GainesvilleMoms.com

I have heard that Alachua County is one of the lowest-paying counties in Florida for teachers. Does anyone know? And, what is up with paying teachers so little to teach our children?

I don't know about Alachua being the lowest or not..I live in Levy. If you ask me they are ALL paid too little. Teachers, firefighters, law enforcement and service men and women are all very crucial and important jobs and they are all extremely underpaid.

Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year!

It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do--babysit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage. Right? Let's give them $3.00 an hour and pay them for the hours they actually work, not any of that silly planning time.

That would be $19.50 a day (7:00 AM to 3:30 (or so) PM with just 25 min. off for lunch).

Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children.

NOW...

How many do they teach in a class, 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day.

However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! We're not going to pay them for any vacations.

LET'S SEE....

That's $585 x 180= $105,300 per year.

What about those special teachers and the ones with master's degrees?

Well, we could pay them minimum wage, and just to be fair, round it off to $7.00 an hour.

That would be $7 x 6 1/2 hours x 30 children x 180 days = $245,700 per year.

Wait a minute--there's something wrong here!

Average teacher salary

$50,000/180 days = $277/per day/30 students = $9.23/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student.

A very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even try - with your help - to EDUCATE your kids!

WHAT A DEAL.... And the parents don't even have to buy us pizza!

My mom is a teacher in Levy County because they do get paid a little more -- although the gap isn't as wide as it used to be. But you're all right, teacher don't make nearly as much for all the hard work they do.

Yes, I have been here since May looking for a teaching job, I was a music teacher in clearwater, and found that Alachua has the lowest salary for teachers. The problem is that even if I took a job in a neighboring county that paid more, after the cost of gas, my disposable income would be close to the same anyway.

To Nikki782 - It's not a full-time position, but I know that Millhopper Montessori School is looking for a part time music teacher. It's a great environment and part-time is better than no-time.

I totally agree with everyone. Nikki that was very well put and made a great point! My brother in law is a highschool teacher and his wife a highschool principle. I see what they do to earn their money and I am disgusted that we do not, as a society, value education more. Some of the lower funded highschools are more like prisons than centers of educational excellence. Does anyone think that our lack of funding for education has anything to do with the high crime rate, drug use, etc? Also, given the fact that some other countries place more value on education; does anyone think this may contribute to the decline of our great country? As I look for a school for my son next year and talk to teachers and school administrators, I am so disappointed to see how institutional the buildings are, how very run down they are. Where are the beautiful playgrounds, ivy covered buildings, beautiful landscaping, state of the art equipment and inspired teachers? Even the private schools are quite sad…and they cost an arm and a leg!!!! If the public schools would kick it a few notches, the private schools would have to do better to compete?

I would like to follow-up my post by explaining my bias and possibly poor attitude. This topic comes on the heels of my having a couple very disappointing experiences interviewing some local schools. I remain to have the utmost respect for anyone entering into his most noble of professions and can only hope that things get better for all of the great teachers, the bright young minds we are entrusting to this system as well as for the future success of our wonderful country.

quote:

Originally posted by LEW:
I remain to have the utmost respect for anyone entering into his most noble of professions and can only hope that things get better for all of the great teachers, the bright young minds we are entrusting to this system as well as for the future success of our wonderful country.

On this note I too have been becoming more and more disapointed with our current school system. The lottery was supposed to help with all of this but it seems it hasn't helped at all. My two oldest daughters went to a very small private school from K-4 until the 8th and 9th grade. I would have kept them in private but they really wanted the chance to have more variety in clubs, scholarships, and sports...so we put them into public school. I am amazed. You either get teachers who do care but are so burnt out and disgusted with youth and parents that don't care...or you get a teacher that really just doesn't care. My daughter had a teacher in the ninth grade that was more interested in discussing her love life..or lack therefore of...than she was in teaching! My kids academically do well...but the garbage tolerated in the midst of our schools is appalling. I am most likely going to be home schooling my 3 year old. It will only cost about $500.00 a year and I know that sounds steep but I would spend that much on school supplies, clothes and the teachers "I need these items" lists anyway. I have a home schooling group I can join locally and they meet monthly and also take field trips together. A couple of moms at my church are very successfully home schooling their kids so I am going to give it a try too.

Just FYI: http://www.levy.k12.fl.us/employment
I am an English teacher in Levy County. The website shows you all salaries. I'm sure the Alachua County site will show the same information. Here's my reason for teaching, "ATTO", all that time off!

I haven't started interviewing school yet -- just one more year to go -- but I have to hold out hope that no matter the condition of the school there have to be teachers there that will inspire my son. I grew up in a small town and went to the "poor" school. The building was very old and institutional, and the school had about 50 percent Hispanic minorities who were in some level of ESOL. Yet, because of the excellent teachers, the school always did well at testing time, had a ton of carnivals and fun stuff for families, etc. I just try to remember that: don't judge the school by the outside but by the teachers inside who really care.

Raisingboys, it is encouraging to hear the good stories. Unfortunately, as with many things, the negatives are what seem to be what jump out at us. I am going to try to have a more open mind Also, I have to admit I am reluctant to let my kids go...so I am probably unconsciously looking for reasons to substantiate my feelings that letting them go is a bad thing..actually it is a good thing and I need to embrace this next stage...thank goodness still 1 full year away .

LEW, I already know I'm going to have a very hard time letting go when it's time for my kids to go to school. I just try to think of all the fun I had in school and how much I loved learning, and I hope they are the same way. I think I'll just have to be one of those very active parents who volunteers in the classroom, eats lunch with the kids sometimes, etc. -- at least until it completely embarrasses my boys!

klmorg - remember that just because your child is home schooled does not mean that they are not allowed to participate in extra curricular activities in your zoned public school.

we have several home schooled girls that play softball with my daughter, several come to school during the class time for band and participate in all of their activities.

a balance can be found. i hope it works for you.

on another note, i have been very pleased with Alachua County schools. remember i live in newberry and while we are a part of the county school system, we still feel like small town schools. you will never find a county with all exceptional schools but you may want to check out schools that are out of zone for you and see what you can do to get a zoning exemption. i know that newberry schools are closed for exemptions for the most part because we are growing so fast but we have a lot of really great local schools. maybe it will take more than just one interview to get a really good feel for the schools, staff and student body.

Since Alachua teachers ARE paid very low compared to most other Florida school districts, it's obvious that PAY does not mean a better quality teacher. Alachua county has wonderful magnet programs...Cambridge, Gifted, IB, etc. This teacher swore that she would NEVER place her 2 kids in public school (after teaching in Tampa), yet that is where our two are now...and they are thriving. St. Patrick's was nice and the behavior wonderful, but it did not offer honors and gifted programs, nor did it have many clubs or sports.

The problem with teacher salary is the unions want every teacher to make more. They also protect lousy teachers (I have worked with some who should NEVER have been allowed in any classroom, yet their jobs were pretty much safe). And there ARE administrators who would provide merit pay to their favorites, as was done in Hillsborough County before I started there in 1987.

There MUST be some form of measurement and teachers shouldn't all make the same wage. However, HOW we accomplish that is the problem. For example, I chose to teach low readers (90% of them were poor Black teens). I did my best with them and put in MANY additional hours, but there were simply some kids who were NOT going to even stick around to graduate (many girls became pregnant and many boys got arrested). I could work my arse off and my students would still not improve as much as the "average" or "gifted" kids in the next classroom due to social problems, lousy families, lack of discipline and truancy. If I were to see those who worked far less as hard as I did get MORE money than I, I would probably either leave teaching or opt to teach the higher-level students.

My good friend and her husband (both former school teachers) homeschool their gifted child. And she takes advantage of band, art, music and athletics thru the public schools. My friend also sets up sporting events with other home school groups. Her daughter does not lack in the social area; the dedicated parents have seen to that!

Each child is different and each need is different. There is not one shoe for all. It's up to us mothers (and fathers) to find what is the very best placement for our kids. As for teacher pay, those who TRULY love the field and love children teach for non-financial reasons. And there are quite a few (I've met) who sadly went into teaching to have their summers off.