First let me say it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be, though I don't think I am going to support for it.
I am going to get a raise and a substantial in DCPS terms raise too. My salary is going to go up a little over 1,300 hundred dollars and to give you some scale, a teacher on the old scale would have had to work 5 years to get a 1,300 dollar raise and I was only scheduled to get a raise of around 700 dollars (I am a thirteenth year teacher on step 12 because of the step teachers lost a few years back). I am also practically guaranteed a raise of 750 dollars a year for the next few years too. On the old scale teachers didn't get that raise in a single year until year 13. It's more money accumulating at a faster rate and I think I hate it.
Here is the problem, if you are a second year teacher and you get an effective evaluation then you will get a 1,000 dollar raise. However if you are a tenth year teacher and you get a highly effective evaluation meaning you are the best of the best. You can only get a five hundred dollar raise. Well you could get more if you gave up your work protections.
A first year teacher with four effective evaluations will catch a sixth year teacher on a professional contract in terms of salary in four years, they will surpass them in their fifth.
The contract says hey if you're in the middle of the pay scale, years 6 through 20, you can make more money but you have to take less security, it devalues experience unless you want to live year to year.
Also it's my bet that the union is short changing its members by agreeing to the contract. I bet there are a lot more union members on professional contracts than not and people on professional contracts, people who have been around and successful years are really getting shortchanged.
This is a great deal for new teachers but a poor one for veterans.
I am willing to entertain the though I am just too jaded and too critical on this matter. Any thoughts?
To look at the contract: click the link, http://www.dtujax.com/Teacher_Settlement_Feb_2015.htm
I am going to get a raise and a substantial in DCPS terms raise too. My salary is going to go up a little over 1,300 hundred dollars and to give you some scale, a teacher on the old scale would have had to work 5 years to get a 1,300 dollar raise and I was only scheduled to get a raise of around 700 dollars (I am a thirteenth year teacher on step 12 because of the step teachers lost a few years back). I am also practically guaranteed a raise of 750 dollars a year for the next few years too. On the old scale teachers didn't get that raise in a single year until year 13. It's more money accumulating at a faster rate and I think I hate it.
Here is the problem, if you are a second year teacher and you get an effective evaluation then you will get a 1,000 dollar raise. However if you are a tenth year teacher and you get a highly effective evaluation meaning you are the best of the best. You can only get a five hundred dollar raise. Well you could get more if you gave up your work protections.
A first year teacher with four effective evaluations will catch a sixth year teacher on a professional contract in terms of salary in four years, they will surpass them in their fifth.
The contract says hey if you're in the middle of the pay scale, years 6 through 20, you can make more money but you have to take less security, it devalues experience unless you want to live year to year.
Also it's my bet that the union is short changing its members by agreeing to the contract. I bet there are a lot more union members on professional contracts than not and people on professional contracts, people who have been around and successful years are really getting shortchanged.
This is a great deal for new teachers but a poor one for veterans.
I am willing to entertain the though I am just too jaded and too critical on this matter. Any thoughts?
To look at the contract: click the link, http://www.dtujax.com/Teacher_Settlement_Feb_2015.htm
I am in yr 23, but because of the lost step I will go from 55,500 to 58,801. If I hadn't lost that step, I would be going from 57,052 to 66,801. If we accept this, I will have to work 4 more LONG years to get to 66,801. I am wicked pissed and will also vote NO. DTU sucks!
ReplyDeleteBlah blah, show me the money. When will we see it?
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is about time that we stand up to DTU. They are not working for us, they are working for the School Board. Other counties make a lot more than we do, and if they don't then their health packages are way better. Our pay and other benefits are horrible compared to other districts.
ReplyDeleteYou really need to check the details. We are the only district in Florida with non contributory health care. Check your facts first.
DeleteAnyone that has two brain cells in their skull should never give up their PSC. The Admin as a whole has a proven track record of ineptitude and moral bankruptcy. Even with all the perks for critical shortage teachers it will not be enough to endure the madness of these mad hatters. The only people left are the people close to retirement or people stuck in the middle. New teachers are leaving in droves, not due to the salary, but to the working conditions. No 20 something with a 4 year degree and a clean criminal record will tolerate this especially in a growing economy. Student discipline is non existent producing low test scores and destroying the evaluation of the most experienced and gifted educator. The funding, evaluative, and overall treatment of these professionals is akin to a school run in a third world country run by a war lord. As a state we are last in most every measurable metric. We should be ashamed and we are already paying the price.
ReplyDeleteThe behavior in inner city schools is outrageous. Call me a racist, but its the truth. I wish we could get some technology to disable student cellphones also.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just the media and the country in general who blame teachers for everything wrong with education in America, but our union, school board, superintendent and administrators. The irony is that if teachers had any say, things would be soooooo much better.
ReplyDeleteWith rare exceptions, all of Duval Schools are inner city. Behavior is out of control all over the county. Cell phones are the bane of my existence!
ReplyDeleteInner city=black. Not all black students are bad, but...
ReplyDeleteI really wasn't implying black. But all urban schools suffer from bad behavior that rural schools don't. Jacksonville is big and poor and functionally illiterate and student behavior reflects that. We have led the state in murders for all but one of the last 15 yrs. Only the magnet schools have actual teaching and learning going on. Others have teachers spend all of their time putting out fires in overcrowded classrooms with no books or disciplinary support. Expect the crime rate to continually rise.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't implying, I was directly stating. Ghetto Jacksonville culture is ruining Jacksonville from the outside in (schools). Not all urban black students are nasty and thuggish, but way too many are. It only takes 3-5 per class.
ReplyDeleteI'm a 40 something AA male vet teacher.
The problem is that the disciplinary numbers will soar if we actually try to hold kids accountable, and that would look bad to Vitti; however, get out the students who are completely incorrigible, and things will change. Really, it's only like 5-10% of the population of each school. Right now, I know "Restorative Justice" is the big thing, and I am all about students learning how to make amends, but if a kid regularly gets kicked out of class by 2 or more teachers, fights all the time, or refuses to come to school, how is that productive?
ReplyDeleteGeez, when it come to discipline, oh how this frustrates me. "The new way of work" is over if it was anything but a sham. How many referrals are piled up in your dean's office until they go into the trashcan at the end of the year?
ReplyDeleteLet's say a military spouse has 15 years experience teaching in Virginia, the spouse is transferred to Jax, how will that teacher be compensated for experience under the new pay bands? I certainly hope that an experienced teacher from out of state wouldn't have to start at the beginning rate.
ReplyDeleteThey usually get credit for up to 15 yrs.
ReplyDeleteThey might get credit, but they will be bumped down to what current teachers are at. Ex: DCPS teacher who should be at step 15 is paid at 14. The military spouse will be paid at 14. They also will not be on PSC.
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