Yorkieabroad

All they really need to be able to do (at least as far as 7th grade) is color between the lines so that the scantron can read their test scripts.....

Anian

No, they were just trapped in rock by volcanic ash or the great flood, which miraculously didn't trap any modern mammals at all. It's proven by the science of looking at only specific rocks and ignoring any evidence to the contrary.

Steerpike

Are benefits (healthcare, pension, etc) a worthwhile factor to adjust the value of the 'overall package' perhaps?

sir_eccles

Without knowing exactly what they are it's hard to say. A few years back the wife worked as a librarian at a public library. An equally odd profession paid a pittance yet requiring a masters degree. They did have very cheap health insurance essentially through the union. Pay your union dues and you get close to free insurance. It wasn't very good insurance compared to the one we dropped from my work but it was hundreds of dollars cheaper in terms of premiums. So I guess an extra 5-6k?

Actually as an aside, while she worked there she made friends with the other librarians, the majority of which had always grown up and lived in union households. They could not comprehend that the majority of the non-union working population of the US had to pay premiums amounting to hundreds if not a thousand or more per month. They always had "free" insurance through the union and didn't realize others didn't.

Homeiswheretheheartis

I have exactly the same thing, DS is Grade 7 also, the teachers love him as he excels at facts and figures. But exactly the same, I can't even read his writing its more like a 7 year olds.

Also my DD has learning difficulties Grade 5, aged 10 her writing is around a 6 year old, her reading a good 7 year old and maths more like aged 6. She is unable to do division, fractions or percentages and only basic subtraction and addition. Whats scary is she did the State Tests and met the expected level for her age

Even worst is we move back to the UK in 5 weeks, will update on here to let you know how far behind they are in the UK.

Bob

How much were they paying in union dues though?

scrubbedexpat099

I have family Teacher connections in the UK, from what I have seen here quite a few of the same things apply.

Douglas County School board is up for re election locally, interesting to see how it votes, old vs new.

Cape Blue

A few months ago a friend of mine was arranging life insurance - he earms around $160k, about three times more than his school teacher wife - she was worth more than he was (more expensive to insure) due to the value of her defined benefits pension.

scrubbedexpat099

PERA comes to mind.

Pulaski

Whenever these sort of pay and condition discussions come up, and it is mentioned how poor the pay and/ or benefits are for many/ most unionized occupations, I always end up wondering if the pay and/or benefits are bad despite the union representation, or because of it?

Steerpike

And I wonder if that level of pension is still available today, or is just grandfathered in for 'older' (longer tenured) staff.

I'm at a point in my life now where I don't need to make a big salary any longer; I just need to cover costs and avoid dipping into savings if possible. And of course, I need healthcare coverage. So I'm opening my mind to other occupations; something where I could be helpful to others, get a sense of achievement, contribution, etc. As a technology guy, my thoughts turn to how I could apply my 30 years of experience to using technology to assist the disabled, or the elderly, etc. It's quite an exciting thought but I have no idea what to do.