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Read comments (27)Members of the bargaining team for the LCED met with Le Mars Community Schools Board of Education members Monday to present their initial proposal.
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Five members of the bargaining team were present for the meeting, with Doug Martin serving as spokesman.
A change in pay for the positions of middle school vocal accompanist, FFA, Quiz Bowl and high school Flag Corps is also proposed.
Changes in the contract language for bereavement leave, family illness leave and use of sick leave, as well as evaluation procedures, and teacher compensation money are also proposed.
The total financial impact of the proposal is a 6.15 percent increase or $632,153.40 over the 2008-09 contract. Current costs are $10,282,995.
Martin told the board the team looked at the Social Security Automatic Cost of Living increase as a guide.
"The Social Security Cost of Living automatic increase is 5.8 percent," Martin said. "So when we were coming up with our initial proposal we looked at what would be fair, very fair, to start out at and we weren't going to come in so high that it would be a shock value."
School board members will respond to the LCED proposal with their own initial proposal at a 5 p.m. meeting Monday, Dec. 15. Initial proposal meetings are open to the public.
Le Mars Community Schools Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt indicated closed negotiation meetings will begin in January, after the district has a better idea of what the Iowa Legislature will be allocating in school funding for the next year.
To Sammysmom:
I don't think a different Planet, I think maybe a different time...
Our constitution was written for a Republic not a Democracy..("and to the republic for which it stands, one nation..etc..") Don't worry it's not your fault..well maybe it is, you have the same resources I have..
God Bless you as a Mother who cares enough to comment, though.
Let me leave all with a qoute..
"Democracy is the road to socialism." Karl Marx
How about another for good measure..
Winston Churchill…."The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
Everyone keeps saying attend a School Board meeting to express your views...WE HAVE EXPRESSED OUR VIEWS WITH 2 VOTES AGAINST A NEW ISL TAX!
Could it be more clear.
No Raise!
Thank you Mr. Smith..I knew you were watching..lol
To everyone:
I don't agree with Mr. Smith all the time but he actually cares and is THE most accessible of any school board member.
Thanks again Mr. Smith.
Clear Thinker what planet do you live on??? I graduated from our morally bankrupt school and I got a wonderful education. Did you ever stop to think that the government teacher is playing the devils advocate? He is chosing a side of an issue that is controversial to make the students THINK? To contemplate the differences between Socialism and a Democratic form of government? He is trying to make the students figure out on their own that a Democratic form of government is better? Teenagers won't necessarily just believe what is told to them. (You could tell them that the sky is blue and they would argue that it is green) Also, maybe people HAVE already cut back on housing, cars, groceries. Some of them STILL have to work. It's a fact of life.
Here http://www.iowaschoolprofiles.com/ is the address mentioned below (click the link).
Unfortunately the site isn't working at present.
When working again, you can look up all kinds of data including a District's average teacher salary
and average teacher age etc.
I believe salaries are published annually. They should be available at the District Office also.
It Is Time...fYI...all staffing costs, including bus drivers, cooks, administration and TEACHERS is approimately 80% of the total budget. Thus, try dividing $8,000,000 minus teaching benefits AND the rest of the staff's wages and benefits. Then you will be closer to a correct average. By the way if you look at the Department of Education's website you could easily...two...three minutes find all enrollment information, AND correct teacher salaries...DISTRICT FINANCIAL REPORT CARDS. Showing one's ingornance and spouting extremely far fetched data must be much easier finding the truth.
To is it time:
I don't have time to research this right now..but since they are government employees the incomes are available and posted.
Maybe Mr Smith can give you that location..can you Mr. Smith?
I believe your current costs include more than just the teacher salaries such as utilities and running the school.
Your anger is righteous though.
As a graduate of our "morally bankrupt school system", I feel I was given a great education, especially after talking to friends who attended other schools (both public and private). What makes our school morally bankrupt, anyway?
As a graduate of our "morally bankrupt school system", I feel I was given a great education, especially after talking to friends who attended other schools (both public and private). What makes our school morally bankrupt, anyway?
To "areyoukidding?":
Good post.
I can tell you have a good heart and care about this.
Some kids will rise above their circumstances and surroundings, most don't.
You CAN quit your job...set a date to quit..start trimming your budget..downsize the house and car..look around and see everything you have that you don't really need.
You CAN quit your job and stay home with your kids.
If you can't afford to send your children to a private school, there are plenty of good resources and groups dedicated to helping Homeschoolers.
You don't need that "education" degree..you can see what that has done for us. All you need is common sense and dedication.
You are putting your children and this country in moral, intellectual and physical peril by trusting the government to educate your kids.
Has anyone heard of a shooting or bombscare at a private or homeschool?
You call it the public education system, that sounds nice, lets call it what it is..morally bankrupt government education.
The pre-written thank you notes are a hoot...I haven't seen that one yet!
To All:
No Raise. Give each teacher $370 and tell them to go get their own health insurance..that is what is costs us for a family.
(Some lucky health insurance agent has a friend in the teachers union and/or school board.)
Prepare yourselves for the upcoming propaganda and scare campaign and Vote No on any new ISL or other tax increase! Tell your neighbors.
Oh..turn the TV off..you'll thank me.
From all the letters I have read above you can really tell our education system is a failure. Still can't teach common sense any place. Like the man said you can't fix stupid.
Every time there is an article on the school, people hop on here to complain about the teachers, or to praise them. I think it's good that people respect teachers; I also think it's good that citizens want accountability.
The truth is, and everyone knows it, not every teacher is a great teacher. The key is learning to work with, or around, those that you might consider less-than-great. Remember, "great" is a subjective term; some teachers are considered 'great' because they give kids a ride home and hand them $ if they need it for lunch. Those are certainly nice things to do, but does it make a person a 'great' teacher? It's all relative, isn't it? No matter what the profession, not all the employees are top-notch. There is a teacher shortage, so, unfortunately, the less-than-great are needed.
Maybe we should just get rid of school altogether and have everyone educate his or her own children to the best of his or her ability. I certainly don't feel competent enough to do that, nor do I have the luxury of being so wealthy that I can quit my job and dedicate the rest of my time to educating my children at home, so I will continue to trust the public education system. It hasn't horribly scarred my children in any way yet. In fact, they actually learn things.
Or perhaps, we should adopt a system of education similar to that in place in most of Europe, so we can start filtering the kids at grade 4 into categories (college-bound, trade-school bound, general workforce-bound).
And, really, in the grand scheme of life, does it matter that mr. so-and-so was the 'worst teacher in the entire world'?
It's unfortunate, ClearThinker, that you receive barely legible thank you notes with misspelled words, incomplete sentences, and missing or wrong punctuation. But at least you got a thank you note; last year I attended a graduation party where you could pick up a pre-written thank you note off a table, presumably to avoid having to actually send out the cards (now that's classy!) Unfortunately, some people just don't care about correct grammar, syntax, and legibility; I don't think that's anything new.
If anyone has a better way of figuring out the mess that is teacher raises, you should definitely be attending the board meetings about the budget. Maybe a merit-pay system or something like that? Perhaps if all the students pass your class for the year, you would qualify for a raise. I see the inherent problem with that set-up- there's the potential to make the year, subject, whatever, incredibly easy so that every student will pass in order to qualify for the merit pay raise. I'm not sure that's the direction we want to go.
Some things in life just aren't fair, but we just have to deal with them.
Great post "live and let live"!
To In My Opinion:
On the quality of education government school students get, the glass is empty.
Politically correct teaching methods, diversity emphasized social programs, revised history and a Federal Department of Education started by the Carter admnistration continue to dilute the education received.
The teachers unions, especially the NEA are horrific absolutley horrific.
Research the term "critical thinking".
We used to be able to trust public school teachers to provide an excellent education. Heck, prior to the mid 70's the U.S. was ranked #1 in the world in quality of education..Jappan was a distant second.
That was also a time when the majority of Mothers had the most important job known to mankind. Homemaker.
They stayed home with their kids..they read to them..they taught them to count...they taught them the ABC's.
They put their "careers" on hold to raise, love, nurish and teach their babies. When Dad came home from work he played with them, helped them with homework and had them read him a story..get where I am coming from?
Oh..the divorce rate was also a fraction of what it is today. When men and women work side by side for 8 - 10 hours a day..just what do you think is going to eventually happen?
Our government schools are atrocious and getting worse. I have no hope for them at all. Completely defund them.
One simple suggestion that every single one of us can do is turn the damn TV off. It is nothing but pollution, every single channel, especially the news. (Why are you looking for the truth there?)
Try it for one whole week..turn off Oprah, the soaps, the sitcoms, the reality shows and yes Dads turn off the sports..
I admit, you can hear crickets chirping at first but after a couple of days you can't believe how nice it is. You get sooo much more done and guess what..you spend more time reading and talking..with your kids and your spouse..
Buy old books..the classics and old history books and biographies, play cards and board games.
STOP USING THE TV AS A BABY SITTER!
Do not depend on the government to educate your kids..it is not the type of education you want.
I can not believe they pay that much in health insurance either..unbelievable.
Give them a 6.5% reduction in pay or more.
I am out of breath and I need to make supper, yes I have children at home and the TV is off.
Again I say, for NO AMOUNT of money would I be a teacher. Most students are good kids but there are a handful that makes a teacher want to pull their hair out. I sure wouldn't want to be called a bitch to my face because you tell a student to sit down and be quiet. And that's mild compared to what I have heard from some teachers. I can't post the other statements. God Bless Teachers!
Liveandletlive:
I TOTALLY AGREE! Some people should NOT be allowed to teach! PERIOD! And others are so awesome its hard to describe.
I don't understand why nobody mentions the amount of actual time a teacher spends on the job in relation to what the wages are. If you make $40,000 per year for 180 days of work, that's $222.00 per day. The average person that works 245 days per year at $222.00 per day would make $54,390 per year. That is not out of line for a person with a degree who has 10 years of experience. A teacher probably works not much more than 8 hours a day and the average person that I know works closer to 9 or 10 hour days. Many professional people take their work home with them and spend a great deal of time thinking about their work while not on the job, just as teachers do. I don't think that teachers have it so bad. There are many professions that work nights, weekends, and even holidays, and they don't make any more money than a teacher does. Most professionals are given a small cost of living raise and the majority of their raise is based on merit, or performance. Why do teachers believe that their raises should be across the board, whether they deserve it or not. This is American. If you don't like what your employer is paying then you are welcome to go find a different job.
And another things, my spouse and I spent a great deal of time with our children when they were in school. We read every single night, (and enjoyed it). I taught my son how to read. His teacher did not. He struggled and the teacher didn't even realize it. More than once, the kids brought home their spelling list and the teacher had incorrectly spelled the word she was trying to teach. There are many great teachers, but not all deserve a raise. Some don't, and that's a fact. Good teachers can teach those who want to learn and exceptional teachers can motivate those who need to be inspired to learn.
To the ClearThinker:
In my opinion you should attend the PUBLIC meeting on December 15 at 5 P.M. to express your thoughts and offer your suggestions as to how you would "kick some butt". By the way -- is the glass half full or half empty?
I see the United Auto Workers are going to make some serious concessions to try to make things work in Detroit. Maybe the Teachers Union needs to consider the same thing. It's too bad the labor force whether teachers or car makers have to make concessions to offset the incompetant adminstations decisions but sometimes that's what needs to happen to get things back on track.
Wow! We pay $780/mo toward employee insurance? and want to raise it to $880? I must be getting one great deal with mine or they've been swindled! I only pay $450 every 3 months for my own paid for policy (bluecross/blueshield of IA)and we wonder why we are having a budget problem. The pay is in line but we are not too good at evaluating our costs I see! I don't think I have the best deal on the market either, and I've seen other districts with nice insurance packages that don't cost as much.
Next item, has anyone else gotten a 6.5% increase in pay/benefits coming this next year? I know I haven't gotten much over a 2% raise for a few years now and with the economy as it is, don't think it will amount to much this year either. My raise is by merit with respect to funds available for raises.
Extra curricular activities should be a volunteer situation. If you really have an interest in helping the kids out with these after school activities, then be a part of it. This will allow people from the community to also sign up to be a part. This is where we find out what is really important to people in the community. Time for some financial responsibility and restructuring of ideas.
I think this increase is in line with what it should be.
I personally find many of these comments irrevelant in relation to the article. I speculate that the concern is that teachers are making a salary that is out of touch with their job description. I would only like to say that they are college graduates many with advanced degrees. $40,0000 for a professional with 10 years of experience is certainly not out of line. Many of the concerns need to be addressed by everyone involved in the student's life not only the school system.
You know what? It is true, a teacher can do any and everything under the sun to help a kid to learn. Ever hear of the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water..." Same way with these students. Until parents get involved, teachers could move heaven and hell to teach kids, but if they don't want to learn, what can a school do alone? Nothing, parents have to help out. I wouldn't be a teacher for no amount of money.
I love how people automatically think that cards with an 18 year old girl makes you a 50 year old MALE PERVERT! HAHA I wonder where their brain is....South of the border perhaps??
Don't worry think_people my Husband was with me...lol...this is gonna get good!
Thank you singer1269 for your post.
I got back on here to talk about the current economy but nuff said..
They might spill the words write if you gived more then just your slanted opinion and five bucks. Take some time to be with kids and the community rather then just bashing them. (the words spelled wrong were on purpose...you maroon)
ClearThinker says "de-fund the school"...BRILLIANT!! Take money away but make things better...hmm
Ohh no in a mock (that means not real) election kids elected Barack "President-Elect" Obama.....is that the fault of the teachers?
And lastly why are you playing cards with an 18 year old girl? Sounds Shady.....
maybe if the parents would work with the teachers to educate the students we could have some educated graduates.
it is not the teachers' fault that the kids these days know overything about nothing.
It is time for the parents to take some fault.
Get involved with your children's education. and stop blaming the schools for your own stupidity.
Someone please tell me this is a sick joke.
Is this arrogance or stupidity?
Just this past weekend I witnessed an '08 grad counting the hearts, clubs and diamonds in her hand of cards because she couldn't add a few numbers in her head.
Each June I receive barely legible graduation thank you notes with misspelled words, incomplete sentences and missing or wrong punctuation.
This fall, in an overwelmingly conservative area of the country, our government high school elects Barack Hussein Obama in a mock election!
We should be debating the idea of de-funding this school district for the sake of the children instead of adding a new tax.
It is time to quit the politically correct hogwash and kick some butt. They work for us.