Hi XYZ,
Thank you for your interest in this topic, which is of great
importance to the residents of Worthington, and their children.
(Other than school district costs, there are few expenses that have
as large a financial impact on the typical district household.)
As for your first comment regarding posting the names of the
school board and administration, these district leaders are noted on
our website because they are public officials, and we think the
people of Worthington deserve to know how to contact them.
As for us, you can find our names in the local paper on a regular
basis, and frankly, this discussion is not about us. It’s about the
long-term financial health of the historic community of Worthington.
By focusing on the issue, and not on the people, we hope this
remains an open debate about the matter at hand. Unfortunately, as
you have proven, some would prefer to make this personal, either to
distract from the subject, or for personal satisfaction, or any of a
number of other reasons. We do not see the need for this, or the
value in this, and see it as counter-productive.
In your note, you state that teachers in Worthington simply keep
up with inflation. This is simply not accurate. If you go to http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/
you will see that inflation is negative this year, was 3.8% last
year, 2.8% in 2007, and 3.2% in 2006. Worthington contract raises
(including steps) were far more (and nearly twice the rate of
inflation in 2007). But inflation is not the only factor. We will
quote the Columbus Dispatch editorial where it states: "Last school
year, the average of those combined raises in Franklin County
districts ranged from 5.9 percent to 8.8 percent, while the average
raise for private-sector employees in the U.S. was 1.8 percent." We
have not verified their numbers but we will assume that they are in
the ballpark. Our community is losing income (http://www.communitysolutions.com/)
while being asked to pay higher and higher taxes.
Social Security received a 5.8% COLA this year...that is true,
but highly unusual. The increase was a more typical 2.3% last year.
Would you be willing to give up your STRS defined benefit plan for
social security?
How much should a person with a masters degree earn? This is an
excellent question and it is one we have been asking in our public
forums for the last three years. I quote Jay Greene, author of
Education Myths, who writes:
"According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average public
elementary school teacher in the United States earns about $30.75 an
hour. The average hourly pay of other public-service employees -
such as firefighters ($17.91) or police officers ($22.64) - pales in
comparison. Indeed, teachers’ hourly rate exceeds even those in
professions that require far more training and expertise. Compare
the schoolteacher’s $30.75 to the average biologist’s $28.07 an hour
- or the mechanical engineer’s $29.76 or the chemist’s $30.68. Whose
hourly pay is competitive with that of teachers? Computer scientists
($32.86), dentists ($35.51) and even nuclear engineers ($36.16).
Note, too, that these hourly figures exclude benefits, such as
health coverage and retirement accounts, which are typically more
generous for government employees, such as teachers, than for
private-sector workers (http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/miarticle.htm?id=4827).”
As much as some want to invoke name-calling, there is nothing
personal about this....it is simple mathematics. The Dayton Daily
News has it exactly right: "Cutting staff has been the only way to
swing healthy salary increases, year after year, while also paying
14 percent into the pension system, and absorbing double-digit
increases in health insurance costs. State officials and local
school districts don't make it easy to find the particulars of cost
increases, so some numbers aren't precise. But what's clear is that
the growth in spending can't be sustained under any funding scheme."
Let's have a civil debate without the personal attacks.
Worthington, its residents, and its students deserve as much. That
debate needs to be based on facts, and here is one that many will
find difficult to hear, but which explains the slow and steady
decline in quality that some say has occurred in the Worthington
school district:
As residents can no longer afford the rapidly rising salary and
benefit costs, the district has chosen to slowly but surely reduce
opportunities for the children, while protecting the compensation of
the adults.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening with today’s
“cut lists”, and it has been happening for years...long before
Educate Worthington was even formed.
Thank you again for your interest. We hope you will keep an open
mind and a use constructive arguments as you engage in this
community dialog. Again, the community of Worthington deserves as
much.
EW
