Opinion: Do the math before criticizing teacher salaries
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Sun, 05/15/2011 - 3:38pm
Teachers are college graduates many with a Master’s Degree who are in the trenches educating our K–12 students. Carson City School District salaries range from $33,106.70 to $64,699.98. The average is $45,000 a year.
Every time Nevada has a budget shortfall, there are people, usually males, who are negatively vocal regarding “all the money teachers make.” “Teachers work half a year.” “Our children are failing because teachers are not doing their job.” Blah Blah Blah…
Instead of beating on the same “dead horse,” those big budget busters need to place bigger fish in their fry pans, C.E.O.s total compensation packages.
The New York Times Sunday Business April 10, 2011 had a special report on the top 200 C.E.O.s titled, “The Drought Is Over, At least for C.E.O.’s.” Similar data has been published by the Wall Street Journal, owned by Fox News.
The top three compensation packages for 2010 were Viacom’s C.E.O., Philippe P. Dauman’s, $84,500,000; Occidental Petroleum’s C.E.O., Ray Irani’s, $76,100,000 and Oracle’s C.E.O., Lawrence Ellison’s $70,100,000.
If Philippe P. Dauman worked 60 hours a week, 3,120 hours a year, his hourly rate would be $27,083 an hour. (An employee working 40 hours a week works 2,080 hours a year.) In 1.222 hours Mr. Dauman was paid $33,106.70 by Viacom. Compare his 1.222 hours to a first year teacher in Carson City who spends 60 hours a week for 36 weeks (2,160 hours a year) being in the classroom with students, correcting papers, preparing for class, staff meetings, parent conferences, preparing tests, and correcting tests earned $33,106.70. In 2.389 hours Mr. Dauman was paid $64,699.98, the total yearly earnings for a teacher with a Masters degree plus 32 credit hours and 15 years of teaching experience in Carson City.
Occidental Petroleum’s C.E.O., Ray Irani’s hourly rate was $24,391 an hour. Oracle’s C.E.O., Lawrence Ellison’s hourly rate was $22,435 an hour. I thought the United States of American got rid of royalty in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence. Self-serving C.E.O.s are taking money which rightfully belongs to the stockholders, the owners. “Does a company exists for the benefit of shareholders or insiders (C.E.O.s)?” asked Albert Meyer a Money Manager at Bastiat Capital in Plano, Texas. The average pay for an American worker in the private sector rose 2.1 percent in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Do you honestly believe a C.E.O. is worth thousands of dollars an hour? The President of the US is paid $400,000 a year. He works at least 80 hours a week earning $96.15 an hour.
Instead of bad mouthing teachers, take on the disparity between your compensation package and the C.E.O.’s! Do the math.
— Writer Ken Beaton is a retired secondary business teacher who enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and conversational Italian. He is a 35-year Carson City resident and an active volunteer.
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