[geeks] Goodbye, I guess

[wa2egp at att.net]

> The FTE was used to show why a certain teacher was making the highest salary 
> (1.2 FTE), and a few others were making low salaries (.6 and .75 FTE).

Usually that would be years of service.  This implies that a year may not be a
year.  Oh well.  Most people wouldn't see 1.2 FTE being the same as, let's say,
25 years of service.

> The average salary is the only number really talked about here in my local (NJ) 
> district, and it is pretty high. The school board and the teachers are at an 
> impasse regarding a new contract - the school board wants teachers to contribute 
> to their health insurance, they (obviously) prefer to have it paid 100% by the 
> school board.
> 
> Personally, I hope the union goes on strike and the teachers have to contribute 
> towards healthcare AND don't get back pay for the time they spend "on the picket 
> line"...

Average salary can be misleading.  My district it is high because 80% of the 
teachers are on the top step.  The pay scale also affects it too.  Each district
is different.

I remember the strike in Middletown a few years ago.  It was health costs.  They
had increased $200k.  The union said they would absorb $180K of it.  The board 
said no and there was a strike.  Teachers were put in jail. All over $20K in 
a district whose cheapest house was $350K

You don't get paid when you are on strike.  At best, those days are called 
"sick" days.  I wouldn't mind paying a reasonable amount of health care.
Unfortunately, many districts want the teachers to pay ALL of their health
care and I'll bet in some of them, people in central office have the system
pay most of theirs.  Teachers are easy targets.

Bob