Are you as sick of hearing about it as I am? WE NEED TO RAISE TEACHER PAY! And we need to do it with an increase in taxes.
No we don’t.
First off, the money exists to increase education funding, it’s about priorities that our governor and state legislators make when it comes to funding education. Elect more socially conscious representatives that understand an educated society is a better society, and we can fix the education funding problem in Pierre. Keep electing backwoods hillbillies that are more concerned about shooting critters and unborn children (instead of educating the children that are already born) and there will never be more teacher pay.
Secondly, even if it was about raising taxes to increase teacher pay, why would any worker in this state support a tax increase to pay teachers more while their wages remain stagnant?
They won’t. This notion that somehow we are going to convince the hardworking citizens of South Dakota of another unnecessary tax increase to benefit one sector of our workforce (public teachers) just won’t fly.
So you ask, what is the solution? Don’t get me wrong, I think teachers should get paid better. A LOT BETTER! But I also think nurses, welders, plumbers, construction workers and hospitality workers should get paid better also in our state. This is why teachers will never have the support of other working South Dakotans for a salary hike, because we get tired of you whining about a pay increase when you won’t go to bat for the rest of us. Many workers in South Dakota in multiple fields are leaving the state in droves for better pay, we are all in this together, not just the teacher. Heck the state with the help T. Denny had to create an indentured servant program to keep welders here (Dakota scholarships).
My point is simple, when the teachers advocating for higher pay realize this just isn’t about them, but about all South Dakota workers, we will advocate for them, but they need to advocate for us to, you know, the ones paying their salaries.
I’m all for higher teacher pay, but are teachers for higher pay in other fields also? I’m guessing they are. Share the love.
Yours is an interesting perspective. Sad, but true. It’s strange to me that teachers are lowest paid in the nation but administrators are not. What happened to the lottery for education funding concept? If that’s not working, then no casinos. They’re often robbed and take away children’s milk money.
And it’s not just administrators. Take a gander at what pay scale DeeAnn Konrad is now on. Six figures, my friends, and once again, her family does not contribute a nickel to the tax base. They live in Tea and their kids attend Tea schools. If you are going to cipher that much money for sending out robo calls and explaining power points, it should be mandatory you must live in the SF School District. Just my opinion.
I have explained this fact to my teacher friends at multiple times. Not only is teacher pay inadequate, most middle income jobs are inadequate. We live in a state with crappy salaries. I do think my teacher friends deserve more dollars for not only teaching and nurturing our children, but they are also a parent to many of them.
Good, bad, or indifferent, you can run around and say teacher pay, teacher pay, teacher pay, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Everything to get there needs to be adjusted and it goes beyond Pierre, the Blue Ribbon task force, etc. It is on all of us to value education and it is a complete mind set change on how to get there. If we aren’t smart enough to figure it out nationally as our kids are getting their hinies kicked in Math and Science by being something like 23rd and 26th in the world, it is going to be tough to figure out in SD.
Teachers don’t vote bottom line. There are more teachers and staff in the Sioux Falls district than votes it takes to elect a school board member. There should be at least one board member who supports teachers.
Good point John. When teachers become an organized voting block, there will be action.
What does it mean that you want teachers to advocate for higher wages for everyone else? Teachers are government employees, so we as a society control their wages. We don’t control the wages of private employers. Do you want teachers to support a higher minimum wage? Stronger unions? What advocacy do you want them to do? What does that look like?
I am so sick of hearing about the poor teachers in SD and their wage problems. Hardly anyone in SD gets rich. However, if you compare actual money value with taxes, cost of living, etc, SD ranks better. And if teachers think that they are going to get an income tax in this state, think again.
Look at where the money for education goes. If more should be allocated to teachers, look at what could be cut to get that accomplished – new buildings? administration salary? small districts that should be consolidated? athletic director salaries? extracurriculars and their associated costs (which are not self-supporting regardless of what their proponents say). Think outside the box for once, instead of just saying “teachers need more money” and “raise taxes.”