Peninsula public school teachers Brenda and David Aston were featured on the front page of the August 17, 2005, edition of The Peninsula Gateway, picketing school district officials for higher pay. They held signs reading “Our family qualifies for W.I.C. and subsidized health care” and “Ask me about Job #2.”
The image of unfairly underpaid teachers is a compelling one, and it’s fueling several threatened (and illegal) strikes around the state. But is it accurate?
According to data provided by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Brenda and David Aston each earned base teaching salaries of $45,169 this year (2004-05). In addition, both had supplemental contracts with the district, from which they earned $3,599 and $4,546 respectively. On top of that, Brenda’s benefits package (health insurance, etc.) was worth $11,232 and David’s was worth $11,319.
Thus, the couple’s total combined salary for the year was $98,483 and their total compensation package was worth $121,034. And that doesn’t include income David earned from his second job working as a custodian of evidence for a local police department.
Frankly, most families would be thrilled to claim annual income of $90,000 or more, with nearly full health coverage and a pension to boot.
Mr. and Mrs. Aston’s individual teaching pay is not outlandishly high — many professionals earn as much or more. But it is certainly disingenuous to present it as a vow of poverty in an attempt to garner support for the contract demands being made by their local union officials.
Further, Mrs. Aston’s claim that “with my salary, I qualified for WIC (Women, Infant and Children) and subsidized health insurance,” seems easily refutable with a quick online search. Eligibility guidelines for the WIC program provided by the Washington State Department of Health show that a household of six (the Astons have four children) may be eligible if gross annual income is less than $47,860. The maximum income listed in any eligibility category for a family of six on the state’s Basic Health Plan was $51,743.
It doesn’t appear the Astons, with a household income of nearly $100,000, would qualify for either.
The average teacher in the Peninsula School District earned a base salary of $47,939 and total compensation worth $63,406 in the 2003-04 school year. According to district officials, the teachers’ union is threatening a strike if demands aren’t met for a 10 percent pay increase.
That pay increase would, of course, be paid by other working individuals and families in the district who earn, on average, far less. The latest Census Bureau data shows a median household income of $57,701 for families in the district.
Excellent teachers can and should earn excellent pay, but the claims and demands being made right now hardly amount to an honest debate about the issue.
Posted by Marsha Michaelis at August 24, 2005 02:10 PM | Email This“...with MY salary, I qualified for WIC (Women, Infant and Children) and subsidized health insurance...”
Which would in fact be true if the family were relying on her salary alone. If challenged, I suspect she would claim that she never said that her family actually qualified for WIC in their current circumstance...technically.
Posted by: Patrick on August 24, 2005 02:26 PMhttp://effwa.org/main/article.php?article_id=1055
Cry me a river!
Posted by: Trunk Monkey on August 24, 2005 03:13 PMBased on their product quality, public school teachers are way overpaid.
Choosing teaching for a profession doesn't automatically entitle you to economics outside of normal laws of supply and demand. If they are qualified for higher-paying jobs, let them find them.
Posted by: Mr. Grabbit on August 24, 2005 03:24 PMGreedy, just plain greedy.
Posted by: JCM on August 24, 2005 03:43 PMNeedless to say I won't be joining the union either.
Posted by: Calvin A on August 24, 2005 05:01 PMPlease cite for me just one instance when a Washington State school district has sought and been denied a back-to-work order against a striking teachers union.
Trunk Monkey
All good teachers work DAMN hard for what they earn. I know. My wife and two daughters teach and my wife has a brother, sister and sister-in-law who teach. Typically, my wife leaves at 7AM and gets home around 5PM with a 2 mile commute. She works on planning and/or grading typically 2 hours each evening and 8 hours on the weekend. And let me assure you, she does NOT earn anything like $45,000. And 86 percent of her students are at or above grade level by measured by the WASL. BTW, the old standard for average school work was 70 percent.
One of the REAL problems in public education is the WEA has made it all but IMPOSSIBLE to fire an incompetent/lazy teacher. Of course, the same applies to all government employees.
Posted by: JC Bob on August 24, 2005 05:38 PMThis area is one of those where the school teachers make more than the general population. The people out here would LOVE to get a nice cushy job with the school district. Mostly for the benefits!
There is very little sympathy for a strike. The district is already trying to find areas to cut just so they can pay the high cost of fuel to get the kids to class.
Since most of the area is rural the rest of us have effectivly taken a pay cut because of the increased cost of just getting to work.
Posted by: Living-on-the-pen on August 24, 2005 05:52 PMThe issue here is a family in the top 10% of wage earners complaining about being underpaid.
Cry me a river, build a bridge and get over it.
Posted by: JCM on August 24, 2005 05:56 PMAdditionally, they can strike, and still be paid their FULL yearly salary. If the boyz at the lazy "B" go on strike, they lose at a minimum one days pay, forever.
Teachers don't lose squat.
I know, as a former politician (school board member), now in recovery.
The Geezer
Posted by: The Geezer on August 24, 2005 09:41 PMAs a voter- if teachers and school districts committed to metrics- like those of us in the private sector- I'd be up for voting for bonuses based on these metrics.
But instead we get these slobbering cry babies saying it can't be boiled down to something so cold as a yard stick....
yep- and they wonder why voters aren't convinced on paying them more.
Posted by: Andy on August 24, 2005 10:52 PMSo I'm not sympathetic to the annual cry about teacher pay. The hours and the time off afford them a lifestyle that few of us can achieve.
Posted by: Palouse on August 25, 2005 09:12 AMWell jolly. SO DID MOST OF US!
Posted by: Realist on August 25, 2005 10:12 AMAnd I don't for one minute by the line by "Living-on-the-pen" that "This area is one of those where the school teachers make more than the general population"
Take a look at the median income and real-estate values in this area and tell me that the typical school teacher in the Peninsula School District is making that much!
Most teachers in the Peninsula School District can't even afford to live in the same area that their students live in, and yet these teachers deliver outstanding performance - the PSD has higher test scores than any other school district in Pierce county.
And Jim Coolican is full of it when he boasts that they are higher paid than other teachers in the area and goes on to list Mason, Kitsap, Clallam, and Jefferson counties as "this area" while convienently omitting Pierce county - in which the Peninsula School District is entirely located!
This is an issue of fairness - when teachers deliver outstanding performance, as they do in the Gig Harbor area - they deserve above average compensation - which these teachers aren't.
Conservative are just on the wrong side of this issue because A) teachers generally support Democrats and B) conservative are generally tightwads.
Posted by: SPB on August 25, 2005 03:29 PMTypical, liberal tripe. We = right. Conservatives = wrong.
Says you.
A. Change 'teachers' to WEA union hacks, and you'll be a bit closer to the mark.
B. Thank you. If more people were 'tightwads' with our tax dollars, I suspect we'd be in a bit better of a situation budget-wise, no?
You make enough money. If you don't like it, do something else. It's that simple.
Raised by two (now retired) K-12 teachers. Fortunately we had just enough money to buy some dirt to cover our floor. That, and enough to send me to private school. The traitors.
Posted by: jimg on August 25, 2005 04:06 PMI would have had their signs only in Spanish..our illegal alien residents (getting in-state tuition rates) would have rallied for their cause; the English as a Second Language lobby block would have rallied too; the place would have been crowded with disgruntled supporters;
they need a stint in the Peace Corps to get their humility back;
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on August 25, 2005 06:03 PMMy wife, thankfully, teaches at private school. Her salary is based on a percentage (a lower percentage) of the Seattle School District's pay scale.
After just finishing her Masters degree, and with 7 years of teaching experience, her salary is 35,000. This will be the first year of making more than than 30k.
This is terrible. Unfortunatly, since their pay is based on the union pay scale - and since private schools don't exactly rake in the money - this is what she gets. It is a travesty. However, she knew it going into it.
I am sure we lose a lot of great teacher due to the horrible pay. The first 6 years after a private college education were horrible - starting at something like 23k if I remember right.
Teachers need to make more, period. However, at the same time, blindly giving people more money with no regard for the job performance is absolutely ridiculous. Pay teachers what they are worth - individually. The only way this will happen is to break the unions.
I am not holding my breath on that one.
Posted by: teacher's husband on August 25, 2005 07:13 PMTeachers typically spend less than 700 hours a year in front of a class. There is a lot of debate about how much time they spend outside the classroom, and I'm sure it varies from teacher to teacher. But a typical non-government worker works over 2,000 hours, and many of us have to do "homework," preparation for work projects when we are at home and not on the clock. A small business owner may well work 3,000 hours a year. I don't think a teacher is putting in that many hours, even if you include preparing lessons, grading papers, etc.
Posted by: Michael on August 25, 2005 10:11 PMWell, if we're going to use generalities here ...
What's the old expression?
Those that can, do.
And those that can't, teach?
And before you even start, I plan on eventually getting my MA so I can teach higher ed in this state. A second career, for what it's worth.
K-12 and the WEA? Forget it.
They're the problem. The anti-solution.
Now aside from the teachers, how are the students going to handle a late start if the strike continues? I know that many schools in texas, and some charters schools in los angeles, begin their school year around the August 16th mark, and end in either late may or early/mid-june. (In all honestly I'm completely clueless as to why the change was made, and would rather not have school begin that early on in the year. September has just always been a good time, as fall is just beginning and the summer sunshine wanes.) If school dates are pushed forward, then either vacation times will be shortened, or release date will be extended as well... in actuality, even both could happen. PSD schedules are incorporated with other neighboring school district schedules, as well as some of the ones at TCC and other colleges in the area. When one gets pushed out of alignment, there is a lot of stress and tension that ensues simply because of technicalities like times, dates, and transportation. If the teachers value their jobs so much, they should be thanking the students for needing teaching, as well as respect that by doing their jobs.
I first heard about the strike from my dentist, and then today from a fellow student in PSD. Neither had any opinion on whether or not a strike would occur past the set date for school beginnings, but with my peers we made a deal that we would be at school on the noted day, whether the teachers were there or not.
I hope you all are prepared :)
Posted by: TJ on August 25, 2005 11:59 PMHowever, it seems to me that the education community (At least the unions) say that every problem with our schools stems from low teacher pay. Increase teacher pay, increase school funding and voila! Every student gets 1600 on the SATs.
What I don't understand is why they fail to embrace the one thing guaranteed to increase teacher pay and benefits -- competition.
Scratch that. I know why.
Posted by: tvwxman on August 26, 2005 05:22 AMWait a minute. First, let's examine the 10 months argument because that is puzzling to me. We're talking about regular teacher pay here, not teacher pay plus a second job they work in their time off. So please add up the entire summer vacation, the "winter break", spring break, and all other vacation/PTO that teachers get and then get back to me about that 10 month figure.
Next, I/we know teachers work hard and they have a tough job. Here's a news flash, so do the rest of us. I'm sure there's a lot of professionals here at SP.com that "cram a year's worth of work into 9 or 10 months". In fact, many of us do the equivalent of a year's worth of work (2,080 hours) in 9 or 10 months. So that argument doesn't wash either.
Posted by: Palouse on August 26, 2005 08:43 AMLocal school districts are allowed to supplement the state salary schedule to teachers who take on additional responsibilities or meet other incentive guidelines.
The Peninsula School Districts teachers want a 10% across the board pay increase.
The appropriate place to lobby for a teacher salary increase is in Olympia with the state legislature rather than holding local school districts hostage.
WEA has refined the "divide and conquer" strategy by placing the issue of pay increases to the local level...much easier to place the perception of responsibility onto the local populace by playing on their heart strings rather than in front of a group of legislators who control the purse strings.
Marsha: Would you please forward a copy of your post to Lori Losee (lori.losee@gateline.com)the reporter who wrote the 8/17 Peninsula Gateway article? When I contacted her regarding the article, she admitted that she had not checked any facts represented by Ms. Aston, but rather relied on the corroberation of two other teachers who were picketing with them. I'm sure Ms. Losee will appreciate receiving a copy. ;)
Posted by: GMT on August 26, 2005 09:41 AMMy question: if the good teachers have always wanted to want to root out their own bad ones, why haven't they cleaned house by now from within?
Perhaps threaten to quit the WEA en masse? I know it's hard to cut one's nose to spite one's face, but no one is calling for (nor do I see) an internal house cleaning. Is it the 'you first' fear of retribution? or the "it's comfy in here" form of tolerating mediocrity? Most professional groups self-police their members--medical, investment advisors, etc.
...and by the way...we in private industry ALSO take work home and extend our workdays/weekends as some teachers also do...this is a red herring argument...
We expected reforms from CPA's like in the Anderson (accounting firm's) case as well as from failed businesses like the Enron case. True--taxpayers frequently moan about school taxes and reforms, but no one from inside the industry seems to want to REALLY sweep their own streets. Unless, of course, they are shot down by the special interest unions.
My mother generally gets to work at 7a.m. and leaves around 4:30p.m. I am sure that many working people enjoy an hour long lunch with no work involved. My mother works through her lunch and planning periods with just a few snacks (as do the majority of teachers. Despite all that, she tends to work about two hours on average every night planning for the classes and grading papers.(Again as do most teachers.) In the summer, teachers still have to put in extra time preparing supplies and their classroom. Not to mention how many teachers work a second job in the summer. (I know plenty who do. So, for those of the people who responded giving teachers no credit for the time they put in, calling them lazy, it seems they are truly the lazy ones.
Those of the readers who complained that teachers today are ignorant and unqualified, they obviously don't know how difficult it is nowadays to become a teacher. My mother went through the same college load as many regular college grads did. During college, of course, she had to student teach (which practically everyone knows), but most people don't realize that the hours of student teaching are so demanding, she wasn't able to work for that period of time. Then she went onto graduate school, which clearly, not everyone does. For someone who is being educated today to become a teacher, they would know that it is getting much harder to become qualified. New teachers have to do more student teaching and even take classes once they have a job. Teaching is NOT a profession for the ignorant and lazy.
When it comes down to the pay, new teachers receive increases in salary during their first six years. After that, increases don't come as often. My mother hasn't had an increase in the last five years. Many teachers have been waiting for another increase for a longer amount of time. Those are the teachers who are either helping their kids pay for college or preparing to do so. Not many Peninsula School District Teachers have it easy. If you want to complain about someone who's overpaid, look at our superintendent. He has recently retired and been rehired with an astronomical pay increase.
As for the research put into the article, if was truly "great research" as '4 Paws' said, you would know that last year Mrs. Aston was on UNPAID maternity leave. That was the second child she has had and the second time she had to go on an unpaid maternity leave. Would you call starting a family idle?
It's about time that students, parents, and community members learn to respect the people who are educating today's youth and preserving our nation's foundation. Remember, it was a teacher who taught you how to read and write the article and/or responses you wrote and read.
Posted by: student on August 26, 2005 12:42 PMAs a Gig Harbor High School student, a graduate of Goodman Middle School (where Mrs. Aston works) and a child of a GMS teacher, I am appalled with your article and responses back. To say the least, they were poorly researched.
My mother generally gets to work at 7a.m. and leaves around 4:30p.m. I am sure that many working people enjoy an hour long lunch with no work involved. My mother works through her lunch and planning periods with just a few snacks (as do the majority of teachers). Despite all that, she tends to work about two hours on average every night planning for the classes and grading papers. (Again, as do most teachers.) In the summer, teachers still have to put in extra time preparing supplies and their classroom. Not to mention how many teachers work a second job in the summer. (I know plenty who do.) So, for those of the people who responded giving teachers no credit for the time they put in, calling them lazy, it seems they are truly the lazy ones.
Those of the readers who complained that teachers today are ignorant and unqualified; they obviously don't know how difficult it is nowadays to become a teacher. My mother went through the same college load as many regular college grads did. During college, of course, she had to student teach (which practically everyone knows), but most people don't realize that the hours of student teaching are so demanding, she wasn't able to work for that period of time. Then she went onto graduate school, which clearly, not everyone does. For someone who is being educated today to become a teacher, they would know that it is getting much harder to become qualified. New teachers have to do more student teaching and even take classes once they have a job. Teaching is NOT a profession for the ignorant and lazy.
When it comes down to the pay, new teachers receive increases in salary during their first six years. After that, increases don't come as often. My mother hasn't had an increase in the last five years. Many teachers have been waiting for another increase for a longer amount of time. Those are the teachers who are either helping their kids pay for college or preparing to do so. Not many Peninsula School District Teachers have it easy. If you want to complain about someone who's overpaid, look at our superintendent. He has recently retired and been rehired with an astronomical pay increase.
As for the research put into the article, if it was truly "great research" as '4 Paws' said, you would know that last year Mrs. Aston was on UNPAID maternity leave. That was the second child she has had and the second time she had to go on an unpaid maternity leave. Would you call starting a family idle?
It's about time that students, parents, and community members learn to respect the people who are educating today's youth and preserving our nation's foundation. Remember, it was a teacher who taught you how to read and write the article and/or responses you wrote and read.
Posted by: student on August 26, 2005 12:58 PMAgain, I ask - if the workload, pay or other 'hardships' suffered by teachers - be it the PSD or other districts - is so bad, then they are more than free to take another job. And while I don't discount the hard work it takes to become a teacher - unlike those other jobs where paychecks are just handed out to any Tom, Dick and Mary for no good reason - the pay scale for teachers ain't that big of a secret.
I cannot speak for everybody here, but what galls me is somehow teachers believe they're the only ones with tough jobs - but because they're TEACHERS!!!!! - they should be given free pass and whatever else they want. At public expense, no less.
Baloney, and I'm sick of their holier-than-thou, you-can't-be-mean-to-us-because-we're-teachers attitude.
And when they do strike - and they will - you'd be learned to take notice how they'll use you and students like you to further their cause.
Posted by: jimg on August 26, 2005 01:00 PMThe great benifits that teachers get require families to pay from $350 - $450 out of thier pocket for medical insurance. Remember the days when benifits weren't something that you paid but were something that you got paid!
The 10% increase being requested is over a 2 year contract so roughly 5% per year. It also seems that the poeple of WA did vote on increasing the pay of our teachers and the State Legislators ignored it.
It is also relevant to note that the teachers don't get paid vacations. They have a 182 or 190 day contract. The "raises" Coolican talks about were actually just adding the number of days that the teachers work. Do you really want kids to go to school year around?
There is a problem with teacher pay. It isn't competative. The PSD has about a 100,000,000 anual budget. Divide that by the 9500 students and you are paying $10,500 per student/year. If 4 teachers got togeather and would each take 30 students and you paid them the 1.26 million dollars to educate them for a year I would suggest they would get a better education than the current warehouse/assembly line approach taken now. This approach isn't the teachers choice but it is the only game in town. As a conservative, I would love to see a leader who had the male body parts to actually do something about this. Dream on. I would also suggest that the teachers would be paid better too.
One last note. There is a significant decrease in the number of males attending colleges. The reasons might be many, but it is worth noting that teaching as a proffession that is quickly becoming a 2nd income not a priamary one. That means less male teachers, less male role models that will inspire the boys to be the men of the next generation. All the while 40% of the current teachers are reaching retirement. Teaching will not attract the the people we need. This is trouble for the future of our courntry.
ch
Posted by: ch on August 28, 2005 10:54 AM