Not without merit your opinion but it's hard to sell that on the back of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. It's the optics.
I don't really view this the same way I view Healthcare, Education, or Protection (military, police, fire). A kind of need vs want argument.
Optics are often the struggle of real budgetary cuts. Combined with the new higher standard deduction and SALT cap decreasing the savings related to charitable giving, it is definitely not the ideal time to be cutting to charities.
Compared to what exactly? "When compared with teachers in other countries, American teachers are generally well-paid: they make more at all points in their career than the average for teachers in the OECD. But teaching isn't a particularly well-paid profession anywhere. In all OECD countries, teachers make less than the average person with a bachelor's degree." https://www.vox.com/2015/3/25/8284637/school-spending-US They work 185 days a year compared to the average American worker who works 230. http://profitofeducation.org/?p=3686 20% less work days.... that's not bad.. American spends soooo much on primary education/secondary education and the results are a total disaster. I'm totally down for cutting spending. Reapportion the money we already spend and do something productive with it. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/07/us-education-spending-finland-south-korea The constant clamor I hear for more spending in education is patently ridiculous. Whatever the problems are, they aren't monetary. The money is there it's either 1) not being spent well or 2) educational issues that go beyond money.
19 million is like the cost of a hammer and nail at the Pentagon. They are really trying to find cuts to stuff like this when there are useless things that we spend billions on? Why not cut back on some of our military expenditures?
Again, as a parent I want the best possible people teaching my kids. My wife is a pre-school teacher and makes way less than an elementary or secondary school teacher, but even those teachers I know either take continuing education (usually at own expense) or part time jobs over the summer. The teacher pay penalty has hit a new high Trends in the teacher wage and compensation gaps through 2017
So this one cherry picked stat proves what exactly? What exactly is a "comparable worker" ? Someone else with a bachelors degree? So they make less than the average person with a bachelors degree? So what? Why should they make the average of what someone with a bachelors degree makes? Why is that some sort of standard? What's wrong with having them earn less? Does this take into account 20% less work days? 18% less pay but 20% less work days? Does this study take into account part time jobs they can work with that extra 20% of days? Teachers often seek more education because its necessary to 1) earn more money and 2) access higher positions within the educational pyramid. It's not some altruism. Like I pointed out, for teachers in OECD countries, teachers in the United States do fine. We spend wayyy too much on education for what we are getting already.
full disclosure: My wife has taught for 24 years and has a masters degree. She makes about 9K more than the average first year teacher. The average teacher works 2,200 hours a year. Thats 44 hours a week for 50 weeks IF they worked year round..except they don't. They pack all those hours in 10 months instead of 12. So they do work the same amount as other people with bachelors degrees. The misconception that they leave work at 3pm is highly erroneous. Wrong. Teachers are required to continue take continuing education courses because it's often required by the state or their districts. Many of these classes are taken during their 2 months of "off-time" in the summer. They don't earn more money because of it, and many times they actually have to pay for the courses themselves. It doesn't mean they get higher positions..it means they get to keep their positions. Because standards and techniques are changing and evolving, teachers are required to take these courses to keep up their jobs. I'll actually agree somewhat with this post. But the reason the U.S. doesn't get much out of its educational system is because we refuse to adopt the systems that do work in other countries (vocational classes, conceptual math, etc)..and because parents refuse to back the educators. I'd honestly say the biggest reason the U.S. education system has issues has more to do with the parents than it does with the teachers.
I don't want the wall either but.. if Special Olympics were a federally funded program I'd be upset. But it's not. It's a completely private organization that was over 95% completely self-sufficient in 2016. The money that the government gives to SO is only about 10% of the company's income..and they came in under budget that year so most of the governments money wasn't even needed. So although this current budget eliminates $11 million from Special Olympics, at the same time it actually gives an increase of $226 million to help special education teachers. However if they wanted to save face, they could've kept the $11million in the budget for S.O. and just reduce the increase for S.E. teachers to $215 million.
You said what I was going to say but with a whole lot more tactfulness than I was going to use. I seriously can't believe we still have to point this out to people about teachers. Are there bad ones who are just in it for the time off? Yes. A LARGE MAJORITY love what they do and were never in it for the money or the alleged time off. They (like my wife and yours) want to teach. They understand the sacrifices it means. It would be nice if some of the more ignorant ones out there realize just what it means to be a teacher, too. @BruceAndre and @HTM wouldn't last an hour in a classroom. The only part you left off is the money teachers have to pay out of their own pocket to create a learning environment (required by the districts but not paid for) and to make sure their students have proper supplies. As I've said before, my wife formerly worked at a school that was nearly 100% Title 1 (for the uneducated, that means nearly every student in her school qualified for the free lunch program). I never kept track of how much we spent every year but it was probably over $1,000...of which we can only deduct $250 in taxes and that the district does not reimburse. She's in a school that's about 40% Title 1 now and actually has an active PTA so things on that front have improved. But we still paid for a lot to get her room ready and to make sure everyone had what they needed. I'm more than happy to do it and she loves what she does.
Please thank your wife... it is a difficult, and often thankless job, but one that is very important!
You're probably right, in some sense. It's not a job I would want. And I'm all about people recognizing their strengths and their weaknesses, and going to where their strengths are, and leaving the other areas (jobs) alone. I would reiterate my previous point: they knew what they were getting into (or should have) when they got into it. I would add: I have a buddy who is teacher. I know his hours. He starts sometime early in the morning, and is done at 230 pm (!) And if somebody is a teacher, they probably have a relatively short commute. (or they should) I could say of him: he wouldn't last -- or he would find it tough -- to be in a job that has relatively few holidays, constant grind day in and day out, engaging in an arduous and dangerous commute 2 to 2.5 hours a day. In short, we all make our choices.
