Set the Example, Then Ask for Money

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Try and Find a Corporate Job....":

Anonymous post from a teacher under Try and Find a Corporate Job -
"If you want your community to be comparable to Syosset and Jericho, then why shouldn't your teachers be paid at similar rates to those teachers?"

For our community to be comparable to Syosset and Jericho our children's educational RESULTS would need to be comparable and our home values would reflect this as well. Overall Syosset and Jericho students outperform Plainview. Pick up a Plainview house and put it in Syosset or Jericho and it would instantly increase in value because of the reputation of those school districts. Show me my kids getting results like Jericho and Syosset and my home value increasing and I'll gladly wear a Contract Now button and march with you every morning.

It has been pointed out that other districts like Syosset have longer school days and more working days and therefore comparing salaries without taking this into account is not totally accurate.

If teacher salaries correlated to student achievement then its like saying that a teacher earning $106,000 per year gets your kid certain curriculum , a certain type of teaching and test results, and the same teacher earning $112,000 would get your kid more curriculum, better teaching and better test results.

That doesn't make sense. Especially if teachers are saying that they work hard, love their jobs, love our kids, etc. If teachers are doing their best then paying them more won't change anything for the students.

Advice to teachers - Change the bottom line and then ask for what you want. That's how it works in business. Our district is a $127 million dollar business. The community wants to see results in keeping with the per pupil spending we're doing. Listen to what parents are griping about and work to make it better. Strengthen your relationships with parents instead of antagonizing them. If the perception is that you are not doing your all - and rumors to that effect are starting to go around - then you'll never get the support of the community and you'll lose whatever trust you had.