Quote:
Originally Posted by Minte
I know you could make the argument. But the real question is would you believe it?
I am still interested in what Tony thinks is a reasonable salary and benefit package for public employees. He was fairly clear about what he thinks is lowballing.
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Actually I do believe it. I am someone who has always believed that you get what you pay for. I'm not saying teachers are living in poverty, but there are a lot of jobs a person can do that pays the same as teaching and are easier, less stressful and you don't have to put up with the constant shit you deal with.
I am seeing it first hand right now. My mom moved into an assisted living center about 6 months ago. About 95% of the care given there is done by CNA (they have an RN that oversees them). These people make between $10-$12 per hour. The job is difficult, they have a huge turnover and the lack of training they have is actually kind of scary. In the building my mom lives in there are about 12 CNAs on staff. Of the 12 that were working there when she moved in only about 5 of them are left and they have had several people that came in, worked for a month or two and moved on. If the company paid more and worked more on properly training people they would have less turnover and happier residents and the CNAs that they would get might actually be people who are interested in the profession and not just people who are trying to get a paycheck while looking for something better.
Would raising teachers' wages solve all the problems? Absolutely not. As I said before there are many other issues at play with our educational system, but I feel it would at least give the schools a larger pool from which to draw talented, committed teachers from.