DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
84 comments:
This doesn't bother me as much as some of the other county employees. There should be a cap (say $40-50,000) for even the highest PUBLIC SERVANT positions.
But they are so under payed. The problem is none wants to teach. They all want to be administrators at 100k a year.
Why aren't there grades for Bennett Senior High and Middle Schools listed? Are only the A and B rated schools listed or is it hard to justify the extravagant new buildings if the grades are low?
People are missing the point on all of the outcry over the new schools. Wicomico RANKS IN THE BOTTOM 5 COUNTIES IN STATE in education in classroom. Economic development is tied to QUALITY OF EDUCATION not a bright shiny new school. The BOE is deflecting this failure by getting everyone worked up over ball fields and builds. Wake Up People!!!
are you kidding me! teachers go to college for 6 years, earn a masters degree only to put up with hood rats for a whooping 58 grand a year!!!!!!! the pay should be doubled!
If you factor in the considerable low cost of living here on the shore that is a significant increase in pay compared to the national average.
Most skilled jobs here on the shore tend to less than outside the shore but the cost of living makes up for the difference.
Looks like the teachers here in Wicomico are doing pretty well.
8:26 low cost on the shore? yeah right! every time I go to the grocery store or pay me electric bill or buy tires for my car they say yeah right you live on the shore that'll be less money! what a fool! Got news for ya, things ain't any cheaper cause you live on the shore!
I can tell you for a fact that you can even purchase a new vehicle across the bridge for far less money then you can get one here. I personally saved THOUSANDS of dollars purchasing a truck in Jessup.
8:26 - "considerable low cost of living here on the shore"...what planet are you from? There are plenty of places that are less expensive than Smallsberry! Some of those places actually have employers and job openings too!
We just have too many un/under-employed here that require low cost housing and welfare subsidies.
Not saying I have a problem with the average teacher salary in this area - but the outcoming product does not reflect what I expect.....
Why not someway determine a teachers pay according to their classroom performance and GPA>
KCSr, Interesting point. However, wouldn't it be easy enough to fudge test scores to make them look like they're doing better then they actually are? Just a thought. We're talking about teachers, not preachers. With all due respect, that is.
Live in Baltimore for a few months and tell me its cheaper there to live than here in Salisbury.
How about living in DC ? Whats the average cost of a home or rent ?
Just try and buy property in those areas compared to here and tell me its cheaper there.
Our produce is far cheaper here along with many other grocery items.
Yes you can find a car cheaper and some other big ticket items but over all it is cheaper to live on this side of the bridge.
Cross the bay bridge and see the jump in gas prices.
If you make $1800 per pay check here in Salisbury it will go way further than if you were paid $1800 across the bridge.
Oh and lets not forget that all of Tax free Delaware is here on the shore.
Fact is our low cost of living is what attracts so many of the welfare crowd in the state.
Some dude gets busted in Baltimore and gets sent to the prison here. His Baby Moma moves to Salisbury to be close by and discovers that her wellfare dollars go further here and decides to stay when he gets out of jail.
They then become Salisbury's problem.
Here is my issue, teachers get off during the summer and the ones I know work other summertime high paying jobs so in the end some are making $80k+/year.
I really can't beleive that $58K is the avg for Wicomico County for 12 months of work, my gut says it is in $40K range if that.
9:30 - you are absolutely correct! DC and Baltimore - along with NYC are more expensive than the eastern shore...however, there are a number of places that are cheaper, with lower taxes, crime rates and higher employment potential....that have better schools!
As for the jails - we should put them in frigid Alaska - or the California desert...without local cities for the baby-mamas to congregate to....convicts shouldn't have rights after they are convicted!
If you run a factory, the quality of the output is determined to a large degree by the quality of the input (raw materials). If a factory has no control over the supply of raw materials, they will have a tough time producing quality final products.
Likewise, teachers must work with what parents provide. And some of those "supplies" are substandard. If you want to improve schools, then improve the homes that supply these kids.
I just want to say thank you to all the teachers out there. I for one think my kids geta great eeducation in Delmar.
Agree! My wife is a teacher. She doesn't get to pick her students. Many come from very bad home environments. When 2 out of 20 parents show up for conferences and don't show an interest in their child's education there is only so much she can do. When she gets 5th graders at a 2nd or 3rd grade level there is only so much she can do. She puts in 12hr days in what seems to be an exercise in futility. They are not overpaid. She does work a 2nd job just to make a decent living and pay back student loans she incurred to gain this wonderful profession
All the teachers are at work right now and can't comment.
But 58k is still underpaid for what they go through, what they do, and how much they actually work. Oh and summers off? Good joke. I know plenty of teachers that don't have summers off at all. The only teachers with summers and winters off are gym and shop teachers, and they don't get paid jack anyways.
Are we really comparing Salisbury, MD to DC, Baltimore and New York? Did you go full retard? Those are MAJOR cities. Salisbury is a bump in the road on US 13.
No one ever made a teacher teach. It is a chosen profession. You were aware of the salaries paid before you went to college. You went to college, got a degree, and became a teacher. Quit crying and remember the people that pay your salary. Most of them make far less than you do as a teacher. If you wanted to make a lot more money perhaps you should have chosen a different profession. Remember you chose your profession being a teacher. Your profession did not choose you.
This average salary does not tell everything. If you have some more highly paid administrators in there that will raise the average. If you have more people who have taught for a long time that will raise the average. Lots of beginners like the Daily Times now has will bring the average down.
There was a joke one time about Bill Gates or a similar person in a bar with some blue collar workers. They averaged their wages together and they were all making millions. The average does not mean a lot sometimes.
Average salaries here on the shore are only around 35,000 per year if you are lucky to make that much. It really looks bad on government, when private sector workers are making far less than public sector workers.
Degrees or not, they are way over paid. We don't have the tax base to pay for these salaries and the yearly increases of property taxes. I know my own income has gone down. I went from 20 per hour to just 12 per hour due to loosing my I.T. job to an Indian worker and the production jobs being sent to both Mexico and China. I am grateful for this, but Government salaries are too high.
It's unfair to the rest of us to have to pay for this, when we are making so little.
Sorry but while I don't agree with everything the BOE does I don't know why teachers salaries are an issue. Most of the arguments on here are "why should teachers make more than me" which is ludicrous. By that same argument are you upset that lawyers, doctors, architects all make more than you also? Should they have salary caps also? Doesn't matter who they work for. They go to college, earn degrees and are constantly required to participate in continuing education and their salary is commensurate. I'm not a teacher but I've seen what some of them have to put up with and I sure as heck wouldn't do it for what they make. Now I'm sure there are good teachers, great teachers and some not so great but I haven't met a teacher yet that considers their profession as just a job or a paycheck.
I think we're focusing our displeasure at certain aspects of the BOE in the wrong direction folks.
Teachers who work in low performing schools with a large population of minorities have always been paid more. Why? BC no one wants to work in those schools. Teacher who work in Balt City, NYC, DC etc make a lot, bc of what they have to deal with. This is nothing new.
What bugs me, is that for the amount of time they actually are ALLOWED to teach, they make a lot. It seems like teachers are becoming test proctors these days. Everyone should spend a day in the childrens classrooms and count the minutes of actual instruction from the teacher. This is the real problem.
Good teachers are underpaid. Bad teachers are overpaid. Same as any profession. Problem is it's impossible to fire the bad teachers.
@10:29 AM : I have been going to work for over thirty years 6 days a week. I don't see much activity at the schools during the summer. If the teachers are working all year round they must be carpooling with the custodians.
If a 5th graders are still reading on the level of 2nd and 3rd graders. Please tell me exactly what that these teachers are teaching for their pay. It appears to me that they are teaching nothing.
I don't here the teachers bitching, just you.
if you want to bitch at overpaid people
take a look at athletes or TV actors. Teachers not so much.
58k isn't that higher then the
Starting salary for our local police
Am not saying teachers are underpaid at all.
But I will agree with the raw material analogy. Right now, I have a handful of tenth graders who are heroin addicts. How am I supposed to teach them?
Don't badmouth the shop teachers. They're the ones trying to teach these kids a useful skill. It's the shop teachers that lead America to the next Industrial Revolution!
That average counts administration as well. Try just the teachers and you will see a lower average.
I personally know quite a few teachers in the Wicomico and they don't make anything near this...
11:42 What planet are you on? It'll tale 12-15 years of service for a patrolman to make 58k. Sure not starting at that.
11:26
Just because they aren't physically present at the school doesn't mean they aren't still working 30+ hours /week during the summer. We live in the 21st century now.
11:26 They're at the restaurants and bars with tax credit cards!
Per Capita income for Salisbury residents is $21,025. Household income is $37,153. Wicomico county is $25,000 and $51,000.
So the teachers salaries are on average higher than the average household income of county residents.
Over $12,000 higher than the national average.
On the MD Dept of Education website there is a report card.
There are 3 important metrics.
Reading Percent Proficient
Mathematics Percent Proficient
Graduation
In all 3 metrics Wicomico County schools have NOT MET the targets.
Another site has Wicomico County Schools ranked 20th out of 23.
Where are the priorities BOE?
New schools.. Stadiums.. Higher salaries..
How about some accountability when it comes to performing the jobs you are being paid to do.
Student proficiency in reading and math is a disgrace and you should be ashamed of yourselves.
I'm not for a new school. But I don't know their conditions either. I can say that children's grades have nothing to do with the justification of a new school.
12:04
That because this report is using averages, when we SHOULD be using MEDIANS. Average incomes mean almost nothing, mathematically speaking. Can we get the median average salary? It would be a lot more meaningful.
I know I learned this stuff from my overpaid teacher...
Paid less you mean? If what you say is true then it a teachers fault for their career choice. Like they say....I went to school and got this degrees and that degree. I do it for love of kids.
Imagine those who live near D.C . ! Real bad kids and crap pay! High living cost. Real teaching hero's that stick that out.
Housing is cheaper. Utility rates are cheaper. Food is cheaper. I work in Baltimore every day. I make sure I pack everything I may need.
She works a second to pay back loans. She can keep her affordable payment plan but it would last forever. Her choice to pay it off quicker. Not a bad one but hers. And of course they aren't over paid. Your on here instead of working! She works for two! Let your wife fight her battles buddy.
We have to. The FOP says wicomico is just as dangerous as the cities. That's why the sheriffs and Salisbury fire have collective bargaining.
You all better wake up. The government wants to separate the classes and eliminate the middle. Government employees are getting boosts to keep them in the lower part of the upper class. All government employees will be regardless of performance.
These were some intersting numbers I found on this study
% of students eligible for Free or Reduced price lunch.
39.6 % of Parkside s
42.1% of James M Bennett
59.3 % Wicomico High School
You can type in any school name in the top right hand corner and find out information about that school
I was shocked at some of the numbers they listed for free and reduced lunches. Some were over 80% and the national average is 46%. 46% of people qualify for free lunches? What in the world!
Give it time. They will all be on here when schools out.
By getting off sbynews and do your job.
God, news of the post is spreading like wildfire. Teachers are getting so pissed they can't wait to get on. At least post Bout teachers at night Joe. We don't need anything else stooping teachers from teaching.
How do you justify a kindergarten teacher that makes 78k a year? How much college does it take to teach ABC's and 123's? They do what parents do. Over paid baby sitters.
12:33
no,no,no! You are comparing per capitas, averages, and medians. That is WRONG. Do not listen to this person's numbers. They are not sound.
1:06
Gov't employees are the only middle class left!
8:43 right on! Homes in Delaware are far less for the same sq footage and taxes lower too.
Then keep your idiot children at home wise ass.
Dear Readers,
I have been following the above listed postings and share concerns, however there are a few facts to consider:
1.) With regard to test scores, teachers have no control of the product that comes to them. Having served as a teacher and administrator for over 25 years in this county I can emphatically state that more than 80% of the incoming K students did not know basic skills (count to 10, upper and lower case letters of the alphabet, basic shapes and symbols - these are NOT Common Core or PARRC skills, rather just basic skills)- a parent is the first teacher, and many parents are not preparing their children for school.
2.) Given point #1, there is more than a basic failing in almost all schools regarding this at the elementary level.
3.)PARCC and Common Core testing tests well above these levels at grade 3. Roughly about 68.9% of students in Wicomico County Schools are well below this metric before testing level. Request actual metrics from Dr. Margo Handy under the FIO Act - she will most likely not respond as is her practice, but there is no doubt she has them and reports these items to MSDE.
4.) The assertion that teachers, no matter how well educated and dedicated, can make up this difference is simply ludicrous - it is necessary for them to reteach basic skills, setting the 68.9% at a significant disadvantage.
5.)To assert that teachers make too much money...many have chimed in on this topic...I will say this, you get what you pay for. While there are CERTAINLY teachers that ARE NOT worth their value, there are significantly more that are, and are dedicated public servants. While there are always those that feel they should make more, I have yet to encounter a teacher worth their salt that complains about their salary. Salary metrics aside, their work is a labor of love.
Now, all things being said, teachers in this county do indeed make more money than the local average. I in no way support the WCEA, but they make, in my estimation, a fair wage. To those who argue otherwise, I invite commentary and appropriate discourse, however the top heavy administration (above school level) and their unrestricted salaries are of primary concern.
Regards,
Paladin
They are over paid and we the tax paying citizens of this county are over taxed! I think they need to look at salaries from the top down. Start with the administrators and then start looking at performance.
The state is asking for 500 volunteers in state employment to resign or take early retirement. I think the BOE should do the same.
Corporations are doing this every day. Get rid of the high salaried and under performing and then rehire at what the economy can handle.
I took a massive wage cut after the economy crashed in 2008. They should do the same. Their salaries would still be considered high during the pre recession period when wages and benefits were great.
We are all suffering and struggling to make ends meet. My local and property taxes went up an additional 1000 this year. I really can't afford these increases and I'm sure many others can't as well. All you have to do is look at the foreclosures in this state for proof. Something has to give!
what in the heck is "net profit per student" ?
No way people in the food industry make 35k.
I do. My children are homeschooled. I stopped allowing them to go to public school after I visited a couple schools before I relocated here for work. Smdh. I've never seen a school system like this.
A teacher must work close to 15 years in order to earn this average. Nobody starts at $58,000. So what this average shows is that there are many experienced teachers in the county. In addition, they have been offering incentives for people to retire for several years in order to save money with younger teachers. The average salary in this area is low because most people with a degree move away. If you are not in education or health care, there re no jobs here. Check the avg for Montgomery County, most experienced teachers could move there and make close to $100,000 a year.
You lost me after being a teacher for.....
I'm a construction worker and have a large highly technical skill set. My boss wants to give me a raise, but I won't accept it because it would put me above the average salary of this area and I would be condemned as a bad person for making myself more valuable. We should all aspire to be average so we will fit into the "Eastern Shore" mold.
This is from 2013: http://somd.com/news/headlines/2014/18032.shtml
But shows how Wicomico fares as far as teacher salaries in comparison with other counties in Maryland.
Also, ran across this:
http://www.takepart.com/photos/average-teacher-salary-by-state-teachers-salaries/#10-indiana
Notice that Maryland is not among them due to Cost of Living.
And then there's this:
http://www.teacherportal.com/teacher-salaries-by-state/
Which shows starting salaries and average by state. According to this, Wicomico is low since the Maryland average is $64,248. If you dig deeper it shows that teachers account for just over a quarter of the whole education budget in the state at 28.4%.
Wicomico has been offering early retirement for years, they're ahead of the game on that front.
I did like "near DC" and taught at a high school that was 98% minority. $10k+ more per year for base salary first year teachers and the kids were WAY more manageable....you have no idea what your talking about! Im sure this will get filtered, as usual, but Montgomery County is ran like a business. ..not the employees fault in Wico that the BOE is not. Support your teachers. Ive been on both sides and stuck it out. Its these kinda comments that enable the kids to treat their teachers like dirt.
Perfect! Best of the day. Maybe year.
I have been working in the county for over 6 years and still do not make aver 46K. I have a masters degree and many continuing ed credits.
I make decent money for a great job that many of you that complain on this site wold never be able to do. It would be nice to make more money as anyone would want to. However, there are bigger problems in education than teacher pay.
It is amazing how disrespectful people are towards teachers. They speak about things that they do not know. They throw out popular saying like 3 months summers, yet this is to true, just something to say.
Please, come to school and spend some time in the classroom. Get a job as an assistant or come be a teacher. Then and only then will you be able to complain.
The board of education does not need as many administrators. Put these administrators back in the classroom. Let them teach and earn extra money for administrative duties. No need for full time people sitting at the BOE
Or, if you think teachers make too much, you should go get a degree and be a teacher yourself. Perhaps it is your fault for not making the choice to be and getting the easy money. Works both ways.
But where did they sign up to be treated like second class citizens by the people that they serve?
So, teachers can't be on here? Afraid that they will expose your ignorance,jubadmouthingst want to insult people and not allow them a chance to defend themselves? Sounds like fear to me.
Hence the incredible lack of understanding on this page. You can't read more than one sentence. I would guess you are one of the more intelligent people who have spoken up on this post.
Here's more data from the source in this post:
Average Teacher Salary
Wicomico County - $58,998
Maryland - $68,899
Allegany County - $68,803
Calvert County- $78,312
Cecil County - $60,437
Charles County - $65,195
St. Mary's County - $68,565
Worcester County - $63,478
Sussex County, DE - $63,496
Looks like teachers in Wicomico may be underpaid.
Let's face it - schoolteachers are leaches. They want it all - while all the time masquerading it is for the 'kids'.
And people wonder why the group is so 'despised' by the average public.
No, it looks like teachers statewide are overpaid. You can spin this anyway you want.
9:15 - Who said teachers want it all? How are they leaches? They ARE there for the kids. My wife is a teacher and she spends at least 10 hours a day at school, then comes home and spends another 2-3 hours working at home to prepare for the next day. She also spends at least 6-8 hours every weekend making sure she is prepared for the next week (doing lesson plans, grading papers, etc.). Teachers very seldom go public about there pay, yet a lot of people here are attacking them for no reason because jor decided to post something about their salaries again. Instead of bashing teachers, how about thanking them for the fact that you can read this article and spell the words correctly that you are using to belittle them. Every teacher needs a dregree to teach. Most either have or are working towards a Masters. It's not a teachers fault if someone never went to college and has a low paying job. That is your own fault.
Lmao. Is that the only defense these teachers have? Hello. First, im not stupid enough to become a teacher. Second, I'm make easy money. And double what your boss makes and I'm a high school drop out! Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Stuck it out? You lie by admission.
You most certainly aren't first class citizens!
No. Teachers shouldn't be here when you should be teaching! My employees are caught on social media or their phones at work I terminate them. Must be nice.
I work year round. My boss gives me Mexicans with no communication skills at all. I make good money. But I'll be damned if I could take a paid three months off. In my heart it would kill me . I'd feel like a lazy thief!
Excellent point. Let's not forget a couple things:
1. These people chose to become teachers.
2. They teach 180 days a year. The average worker in the U.S. works 250 days a year with 2 weeks paid vacation.
If you're so unhappy teaching...leave the profession.
They knew that going into It. No one held a gun to their head and said " you must be a teacher"
convicts shouldn't have rights after they are convicted!
March 3, 2015 at 10:05 AM
Yours may not be the dumbest comment so far but it's up there.
If teaching is such a horrible profession and they hate dealing with all these bad kids why don't they find another job? We are reminded daily how smart they are and all the years they spent in college and all the continuing education course they have to take. Why do they stay? It can't be the money. They say they don't make that much. Yet they stay year after year. It's must be because they love teaching right not the money. If that is the case why does Somerset County have such a hard time getting teachers? Maybe because they are paid less than Wicomico County. I guess pay does have something to do with it and less about teaching the children.
8:19 AND 9:42....WELL SAID.
They won't quit, they have it too good!
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