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theHandpuppet

(19,964 posts)
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 11:53 PM Mar 2014

Teachers' salaries must be competitive!

We must urge our lawmakers throughout Appalachia to stop the "brain drain" of our best and brightest who leave for better pay in neighboring states.

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201403120175
The Charleston Gazette
March 12, 2014
Teacher pay still a factor
By Caitlin Cook

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Joseph Makolandra, human resources director for Montgomery County public schools in Virginia, came to the 44th Annual Teacher Job Fair Wednesday at West Virginia State University for one reason.

"We know we can offer higher wages than what they earn here [in West Virginia]," he said. "The biggest thing we have over West Virginia is salary." ...

...In Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's State of the State address in January he said he would work to make starting teachers' salaries more competitive with neighboring states. He proposed a 2 percent pay raise for all teachers and service personnel. It would be the first across-the-board pay raise for teachers in three years.

West Virginia's starting teacher salaries ranks 48th in the country, according to the WVEDA.

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Petrushka

(3,709 posts)
3. Oh, no! That would mean a pay cut for teachers.
Thu Mar 20, 2014, 12:29 PM
Mar 2014

West Virginia pays its teacher more than its policemen.

West Virginia Yearly Policeman Pay Statistics
Average Yearly Policeman Salary $23,597 - $35,395
Starting Yearly Policeman Salary $19,433 - $29,149
Top Yearly Policeman Salary $27,761 - $41,641

For more info re: policeman salaries in West Virginia, scroll down at the following link:
http://statetroopersalary.com/WV/1/salary/Policeman-Salary


Considering how much of West Virginia's natural resources are owned, siphoned off, and sold by non-residents, it's little wonder Almost Heaven is a Third World State. And (sad to say), for generations, teachers, themselves, have encouraged West Virginia's brightest to leave the State for greener pastures . . . until not too many of those who remained at home have the capacity, now, to change whatever needs changing.)



Petrushka

(3,709 posts)
5. I figure living expenses are higher in your area than they are in West Virginia.
Thu Mar 20, 2014, 01:40 PM
Mar 2014

After living for 74 years in West Virginia, I've discovered---in the past 4 years---that living expenses are higher in central Ohio.

Also: If one considers that WalMart is the state's largest private employer, it hints at what proud West Virginians have learned or not learned at their own expense . . . namely, an old-fashioned work ethic that proclaims any paying job to be preferable to charity.

http://workforcewv.org/lmi/prTOP100_11.pdf

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
6. Living expenses are part of it, but...
Thu Mar 20, 2014, 01:50 PM
Mar 2014

cops around here have historically been better than most other groups in keeping pay high.

I know one couple where she is a cop making $120,000 and he is an ADA making $90,000. Amazingly, his law degree makes him worth 30 grand less than his wife!

To get back to teachers, aside from teachers unions getting bad press, there are a lot more teachers than cops so giving them a raise costs much more overall.

Petrushka

(3,709 posts)
7. In West Virginia, more than 66% of property tax assessment monies goes for schools . . .
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 12:07 AM
Mar 2014

. . . and, in the county where I lived, in addition to that 66-plus percent, we always passed excess levies for education. So, when I said something to the effect that WalMart employees learned or didn't learn at their own expense, I was referring to the state and local taxes such low-income workers pay (sometimes grudgingly) so they can take pride in helping the less fortunate who receive a government paycheck* to continue complaining and coveting the greenery in other states.




All best!







______________________
* plus pension

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