Teacher's Salaries Eat Public Education Budget

Teachers make too much money. They make more money than many of the parents who send their kids to the public schools and whose property taxes pay their salaries. There is no reason why a 2nd or even a 3rd year teacher should be pulling in $50k a year when many people don’t get that kind of money having been on the job to 10 years.

There was a time when being in the public sector was more about service and not much about the money. You had ample holidays and good hours but the pay wasn’t the draw. Now the teachers make so much and take so much of the public school budget that even basic supplies cannot be purchased.

But don’t take my word for it. When I was a kid in the Roslindale projects we went to Phineas Bates Elementary. Well I plugged that into Google and low and behold, there is a website. Here is the text unaltered from that site. I think it speaks for itself.

2013 Budget Requires Cuts to Bates ProgramsSubmitted by Dave Atkins on January 13, 2013 - 9:50am

Each January, Principal Kelly Hung is given an overall budget from the school district and required to submit a detailed budget proposal by January 22. Much of the budget is committed to teacher salaries leaving a portion that is "discretionary" and can be allocated to programs like Playworks, a school counselor, full-time intern teachers in the classrooms, instructional supplies and technology, professional development including staff training on how to implement the 7 Habits, and school contributions to programs like Making Music Matters that are partially funded through other means.

The 2013 budget increased slightly, but the discretionary portion of the budget has shrunk by 55%.

Principal Hung, in consultation with the Parent Council, is working to create a budget to meet this shortfall that has required eliminating the school counselor position, eliminating internship positions for new teachers, asking the Parent Council to fund Making Music Matters, and suspending any future technology purchases. The Playworks program will be retained. Some programs and positions such as the City Connects support coordinator are funded independently or through grants. Some programs like the Museum of Science visiting program are paid for by the Parent Council.

Additional changes include added support for science instruction. Unfortunately, the school-wide Spanish program will not continue, but Spanish instruction will continue in advanced work classes and we hope to have Spanish clubs.

These cuts mean the school will need help from the Parent Council and community to cover even basic supplies and fund any field trips or other enrichment activities.

The School Site Council will be discussing the proposed budget on Wednesday, January 16 at 5:30pm in Room 102. All parents and guardians are welcome to attend and learn about the choices being made. The budget must be submitted to the district by noon on January 22nd.

Don't let anyone blow smoke up your butt, the U.S. economy is still in recession. The GDP has shrunk and for many reasons like increased taxes, rising fuel costs and sky-rocketing healthcare costs associated with ObamaCare, people have less money to spend.

Yet the school budgets are increasing. The teacher contracts require the teachers to get raises even though many who work in the private sector have not gotten a raise for some time.

Here is an example where the teacher's salaries take precident over "even basic" school supplies.
The teachers are well paid, very well paid. So well paid their busting the bank. The school system may try to come back to the taxpayer for more money.

But right now it's hard to get blood out of a stone.