As as are most jobs that aren’t brain surgery. I’m sure you expect people to respect your knowledge and skill at whatever it is you do. You are hell bent on belittling the skills needed to teach. The impression you give is you feel it is very low in the hierarchy of professions.

 

I regret everyday not becoming a teacher, how many other jobs do you get 3 months off per year?

 

The retirement should have been adjusted many years ago. While a lot of us were still in high school. Someone has to fix the mess and it’s going to be an emotional, nauseating process.

I regret everyday not becoming a teacher, how many other jobs do you get 3 months off per year?

 

The retirement should have been adjusted many years ago. While a lot of us were still in high school. Someone has to fix the mess and it’s going to be an emotional, nauseating process.

Airline pilot. 3 months isn’t an accurate depiction of time off.

And as a 72 year old former educator, I can tell you 90% of my friends retired before the age of 55 and draw nearly 100% of their pre-retirement take home pay in retirement, plus pay almost nothing for healthcare until medicare kicks in. Forgot to mention over 50% of them have continued in some type of 2nd job, because they are just too young to retire; but, the pension is just too good to pass up. No emotion. Just facts.

 

No emotion, why would anyone begrudge them continuing the one single financial benefit? That still does not make up for 30 years or more of lower wages.

Memory tells me it was more like late 90's. Just rember the uproar which ignored the sustainability and mathematical absurdity and just heard the screams about how unfair it was to take this hard earned benefit away. It was to be the end of teaching as a career choice. The same political "sky is falling" sounds are being trumpeted by KEA leadership while giving a deaf ear to the realities of this broken system. The Ky taxpayers cannot be on the hook for a defined benefit program so poorly designed and conceived.

 

And yet through all of that "extragravance" the pension system was in healthy shape at the turn of the century. It somehow survived the prior 60 years. It would be just fine as we speak if the legislature held to their committment. Not only teachers, but the other folks pensions as well. Any tax revenue system that gives away more in breaks than it takes in is flawed. Besides education is not a drain on the taxpayer, it is an investment into this states and countries future. Investing in retaining quality teachers is also a part of that investment. Of course there are flaws in every huge system, but putting the brunt on those who honored their commitment each and every paycheck just doesnt make sense. What is often loss in this is that public employees are tax payers as well.

I regret everyday not becoming a teacher, how many other jobs do you get 3 months off per year?

 

The retirement should have been adjusted many years ago. While a lot of us were still in high school. Someone has to fix the mess and it’s going to be an emotional, nauseating process.

 

Go ahead, there's still time and will be plenty of positions opening up. Let us know how you like it once you actually experience it.

And as a 72 year old former educator, I can tell you 90% of my friends retired before the age of 55 and draw nearly 100% of their pre-retirement take home pay in retirement, plus pay almost nothing for healthcare until medicare kicks in. Forgot to mention over 50% of them have continued in some type of 2nd job, because they are just too young to retire; but, the pension is just too good to pass up. No emotion. Just facts.

 

I thought you said you were a banker for 43 years? How long did you teach and why did you get out?

I regret everyday not becoming a teacher, how many other jobs do you get 3 months off per year?

 

The retirement should have been adjusted many years ago. While a lot of us were still in high school. Someone has to fix the mess and it’s going to be an emotional, nauseating process.

 

Myth. Being married to a career teacher, I know.

 

I remember moving to Maysville back in the day and thinking that a career on a riverboat sounded pretty neat (a child in the home soon changed that particular fantasy). And the work schedule? 21 days on, 21 days off.

I put ownership on the parents/families. Part of the problem is those families/parents don’t take responsibility. What many of those parents/families have done is tied the hands of teachers and schools.

 

I didn’t say teachers know more about kids than parents. I said teachers more about a parents kids at times. So I didn’t speak in absolutes like it was implied in your post.

 

The fact that teachers will spend more time with some of their students than the parent is just a statement on our society today.

 

Schools for a very very long have time taught what is refered to as the hidden curriculum. Social skills and many other things that are not on a test.

 

Your words, not mine!

Your words, not mine!

I doubled checked how I phrased it before I posted my response you quoted the first time. So yeah I stand by what I actually said and not want someone might of thought I said.

Why not tell the whole story here......They also are paying for buses to take the teachers to Frankfort to protest Monday.

 

Neighbor drives a bus and was wondering if he gets paid for Friday when they called off Campbell county?

^^^

More than likely not. Does he get paid when School is canceled due to weather? The day will have to be made up so he would get paid then. Then again each district does it a little different.

 

If I was your neighbor I would be more worried about the state cutting funding for transportation. That decision will have a more drastic and long lasting impact.

 

Also God bless your neighbor for being a bus driver. No way I could ever do that job. Special person right there

Memory tells me it was more like late 90's. Just rember the uproar which ignored the sustainability and mathematical absurdity and just heard the screams about how unfair it was to take this hard earned benefit away. It was to be the end of teaching as a career choice. The same political "sky is falling" sounds are being trumpeted by KEA leadership while giving a deaf ear to the realities of this broken system. The Ky taxpayers cannot be on the hook for a defined benefit program so poorly designed and conceived.

 

Everything you say is all good. Except for the fact that it would have been sustained if the state didn't take money from it. At least in terms of teachers retirement, it was very sustainable until the state took money out of it that was promised to be put back. So yes now it sucks to get out of it, the state's taxpayers would suffer. Which is not fair to them either. So teachers and all people shouldn't suffer from the state's corrupt ways. The system was sustainable if the corrupt state didn't take from it. I can't speak for the other pensions but the Kentucky retirement system was sustainable until the state took money.

 

So the state should find away to fix it without making teachers or any person in the state suffer from it. At least take steps to see if legalizing gambling with casinos, etc.

I regret everyday not becoming a teacher, how many other jobs do you get 3 months off per year?

 

The retirement should have been adjusted many years ago. While a lot of us were still in high school. Someone has to fix the mess and it’s going to be an emotional, nauseating process.

 

Become a teacher then and see how much you like it. Or if you could even be asked back for a second year.

Sorry, but I am going to upset many of my teaching friends. The pension system in Ky has never been mathematically sustainable. This system was initiated by a legislature that was financially unsophisticated (keep that term in mind, we will revisit it) and not responsible to the taxpayers in managing over the years. The gaming that has gone by both participants and legislators authorizing and than mirroring tenfold in their own programs has been abominable.

 

In full disclosure, I left education and became a banker for 42 years. Now to the gaming: I don't think many know that teachers were previously able to buy up to five years of retirement credit at their last years salary (theoretically the highest) by simply paying the retirement portion of salary they and school would have paid if they worked it. I know this because I made multiple loans to teachers for this purpose so they were able to retire at 22 years with full benefits and then go back to work for state and earn a 2nd pension at the taxpayer's trouth.

 

Most of the public doesn't understand the manipulation/distortion of sick days. Teachers are paid to do a job, but if they get legitimately sick they will not be penalized in the short-term and if they have the blessing of good health one year they are allowed to roll the benefit forward should a longer-term health issue develop in the future. Somehow the unsophisticated have perverted this sickness benefit to allow teachers to extend years of experience credits in the retirement system by paying nominal sums to ballon their final retirement benefits. Simply, a teacher that gets paid and works 27 years and is Blessed with no health absences gets credit for working 29 years. So, their retirement is based on highest three year's earnings and is calculated on 29 years experience (only worked 27) and at a rate based on their sole last year given credit for three times (one actually worked and the other 2 mythically worked for sick days).

 

I cannot blame any retiree for taking full advantage of this convulated system. Mathematics so easily prove that you cannot have retirees drawing on the system for 30/40 years. Candidly, that is what is happening with retirees coming into the withdrawal mode at 49 and living until their 80's. Granted teachers have paid consistently; however the taxpayers have not and cannot. The full retirement contribution in a down environment is simply not sustainable and the change has to happen.

 

The Ky Legislature is very vulnerable to the highly verbal/media pressures. #1). It is unconsciousable what they have done for themselves and their blatant attempts to hide it from the public. #2). Many don't have the backbones to say "enough, time to correct the error of our ways". At least previous administrations were and many more present legislators are concerned about re-election and/or higher office.

 

It is hard to listen when you attempt to disrupt governance by screaming and out vocaling the process as open discussions attempt to take place. The KEA has done a tremendous disservice to the teaching profession, the professionalism of educators in general, the Ky taxpayers that are being asked to fund an unsustainable system, and the ultimate victims our educational system.

 

Btw you do realize one reason why they allowed sick days to roll over. Giving teachers incentive to be at school even while sick. Saved schools money by not having to pay for a sub. Teachers are around germs all day with 20 to 30 kids who get sick. So teachers must more acceptable to getting sick. Yet this gave teachers more reason to be in even while sick.

 

Not to mention teachers need their sick days when having a baby. It's not like they get paid maternity leave. They have to use their saved sick days.

 

So since you only painted one side of the story for sick days. I thought i would share the other side of it.

I regret everyday not becoming a teacher, how many other jobs do you get 3 months off per year?

 

The retirement should have been adjusted many years ago. While a lot of us were still in high school. Someone has to fix the mess and it’s going to be an emotional, nauseating process.

 

The bolded is not necessarily true. I will use my wife as an example.

 

Here teaching year ends in late May and she will be required to work until June.

 

Because they are combining her school with another in a new facility, she will spend about a week transferring her class room and setting it up during the summer. It's not required work by the contract but if she doesn't do it, when will it be done?

 

She goes back in July 30th to work. Classes begin a week and a half or so later. Much of that early time is often spent in meaningless pep/education for the teachers. The real work is when they are free to be in the classroom and plan together and set up the beginning of the school year.

 

So based on this calculation she doesn't get 3 months off. June and 1/2 of July (taking into account the new school move). This doesn't include continuing education that she will begin next year for continuing certification.

 

As to the rest of the school year, about half of those "off days" for the kids is "in-service or professional development days." So the "holidays" she gets in the school year are the following:

 

Labor Day, 2 Days Thanksgiving, 2 weeks Xmas, 1 Day MLK- Lee - Jackson Day (Remember I'm in VA :thumb:), Spring Break is one week. Total of 19 days. So I guess is closer to 3 months than I thought. :lol2:

 

Just for the record, her day starts at 7:30 am and she leaves around 4:30 or 5:00 each day. 9 or more hours each day. :thumb: