salary for teachers should be $40,000, the head of the country's largest education union said Sunday, pledging a renewed fight for higher pay.

But the National Education Association's challenge is enormous. Not a single state pays its new instructors an average of $40,000, with the U.S. average hovering close to $30,000 for beginning teachers, according to the American Federation of Teachers, another teachers union.

NEA president Reg Weaver, speaking to reporters at the union's annual meeting, said his officers will work with their state and local chapters to lobby state leaders and school boards.
Weaver, poised to begin his second three-year term as the union's president, said higher pay for veteran teachers and classroom aides will also be a political priority for the NEA. No cost for the ideas was given, but they would likely require hundreds of millions of dollars or more.

"The issue is where the money is going to come from," Weaver said. "And to respond to that, my answer is I don't care. I don't care where the money comes from. Because when this country thinks and decides that something is important, they find the money."

2005 The Associated Press

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/7/4/92342.shtml

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!

_____

New Schools Budget Doesn't Raise Minimum Salary

2005-08-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

Teacher pay raises scrapped
79th LEGISLATURE: SPECIAL SESSION II

New schools budget doesn't raise minimum salary.

By April Castro
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, August 17, 2005

While proclaiming the need to boost teacher salaries, Republican Gov. Rick Perry has signed an education budget that dismantles a pay raise that many teachers expected to get Sept. 1.

About 8,000 teachers who earn the state minimum, mostly from small and rural districts, would have gotten a 2.76 percent raise under a budget that lawmakers backed earlier this year. But Perry vetoed the $30 billion-plus budget for public education, and the pay raise was removed when the budget was rewritten this summer.

The state's minimum salary scale ranges from $24,240 for new teachers to $40,800 for teachers with more than 20 years' experience.

"One thing they managed to accomplish in two special sessions on education was to eliminate a nominal pay raise for the teachers in Texas who make the least," said Richard Kouri, lobbyist for the Texas State Teachers Association.

Perry signed the new budget plan last week.

http://www.wacotrib.com/search/content/shared/tx/legislature/stories/08/17raises.html

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!

_____

Property-Wealthy School Districts get Tax Breaks?

2005-08-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

Tax changes appear headed toward another special session
79TH LEGISLATURE: SPECIAL SESSION
Legislators expect to vote today on spending plan, come back for special session on tax shift.

By Jason Embry, Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
wacotrib.com
Waco Tribune-Herld
Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Lawmakers expect to vote on a major education spending plan today that could increase the amount of money Central Texas school districts spend on each student by 3 percent to 9 percent and free some districts from sending money to their poorer counterparts.

State leaders, though, failed late Tuesday to reach agreement on the other side of school finance reform: trading lower property taxes for other tax increases. After the special legislative session ends tonight, Gov. Rick Perry probably will call lawmakers back for another session Thursday.

We're still apart on two or three issues that I thought were resolved much earlier," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said. "We'll be back on Thursday. We are very, very close."

Sticking points included whether to give sales tax breaks to low-income Texans who qualify for Lone Star cards and whether businesses should be taxed on sales they make in states that do not tax them, Dewhurst said.

The picture is much clearer on the spending plan up in the House and Senate today, the last day of a 30-day special session. It boosts school funding by about $2.4 billion over two years, increases teacher pay and reduces the amount of money that property-wealthy school districts must send away to property-poor districts as part of the state's share-the-wealth funding system.

"It will provide more money for every Texas school district, including more money for districts serving at-risk and limited English proficient students, small and rural districts," said House Speaker Tom Craddick, adding that it also boosts spending for transportation and technology.

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/shared/tx/legislature/stories/07/20FINANCE.html

HOME: http://payteachersmore.blogspot.com/2005/08/home-page-teachers-pay.html

blog by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!
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An Extra 1 Percent Added to a 6 Percent Teacher Pay Raise by the Alabama Legislature

2005-08-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

Vestavia Hills schools OK $41.3 million budget for'06
TROY GOODMAN
News staff writer

The Birmingham News

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

The Vestavia Hills Board of Education has finalized a $41.3 million budget for fiscal 2006.

A special meeting Aug. 1 was needed to get the spending plan through its required review process before sending it off to the state Department of Education before a September deadline, said school system Finance Director Greg Maner. The vote for adoption was unanimous.

The next regular meeting of the School Board is Aug. 24. The 2006 budget must be approved by regulators in Montgomery to become effective Oct. 1.

Eighty-two percent of the $41.3 million will go toward salaries and benefits for the district's 650 employees, Maner said. Also, the expense includes an extra 1 percent added to a state-funded 6 percent teacher pay raise handed out this year by the Alabama Legislature. The total City Schools payroll is expected to be $33.7 million for fiscal 2006.

"Last year, salaries and benefits were 80 percent of our total expenditures. That has gone up, which is how it should be," Maner said.

Other line items in the approved budget include $1.2 million for building utilities and school bus fuel costs; $800,000 for debt-service payments; and $571,000 for textbook costs.

Also, there's an $800,000 line item for "unanticipated needs" like air-conditioning replacement or surprise building repairs, Maner said. Other expenses include $600,000 for Internet, computer software and hardware upgrades; $465,000 is earmarked as a "pass through" payment to the state's Child Nutrition Program; and $300,000 will be spent on teaching programs designed for exceptional students.

At the end of fiscal 2006, the City Schools budget is expected to have $12.6 million in a reserve account that is used for future capital projects. That amount will be cut in half in the coming months as the school system funds a $6 million classroom and kitchen annex planned for its elementary school in Liberty Park.

E-mail: tgoodman@bhamnews.com

http://www.al.com/search/index.ssf?/base/community/1123665986210891.xml?birminghamnews?zso&coll=2

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

Amazon.com: Mindtronics! and Inquiry Alive!

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com

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A State-by-State Report by the National Education Association

2005-08-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Salary Trends Hamper Recruitment, NEA Says

Teacher pay has remained relatively flat over the past decade, complicating school districts' efforts to attract and retain qualified teachers, according to a new state-by-state report by the National Education Association.

http://www.edweek.org/agentk-12/articles/2005/07/05/06nea_tr.html

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com

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What do Stocks have to do with Teachers' Pay?

2005-08-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

Teacher Retirement Funds
Real Estate Inv. Trusts: REITs
The Essential REIT: July 21, 2005

"Is It Time to Sell Your REIT Stocks?"

The article's author cites a number of reasons for the increasing allocations. This includes REITs' transparency (though some survey respondents believe it can be further improved), enthusiasm of hedge funds and other private equity managers, and interest from large pension funds, e.g., new REIT allocations from Texas Employees Retirement System, Arizona State Retirement Systems and Texas Teachers Retirement System, none of whom had ever invested in REITs previously.

http://www.fool.com/community/pod/2005/050722.htm?ref=foolwatch

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Channel Money to Teachers, Not Workshops

2005-08-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

Channel money to teachers, not workshops
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Sunday, August 7, 2005

Sunday Insight
SFGate.com

Editor -- Your editorial, "An investment in teachers" (July 31), misses the whole point.

You seem to imply that teachers need retooling via professional development workshops. What teachers need are better salaries, up-to-date textbooks, more supplies and support from their administrators and parents.

As in any profession or occupation, there is a small percentage of outstanding teachers, and the vast majority do an excellent to good job. The few poor ones could be helped by compassionate mentoring and adequate supervision by their principals.

It's a myth that in-service training is going to make better teachers. For example, in Alameda County, the county office of education receives about $15 million a year to conduct "staff development" for teachers in the local school districts. Most teachers really don't want it, but are forced by their districts to participate. These districts must pay fees to the county office because much of the $15 million is siphoned off to pay the salaries of the county superintendent, consultants and specialists.

Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, would do better to have the $3.5 billion he is seeking for in-service training go directly to teachers.

ERNEST A. AVELLAR

Hayward

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/07/EDG1FE29FE1.DTL&hw=Teachers%27+Pay+2005&sn=012&sc=285

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com

_____

More Pay for Veteran Teachers

2005-08-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

Pay veteran teachers more
May 17, 2004 •• ID: nsh2004051711283783
Tennessean.com

Pay veteran teachers more, Rutherford told.

State funds aim to boost rookie pay By MARGO RIVERS Staff Writer MURFREESBORO - In July, Gayle Gillespie will celebrate 20 years teaching in the Rutherford County school system, 16 at Homer Pittard Campus School. But the first-grade teacher, who has a master's degree in education, hasn't seen a merit pay raise since the 1999-2000 school year, though she continues to get cost-of-living raises.

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_site=tennessean&f_site=tennessean&f_sitename=Nashville%20Tennessean&p_theme=gannett&p_action=search&p_field_base-0=&p_text_base-0=Teacher%20Salaries&Search=Search&p_perpage=10&p_maxdocs=200&p_queryname=700&s_search_type=keyword&p_product=NTNB&p_sort=_rank_%3AD&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date%3AB%2CE&p_text_date-0=-

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com

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Pay Blamed as Wilson loses 10% of Teachers

2005-08-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Pay blamed as Wilson loses 10% of teachers
Most are veterans relocating for raises in nearby districts
Sunday, 08/21/05

By NATALIA MIELCZAREK
Staff Writer
Tennessean.com

Wilson County has lost a record 100 teachers over the summer — 10% of its entire teaching staff — mostly to other Midstate counties that offer better pay.

An overwhelming number of those who have resigned were veteran educators with advanced degrees, some of whom bumped up their annual earnings by as much as $10,000 in their new posts.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050821/NEWS04/508210398/1018/NEWS

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com

_____

10-day Notice of Intent to Strike

2005-08-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Pay at issue in two school negotiations
Offers rejected in Collinsville, Highland
Posted on Sun, Aug. 21, 2005

BY ELIZABETH DONALD

News-Democrat

Two metro-east school districts are in the final stages of negotiations before possibly going on strike, and for both districts, the primary issue is teachers salaries.

Collinsville Unit 10 teachers voted last week to turn down the district's final offer and issue a 10-day notice of their intent to strike.

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/local/12438379.htm

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Drawback to Recruiting Teachers is the Pay

2005-08-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Student teachers face new hurdles
By Eileen FitzGerald
THE NEWS-TIMES

Student teaching is one of the final hurdles for a college student to become a teacher, but despite the need to replace a large number of retiring educators, student teaching is a struggle to complete these days.

About 1,500 college students from either undergraduate or graduate teacher training programs in Connecticut need assignments each year. They will spend 12 weeks in a classroom under the supervision of a teacher who gradually gives them more and more responsibility in front of the class.

"At the secondary level, people are involved in other areas of school outside the classroom," Stambler said. "They might be getting their master's degree or being yearbook advisers."

Many qualified teachers are already supervising first-year teachers. The state requires every first-year teacher to have a mentor on the staff.

Stambler said another drawback to recruiting teachers is the pay. The state used to pay a $500 stipend each semester as incentive to supervise a student teacher. Since the state eliminated that payment a few years ago, universities have offered smaller stipends. WestConn just raised its fee from $150 to $250 because teachers are piloting a new student teacher evaluation form.

http://news.newstimeslive.com/story.php?id=73777&category=Local

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com

_____

Annual Turnover Rate Around 17 Percent. Why?

2005-08-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

Filling Teaching Positions Takes More Than Money
WFMY News - Greensboro, NC
Created: 8/19/2005 9:43:44 PM

Updated: 8/20/2005 6:18:08 AM

Raleigh, NC -- Larry Cartner sees the bleeding every year.

As superintendent of schools in rural Stokes County, north of Winston-Salem, he watches his teachers leave for better paying jobs all the time.

The district's annual turnover rate has been around 17 percent, well above the statewide average of 12 percent.

"The biggest difference is we're bordered by systems that can pay much more in local supplement than we can," Cartner said.

Larger districts in neighboring Forsyth and Guilford counties pay more than twice the 4 percent local supplement, an amount on top of base pay, that is offered in Stokes County.

An unusual pot of money in this year's state budget aims to help struggling districts like Stokes.

Lawmakers gave Democratic Governor Mike Easley $170 million over two years to spend on recruiting teachers, with few restrictions.

North Carolina's colleges and universities produce about a third of some 9,000 teachers that need to be hired each year, mostly to replace retiring baby boomers and to respond to high enrollment growth.

Easley can use the money to give signing bonuses to new teachers or across-the-board pay raises, even to entice retiring teachers to stay in the classroom longer.

"I think the governor has a shot at doing something pretty provocative," said Barnett Berry, executive director of the Southeast Center for Teaching Quality in Chapel Hill.

Not everyone supports giving the governor such power.

"I don't think that's the way we should be budgeting for salaries in the budget. I think the General Assembly ought to be making those decisions," said Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.

The money allocated to Easley, which is on top of an average 2.2 percent teacher raise in the budget, could inspire more North Carolinians to become teachers, leaders said.

"If we're going to have enough teachers and good teachers, we're going to have get those salaries up," said House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg. "You're not going to attract the best and brightest kids in this state to be teachers unless they get the salaries up."

How to spend the money is still in the planning stage, but supporters say more can be done than simply using the money to boost teacher quantity. It could also help improve teacher quality, which could stop the flow of young teachers who get discouraged and quit, experts said.

Those are the teachers who most often are found in struggling schools.

Minority students and those in poorer districts are five to 10 times less likely to get an experienced teacher than others in the state, Berry said.

http://www.wfmynews2.com/news/local_state/local_article.aspx?storyid=47229

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

New Contract After the Union and the School Board Approved a Three-year Pact

2005-08-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Forward School District teachers get new 3-year deal

By Chris Buckley
VALLEY INDEPENDENT
Friday, August 19, 2005

Teachers in the Elizabeth Forward School District will start the school year with a new contract after the union and the school board approved a three-year pact this week.
The pact, approved by the Elizabeth Forward Education Association Tuesday and the school board Wednesday, becomes effective Sept. 1 and runs through Aug. 31, 2008.

The approvals followed eight months of negotiations.

The starting salary for teachers with a bachelor's degree will increase to $29,890 in the 2005-06 school year and eventually rise to $33,620 by 2007-08.

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_365399.html

_____

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

"Equitable" Pay Raises for all System Employees

2005-08-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

Livingston School Board OKs new support-staff pay scale
By DEBRA LEMOINE
dlemoine@theadvocate.com

Florida parishes bureau
2theadvocate.com
Baton Rouge

Sunday August 21, 2005

LIVINGSTON -- The Livingston Parish School Board narrowly approved the creation of a new pay scale for college-educated support-staff members that separates their salaries from teacher pay.

The school district accountants' pay issue was part of a series of support-staff pay changes that the board approved Thursday night. Most of the disagreement centered on the timing of the changes and the ability to give raises to support staffers in the future.

Superintendent Randy Pope promised the School Board and the accountants attending the meeting that he plans to bring a plan with "equitable" pay raises for all system employees before the board at its Sept. 8 meeting. The items approved Thursday night are separate issues that Pope said needed to be addressed sooner.

The biggest change centered on how the system's 11 accountants are paid, an issue that received the most "no" votes from the board. The nine-member board cast four "no" votes.

The no-voters were concerned about how the changes would affect pay for college-educated support staffers and whether the decision kept their pay equitable.

Accountants and other college-educated business staffers at the School Board's central office were included on the certificated, or teacher, pay scale in 2004 under a recommendation by former Superintendent Warren Curtis. The change was made to equalize pay among college-educated workers for the school system.

By tying their pay to teacher salaries, the School Board had to give accountants a raise every time the state increased teacher salaries, Superintendent Randy Pope said. Accountants received three raises since the change because they received raises given to support staff and teachers

ttp://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/082005/sub_payscale001.shtml

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Pay hikes too Small and Monthly Health Insurance Premiums are too Big

2005-08-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

Anchorage teachers talk about failed negotiations
by Dan Fiorucci
Friday, August 19, 2005

Channel 2 Broadcasting Inc.
Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage teachers worry proposed pay hikes are too small, 2.5 percent, and that their monthly health insurance premiums are too big -- $270 a month come Sept. 1. But could something be done to lower those monthly premiums? There's some disagreement, even among teachers, on that subject.

http://www.ktuu.com/CMS/templates/alaska_news/master.asp?articleid=14796&zoneid=4

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

More Property Taxes + Zero Raids on Budgets = Better Teacher Pay

2005-08-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

Money still tight, but future is looking better
El Cajon adopts budget for '06
By Liz Neely

STAFF WRITER
The San Diego Union Tribune

June 29, 2005

EL CAJON – The City Council adopted a $127 million budget yesterday for fiscal 2006, which begins Friday.

Money is still tight, and a selective hiring freeze remains in place, but city officials have said the forecast is improving.

El Cajon is collecting more sales and property taxes, and after years of huge increases, retirement and insurance costs are beginning to stabilize. Further, cities statewide have been buoyed by a new law that limits state raids on municipal budgets beginning in fiscal 2007.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050629/news_2m29cajonbud.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

What's at the core of the dispute? Money.

2005-08-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

Raising tensions
Grossmont Union High School District faces crunch time as labor dispute lumbers on
June 18, 2005

The San Diego Union Tribune

Tensions are high in the Grossmont Union High School District. The district and the teachers union are in the middle of a contentious labor dispute. The administration, apparently with the backing of all five school board members, maintains the district cannot afford more than a 1 percent raise. The Grossmont Education Association, which represents about 1,150 educators, insists the district can afford a larger increase.

The teachers' contract expired almost a year ago. Negotiations broke off in January, and the state Public Employment Relations Board declared an impasse. Both sides accuse the other of misleading the public about the district's finances and have raised the level of discord by preparing for a possible strike in very public ways.

What's at the core of the dispute?

Money. Grossmont teachers haven't had a raise in two years. Their last raise – 2 percent – came during the 2002-03 school year.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050618/news_1m18focus.html

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Threat to Strike is Lingering After Year of Fighting

2005-08-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Grossmont district, teachers far apart

By Caitlin Rother
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

August 20, 2005

It all seems to boil down to a difference in priorities.

For almost a year now, the Grossmont Union High School District and its teachers union have been fighting over how much money is truly available for raises for nearly 1,200 teachers. The threat of a strike is hanging over the district like a black cloud.

The union says the district has plenty of money but has mismanaged it and spent it on the wrong things – not on teachers. And it says many of the district's cost-cutting choices, including an increase in class size, are bad for education.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20050820-9999-7m20labor.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Management Raise Approved--$2.4 million in Spending Cuts

2005-08-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

Raises given despite cuts
District wants principals' salaries to be competitive
By Chris Moran

STAFF WRITER
The San Diego Union Tribune

June 29, 2005

IMPERIAL BEACH – The same night South Bay Union School District trustees approved a budget that included $2.4 million in spending cuts, they gave management a raise.

Superintendent Pat Pettit recommended the raises because South Bay's administrators get paid less than those in neighboring school districts.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050629/news_6m29raise.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Teetering Teaching Standards

2005-08-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

Article published Aug 19, 2005
The right way to attract and keep good teachers is to offer better working conditions, as well as better pay and support.

StarNewsOnline.com

The Voice of Southeastern North Carolina

Teachers with questionable qualifications soon may be headed for North Carolina’s classrooms. The General Assembly has voted to let teachers work here if other states say they’re “highly qualified.”

That would overrule the State Board of Education, which wants to maintain North Carolina’s standards. So does Gov. Mike Easley.

To be sure, the Honorables are responding to a real problem: Some local school boards say they can’t find enough teachers to fill their classrooms, and the shortage seems likely to get worse as the state grows and experienced teachers retire or take other jobs.

The right way to attract and keep good teachers is to offer better working conditions, as well as better pay and support.

The wrong way is to let teachers from other states get jobs here without meeting the standards we demand of our own.

If those standards aren’t valid, let’s change them. If they are valid, let’s maintain them.
Every state is blessed with some wonderful teachers. But not every state has wonderful ways of evaluating them.

That doesn’t mean North Carolina should impose unreasonable or burdensome requirements on educators who move here. But neither does it mean we should hire them just because other states say they’re good.

The question is whether they’re good enough for North Carolina.

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050819/EDITORIAL/50818029

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Free College for Future Teachers

2005-08-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

Dem senator's plan: free college for future teachers
Chicago Sun-Times
November 22, 2002

BY WILL LESTER

WASHINGTON--Sen. John Edwards laid out a series of financial incentives Thursday to encourage people to teach, pay teachers more and persuade them to live in neighborhoods near their schools.

The North Carolina lawmaker, who is mulling a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, also offered a plan that would pay the first year of college tuition for students who take responsibility for the remainder of their education and commit to at least 10 hours a week of work study, community service or a part-time job.

''Providing a free year of college tuition will eliminate the sticker shock that scares off so many kids,'' Edwards said. ''After students get through that first year, which is the toughest, they'll know financial aid is available, they'll know student loans are an investment worth making and they'll have access to people who can help them pursue both.''

http://www.suntimes.com/output/education/cst-nws-edwards22.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Linking Teacher Pay to Student Test Scores

2005-08-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

Report suggests linking pay for teachers to kids' scores
Chicago Sun-Times
January 14, 2004

BY FREDREKA SCHOUTEN
Advertisement

WASHINGTON -- A new report from a commission headed by former IBM Chairman Louis Gerstner Jr. offers a dim view of the nation's teaching force and calls for dramatic changes, including linking teacher pay to student test scores.

University graduates who earned low scores on their college-admission tests were more than twice as likely as top scorers to have majored in education. One in five new teachers will quit the profession within three years. And poor and minority kids who often need the most help in school get stuck with the least experienced teachers.

''Unless we as a nation make the decision that we are going to do everything we can to recruit and retain excellent teachers, the impact -- particularly for poor students -- is potentially devastating,'' said Gaynor McCown, a former teacher who is executive director of the Teaching Commission.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/education/cst-nws-teach14.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Pension Systems for Retired Teachers

2005-08-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

Politics
Dems push state budget plan
Chiccago Sun-Times

May 26, 2005

By CHRISTOPHER WILLS ASSOCIATED PRESS

Democratic leaders decided Thursday to push a budget plan that would help close a $1.2 billion deficit by slashing the state's payments into pension systems for retired teachers, university employees and state workers.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/26bud.html

by jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Not a Single State Pays its New Instructors an Average of $40,000

2005-08-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

Union wants $40,000 starting salaries across nation
Chicago Sun-Times
suntimes.com

July 4, 2005

BY BEN FELLER

LOS ANGELES --The typical starting salary for teachers should be $40,000, the head of the country's largest education union said Sunday, pledging a renewed fight for higher pay.

But the National Education Association's challenge is enormous. Not a single state pays its new instructors an average of $40,000, with the U.S. average hovering close to $30,000 for beginning teachers, according to the American Federation of Teachers, another teachers union.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/education/cst-nws-teach04.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Salary Survey

2005-08-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Real-time Salary Survey Information for:
All K-12 Teachers (United States)

http://www.payscale.com/salary-survey/aid-10779/

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

The Governors will Wrestle with Teacher Recruitment

2005-08-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

NWAnews.com : Northwest Arkansas Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
National governors meeting set to start

BY JAKE BLEED

Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2005

TEACHER ISSUES On Sunday, a session by the governors association’s Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee will focus on teacher issues. U.S. Deputy Education Secretary Ray Simon, formerly Education Department director in Arkansas, will lead the session. Governors face a new national education requirement that every child has access to a highly trained teacher. They will hear about the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Act. The governors association cited U.S. Department of Education figures showing that as many as 20 percent of new teachers leave the profession within their first year and nearly twice that number leave within three years. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said that the states ultimately decide how best to meet the national goals. She said challenges facing the educational system include recruiting teachers, subjectmatter expertise for teachers, professional development and salaries. All are needed for a highly skilled teaching work force, she said. The governors also will hear from Lowell Milken, chairman of the Milken Family Foundation; Brett D. Potts, the Kansas Teacher of the Year; and Tom R. Keating, the Minnesota Teacher of the Year.

http://www.nwanews.com/

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Teachers' Pay News Flash Blog

2005-08-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

Teachers' Pay News Flash Blog

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Wage Distortion

2005-08-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

Wage Distortion
by CAROLINE M. HOXBY AND ANDREW LEIGH
Education Next

Wage Distortion

Though exceptions undoubtedly exist, women with higher aptitudes can ordinarily be expected to be more effective classroom teachers than those with lower aptitudes. It is therefore troubling to think that in the United States those entering the teaching profession in recent years have, on average, lower measured aptitudes than their predecessors.

That able women are no longer entering the teaching profession at anywhere near the same rate as in the past is of special concern, since women compose approximately 75 percent of all elementary and secondary school teachers, almost the same percentage as 40 years ago.

Yet a decline in female teacher quality is just what the evidence—most notably a recent study by three University of Maryland economists—indisputably shows (see Figure 1). According to their findings, the likelihood that a highly talented female (one ranked among the top 10 percent of all high schoolers) will become a teacher fell from roughly 20 percent in 1964 to just over 11 percent in 2000.

Caroline M. Hoxby is professor of economics at Harvard University and the director of the Economics of Education Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Andrew Leigh is an economist in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University.

The unabridged version of this article is available at www.educationnext.org.

http://www.educationnext.org/20052/50.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

How do the New Teachers Measure Up?

2005-08-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

WHY THEY TEACH: A recent survey suggests that new teachers like Hillary Roselund (seen here in her Washington, DC classroom) care more about support than salary.

The Christian Science Monitor

ANDY NELSON - STAFF

How do the new teachers measure up?

The "high-aptitude" women who once chose to teach are no longer filling America's classrooms, a study suggests.

By Teresa Méndez | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Hoxby and Mr. Leigh suggest that pay is the reason so few high-aptitude women opt to teach. Specifically, they cite "pay compression," whereby the salary differential between high- and low-aptitude public school teachers has narrowed since the 1960s, so that today "those with the highest aptitude earn no more than those with the lowest."

Public Agenda's survey "A Sense of Calling: Who Teaches and Why" concluded that new teachers' passion for teaching is "palpable, vastly underappreciated, and a valuable asset that money can't buy."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0308/p11s01-legn.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

______

Teacher Compensation Systems

2005-08-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Dollars and Sense
by THOMAS S. DEE and BENJAMIN J. KEYS
Education Next

Though the dramatic effects that teachers have on student achievement are indisputable, the exact ingredients of effective teaching are anything but settled. Questions about how to value experience, education, certification, and pedagogical skills—the big four of teacher inputs—have created one of the most highly contentious fields of inquiry in education, particularly since they have clear implications for the design of teacher compensation systems.

In 2000, public elementary and secondary schools spent roughly $180 billion on teachers’ salaries and benefits, about half of their total expenditures; most of it was distributed according to fixed salary schedules that considered only a teacher’s education and years of experience. This system has its origins in the first half of the 20th century and was partly a response to the racial and gender discrimination that existed under more discretionary systems at that time.

Published by the Hoover Institution Stanford Junior University

http://www.educationnext.org/20051/60.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Do Teachers Need to Know about Wal-Mart?

2005-08-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

_____

Do Teachers Need to Know about Wal-Mart?

Taxing Concerns
Taxing companies for 'everyday low' pay packages

By Ed Muir

Taxing companies for 'everyday low' pay packages

By Ed Muir

Wal-Mart is the largest employer in America. But saying even that understates its size. With 1.3 million employees, it has a larger workforce than the U.S. Army. Its annual revenues are $250 billion. And, according to Business Week magazine, just the amount it loses to theft each year is equal to the revenues of a Fortune 1000 company.

http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_teacher/april05/taxing.htm

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

The Teaching Profession is Synonymous with Low Wages

2005-08-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

The teaching profession is synonymous with low wages
Teaching assistants will voice salary concerns
By Chris Lang, Editor in Chief

The Daily Targum Online
Serving the Rutgers Community since 1869

The average starting salary for a teacher at the University, according to the AAUP, is about $30,000 - though that depends if the position is full-time. But there is another group of teachers, or rather, assistants to teachers, that are under that same contract and make less than half of that $30,000.

http://www.dailytargum.com/media/paper168/news/2003/10/24/PageOne/Teaching.Assistants.Will.Voice.Salary.Concerns-538058.shtml

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

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Performance-related pay

2005-08-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Mixed response to pay proposals
BBC News

Teaching unions still have many concerns about performance-related pay
Details of the appraisal system for teachers' performance-related pay have met with a mixed response from unions.

The criteria, announced on Wednesday, have gone some way towards appeasing a number of teaching unions worried about the contentious issue of measuring pupils' improvement.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/education/2000/teachers_pay/636811.stm

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Teachers in the Dark about Money They'll Earn

2005-08-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Katy ISD to settle teacher salary concerns
By BETTY L. MARTIN
2005 Houston Chronicle

When Katy teachers welcome students Wednesday, they're likely to still be in the dark about how much money they're actually earning, because the Katy school district has been waiting for the Texas Legislature to make a decision about how to fund public education.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nb/katy/news/3298293

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

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Why Recall Sit-ins?

2005-08-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

Alumni Suggest Lesson from 1975 Massachusetts Hall Sit-In
Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 04:10:46 -0400
Subject: 1975 sit-in

For release 3 May 2001 to Boston Globe.

Recalling a May 2, 1975 Massachusetts Hall sit-in, 14 alumni/ae sent an open letter to President Neil Rudenstine urging Harvard to pay workers a living wage. The alumni/ae, from the classes of 1975-77, suggested a lesson for Harvard from the earlier sit-in, which sought support for and expansion of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute:

Harvard University could easily provide leadership as a responsible employer. Instead, the world's wealthiest university refuses to pay janitors and other workers enough to support families in a high-cost area without working two full-time jobs, as many now do.

http://hcs.harvard.edu/~pslm/livingwage/admin.html

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Schools Received less than Schools in Most Other Parts of the Country

2005-08-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Concern raised at schools funding
BBC News

Head teachers in Lincolnshire are claiming the county school's are still suffering funding problems.

The Lincolnshire Association of Secondary Heads claimed in 2004 its schools received £4m less than schools in most other parts of the country.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/4578193.stm

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

_____

Sweeping Changes in Iraqi Schools

2005-08-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Pay Rise
BBC News

Sweeping changes in Iraqi schools
Things have changed dramatically for Iraqi students and teachers alike since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Teacher Ahlam Taleb is more optimistic. She finds that education is much better than it used to be following the large rise in her salary, which rose from 8,000 dinars to 375,000 (now worth about $250).

Ahlam expresses relief that, with the terror of secret reports and undercover teachers among staff over, the relationship between teachers themselves is more easy-going. She adds that the education authorities are no longer repressive and have become tolerant and co-operative.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4082540.stm

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

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Teacher Retirement Funds

2005-08-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Teacher Retirement Funds
Real Estate Inv. Trusts: REITs
The Essential REIT: July 21, 2005

"Is It Time to Sell Your REIT Stocks?"

The article's author cites a number of reasons for the increasing allocations. This includes REITs' transparency (though some survey respondents believe it can be further improved), enthusiasm of hedge funds and other private equity managers, and interest from large pension funds, e.g., new REIT allocations from Texas Employees Retirement System, Arizona State Retirement Systems and Texas Teachers Retirement System, none of whom had ever invested in REITs previously.

http://www.fool.com/community/pod/2005/050722.htm?ref=foolwatch

blog jean and bill bruce

William C. Bruce

Associate Dean and Professor
College of Education and Psychology
Phone: (903) 566-7048

wbruce@uttyler.edu

http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt/

http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm

http://www.inquiry-basedteaching.blogspot.com/

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