Conservative blogs are buzzing about NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s latest dose of undiluted truth, administered yesterday to a public-school teacher at a meeting in Rutherford:
…[Christie] then opened the floor to questions. A few were softballs, including the declaration by Clara Nebot of Bergenfield that Christie is “a god” to her relatives in Florida.
But borough teacher Rita Wilson, a Kearny resident, argued that if she were paid $3 an hour for the 30 children in her class, she’d be earning $83,000, and she makes nothing near that.
“You’re getting more than that if you include the cost of your benefits,” Christie interrupted.
When Wilson, who has a master’s degree, said she was not being compensated for her education and experience, Christie said:
“Well, you know then that you don’t have to do it.” Some in the audience applauded.
It’s delicious red meat from the governor, but an astute online commenter at NorthJersey.com, “JrsyJ,” may have added a new twist to the story –apparently exposing the teacher’s tale of woe to be inaccurate and dishonest. The anonymous commenter links to another New Jersey news source that allows readers to search public records to review public employees’ salaries. A data input for the Rutherford school district turns up only one match under the name ‘Rita Wilson’ (who also happens to hold a masters degree). Her 2008-2009 salary? Nearly $85K:
| Details | County | District | School | Last | Rest | Degree | Years Experience | Salary |
| Details | BERGEN | RUTHERFORD | Rutherford H.S. | ONEILL-WILSON | RITA | Masters | 17 | $84,821 |
Hmmm. A few caveats: I cannot confirm this website’s search engine information to be accurate. Nor can I say with certainty that Rutherford teacher Rita O’Neill-Wilson (who has her master’s) is, in fact, the very same Rutherford teacher Rita Wilson (who has her master’s) quoted in the story complaining that she doesn’t make “anywhere near” the $83,000 she says she’s entitled to. But it sure seems like a pretty big coincidence, doesn’t it?
Hope Rita isn't a math teacher.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMaybe she's a bit slow and thinks that, when a person says they make $83K, they mean $83K in take home pay?
*shrugs*
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMaybe she's talking about after-tax income. Heh heh.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLet's think about this - teachers are important but it's not like it is a particularly challenging job. There is a pretty low barrier to entry. I went to a university where there was a large teaching college - not the brightest bulbs by and large.Couple that with the fact that the teachers get a few months off each year and I really don't have much sympathy for them. $85,000 for teaching? That's awesome. When she adds in the value of her benefits it is ridiculous. Doesn't matter about her master degree - those are set up to churn out teachers with master degrees...and it's pretty much all educational theory claptrap anyways (I could be wrong on that...so I'm open to correction).
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo many answers to Ms. Wilson but the fact is, whatever her salary it's for less than 9 months work.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe only disagreement I would have is that I was a high school math teacher. It is a very difficult job. Not only do you have to teach many kids during a day which requires a lot of preparation time, but there are the other duties of the day, advisory class or some other job like study hall monitor; and there is the constant paper work that is required to keep up with the needs of the bureaucracy, and above all, the endless home hours of marking papers and tests. My work week was in general 60 hours plus. Consider your own children, whom, I assume you love, and say you had almost thirty of them at a time, only you don't love them as you would your own children, and you must keep them amused, engaged and learning. Factor in that there may be one or two who are disruptive and you have to handle those distractions and keep things moving.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTeachers work hard and earn their pay. It is the unions who have overstepped and the administrations of school districts that are overpaid and overstaffed, I believe. If schools were privatized and not unionized and run as businesses, that would be better.
In our school district, teachers get a period every day, free from teaching, to do their paperwork. New teachers do put extra time in, but as they gain experience and develop their curricula, they put in very little overtime. I've thought for a long time that teachers have a great deal, and I'm really tired of all their whining.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRetired teacher here; loved Gov. Christie's comments. All most teachers complain about is wanting more money; even in AL we make close to $50K for 9-month contract. We are paid per diem so we are not paid for time off; however, we get great benefits and can rest during the short summers (real teachers prepare and learn more during that time). What gets me is that neither the union (I didn't belong) nor the teachers ever spend time complaining about the interruptions to class, the exorbitant bureacracy or the 7 days a year we are paid to attend mostly useless meetings. When they need to budget cut, they cut teacher units, but not administrators or non-teaching days. And they embrace mostly without comment the dumbed-down curriculum and stupid standardized testing (usual passing score now is 40-50%)!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAs a result, most good teachers flee to other jobs leaving the public school "profession" to the lazy, uneducated, and intellectually vacuous who gladly go along with the latest socialist trends, whether they approve of them or not, because it is just a paycheck for them. So naturally, this is usually the only thing the Rita Wilsons get passionate about. Instead of pushing for higher standards, they give out mostly As and Bs, and so they are rewarded for they make it easy on the administrators. If they are really worthless, they get moved into administration and other 12-mo contracts so they can pull down the coveted $85K salary. My guess is that Rita was talking about her 9-mo salary and not her extra reward stipend for doing whatever useless paper pushing she does for the Board in the summer.