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38 sats \ 15 replies \ @cryotosensei 13h \ on: Gen X and Retirement Benefits: Uncertainty Abounds econ
Oh you summoned me.
Don’t mind if I narrow the scope down to teachers. I read about how teachers in the States are so lowly paid that they have to work a second or third job to make ends meet. How can these individuals (and people in similar circumstances) plan for their retirement when their everyday is so tight? Were times easier for your dad?
That's just teachers' union propaganda. Considering that it's only a 9 month job, they make better than median salaries. If they work a second job, that's usually in the summer when they aren't teaching. Teachers also generally have substantial retirement plans.
We had some financially tight years because my dad had to go on early medical retirement for a few years in the middle of his career. When he was working, we were doing fine.
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This is really good to know!
I will hate to think that young teachers are burning themselves in more ways than one to fulfill their aspiration of moulding younger ones.
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Pay in the first few years can be on the low end, but teachers generally have defined pay scales, so they don't have to worry about negotiating raises. After a few years, the pay is pretty good (or at least it would be if the job weren't unnecessarily trying).
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Your father was a teacher? It is true that careers run in families!
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We had three straight generations of math teachers.
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Oh, I did not pass the desire to teach on to my kids. One is a math/stats specialist, one is a ChemE and another is a material handler. They love to study, learn, read and do what they can, but not teach. I am lucky to have taught considering my father absolutely despised the school system and its workers.
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Perhaps the teacher’s union is the strongest voice in this arena. They are giving out really bogus information about the working conditions in the majority of cases. Take for instance: Chicago schools. They are paid a lot more than any reasonable person would pay them for the results they are getting. Perhaps rural schools in the south or reservation schools are lowly paid. But not the big city schools.
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for the results they are getting.
OUCH. Haha
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I don’t think you would laugh at the results if you saw the stats from the Chicago Public Schools. Most cannot read, write or cypher better than a 3rd grader when they graduate from high school. I would call that a dead end.
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Are you f me?
That’s f up!
Really?!
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Really.
We have to give out thanks and some more money to the teacher’s union for those results, year after year after year. The people there complain a lot about it and want to have vouchers that are attached to the students rather than the schools.
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No, it's really appalling.
One of the places I lived couldn't fill three police officer openings, because they couldn't find three applicants who could pass a 3rd grade reading proficiency test.
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You know the reason for that, don’t you?
The way they teach reading is the problem. They quit teaching spelling and phonetic reading a long time ago. Written language is a code to decipher and if you do not give the keys to decipher it, nobody will be able to decipher it. That is the problem, the keys are phonetic reading and spelling rules. Once the kids have those tools they can read anything they want at their leisure. Here is a good article about it: https://www.lewrockwell.com/2008/03/linda-schrock-taylor/spelling-rules-rule/
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Yeah, I remember that piece. I'm pretty sure I read every article at lewrockwell.com during those Ron Paul years.
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Yes, I came across her stuff when I was just starting on the internet. She is a big advocate for getting rid of the current
learn-word-by-word style of teaching reading.The Ron Paul years were certainly active years. I went to see him speak and go him to autograph his book about money for me. I still have it and treasure it because of lost opportunities.