PA public school teacher salaries available online

[CarolinaGuy]

Wow. I'm thinking about teaching HS chemistry, and can officially say screw getting my masters after looking at that info.

[Hugo16]

Interesting, Thanks

[spabula]

You look at it and see "9 months" but you forget that on top of working during the day, their work goes home with them and takes up most of their night as well.

My brother and his wife are both teachers and I have to agree, they come home and they are still working.

[VariableFeedback]

You look at it and see "9 months" but you forget that on top of working during the day, their work goes home with them and takes up most of their night as well.

Not that teachers don't take their work home, but many in other professions also work at home. Also, I would think that after teaching the same course for a few years, the after-school workload decreases dramatically.

[Chainsaw]

My wife, mother, aunt and uncle teach. Every one of them would make more money without a union. There is NO benefit $$$ to doing anything above and beyond, nor penalty for doing a subpar job.

Managing employees requires rewarding the top performers and firing the losers. Teachers unions prevent both.

As a side note, I was in Massachusetts for 15 years. They tried to hire more qualified teachers by offering those in private industry with a masters degree a $20,000 bonus to teach for 3 years. The project failed miserably. If teaching isn't your calling, then you won't last.

[LittleRedToyota]

It isn't always about money either, rising healthcare, working conditions, ect are things just as good to stand up for.

of course those are good things to stand up for...higher salaries are good things to stand up for, too.

insulating people from being fired or demoted because of subpar performance (and even rewared for subpar performance) just because they have been around for longer than better performing employees is not a good thing to stand up for.

and i am not lumping all labor unions together. this is how the teachers unions (the ones being discussed) generally work. i have numerous relative who work in education in numerous school districts (including as teachers). this is how all the teacher's contracts (which were negotiated by their unions) work in those school districts at least. everything is about seniority...nothing is about merit. that's a disservice to the children in the school...a disservice to the taxpayers...a disservice to good teachers.

[Mrs. Pa Patriot]

of course those are good things to stand up for...higher salaries are good things to stand up for, too.

insulating people from being fired or demoted because of subpar performance (and even rewared for subpar performance) just because they have been around for longer than better performing employees is not a good thing to stand up for.

and i am not lumping all labor unions together. this is how the teachers unions (the ones being discussed) generally work. i have numerous relative who work in education in numerous school districts (including as teachers). this is how all the teacher's contracts (which were negotiated by their unions) work in those school districts at least. everything is about seniority...nothing is about merit. that's a disservice to the children in the school...a disservice to the taxpayers...a disservice to good teachers.

Excellent post...repped for this.

[spabula]

of course those are good things to stand up for...higher salaries are good things to stand up for, too.

insulating people from being fired or demoted because of subpar performance (and even rewared for subpar performance) just because they have been around for longer than better performing employees is not a good thing to stand up for.

and i am not lumping all labor unions together. this is how the teachers unions (the ones being discussed) generally work. i have numerous relative who work in education in numerous school districts (including as teachers). this is how all the teacher's contracts (which were negotiated by their unions) work in those school districts at least. everything is about seniority...nothing is about merit. that's a disservice to the children in the school...a disservice to the taxpayers...a disservice to good teachers.

I dont think seniority type pay systems work well at all and never said such. I agree with you and absolutely think that it is unfair. Teachers aren't the only ones that go through that. I had the exact same problem in, believe it or not, the Army. I worked my @ss off with everything I did to become a SGT in a little under 3 years from entry into service. There was a slacker in my platoon that was a Specialist ( one pay grade lower ) and had been for 7 years. Since pay is based on Pay grade AND time in service, he made a ton more money than me, with alot less responsibilities. Yep uncle sam pays more ( well used to anyway, they might have changed it ) to those people as well.
Like I had said previously, not all the unions are alike, I was truly saying that as a general statement and not aiming it at anyone. I dont personally know how the teachers union in PA works/operates, as I'm not a teacher. Labor unions are organizations for the workers, and as far as I know, all things are voted on. This included contracts, elected officers, ect. With that being said sometimes people need to get involved to change things.

[Mxyzptlk]

Not that teachers don't take their work home, but many in other professions also work at home. Also, I would think that after teaching the same course for a few years, the after-school workload decreases dramatically.

Standards change, curriculums change, you have to incorporate new technology depending on the course, have to alter the daily/weekly plan if you run behind a few minutes and don't cover something you need to, etc.

[LastManOut]

To get into a teaching college requires the lowest SAT scores of all degreed programs.

Normally employee benefit packages add about 40% to the cost of labor to an employer. Union teachers benefit package adds about 75% to their base pay.

Any government employee should be required to sign a "no-strike clause" before being hired. Labor disputes should be settled or through binding arbitration. Schools should be on a 12 month class schedule since we are no longer an agrarian culture. The practice of tenure needs to be eliminated.

With all that said, I encourage young people to go into the teaching field. It's corrupt, but won't change any time soon.

Why don't schools do the same practice as any other profession, find a system that produces the best results and adopt that system, rather than experimenting with our progeny's future. High school graduates that kant spel, do math or understand geography. Sad.