Do we need the federal Department of Education?

From time to time, I read that some conservatives want to dump the federal Department of Education because of the poor performance of our public schools. But before moving on that, one should take a look at the National Center for Education Statistics, an arm of that department. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe? And "take a look" is the right phrase because it is a very confusing maze of tables, charts, graphs, essays, compilations, and mismatched years. The latest date of the report is 2023, which actually is for 2021, and various sections within the report contain the latest data for 2016.

I won't get into the weeds, but will note the report's priorities. The second item in the report after demographics (make up of families, race, enrollment) is crime. Not math or science or even attendance. The drop out rate is buried elsewhere--that's the one that uses 2016 data. Do we need drop out data that is 7 years old to hold schools accountable?

The crime rate is more up to date than drop out; it uses 2020-21 data, and the stats are a bit confusing because many students weren't on campus during the pandemic. That said, crime on school campuses had significantly dropped since 2000. So the definition changed by adding in cyber bullying and sexual assaults, moving the statistics back up. Also, school shootings statistics weren't too useful since it includes incidents AT school and AWAY from school. In the tiniest footnotes possible, I read that school shootings include all incidents that guns are brandished or fired on school property or a bullet hits school property for any reason, even if the number hit was zero. It can be any time of day or week or reason, even domestic violence or gangs. All the information on crime in schools in this federal report comes from a private database created by one private citizen, the K-12 School Shooting Database.
Also, the racialists are losing ground in this report. Hispanic (a term coined in 1980 by an HHS employee) enrollment is almost double that of Black in school enrollment, and yet because so many Hispanics are white by anyone's eyeball guess, the activists stirring up trouble about Jim Crow 2.0 will increasingly have to dig up micro-aggressions to vilify whiteness.

The report does include salary information: Annual base salary of full-time public school teachers (10 months) is $66,000--it's $69,000 in latest BLS statistics. Remember, that's base salary, for 10 months.

And one more thing. Abraham Lincoln had one year of public schooling yet became one of the most famous public speakers in the country, and then became the most famous, eloquent and successful president of all time.

Transparency in salaries

ABC is reporting on a new "transparency" movement on salaries led in part by a Tik Tok spox/influencer. I heard the usual, especially POC and pay gap. However, unless you also ask about benefits and history with the company, it's meaningless. Elementary school teachers, look it up, make about $75/hour according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics if you factor in benefits. And it's much higher for those in administrative positions. Nothing makes people more unhappy than saying teaching is one of the best paying professions in the U.S. Also, government workers, which are heavily female and black, make far more than the private sector. Norma has the facts. Media lie. Politicians lie. Unions lie.

Total benefit costs consist of five major categories and include 18 benefit costs:
• Paid leave - vacation, holiday, sick, and personal leave;
• Supplemental pay - overtime and premium, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses;
• Insurance - life, health, short-term and long-term disability;
• Retirement and savings - defined benefit and defined contribution; and
• Legally required benefits - Social Security [refers to Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program], Medicare, federal and state unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf 

Look specifically at Table 2 and Table 3 by occupational group. If BLS is wrong about teachers, then it's also wrong about accountants and truck drivers.

That said, I think teaching is one of the most difficult and important jobs; it's just too bad that their union leaders are such crooks.

Is there a pay gap, are teachers underpaid, and why do Democrats run on issues that are settled law?

“2020 Democratic presidential contender Sen. Kamala Harris is on a mission to close the pay gap for America's teachers, something she says is "not a partisan issue." Harris, who unveiled her new plan to increase the pay for public school teachers nationwide with a $13,500 pay raise, told "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday that "for too long" teachers have been paid "substandard wages" and are "not being paid their value to us as a society."” (CBS News)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-on-closing-teacher-pay-gap-lets-pay-them-their-value/?

Why do Democrats campaign on issues settled in law--will more laws help? Teacher pay gap? Local schools set those salaries, not the Department of Education (a federal agency that doesn't need to exist). Public school teachers according to BLS earn $63/hour (with benefits)--if they lie about teachers, then they lie about engineers and plumbers.

The "equal pay for equal work" law was passed over 50 years ago. When women continued to choose jobs that were easier, less risky, closer to home, and child-friendly, the feminists decided it became "equal pay for equal value" and what is that? Of course, a day care worker's job is valuable, but is it as valuable as an RN with an advanced degree or an entry level teacher?

What happens when you compare women with women? I was a librarian, one of the lowest paid jobs that requires an advanced degree, and dominated by women. Who is the commissar of jobs in DC who will decide that entry level Alabama librarians should be paid the same as chefs with 20 years experience in Chicago or a petroleum engineer in Alaska?

Teachers’ salaries—not what you think

Some questioned my figures for hourly wages for teachers (in a post about the union strike in Colorado on Facebook) being on average $60/hour.  However, the latest I've found is $61.91--$41.41 is the wage, and $20.50 the benefits. Sept. 2018 figures. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf.

Benefits for public employees are far more generous than private sector. "Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $34.53 per hour worked in September 2018. Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $50.03 per hour worked in September 2018. "

For the most part we don't pay federal income tax on our benefits, and the government is lusting after that--believing it belongs to the federal government. The employers get a write off too. Imagine the "windfall" to the federal government to waste with just the medical deductions from workers and the business write off costs for the employers.

Kamala Harris must be swooning at the thought!

The pay gap. Does it really exist?

          
When my Grandmother Mary wanted to be a school teacher in the late 1800s she was turned down by the Ashton school board because she lived at home with her father (her mother had died in 1896), and the thinking in those days was if a man could support her she shouldn't be taking a job from a man who might be supporting a family. I even encountered this in the 1960s when applying for a graduate assistantship--I was married, my competition was not.  Sort of like we feel today about immigrants getting the jobs we think citizens should have.  

Today we have laws and guarantees for equal pay like Iceland and have had for decades. If Iceland has high gender equality, they are probably doing the same jobs. We don't have laws (yet) demanding equal results for a B.A. in Social Studies and a PhD in Computer Science or for a woman who doesn't drop out for 10 years and one who did (as I did). For almost 40 years, women have outnumbered men in enrollment in college, but they are still not selecting the difficult and well paid degree programs. Also, highly educated women tend to marry men of the same calibre, and thus don't always enter the work force at the same rate as less wealthy women and stay home to raise their children who then do the same. For each group of college grads marry college grads, or doctors marrying doctors, or lawyers marrying lawyers, the gap widens between their families and those women who didn't go to college, or didn't marry at all before having children.

When everything is taken into consideration, like willingness to move, or to take unpleasant assignments (like travel) to get ahead, or to negotiate salary, there's almost no difference (in same job with same requirements in education). Think about it; if employers could get women to work for less for the same job, why would they hire men?  When I asked my boss why a male librarian colleague with the same work experience and education made more than I did, he told me, "Because he asked for more."

The median annual wage for high school teachers was $56,310 in May 2014., and for elementary $53,760, but based on hourly rate, they do much better than accountants and architects according the BLS. More men take the secondary position and are less common in elementary (although I remember 2 in the school my children attended in the 1970s).  Is that a pay gap or a choice?  Should people who teach compliant children the basics of their ABCs and math really make as much as people who teach "children" taller, smarter and with more discipline problems who are studying chemistry and physics?

The next time you go to the doctor even for a "wellness exam" like I did this week,  take a look at the women in the front office doing scheduling and billing, and compare them with who you see in the back doing x-ray or blood draw or stress test or bone density. There will be no men in the front, but about 1/3 to 1/2 of the tech staff will be male. What pays more? That which requires more education. How are these positions viewed in statistics? They are lumped into one category. There will even be a difference between the women in the front and those in the back--and it's very noticeable--particularly their weight and age.

HT Connie Dunn for the discussion that started on FB.
 

Could teachers afford a Big Mac?

How much should a fast food worker who hasn't finished high school earn? Perhaps half of what a school teacher, who has a B.S. and M.S. earns? A public school teacher averages $39.27/hour or $55.52/hour with benefits. A teacher's average salary is higher than nurses and construction workers, and higher than college teachers per hour with benefits. But would they buy a big mac if those employees made $20/hour? Don't believe me? Scroll down to page 7 of the Bureau of Labor report for the details of your industry. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf

The push for higher minimum wage is actually a push to, 1) close industries to punish their owners, 2) move more people to government programs to create more Democratic voters. At $15/hour, many low income workers would lose their government benefits (SNAP, EITC or Medicaid), and they make the same economic choices we all do based on the axiom, "Money talks, it says good-by," and they would probably chose not to work.

Where are the yard signs against issue 51?

A friend’s daughter is trying to do a photo essay on our local school levy, but can’t find a yard sign to photograph.  I don't support issue 51 , but I see no yard signs either. The Vote for Issue 51 signs are standing next to both Romney and Obama signs.

In a suburb next door to OSU, not voting for a school or library issue is tough going. Issue 51 is a 5.8-mill operating levy for Upper Arlington City Schools on the Nov. 6 ballot. If approved by voters, the levy would cost homeowners an additional $178 in annual taxes per $100,000 in property value and generate about $9.2 million per year for the school district. We have an exceptionally good school system, but 86% of the money goes for wages and benefits.  Ohio is not a Right to Work state, so these teachers are protected by both the union and the STRS.  Their retirement package will be 3-4 times what someone on Social Security will get, with far fewer years of service. 

UA schools are especially fine for those going to college (others are the children left behind--my friends suggest moving to Worthington if you have special needs children), but it's pricey and gets the same results as other districts that spend far less. UA cost per student is $15,172; at Olentangy district schools it is $9,465. Hard to find a website or an article, but here's one:

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/upperarlington/news/2012/10/03/anti-levy-campaign-educate-ua-seeking-lasting-district-reforms.html

Democrats and the Teachers' unions--Illinois

Although this story is from the Rockford Register Star in Illinois, it's business as usual for teachers' unions. Most teachers are Republicans, but they are forced to contributed to Democratic causes, candidates and scams through their unions. In Ohio, you can't teach if you don't pay union dues, although there's no compulsory membership. They just want your money. To stop these abuses so that school boards can negotiate what's best for the children, not the union officials, vote YES on ISSUE 2.

Two lobbyists with no teaching experience will be allowed to count past years as union employees toward state teacher pensions after substitute teaching for only one day in 2007, according to a published report today.

The Illinois Federation of Teachers' political director, Steven Preckwinkle, and another union lobbyist, David Piccioli, took advantage of legislation allowing union officials to get into the teacher pension fund and count previous years as union workers after quickly obtaining teaching certificates and conducting classroom work before the legislation was signed into law in 2007, according to a Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV investigation published today.

According to the report, Preckwinkle, 59, could collect $2.8 million by the time he's 78. Piccioli, 61, could receive around $1.1 million by age 78.

Illinois lobbyists qualify for pensions after 1 day subbing - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Private vs Public School teachers assessment of their schools

Public school teachers have unions and all the perks. They are well paid and have terrific pensions awaiting them after 30 years, some in their 50s, young enough to start a new career or go back and teach. You can check at Buckeye Institute for your district (in Ohio). [I checked someone who teaches half time for $43,000 for 184 days, and her life time pension (based on 18 years average) is worth $638,400 at this point.] However, private school teachers seem to have in their schools more of what we want for our public schools according to a new AEI study on civics and citizenship.

•While just under half (45 percent) of public school teachers say social studies is considered an absolutely essential subject area in their district, two out of three private school teachers (68 percent) say this is true for them.

•Private school teachers are almost twice as likely to report having a great deal of control over what topics they choose to cover and how quickly or slowly they move through the curriculum (86 percent versus 45 percent).

•Private school teachers report significantly higher levels of confidence that most students in their high schools learn what they are supposed to before they graduate. This confidence differential is especially stark on items pertaining to the implicit curriculum, such as teaching good work habits and respect for authority. For example:

◦"To have good work habits such as being timely, persistent, and hardworking" garners 31 percent "very confident" responses among private school teachers, compared with 6 percent among public.

◦"To be tolerant of people and groups who are different from themselves" garners 43 percent "very confident" among private, compared with 19 percent among public.

•Private school teachers are also more likely to report an overall more positive school atmosphere for conveying the importance of citizenship:

◦Their high school has a community-service requirement for graduation (82 percent versus 37 percent).

◦Their administration maintains a school atmosphere where adults are respected (88 percent versus 65 percent).

◦Their high school encourages involvement in student government and other issues-oriented clubs (91 percent versus 73 percent).

4074

Glut of teachers in southwestern Ohio

Today's paper reported (AP) that school districts in Warren County are being flooded by applicants for job openings. More than 3,000 applied for 63 positions in Mason; 2,000 applied for 21 positions in Springboro near Dayton; and Lebanon had 800 applicantsfor 30 jobs. Even assuming that some applicants applied in all those places, that's a lot of teachers looking for jobs.

Guess who the union protects? The ones with the most experience--I'm not sure they can even accept entry level positions if they are willing. The districts are making the most of their dollar by hiring new grads. Starting salaries are around $34,000. Positions have been eliminated in some of the districts in that area as people move to the suburbs.

Feel badly for underpaid teachers? Study shows the average hourly wage is $34.06, and the districts with the highest pay like Detroit, New York and Los Angeles have the poorest test scores.

3458 Catching up on education

There was an item in USAToday Feb. 7 reporting that 15% of high school students passed Advanced Placement in 2006 compared to 10% in 2000. It's been going up steadily every year. Hispanics are behind both blacks and whites even though they outnumber blacks. I'm wondering if bi-lingual education (mandatory) isn't slowing them down. Most immigrants in our past knew instinctively that in order to get ahead they needed to speak and write standard English. Many Hispanic parents know that but school boards and gate keepers are denying them this dose of common sense. The article certainly didn't credit NCLB for these figures, nor would I because I'm not sure how that would affect the kids at the top of the class, unless NCLB is floating some boats we weren't expecting when the level rose. Could it be more home schooling? Surely they get to take Advanced Placement.

I chatted with a chemistry teacher in a vo-tech school the other day. She was real excited about their school library--the new librarian has dumped the carrels (that was high tech in the 50s and 60s), and now the students can check out laptops to use in the library. Also the school (which serves 10 high schools in the Columbus area) is planning an expansion, and the librarian is getting 4 times her present space. And they will throw in an assistant. Some librarians know that marketing is an important skill these days.

If you turned up your nose at a teaching career because you heard the pay was bad, you need to get a neck adjustment. Bureau of Labor Statistics clocks teachers at $34.06 and hour, or 11% more than the average professional specialty like architecture. Frankly, I'm not sure you could get me in front of a class for $50/hour, but I sure do admire the committed saints who do it. The article by Marcus Winters and Jay Greene which appeared in the WSJ also pointed out that some of the highest paid teachers in the urban districts have the worst results--Detroit, NYC, DC.

The English speaking peoples account for 7.5% of the world's population, but their economies produce more than a third of the global GDP. . . the English language is an intellectual global currency. "A history of the English speaking people since 1900" (Harper Collins, 2007)

Schools in the Columbus, OH metropolitan area (both city and suburban) have been closed for three days now due to the extreme cold. The wind chill factor is a problem for students waiting outside for busses. At least, I think that was the reason. Back in the days of global cooling, I don't remember that schools closed for cold weather in northern Illinois.