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A. Cloyes of Centennial writes:

DCTA president, and DPS teachers have their heads in the sand. They ought to concentrate on bringing student achievement up to par before even thinking about asking for a raise.
Have they forgotten that less than two years ago Denver taxpayers approved a $25 million tax increase to fund teacher pay? They don’t need to fight the district to get a pay raise—the ProComp Trust Fund has been set up for that. As a result of this new system, some teachers have realized salary increases of 10%-20% in the last year and a half! ProComp is missing a key component in that it does not hold teachers accountable for student achievement. If you tell a lie long enough and effectively enough, you can get the masses to believe it. They should be bragging about how easily they fooled the public.
Kim whined that the district imposed a paltry benefits increase of 3.6%. Guess what—that was an across the board increase for everybody, including custodians, food service workers and other employees. Many DPS employees are not even eligible for the district’s health insurance plans and couldn’t afford it if they were. Many live in subsidized housing and receive food stamps. They are the ones who need big raises. Instead, the district robs them of needed pay increases to bend to the teachers’ greed.
Don’t be fooled. Teachers make a very good living and they only work August through May with plenty of vacation in between. You can be sure that they don’t need second jobs during the summer to put food on the table. Any teacher who tells you they don’t make a living wage probably has a new car in the garage.
If you believe Kim and DCTA and their lies, your head is in the sand too.

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

"If you tell a lie long enough and effectively enough, you can get the masses to believe it. They should be bragging about how easily they fooled the public. " That would be the CSAPs and politicians

Edgar, I see you have a public school education. Feel good, have good self esteem and screw the learning.

Median income for teachers in Colorado: $42,679.

Median income for all of Colorado: $52,015.

Median income nationwide for other professionals:

ENGINEERS:
"the median annual income for someone with a B.S. in engineering is $77,000, while a master's in engineering degree brings a salary of $82,333, according to the "National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) 2002 Income & Salary Survey Report." If you have a master's in engineering and an MBA, you can bring in $95,100. If you go all the way and earn your doctorate in engineering, expect to earn about $105,500-up $3,743 from a year ago."

"An engineer with no licensing and certification has a median income of $68,000, but one with a professional engineer (PE) license has a median income of $79,000."

LAWYERS:
"In May 2004, the median annual earnings of all lawyers were $94,930. The middle half of the occupation earned between $64,620 and $143,620."

DOCTORS:
Family practice: $137,119
Pediatrics: $132,953
On up to;
Anesthesiologists: $259,946.

VETERINARIANS:
"According to AVMA data, the median professional income in 2003 for female veterinarians in private practice was $62,500, compared with $98,500 for male veterinarians. In public or corporate practice, the median professional income for female veterinarians was $80,500, compared with $104,500 for male veterinarians."

ARCHITECTS:
"While architects’ salaries continue to grow, they still pale in comparison to lucrative professions like law and medicine. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, the mean yearly income for architects in 2004 was $66,230, compared to $108,790 for lawyers and $137,610 for physicians and surgeons. At the other end of the scale, an artists’ mean annual income is $37,490."

Other information from various Google sites on median income:

"WASHINGTON, D.C.—Colorado ranked 21st in the nation for its average teacher salary in 2003-04, according
to the American Federation of Teachers’ (AFT) annual teacher salary survey, released today. Colorado was one of 28 states where the increase in average teacher salary was lower than the national rate of inflation. The average teacher salary in Colorado for the 2003-04 school year was $43,318, up 1.5 percent from the previous year. Colorado ranked 19th in the nation for average beginning teacher salary, at $31,296, a decrease of
2.5 percent from 2002-03."

"$79,946 national average salary for adults (in 2006) with a master's, professional or doctoral degree.
$19,915 average salary for adults (in 2006) with less than a high school diploma.
$54,689 average salary for adults (in 2005) with a bachelor's degree.
$29,448 average salary for adults (in 2005) with a high school diploma."

The teachers are not the problem. All my children went through the public school system and did very well. That said, I am glad we have only one more year in public school. Thanks to CSAP and NCLB, not only the curriculum but also the teaching methods are dictated to the teachers by the local school administrations. Why make teachers highly qualified when they are told what and how to teach? No other profession would stand for the disrespect local school administrations give to the professional teachers.

Everything is dumbed down to accommodate the non-english speaking kids because they are dragging down the scores. So the focus is not on creating ever higher achievement but on getting the slacker kids to improve. And of course we can all see how well that is going.

There would be plenty of money in DPS if you cut the administration in half! Talk about a bunch of useless individuals!!!

ps I am not a teacher.

As a DPS teacher I am on the traditional pay system because I'd make LESS on Procomp! Not to mention MORE in any other district!

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