It's the Benefits, Stupid
By Ari Kaufman (12/21/08)
Our governor here in Indiana recently announced that state employees like myself would not be receiving an annual pay raise for 2009. This caused the typical ire within the public sector, and perhaps rightfully so, though it was the prudent choice. However, Indiana's schoolteachers, who are not state employees but rather paid by their local districts, will naturally receive yearly cost of living increases. And if they had not, surely the teachers union, teamed with the fawning media, would step in on their behalf. When I taught for five years in Los Angeles, there would have been angry mass protest marches facilitated by the powerful teachers union. Here in the heartland however, we non-teacher/state employees must suck it up while educators move upward.
Friends often ask me if I will ever go back into teaching, using my ideas on educational reform to revive my erstwhile profession. The answer is “no,” as I feel I can best aid public education's rise from the doldrums with less interference via the pen while enjoying my current profession.
They then usually ask if I rue the day I became a teacher, and my response would also be a resounding “no,” as for better or worse, I learned so very much about life, politics and economics during my short tenure. But what I do miss about being an educator are the incredible benefits that only a profession like teaching public school can bring. The hypocrisy that goes with the continuous pablum from critics (i.e. teachers) of my educational essays often makes me wonder whether these teachers do in fact know how tough the "real world" is, especially in terms of (lack of) benefits, even in other “public servant” professions.
I penned an article a few months back explaining why there is no longer a teacher shortage in America, and that's not surprising considering the profession's magnanimous benefits. Starting with health care, as a state employee, I pay roughly $90 for a routine physical or $40 for a dental cleaning. For "cosmetic" appointments such as a dermatologist, it's over $100. As a teacher, I had NO monthly health premiums and nominal $5-10 co-pays for doctor or dental visits. It is therefore sophistry of the worst kind for teachers to act as though their health benefits are lacking, when in fact theirs’ are better than other state employees, and they earn higher salaries for far fewer days of work to boot: 250 vs. 180.
Yet, this past summer in my erstwhile home of Los Angeles, there was a massive protest -- during school hours, naturally -- over salaries, benefits, budget cuts, etc. Teachers and the unions that protect them wanted more and more and more. But in the end, contrary to alarmist local media predictions, there really were no "massive layoffs" Of course there weren't. We must finally realize that people flock to teaching specifically because it is a great job, and people desire good opportunities, especially in today’s economy.
Further, with an educational system that does not adequately prepare college grads for
"the real world" of competition, two extra years at the university for “credentialing” and a very stable profession is rather appealing; so are summers off and other multi-week vacations, like teachers are currently enjoying while the rest of us work. The pay is more than fine, especially for ambitious folks who work summers or tutor, thus pulling in six figures with ease. The media loves teachers too. Just watch Jay Leno, CNN or the politicians; they're your best press. They call you heroes far more than they do the military.
But, as you'll see when they return this January from a fortnight off that no one else has, teachers will be grumpy and recalcitrance toward "change" will most definitely continue. Both annoying attributes seem endemic in teachers, and with an increasingly powerful NEA and an incoming Secretary of Education inexplicably plucked out of corrupt Chicago by the President-Elect, this unacceptable status quo will, sadly, remain for our children.
Personal attacks by teachers toward those trying to assist our kids with reform policies are unfortunately common as well. They’ll also continue no doubt.
For example, my last editorial on students’ lack of historical knowledge, entitled "Getting better grades for knowing less" prompted a rebuttal letter from a truculent teacher. Completely ignoring most my piece, he plucked out a line where I bemoaned how good veteran teachers have it in terms of salary and benefits. He wrote about having to live on his $67,000-a-year job as a teacher.
Firstly, isn't that more than the average person makes? It's more than double
my yearly salary, and my hours are longer. Secondly, when you add the medical
and retirement benefits teachers receive, this fellow who seeks our pity is in the top one percent income bracket among Americans! In other professions, on top of balancing one's budget, employees must also plan for their retirement and pay for health insurance out of their yearly income. Some of my friends and family have health insurance that alone is nearly $900 a month. Indiana state employees often pay $400 per month for health insurance, with lower starting salaries than those "overworked teachers."
A rebuttal letter in my defense back to this man recommended: “To all teachers like this man, I suggest that teachers give up those benefits and plan for these expenses out of his $67,000 income; then he might begin to understand what it means to live in the real world."
Indeed he very well might.
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