Teaching in the State of Maryland...

[BuddyLee]

After class I was looking over the bulletin board and came across this flier.

"Thinking of.............

TEACHING IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND?
(and Anne Arundel County)

Consider what the State of Maryland has to offer you:

*Maryland is the 3rd wealthiest state in the country, but ranks last among all states, in pension benefits for teachers.

*Anne Arundel County is one of the wealthiest counties in the entire nation, yet it pays teachers one of the worst salaries.

*After teaching 30 years in Anne Arundel County, the State of Maryland offers teachers 36% of their final year's salary for a pension. (In Pennsylvania it is 71%)

*This amounts to #23,000 per year for teachers in Anne Arundel County to lie on for the rest of their lives. (In Pennsylvania it is $45,800)

*This amount will be taxes as well, and so teachers will actually receive much less than that $23,000. (In Pennsylvania it is tax free)


Teaching is a great profession, but the State of Maryland does not consider teachers important and does not appreciate them. Home prices have increased tremendously. Young teachers deserve a home, a life and a future. Senior teachers should be able to retire in dignity. Consider the facts. Reconsider starting your teaching career in Maryland. Research salaries and pensions before you begin your years of hard unappreciated work in the State of Maryland and Anne Arundel County."



What say you?

 

[vraiblonde]

A TON of money is funnelled into our school systems. It's a damn shame teacher's aren't getting much of it.

Young teachers deserve a home, a life and a future.

So does everyone else.

 

[MMDad]

I'd say that Maryland has the twelfth highest average salary in the nation, and that Anne Arundel is competitive. I would also say that you probably shouldn't believe propoganda that you read on a bulletin board. The "facts" quoted here are taken out of context and are incomplete. If you show only part of the data, you can use it to prove anything.

Last, I would say that I hope the college you are attending requires a little better research than this.

 

[challengedone]

Retirement benefits for teachers in Maryland were recently improved by the state legislature. Maryland has difficulty attracting and keeping highly qualified educators in part because surrounding states have higher pay and retirement. Many brand new teachers are recruited from PA and stay a few years then return to PA with experience for better pay and benefits. Maryland has made a step in the right direction to retain quality educators. Check this out for more information on Maryland retirement benefits.

http://mstanea.org/political/pension.php

 

[itsbob]

Retirement benefits for teachers in Maryland were recently improved by the state legislature. Maryland has difficulty attracting and keeping highly qualified educators in part because surrounding states have higher pay and retirement. Many brand new teachers are recruited from PA and stay a few years then return to PA with experience for better pay and benefits. Maryland has made a step in the right direction to retain quality educators. Check this out for more information on Maryland retirement benefits.

http://mstanea.org/political/pension.php

I'm saving/ investing for my retirment as is BG. Not very many employers offer retirement benefits at all other then matching funds into an IRA, so they should be thankful they get what they have to ADD to their own retirement savings and IRA's!

Teachers are supposed to be smart and educated, why can't they do the same??

 

[MMDad]

I'm saving/ investing for my retirment as is BG. Not very many employers offer retirement benefits at all other then matching funds into an IRA, so they should be thankful they get what they have to ADD to their own retirement savings and IRA's!

Teachers are supposed to be smart and educated, why can't they do the same??

Most do. The flyer BL saw was probably union propoganda. The union loves to tell teachers how bad they have it so that they think they actually need the union.

 

[challengedone]

To my knowledge I get no matching IRA funds from the school system. What I choose to save for my retirement is solely up to me. Everyone has to learn to take care of themselves and should not be relying on the government to fund your retirement.

 

[itsbob]

To my knowledge I get no matching IRA funds from the school system. What I choose to save for my retirement is solely up to me. Everyone has to learn to take care of themselves and should not be relying on the government to fund your retirement.

EXACTLY.. you don't need the matching funds from the school system. You have a fully funded retirement already in place, you just have to save on your own to supplement the $2300 a month or so that you should be getting.

Now lets look at it from the State and County POV.. you work for 30 years, and get $2300 a month for LIFE.. now if you were a normal worker and worked until mandatory retirement that wouldn't be so bad.. you figure a normal worker retires at 70 or so, you have to provide for their retirement for maybe 10, 15 on the ousdie maybe 20 years.. but a teacher, being priviledged to teach my kids, gets hired at say the age of 23.. works for 30 years and retires at the age of 53... the state has to pay that for at LEAST 30 - 40 years.. yet at 53, they are still young enough to go find another job..


SIMILAR in fact to what I had to do after retiring from the Army after 20 years.. my Army retirement isn't enough to live off of (and it's a hell of a lot less then $2300 a month), but it sure is a nice supplement to what I am making now.. of course the teachers didn't have to be deployed away from their families, or get shot at, so maybe they should make much more in retirement than I do.

Do teachers feel so special that they should retire at the age of 50, 20 years before their counterparts, and the state pay them enough so they NEVER have to work again!?? BS!!

 

[Steve]

Do teachers feel so special that they should retire at the age of 50, 20 years before their counterparts, and the state pay them enough so they NEVER have to work again!?? BS!!

Especially considering the quality of education they provide these days.

 

[snuzzy]

Most do. The flyer BL saw was probably union propoganda. The union loves to tell teachers how bad they have it so that they think they actually need the union.

Exactly. The union propaganda machine is detrimental to education. The union does not help teachers, they lie to them, to keep the dues rolling in. I accepted many years ago that I would never be rich as a teacher, but I would always have a job...and one I enjoy...As for retirement, it is my responsibility to provide for my own retirement, what I get from the state is a supplement, and not a bad one. Maryland did/does not have the worst retirement plans in the country, as the union would lead you to believe, the structure of the MD system allows for inflation, other states don't have that...

The flyer BL saw was problably the union trying to get teachers to fight for pension reform, which has already passed, it just wasn't taken off the bulletin board yet. The union tends to hype ideas like this because it makes teachers think they're working for them. The reality is, the pensions will be paid for from our tax dollars, so I don't think the "increase" in pension, once my husband and I pay the increase in taxes, will have been worth the time and effort put into fighting for reform.

"Especially considering the quality of education they provide these days."

Steve, as a teacher, my hands are tied by the Board of Education...I have very little control over the quality of education that I can provide...Vrai is correct, there is a ton of money poured into the school system, and so much is wasted by a "top heavy" management structure. Too many supervisors have to justify their jobs, so they throw away quality curriculum/materials, so they can produce something new, not because it's better, but because if they did their jobs to provide quality education to our children, they would make their own jobs obsolete...or they were promoted because the union wouldn't let the Board fire them and they couldn't "cut it" in the classroom, ie, not qualified for the job they do. JMO

 

[MMDad]

Steve, as a teacher, my hands are tied by the Board of Education...I have very little control over the quality of education that I can provide...Vrai is correct, there is a ton of money poured into the school system, and so much is wasted by a "top heavy" management structure. Too many supervisors have to justify their jobs, so they throw away quality curriculum/materials, so they can produce something new, not because it's better, but because if they did their jobs to provide quality education to our children, they would make their own jobs obsolete...or they were promoted because the union wouldn't let the Board fire them and they couldn't "cut it" in the classroom, ie, not qualified for the job they do. JMO

You summed that one up very well. I just wish more people realized what the real problems with our educational system really are. Problem one: the union. Problem two: parents who think that the school is supposed to take TV addicted kids and spit them out as responsible adults without any effort by the parents.

 

[BuddyLee]

I would also say that you probably shouldn't believe propoganda that you read on a bulletin board.

If I believed I would have added some commentary along with the flier. I thought the piece was a bit out of place on the board, being that the board consisted of internship and job offerings.

 

[snuzzy]

And then there's this...(just received as an e-mail today)



Teacher shortfall
May 17, 2006

The federal No Child Left Behind law requires a highly qualified
teacher in every core subject classroom, such as math, English and history,
by the end of the current school year. But as the Department of
Education announced last week, no state has met that mandate. While most have
made substantial progress, nine states and the District of Columbia face
possible sanctions, including the loss of federal funds, for not
improving sufficiently. Given the intense competition for qualified teachers,
taking away federal money would seem to do more harm than good.
Maryland, whose compliance efforts are still under review, may not be under
immediate threat of sanctions, but it should certainly step up efforts to
produce more homegrown teachers and to lure more teachers from other
jurisdictions.

Highly qualified teachers generally have at least an undergraduate
degree, a state license and demonstrated competence in every subject they
teach. The Department of Education has asked Maryland for additional
data, but state education officials are confident that they have improved
on the 75 percent compliance rate during the 2004-2005 school year.
They are also convinced that federal officials will take into account some
of the state's strict certification requirements, including at least
100 days of student teaching. Such high professional standards seek to
ensure quality instruction but also make it more likely that Maryland
will need at least another year to come into compliance with NCLB.

Federal officials are likely to give most states at least that much
more time, but probably not much longer, to comply. Maryland has been
offering stipends to attract teachers with high grade-point averages from
other states. Last year, it also gave about $5.2 million in extra pay to
2,600 teachers across the state to teach in especially low-performing
schools. In addition to statewide incentives, some individual school
districts offer signing bonuses and other inducements to relieve teacher
shortages.
These lures may allow the state to get past the federal deadline, but
even more long-term strategies are required. Maryland needs about 6,600
teachers a year, while producing only about 2,550. That shortfall needs
to be addressed in a variety of ways, including re-examining teacher
education, attracting more people from other professions and probably
offering more financial incentives. For the sake of NCLB as well as the
needs of its students, Maryland will simply have to produce more
teachers.


Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun | Get Sun home delivery
Link to the article:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.teachers17may17,0,372714.story

 

[Lenny]

After class I was looking over the bulletin board and came across this flier.

"Thinking of.............

TEACHING IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND?
(and Anne Arundel County)

Consider what the State of Maryland has to offer you:

*Maryland is the 3rd wealthiest state in the country, but ranks last among all states, in pension benefits for teachers.

*Anne Arundel County is one of the wealthiest counties in the entire nation, yet it pays teachers one of the worst salaries.

*After teaching 30 years in Anne Arundel County, the State of Maryland offers teachers 36% of their final year's salary for a pension. (In Pennsylvania it is 71%)

*This amounts to #23,000 per year for teachers in Anne Arundel County to lie on for the rest of their lives. (In Pennsylvania it is $45,800)

*This amount will be taxes as well, and so teachers will actually receive much less than that $23,000. (In Pennsylvania it is tax free)


Teaching is a great profession, but the State of Maryland does not consider teachers important and does not appreciate them. Home prices have increased tremendously. Young teachers deserve a home, a life and a future. Senior teachers should be able to retire in dignity. Consider the facts. Reconsider starting your teaching career in Maryland. Research salaries and pensions before you begin your years of hard unappreciated work in the State of Maryland and Anne Arundel County."



What say you?

If this flyer is repesentative of the typical union-teacher, it may explain why the State cannot recruit or keep a typical union-teacher. I wouldn't want this marginally illiterate union-teacher teaching my children either.