Although rural Kansas school districts do not have anything like the seventy-four $100K-plus employees of the Blue Valley District or the sixty-two $100K-plus employees in Shawnee Mission, they don’t do half bad – especially compared to the people paying their salaries…
Ford County, for instance, ranks 94th out of 105 Kansas counties in median per capita income at $19,348 per year. Median household income in Ford County is just $46,621 a year. The county seat of Ford County is Dodge City. At least 300 employees of the Dodge City School District earn more than the median HOUSEHOLD in Ford County. And that does not include generous benefits that range up to 35 percent of salary.
Some 442 employees in that district make more than $40,000 a year, and not many teachers make much less than that. This may not seem like a lot to Johnson Countians, but in rural Kansas that salary goes a long way, especially considering that teachers typically get their summers off.
Or do they?
A young teacher named Brittany Clark wrote an article titled, “The Myth That Teachers Get Summers Off—Debunked.”
As Brittany points out, “While it’s true that the workday is not from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. as it is during the school year, the work does not stop when the children leave the building for summer break.
Brittany Clark
“When I look at my summer plans, I see an abundance of professional development and training plans, travel for professional networking, and at least five to seven days set aside to work on my classroom.”
OMG, It’s really hard out there for a prof!
Brittany, by the way, posted this lament in July.
Brittany also talks about the “myth” of the “eight weeks” of summer vacation. She is right about that. In Kansas, at least, the summer vacation is at least 10 weeks. Then too, there are the three days off for Thanksgiving, two weeks off for semester break over Christmas, a week long spring break, and, in Olathe at least, 13 “professional days” without students, whatever those are.
This is not to disparage the valuable work that teachers do, but their whiny unions and knee-jerk supporters in the media need to think occasionally about the put-upon Kansans paying their salaries.
Rich Steele is a citizen journalist and head of the NSAAS (Non-Smokers Against Anti-Smoking).
With all the shit teachers put up with, they don’t make enough money.
Did anyone think that those teachers who make a “whopping” $40,000 may have been teaching there most of their adult life? I never ever thought I would live to see the day that teachers, police and firefighters are now the bad guys because they have great unions.
I’m married to a teacher and I’ll bet any of you would quit within a year. I know I would.
Teachers get intimidated by parents, administrators and students alike. Nothing is the kids fault, it’s all on the teachers now.
With all the hoops they have to jump through and the number of heartbreaking stories about parents who either don’t care at all or care way too much, they should be paid. And paid well.
They are with your kids more than you are. It’s OK to pay the head of XXX company millions of dollars to eliminate jobs, but pay a teacher 40k to educate your kid and that’s a travesty?
This is some crazy mixed up crap. 40k a year is $833 a week.
So, let’s take a dump on the teachers some more. Let’s thin an already thinning talent pool.
Go ahead Rich, give it a shot. Teach a class. I dare you.
I guess it’s fine to stand on the sidelines and criticize until you’ve walked in their shoes.
They should be getting Eric Hosmer money. After all, your kid’s life and future are in their hands.
BTW, the entire slant of your posts disparages teachers and what they do, you whine through the whole article.
They aren’t the bad guys. And they aren’t the bad guys because they have a union. If they are the “bad guys” it is because they are government employees that believe they can hold the taxpayer hostage if they don’t get what they want. See NYPD in response to comments by the Mayor. A work slowdown putting the TAXPAYER at risk. The TAXPAYER is still footing the bill. And BTW, we all put up with “shit” at work, union or not.
Randy totally hit the nail on the head. Looks like axe grinding on Steele’s part here.
Last I checked public school teachers are required to have a four year degree and certification. And they dont get too far up the payscale without advanced degrees. Have you priced 4-6 years of college lately?
If you want to make a fair comparison, juxtapose their salaries with the percentage of the population with a minimum of four years of college and a bachelor degree.
Geez, Rich, you ragging on teachers, their work schedules and salaries is really amazing. Blows right past Hearne ragging on the dead gun store owner. No problem with CEO’s walking away with $20 million annual packages because that’s private sector money, right? Public sector provides no value.
apples and oranges Stomper, CEO’s aren’t government employee’s. so yes, because its private sector money it is different.
That’s my point, many people take the position that you seem to. The public sector provides little if any value and therefore should never have equivalent validity. Steely Dan Man made the point as well. He left the profession, as certainly many others do ( or choose not to enter the profession) because it’s not financially respected. Guess I’m biased but there are not many professions as critical to our country’s success as teachers.
No, you are 100% correct about how critical teachers are. But public positions never will and shouldn’t have parity with the private sector. For one, the benefits afforded to teachers (which can account for up to 30% of compensation) which aren’t included in the 40k help bring parity. The job security in the public sector is much higher than in the private sector. Just look at turnover rates for various positions and their public sector counter parts.
In the end there are pros and cons to being a public sector employee, just as there are pros and cons of being a private sector employee. I empathize with teachers, but if they were looking to make a million dollars a year they chose the wrong profession, and that is no secret, they weren’t tricked into taking a profession under the assumption that they would become wealthy.
No person ever taking a teaching job ever thought the were going to make a million dollars a year. Try again, sir.
“they weren’t tricked into taking a profession under the assumption that they would become wealthy.”
Thats exactly what I said larry.
You should try reading the comment again.
GU=/=PU
You were the one that wrote “if they were looking to make a million dollars a year, they chose the wrong decision”
Try rereading what YOU wrote.
Should have written profession. Where’s my editor?
“Ford County, for instance, ranks 94th out of 105 Kansas counties in median per capita income at $19,348 per year. ”
And a large majority of those are not college educated.
“Some 442 employees in that district make more than $40,000 a year,”
And every single one of them has one or more college degrees.
I agree the teacher’s union is whiny sometimes, but this was not the way to attack them.
I haven’t taken statistics in years, but I thought median (as opposed to mean, mode or range) was the middle value of a given set. Did Mrs. Steele mean to use the “mean” of the incomes? If not then she is saying that if we ranked all persons in Ford County from lowest to highest based on income the very middle figure (not the mean) would be 19,348. Since I doubt 50% of the working folks in Ford County have college degrees, the “range” of salaries for folks with college degrees could be from 19,349 to infinity.
I do get what you are trying to say though.
I understand the point you are trying and failing to make, but you are going about it all wrong.
Well I didn’t fail, math is math, the definition of median hasn’t changed in the last 30 years that I’m aware of.
I was agreeing with bob that use of the median income is not a fair barometer of pay. (if by median they mean the “median” I am referring to).
Looks like Steele is a troll, and doesn’t have the slightest clue how much work a teacher does during the school year, let alone summer break.
I vouch for Brittany’s quote. Summer breaks are not exactly having three months off. Districts require loads of PD to attend.
As for the regular school year, teachers average about 60 hours a week when you include extracurricular activities, grading and lesson plans. Plus on top of that, you need to advance your degree in order to get a raise. F— that. That’s why I quit.
Source: I used to be a teacher.
Not to mention that it isn’t 8-10 weeks vacation time. The contracts are for the school year. Some teachers choose to take that pay during the school year and take a summer job or have it spread out over the course of a year. They are only paid for the school year.
I have a degree in Education and a degree in History. I taught school for 3 years, albeit, a long time ago in the Kansas City School District and one Catholic School. I have many friends who are teachers to this day.
Randy makes some great points. Teachers today, in many situations, are not getting paid for actually teaching, they are getting paid for warehousing truculent, indolent, entitled and dangerous students in public schools. My first substitute teaching job at Paseo in 1977, was to replace the Algebra teacher, who had his jaw broke by a kid, who I found out in short order, was still in class, though moved to the front row in order to “keep him under control”. Again, this was 1977. Later that day, a kid lit up a doobie and threw a IBM Selectric Typewriter out of the second floor window. For you folks who are too young to remember, a Selectric costs 800.00 or so back in the 70’s.
I subsequently subbed at many KC Schools and it could be some tough sledding. At Southwest High School, I was surprised to see pictures of battered teachers in the break room. BIG pictures that covered the wall. This was, as I understood it at the time, a reminder from the union for teachers and safety. You can draw your own conclusions. I subbed a choir class and it was, although less dangerous than the gig at Paseo, far more frustrating. In contrast, my experiences at Catholic Schools were a walk in the park.
I guess what I am saying, is that both Randy and Steele are right to a certain extent and not all situations are equal. In Catholic School, you received less money, but it beat the hell out of secondary public school.
Some good things can happen, even in the most difficult circumstances. In 1978 The KC School District asked me to take over a 4th grade class at a school called Blenheim on 71st and Prospect. I spent the first couple of days looking over the lesson plans and trying to apply them in class. Not a chance. I realized in short order, that the kids could not read, write, or do any math. Maybe at a 1st grade or less level. Intimidated by the administration and the principle (Not because they were oppressive or vicious, just inept because of the system, the tools they were taught-this is my opinion, they were nice, but unable to understand the gravity of the situation.). There were protocols and paradigms with all the nomenclature and expected results, which, actually, were not really expected, just articulated.
It’s not like I was some brilliant, “Blackboard Jungle” teacher, inspired to “Affect Infinity”. I was just a kid who thought this sh*t was stupid. That day, I arranged all the lesson plans strategically on the desk so I could bullsh*t my way out of a jam and took the kids outside to recess early. We played kick ball, jumped rope and then ran a couple of laps before we came back inside. I then, for the next 4 or 5 months, sent row after row of kids to the board to do math, then read, then do math then read etc etc etc. By May, 31 out of 32 kids could read, do long division, multiplication the entire gamut of necessary skills to matriculate into the next grade. They were all black and they all (The sweet little kid in the 6th row, 3 kids back, was touched.) kicked fu*kin azz. We had flash cards, competitions and most importantly we had recess. I didn’t care if there was a murder, we were going out to recess and burning that energy off so I could get there attention. Seriously, they were studs.
Very few parents came to see me at Parent – Teacher conferences and maybe this was because they knew they were getting a substitute teacher instead of the real thing.
The conflict between teachers unions and administration, in conjunction with politics, money and power, leads me to believe that the Fed should get out of the Education Business altogether. Common Core is an excuse for more centralized power that from a distance, constricts and inhibits the ability of teachers to assess problems and deal with them “boots on the ground”.
There is no logical way to critique in general Teachers and educational efforts which would make sense from one community to another. Again, centralizing power in the Fed, is, in my opinion, counterproductive and a classic case of micro managing that will lower standards and produce modest results at best.
Teachers should make more money and their feet held to the fire. A very hot fire. Education is the ne plus ultra “people” business and failure is unacceptable.
Sounds to me that the teachers’ colleges have a lot to answer for in this mess that you describe in our public schools. A little common sense — kids need recess to work off all that excess energy — and tried and true methods of teaching reading and math that go back 40 or 50 years go a long way. Mr. Chuck, your observations are excellent.
Thanks, you’re too kind.
I do think that from K through 9 you can really make a difference in ANY situation. Even if the kids go off of the rails in High School, they will retain the building blocks necessary to excel later in life when they calm back down.
In addition, my experience was frenetic and sustaining that energy over the long haul might be too much to ask. Everyone becomes restless with their station in life and this incessant rote application to learning was physically and mentally demanding. I lost my voice at least once a month and was always on my feet. Perhaps the paradigms and protoc0ls that I viewed with such disdain, were actually the system’s effort to confront and overcome the fatigue that might be part and parcel of the teaching profession. Older, better and more experienced teachers would know, I was a flash in the pan.
Great comments, Chuck. Thanks for sharing. I knew sooner or later we could find at least a little common ground. It caught me off guard a little to read complimentary comments from you on young black kids. Common Core , like No Child Left Behind before it, had noble aspirations but ran into the reality of politics and turf wars as you noted. While I DO see a minor role for the federal government in education ( more so to create a floor for acceptable performance, so we don’t end up with districts graduating high school seniors that can’t read; can you say Mississippi), local control should be 95% of the activity. Absolutely no substitute for the role of committed and supportive parents. I do agree that teachers unions should not be able to protect members that consistently underperform. Our society seems to ridiculously undervalue the role of teachers. Money doesn’t answer all problems but being able to afford the solutions to the problems sure doesn’t hurt.
Chuck, we disagree strongly on the role of government but I do appreciate your service, both in the classroom and in the armed forces.
God bless and thank you.
“It caught me off guard a little to read complimentary comments from you on young black kids.”
I usually don’t respond to racist accusations, but, as long as we are swapping some rhetorical spit, here goes.
The knee jerk reaction at my criticism of the African American sub culture in toto or individually, which usually results in ad hominem and pejorative accusations of “Racism” is illogical and counter productive. There is, categorically, a dramatic and disproportionate amount of crime, committed by African Americans. This problem, is exacerbated by not acknowledging that problem, every day, every week, every month, year, decade until it is mitigated to more acceptable levels. Pretending that the problem does not exist, looking the other way, refusing to accept personal responsibility and 2nd partying the blame for that crime, is de facto permission for that crime to continue. This is serious, very serious criminality, and, make no mistake, I respect that violence, the willingness to use it extemporaneously, viciously with prejudice. I have seen and experienced it first hand many times. There are lost generations of blacks, from which there will be no return. There is a solution.
Talking about these problems, bringing them up, facing them honestly is the first step in fixing the problem. Broaching the subject of African American criminality is not tantamount to racism, it is facing the truth. I live with black people in a mixed neighborhood and get along with them fine, especially considering how fuc*kin grouchy I am. I have worked every week with few exceptions for the last 28 years with a black guy. We are very close. When things go terrible for him, he calls me and when things are tough for me, I call him. It is cliché for a white guy to list his black friends, but this is the first time I have done it. I have no fu*kin problem telling any black person exactly how I feel about racial problems, violence and what I consider might be solutions.
I feel, maybe wrongly, that I am qualified based on blood and experience to give my opinion, and my opinion, is that all Civil Rights Legislation, quotas, Affirmative Action, Protected Class status, etc. etc. etc. should be phased out. My experience with African Americans, is, they don’t need it and it inhibits the desire to succeed with built in excuses for failure and breeds resentment and entitlement.
Again, 31 out of 32 kids could really, really read, read well, comprehend, comprehend well, add, subtract, multiply, understand maps, you name it. They were average kids, I was an average teacher, if even that.
The easy way out, is to keep blacks believing that they can’t make it unless white people bail them out.
It isn’t true.
Phase these government programs and bureaucracies out of existence. When the cream rises to the top, it won’t be white, but just the color that you Progressives have always dreamed of.
$40k now would be well appreciated by many in Joco. They don’t make what you think and according to a mortgage friend of mine, many are deeply in debt. “Trying to keep up”
TO PAUL WILSON
You have written here on public education before and I think promised another piece in the future. This is a great topic and with your serious commitment to research, this one cries out for your perspective. I know you’d threaten three figures on comments.
Go for it Professor. Your public misses you.