The Patriot News has complied a listing of the 50 highest-paying school districts in the state during the 2015-6 school year. This includes the entire staff, not just teachers. The Lehigh Valley has two school districts in the top 50.
#43 - PARKLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT (Lehigh County)
Average annual staff salary: $80,238
Total student enrollment: 9,170
34. CATASAUQUA AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT (Lehigh and Northampton counties)
Average annual staff salary: $82,867
Total student enrollment: 1,487
1. LOWER MERION SCHOOL DISTRICT (Montgomery County)
Average annual staff salary: $97,480
Total student enrollment: 8,388
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
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Wednesday, September 19, 2018
26 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
I guess Nazareth should feel slighted.
ReplyDeleteNazareth???? Bethlehem has the worst contract. As a inner City school district , Bethlehem's contract is terrible compared to similar districts. Time for the Union heads to stop pushing thru terrible contracts to save their half days. Strike and stand up for a fair contract!!!!
ReplyDeleteNot bad money for 7.5 hour days and summers off.
ReplyDeleteBASD..... Needs to stop hiking TAXES each year I am so sick & tired of my taxes going up & it's the same excuse every time the BASD has no money. HOGWASH I work for a living should be a crime to pay your SUPER $175K a year. START CUTTING within when is enough is enough
ReplyDeleteI do not cover school districts as a rule, but these average staff wages do seem high. I see no reason why persons who work at Parkland should receive one cent more than those working in Allentown who do the same jobs. State workers who have a union contract are paid the same across the state. Teachers have a strong state educational association. I would argue that these education jobs should be state jobs and the salaries negotiated at the state level. Each school district can be assessed by the state for each staffer,from janiy=tor tio suoer.Let the salaries be set at a state level.
ReplyDeleteBangor Area School District average employee makes $71,496.00. In the 2009/10 year it was $56,021.00. The average salary went up $15,475.00 in 5 years. The average Bangor Borough median family income is $36,382.00 and the average Bangor School employee makes double that.
ReplyDeleteNice thought Bernie. But you're dreaming if you think the Nazis in PA teachers unions would ever go for that. Moreover, PA has over 50 school districts - some with less students than staff.
ReplyDelete"PA has over 50 school district" Actually, they have over 500.
ReplyDeleteSchools should run all year long . Students and staff could stagger time for vacations and other time off. If a student is falling behind ,then that subject matter would be immediately recyclable in next session. School buildings should be open all year long because the costs are fairly fixed except for transportation.,food and some utilities. Teaching staff could have time to sit out a rotation every couple years and blocks if instruction could run about 41 days each . Integration of local Community Colleges would be exciting for 12th grade.
ReplyDeleteAnd at the end of their careers they will work extra overtime or teach summer school extracurriculars ect. to pad their highest years earnings then retire cash in all of the accrued sick time and life a happy life ever after. The pension obligations will kill us in the end.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Catasauqua have a separate school district for 1,487 students? The same question goes for Salisbury or any other district with less than 2,000 students? These are not in in rural parts of PA where the poulation is low, but in metropolitan area with over 700,000 in population in the Lehigh Valley? The duplicative administrative overhead is a major contributor to the cost of K-12 education. What sense does it make to have 500 school districts, some with fewer students than one school in a different district?
ReplyDeleteBernie, if you dug into how much school districts spend on teachers, your head would explode.
ReplyDeleteI am so sick of people blaming pensions and "over paid" teachers. America routinely votes with its pocketbook. We will gladly pay big money attending a professional sporting event and not bat an eye when a sports star gets $XXX millions of dollars but scream & yell when our teachers want to get paid. They spend more time with our kids on a daily basis than we do! If you want to attract quality people to a truly valuable profession, they should get paid well and make a good living. It remains sad and disheartening to be reminded about our communities priorities involving money. Fat cat CEOs, shady lawyers, & sports stars get paid vs. first responders & teachers who get blamed.....
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with paying teachers well . They perform an extremely important role. But I believe the teachers should be paid the same across the board. A teacher with 20 years of experience in Allentown should receive the same salary as a similar teacher at some other school .
ReplyDelete@12:21PM: I think you should check your high school civics notes. All of the professions you mention besides teachers and first responders are privately funded. You are absolutely correct. We can vote with our pocketbooks. I don't like the NFL, I don't watch it. Teachers salaries are publicly funded through taxes and as such, should be scrutinized by the municipal tax paying public.
ReplyDeleteI agree but believe teachers perform a vital role and should be well compensated. I do not have the same view of the top heavy administrators at most school districts. But this is not my are as I am a product of parochial school.
ReplyDelete..they should get paid well and make a good living..
ReplyDeleteI agree with you but it's pretty damn hard for someone like us on Social Security living in the ASD to have to drop $216 a month. Now that my kids are paying school taxes and even their kids (my grandkids) shouldn't people be left off the hook at a certain age?
The argument goes we all benefit from educated people. Yeah well the daughter is married to a doctor who after 5 years out still owes $300,000 in college loans. Guess who gets to help pay for those. Many of us old farts on Social Security. You know the ones paying for Medicare, a supplemental plan,prescription insurance and still deductibles on top of that. The way I figure it I am paying more then my fair share towards education How about a break!
When you have an antiquated system arguing about teachers pay is a distraction from what needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteIn 2018, it is now possible to bring the school to the children, rather than the children to the school.
Stay at home Cyber-school with a magnificent public space and community center for social interactions and extracurricular activities would be a better and less expensive model, where district could merge resources and talent over a broader spectrum and area.
Sorry, but school employees and definitely teachers get paid WAY TOO MUCH for what they do, the hours, and days they put in. Get real!
ReplyDelete12:56 re: 12:51 - You are totally right. Everyone complains when a County employee bitches about their extremely low salary because they are paid by taxpayer dollars just like school districts. However, they work 5 days a week, 12 months a year but are paid shit compared to the SPOILED school district employees. Let's not even get into the benefits. School districts need a reality check! Let them strike and stay out permanently.
ReplyDeleteI have a neighbor who is a teacher and should never be. She is a poor representation of a teacher and I pity her students.
12:56, I know the difference between pro sports players and publically funded employees. You should look at the big picture. Who do you think pays for the new stadiums, road improvements, and security measures at the stadiums so that those players can make money? Who do you think ultimately pays for the settlements paid out of court by municipalities when shady lawyers file frivolous suits? Who pays for the tax breaks and back door political deals brokered for rich businessmen / CEO's? In the end, the taxpayers will foot the bill. It is all about financial choices. I would rather have my taxes pay for teachers than line someone else's pocket....
ReplyDeleteProblem is you are averaging overpaid administrators that are paid a great deal and really do very little. I have inside experience with this topic. You are averaging them with everyone and it looks like everyone is doing great. Also the senior teachers are generally the negotiators and they screw the new teachers so they can fatten their checks and pensions.
ReplyDeleteThe answer really is a state civil service system for education. Much like the state and county governments work with. There are pay grades per your classification. It is statewide. Teachers in one district are not screwed over as opposed to another very wealthy district. The well off can still live in the Parklands of the world but the pay will be comparable to the Allentowns of the world. That way kids do not suffer for the sins and greed of adults.
Unless this happens you will continue to have this chaotic system of local kingdoms where, as in Bethlehem annual school tax increases are now the norm with no end in sight and no real incentive to reign it in.
Only a statewide solution will save both the schools and the taxpayers.
At 4:42 AM, the pay grades are fine if they salary that is connect to them is ACCURATE and steps are ACTUALLY GIVEN -- unlike the County!!!! Otherwise you are so far behind that they will not have a study to get the correct amount because they don't want to pay the huge increase to bring them up to FAIR market value. Although, they give the high ups the high salary or they will not come.
ReplyDeleteLVCI - you were aware, were you not, of the real estate taxes you would be liable for if you purchased a house? I'm not sure why you complain now.
ReplyDelete"you were aware, were you not, of the real estate taxes you would be liable for if you purchased a house?"
ReplyDeleteWhat were we suppose to live in... a tent! I never owned a crystal ball that could see 30 years ahead..
"I'm not sure why you complain now."
Because when I bought this house almost 30 years ago I was in my prime working when school tax was about 30% less. Every time Social Security gives a raise we get less because of Medicare and Part D (Prescription) increases. Yet school taxes increase each year without consideration to people on FIXED INCOMES.
We once paid $145 month for a 2 bedroom apartment at 17th & Hamilton. Never over the next 30 years would I imagine it now going for $1,500. Your such a smart fella-- what do you'll think it go for in 30 years from now?
People like you annoy me never thinking one day you'll find yourself in the same pickle. You're too damn smart to let that happen, right?
If a teacher makes 80,000 a year. They have off 3wks in June, 4wks in July,3wks in Aug. They probably get 3wks off a year in assoc. with holidays. That amounts to 13wks off a year. Multiply by 5days in a week. = 65 days x 8hrs a day =520hrs. So if you calculate how many hrs. a person would work in a year 52wks x 5days x 8hrs you get 2080hrs in a year subtract the amount of time teachers have off 520hrs and you get 1560 hrs. a teacher avg. works in a year. Then if you take the original salary of 80,000 and divide that by hrs. actually worked (1560) you get 51.28 dollars per hour. Oh, Oh hear comes the we don't get paid for grading papers.
ReplyDelete