Bill Gates floated the idea of billionaires creating some sort of Coronvirus relief fund.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez latched onto that idea with gusto.
The problem with her is that she sais shit that is so ridiculous to justify her greed for control over the private sector’s money.
If only there were some public fund billionaires could pay into along with everyone else that helps fund our infrastructure, hospitals, and public systems all at once.
It could even be a modest % of what they earn every year. We could have an agency collect it and everything https://t.co/g0vI45xnYG
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 13, 2020
If it helps, they could think of it as a subscription service to living in an advanced society.
Just imagine billionaires paying enough so teachers in the US don’t have to work multiple jobs and sell their own blood plasma to survive. Call me radical, but it might be worth it
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 13, 2020
It’s called taxes, but she knows that.
It’s not a subscriptions services for living in an advanced society. There are lots of people on the low end of the spectrum (nearly half the country) who don’t pay net taxes but live in the country and enjoy its bounty anyway.
This is why I am a flat taxer to the core. But I digress…
What is this bullshit about teachers having to sell their plasma just to survive?
Enough of this horseshit.
I found a state by state (plus DC) list of average teacher’s salaries from the NEA from 2017-2018.
It ranges from the low of Montana at $31,418 to the high of Washington DC at $55,209, with an average of $39,303.
A degree in education is a Bachelor’s of Arts. For comparison, the average salary nationwide for a Liberal Arts degree is about $40,000.
It seems that teachers on average make right about what the average is for someone in the private sector with a BA. Many states pay more than that, it’s dependent on the school district and its resources.
The idea that teachers are somehow unbelievably disadvantaged in salary and it’s because billionaires are not paying their fair share is wrong. Especially since teachers’ salaries are not federal but local and usually from property taxes, where the wealthy do pay more because of their generally more expensive homes.
But as Miguel so often says, if her cause is righteous, why lie?
Ah yes, the old teachers are under paid lie, yet again….
My last is a teacher. Most of our income is from her salary. Except when I have a gig and then my income exceeds hers.
But here’s the thing, you need to look at the contract hours required of a teacher to earn that salary. Most schools systems require 180 days of instruction per school year. The teachers spend a few more days then students
Call it 200 days per year or 1600 hours per year. Normal US work year is 2080. There is a nearly 25% difference between hours worked.
Ie a teacher making $40,000 per year is earning $25/hr. Dude in the factory engineers office making that same $40,000 makes $19.23/he.
This does not even touch the insurance and retirement benefits.
Those hidden payments can add substantially to what a teacher is paid but is not shown. In that factory, the engineer is likely paying a larger percentage of his salary for retirement and insurance than the teacher. And the insurance is unlikely to be as good.
One of my gripes about people in various positions complaining about how poorly they are paid viv a vis the amount of work and education required is why did you take that job if the difference be tween what you’re getting paid versus what you think the job is worth is so large? If the wages are so poor, get a better job, if the a better job requires more training, different skill set, or a higher certification, get them. No, It’s not easy working full time and taking courses on the side, but thousands of people have done it. Today with the growth in off campus education, it’s easier than ever.
Gee…. I wonder who is the person most responsible for ensuring that the average person earns enough to get by? Who could that be?
Oh, I know. That individual. No one else.
Here’s a news flash for all the poor underpaid teachers. If you do not think you are getting paid enough, go get another job that pays more. See, problem solved.
What’s that? You do not have the qualifications for a better paying job, or the hours do not work for you, or teaching is your passion? Got it. Stop complaining. You are making the choice to be underpaid, not the government, not the job marketplace, you.
Until you can demonstrate to me that there is some kind of conspiracy to underpay teachers, I will look at their pay, and say good for you. You are getting paid the market rate for your skills, experience, and services you provide.
On the other hand, I kind of agree with AOC. There are a lot of people who are way overpaid for what they do. Congress springs to mind. What is her pay? Something like $175K a year? I am sure the US does not get anywhere near 10% of that cost back in goods or services.
The other benefit of being a teacher? Almost impossible to get fired. In some places there are teachers that have been put in the “rubber classroom” because of sexual conduct with students, but that wasn’t enough to get them fired (and it wasn’t reported so they could go to jail) And even if waiting for sentencing, that’s not enough to get a teacher fired, in some states.
In one state I know of, the records and handling of teachers disciplinary and performance reviews are covered under special laws, no other profession gets the same consideration.
If I go into the local school board meeting and say “Such and such is a bad teacher because…” I will be cut off and if I persist, I’ll be removed from the meeting. I, as a parent, am not allowed to say anything negative about a teacher in a public meeting…
As for “Congress getting paid too much” I agree with you. But there is an intentional “unintended consequence” for congressional pay scales. That is “Senior Executive Service (SES)” These are the guys that have gone above the GS (government service) scale and are now doing executive work. I happened to have the privilege of working at a location that had three of them and worked with two of them on different projects.
These are the people that could walk out of their government gig and pull down a salary of 1-5 mil/year at many many companies as CEO. Instead they are limited in pay to the same that congress gets paid. Therefore, in order to give these guys a raise, you have to give congress a raise.
And yes, of all the SES’s that I interacted with had earned that salary. To put it in perspective, an SES level V is at the same rank as a one star general (plus or minus a half step, I don’t remember). Level IV is a two star, leve II is a three star and level’s I and II are four stars (O-10)
The union teachers in the Chicago public schools are highly paid and have great benefits. It’s too bad the output of the schools is so bad, can’t read, can’t find a job.