Originally Posted by PammyJ (Post 715238)

For those who are not aware, education is in a paradigm shift throughout the nation. There is more to the above examples. Exceptional Education teachers are angels in this field. They have way more laws and regulations to deal with for each and every student. I would venture to say if the above examples were true, then these teachers are not going to be on easy street for long. 46 states are under this transition. Yes, there are some jobs that are less work than others. Exceptional Education is not one of them! You can be sure if you are teaching core courses, teachers are using provided lesson plans and text books as a resource, the state standards at the students level is the curriculum. Teachers may make it look easy, but trust me, understanding the level of rigor needed for each standard and at the level needed to progress each student takes time, dedication, and training.
Education is not the same as it was when I got into it. Accountability is keeping educators working hard and on their toes- sometimes feeling like we have to achieve the impossible! We keep stretching ourselves and plugging along to take the students to a level they never expected to achieve. We are teaching dual set of standards this school year. One set to be measured by FCAT, the other set to be measured by PARRC in 2014-2015 school year - HA! We are working our tails off! And that's all I have to say about that!
Go police officers and educators!!!! I know this thread started with the salary conversation, but I am very passionate about the work of my profession, have to defend it!:rant-rave:

Originally Posted by DougB (Post 715244)

She has every opportunity and to meet the individual needs of Special Ed students she is required to.

Originally Posted by njbchbum (Post 715401)

pammyj - you don't hafta preach to me - my niece in s.c. is fought every day by a school system that tells her they do not have to accept the diagnosis, confirmation and confirmation of that confirmation of her son's autism! it would be nice to find aomeone, anyone who would work for the good of that child - wouldn't it?

Originally Posted by JP (Post 715406)

I think both teachers and cops are in the profession they are because they love what they do. The salary is a secondary consideration and people that pay that salary are aware of this and that is why the starting salaries are relatively low.

We are all fortunate to have these types of dedicated people around.

Originally Posted by DougB (Post 715410)

Thank you swat team in Hialeah today!

Originally Posted by Indydealmaker (Post 715400)

So far this year 57 Florida officers have died in the line of duty. 19 have perished by gunfire.

Originally Posted by DougB (Post 715231)

Times are different. This is 2013 and Florida. The highest salary for a teacher with a doctorate and 30 years experience in Sumter isn't even 66K. No incentives offered for class size either. Schools get fined if they go over class size. Many districts haven't given raises in the last 4-5 years.

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr (Post 715468)

And every one of those is a great loss. I don't mean to minimize their deaths but there are over one million law enforcement officers in this country. So, 57 seven out of 1 million. Since the original poster brought up being shot at, that's 19 out of 1 million.

I mourn for every one of those deaths, As I said my father was a police officer.

But the numbers say that the odds are in their favor.

The other issue as far as money goes, (and we are discussing how much they make) is that many LEOs have the ability to work details. My father did this for years and often doubled his annual salary. They earned 1-1/2 to double their normal hourly wage for details. AT $42,000 an officer can make an additional $30,000 by working an additional 20 hours a week.

I worked 60 hours a week for most of my life and never made $72,000

Originally Posted by rubicon (Post 715790)

As I stated in my original post the market primarily determines job salaries in a community. Of course unions skew market development.

What I had learned in Human Resources is that every employee at every level believes they are under paid, Every employee survey comes back with that same perception. also compensation the biggest factor until you starting asking about benefit working conditions.

What people must remember is that they choose their means of making a living.

Originally Posted by buggyone (Post 715065)

I recently added to a thread that the starting salary for a Sumter County sheriff deputy was about $42,900 plus benefits. A couple of other posters thought this seemed low for a starting salary.

What do you think would be a fair starting salary for such a job in this part of Florida?

Originally Posted by njbchbum (Post 715101)

i thought teachers were salaried whereas police were hourly. teachers only have to work 180 days per year, police maybe 250? at what grade level do you think teachers start working night/weekends? and what teacher works during the summer who is not paid for it?