NC educators leaving the state

Its not just NC teachers who are not making what they expected in this economy. I saw the writing on the wall back in the early 2000s. I knew tough times were coming and made an extreme effort to get out of debt.It was a wise move as im making about a third to half of what i expected to be making at this point in my career. And im sure i have a lot of company,with the millions who took lower paying jobs after the great recession. And many of those do have college degrees,and student loans. For me i have to stick it out here,and dont have the option of just moving to a different town or state.

i hear ya SO, wasnt necessarily belittling teachers outside of NC was meant to be descriptive as a whole.

in the case of NC , the saddest part of this is the state in attempting to save dimes is going to evenually lose dollars, industries are not going to be as willing to locate in a state with lousy educational standards (again not pointing at the teachers but the states government's shortsightedness in investing in education)

NC will eventually become a retirement state. Scenic landscape, relatively mild winters, low property taxes, no kids to bother you.

Im not complaining because for every one like me living on less, there is a few thousand who lost everything. A home after paying on it for decades in some cases.
Lots of colleges grads around here who would love even a low paying job in their chosen profession. I could be wrong but i think NC will still get enough teachers even with the low pay.

Seasoned Oak said:

I could be wrong but i think NC will still get enough teachers even with the low pay.

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probably so but you have to wonder if the lower paying positions will attract the best and brightest. a great teacher is priceless the sooner folks realize this the sooner the overall level of education will go up.

stoveguy2esw said:

probably so but you have to wonder if the lower paying positions will attract the best and brightest. a great teacher is priceless the sooner folks realize this the sooner the overall level of education will go up.

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The parents are half the job as well and they have not been involved around here. There is no quick way to change the hard numbers. Too many people chasing too few jobs.
Good thing we have people retiring in record numbers.Thats another problem .......THe pension bomb.

pensions are pensions, personally i think if a person in any job were paid a high enough wage while working then the person would be able to contribute to a pension fund, now, when a pension is being provided with no or very little contribution from the worker in any job then a lower pay commensurate to the pension's funding isnt too tough a deal.still this is a side issue not the wedge point in my opinion.

this pension bomb though is another situation caused more by the local governments than by the teachers IMHO. its a classic pay now or pay later deal. being a government program the pension funds are probably raided by governors constantly to balance budgets (in virtually state a constitutional requirement of the state government) and since states cannot print currency they cannot run a deficit and expect to sustain it

The Pension bomb is particularly bad in PA. They have been kicking the can down the road for 12 years now. THey have 2 choices. Bankrupt the state or revamp the outrageous early 2000s 50% pension hike. 50% for lawmakers and 25% for public employees including teachers. All indications are they will bankrupt the state before they change a thing.

like i said, the local government is to blame for this mess, think about it this way, as a person or a family has a certain amount of income , they should budget themselves to ensure they do not find themselves without money with bills left to pay. the problem with most politicians (even the ones who preach about the balnced budget) is they simply couldnt balance a simple checkbook much less balance a state's checkbook, so they turn to the "credit cards " of politics, robbing peter to pay paul, then in order to maintain their office they hand out goodies such as tax breaks to garner favor with voters. this is what perpetuates the idiocy that happens literally everywhere in this country.

Grisu said:

The NFL receives subsidies all the time: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/how-the-nfl-fleeces-taxpayers/309448/

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You must be quoting a government study.

Something worth noting that no one mentioned yet is the public school system's and the government's ridiculing and outright hostile attitude toward charter schools and home schooling. It's scary that a bunch of government bureaucrats and public school feel so entitled to usurp the rights of parents and intrude a child's upbringing.

Nobody in public schools really cares about people homeschooling, but everyone who pays taxes should be pushing back against charter school implementation. Talk about overpaid administration! http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/...l-pirates-of-privilege-plunder-public-schools

Dana B said:

Something worth noting that no one mentioned yet is the public school system's and the government's ridiculing and outright hostile attitude toward charter schools and home schooling. It's scary that a bunch of government bureaucrats and public school feel so entitled to usurp the rights of parents and intrude a child's upbringing.

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Im all for charter and home schooling but they need some regulation and some guidelines. As with everything else in Govt ,no oversight means corruption and
exorbitant salaries and mismanagement. Our local public schools officials are quite vocal in their dislike for PA charter schools. Even thought they get 20% of the funding for students who dont ever set foot in a public school, they still want more.

I checked on this website: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/overview_of_homeschooling/20312
Public school systems may still have responsibilities to students who are being home schooled: In PA, retention of student portfolios and ensuring that evaluations of the portfolios was completed, standardized testing, provision of curriculum materials as needed by parents/guardians, inclusion in extracurricular activities as desired.

Clearly all home school situations are not created equal - comparison of Houston and Denver experiences: http://voices.yahoo.com/homeschooling-houston-texas-vs-denver-colorado-690331.html For myself, Texas seems a little too unrestricted as to parental responsibilities to ensure a home schooled child's education.

I guess you could say that since there is no uniformity among the states as to home school requirements, all situations are not created equal. I gained appreciation of the extra work that is required to home school children when the Ontario teachers were out on strike years ago. I have six children so trying to keep 3 children up to grade level activities and taking care of 3 younger children simultaneously was a bit stressful. The internet was handy as the Ministry of Education website had some materials available.

In my wanderings on charter schools, Arizona does not require teacher certification - that's scary!

In NC, the state referenced by the original article, public schools seem to be getting the short stick. All three school types get public funds. The advantage is that parents are motivated because they have chosen the charter or private school and will be more likely to volunteer time and money to make it a successful experience for their child.

Yes the new charter schools are owned by big money. They hire new teachers with no license or experience for low pay/minimal benefits naming for them to leave fairly quickly. They provide very little support for struggling kids. They don't have to meet the same standards. Many don't provide lunch, bus, or aftercare, which eliminates the poor kids. So they spend less and Big money pockets the difference and the taxpayer still pays the same. We all welcome innovation in education. That's how charter schools started. That's no longer the case.

We cyber schooled our daughter for a year. We never heard from the local public school. Dont know exactly what they did or did not do for the $2000 they got out of it.

The local school did not get the money. They are funded based on the number of kids attending the school, unless the cyber school was through that location.

Mrs. Krabappel said:

Yes the new charter schools are owned by big money. They hire new teachers with no license or experience for low pay/minimal benefits naming for them to leave fairly quickly. They provide very little support for struggling kids. They don't have to meet the same standards. Many don't provide lunch, bus, or aftercare, which eliminates the poor kids. So they spend less and Big money pockets the difference and the taxpayer still pays the same. We all welcome innovation in education. That's how charter schools started. That's no longer the case.

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I don't believe you when you say "we all welcome innovation in education." While there are some bad charter schools there are also some very good charter schools. The public school systems attitude toward charter schools and home schooling is as I stated, hostile and demeaning. With the disproportionate number of children attending public schools due to the inability of most parents to pay for private schooling the public school system has a semi monopoly on a K-12 education in this country and they like it that way. Anything that threats that, "innovation in education," is not welcomed.

Jags said:

Right? So lets throw out a for profit k-12 school system. It should be wildly successful just like our for profit health care system.

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Ask a veteran if they'd prefer to get treatment at a VA or in the for profit health care system.

I know this was mentioned but it worth saying again. Public schools MUST take all students regardless of their situation. For example he schools must often pay for in class aids, which depending on the nature of the child's condition may be a full time aid for a single student. Private schools do not have to deal with this. If the public school funding is withdrawn as a result of students going to for profit schools the public schools will not be able to function. It is also a component to the disparity that can sometimes exist between charter v. public schools academic performance. When you can pick and choose you can keep your scores up.

BrotherBart said:

They are asked every year.

"WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2006 – Veterans continued to rate the care they receive through the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system higher than other Americans rate private-sector health care for the sixth consecutive year, a new annual report on customer satisfaction reveals."

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here's a link to a study done on the VA that says otherwise