Did you know . . .

I was going to add this little tidbit to yesterday’s post about the pay of NC teachers, but I didn’t save it and couldn’t find it! Thanks to my friend Johnny for posting it today!

Why Teacher Pay Matters

Guess who the largest employer is in most counties in NC? The school system.

It is the largest employer in 64 counties.

It is the second largest employer in 12 other counties.

There is only one  (yes one) county in the state in which the school system is not in the top three employers.

If you think of a raise as an economic stimulus, more money in the pay checks of 95,000 teachers (spread out from Manteo to Murphy) will mean more middle-class people buying groceries, going on vacations, etc. And that will have a real, immediate economic impact on the state as a whole.

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Teachers and raises in NC

We keep getting news of an “Average” 7% pay raise for teachers. Not knowing how many teachers are at each step, I can’t do that math easily to know if that statement is true. What I do know is that when you look at the word “Average” over 36 steps, a ton of room is left for maneuvering and posturing.

Everyone has access to our state pay scales which is why little images like this one can be made.

Not sure that really shows what I want to highlight, so I’m using information taken from 2013-14 salary schedule and the 2008-09 salary schedule. AND of course the now famous 2014-14 proposed schedule (begins near bottom of page 50). I used year 17 for my compairson. It’s right in the middle of the NEW 4th step. 

 

The “raise” looks much better than last year’s salaries, but look at the numbers compared to 2008-09. Not a lot of progress, but a little. Oh, and Masters National Boards will no longer be figured off of Master’s pay, but off of Schedule A. That’s about a $500 difference a year.

Now, let’s throw in the longevity.  NC has an entire document dedicated to longevity. Year 17 teachers would make 2.25% in longevity. It has been a separate payment as a bonus. The last line of the document clearly states “Longevity pay is not a part of annual base pay for, nor is it to be recorded in personnel records as a part of annual base salary.”  For teachers, the proposal is to roll it into their monthly salary – which also means it’s no longer longevity, but shared by all. This is only for teachers, however. Even principals will continue to get their typical longevity.

Based on this information, a year 17 teacher (with longevity) is still making less than they would have in 2008-09.

All this was possible because of the nearly frozen salary. I’ve said it before and I want to reiterate that I understand the economy has been pitiful. I know teachers are not the only ones with frozen salaries. I know decisions had to be made. I want my congress woman and senator to at least acknowledge they heard what I had to say when I write. (Debra Conrad and Earlene Parmon in my case. While I copied the letter into a blog, I sent it to both of them.) What I want is for our politicians to be honest with us. I want to have an honest discussion about tenure. (Which is no longer given in NC if you didn’t have it before 2012-13 school year, and you lose it if you change counties.) Don’t try to make things seem better than they are through fuzzy rhetoric and posturing and expect us not to look for the facts behind the verbiage. Oh, and take care of those older teachers financially! We need new teachers. We need their vitality and their excitement We need the older ones too. We need their wisdom and experience. I understand that I’m a public servant, but I’m thinking that maybe NCGA doesn’t get that they are too. 

NC Teachers, Salaries and the Legislature

I won’t even try to summarize. This Teacher Librarian does an excellent job on Erica Speaks’ blog.

Open Letter to Senator Tillman

Have You Tried Being Likeable?

Interesting article from the On Hiring  blog. He’s mainly talking to the superior and arrogant who don’t or won’t give their coworkers the time of day. I’ve worked with people like this. They are so much better, smarter, whatever, that they can’t tell you hello in the hall much less collaborate or share the work load on a committee. They’ll just do it themselves because they are much more capable.

What’s really interesting though are the comments. Yes, we all work with someone who is and idiot (or even a complete department of idiots). What in the world gives anyone the right to treat them like they are idiots. And the term “faking nice” came up way too often. So, your mama told you that you were the center of the universe and every teacher or  teammate or coworker kissed the ground you walked on. (Of course, I’m willing to make a sizable bet that they did’t, but you didn’t notice because you thought they should.) Did you never observe the world around you? Have you not noticed that some people say please and thank you and occasionally smile at others?  Have you never appreciated someone’s kindness toward you? So your mama really didn’t teach you any manners when you were little. It’s never to late to learn them and use them appropriately without “faking nice” to manipulate others.

I am a librarian

I’ve got a new job and it’s had to stay under my hat a bit as things developed before I could officially resign from my old job. Resignation happened last Monday, but it’s been such a whirlwind this week that I haven’t had the time to properly write about it.

I am the new Media Specialist for C. C. Griffin Middle School in Concord NC. I was hoping to have pictures of the media center to post because it’s beautiful, but the school is only open M-Th right now and I’m teaching summer school on those days.

 

Using the word “I” in cover letters?

Reading another interview on Hiring Librarians. This one points to being tired of the use of the word “I” in resumes/cover letters. I can figure out how NOT to use I in the resume, but it’s not so easy in the cover letter. What do you do to not overuse the I?

The top happiest jobs?

My pastor friends will be thrilled to know they top the list. My librarian and teacher friends aren’t on it at all.

The Ten Happiest Jobs

Have you had an abysmal job interview?

It’s been awhile, but I have had some that went south. I’ve even had some that I thought went pretty well up until a point and then I knew they were doomed. Forbes has some advice about those terrible interviews in

7 Things You Can Do After A Really Bad Job Interview

Not that you can necessarily redeem the experience, but you can learn from it. One of them is something I had to learn the hard way with lots of things in life. Don’t beat yourself up. After a period of reflection, move on! You can’t change what’s already happened. Get what you can from it and get on with your life!

Hiring Librarians

OK, I’m going to push another blog. Hiring Librarians by Emily Weak. The majority of the posts I’ve read in this one have to do with what those hiring want to see from those interviewing. A lot of the questions have to do with the resume and cover letter – key components to getting past the mailbox and into the interview room.

There are other good topics too, like the one about hiring those with disabilities – specifically Autism. Lots of good info was shared in that post.

More on Electronic Portfolio’s

I found this helpful post from A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet (mentioned in the last entry). I’ve also been involved in a linkedin discussion and someone else posted this one which focuses on Google Sites. I hadn’t thought much about Google Sites as it seemed clunky when I tried it out. But recently a teacher posted her classroom website done with Google Sites on Teachers.net, and it was very clean and neat. I may have to rethink Google Sites. Here is the one I started using wikispaces.com .