[quote=“Charlotte2002, post:58, topic:29563”][quote=“VA49er, post:49, topic:29563”][quote=“Charlotte2002, post:46, topic:29563”]If we want some of our best and brightest to teach and lead our youth I think the salaries have to be competitive with higher paying jobs.
How do we expect our kids to learn math and science when you can’t find qualified people to teach them because they can make more than double in salary doing just about anything else that requires the application of math and science skills?[/quote]
I usually stay away from political stuff on NN.N because, well, because I don’t really want to despise any of you guys but here goes…
I agree with the bolded above; however, that would have to be funded somehow. Do you think people would go for something like much higher property taxes to fund higher teacher salaries, etc? IMO, I think some funding could come from cutting the high administrative salaries and passing that on to the teachers but that would be just a drop in the bucket.[/quote]
That is part of the reason why some of the best performing school districts also have the most expensive property taxes. Residents put their money where their mouth is.
For example, in Westchester County NY, one of the most affluent counties in the US, a teacher with a master’s degree and professional certifications can make 6 figures after about 8 years. The schools are excellent. Property taxes though are obscene. Friend has a modest $400k house likely worth around $600k though (modest for the area) and his annual property taxes are $18k. You best believe those kids are getting excellent educations and go on to lead highly productive lives.[/quote]
People are dumb. Here locally, during the last election cycle, people voted yes for new schools but voted against raising taxes to fund said new schools. Some people just don’t get it.