Teacher Retirement

Public worker pensions are in trouble across the country - and there's little sympathy these days for people who generally have a better gig than Social Security. Of course, remember that public workers neither pay into nor receive Social Security, so their pension is all they have. And in many places the public pensions are written into the state constitutions, so the state is constitutionally mandated to pay, regardless of what revenues must be raised to do so. And that can be a recipe for fiscal disaster.

I tend to get into trouble with public workers when I argue that the retirement benefits for many are untenable for the future. Retiring at the age of 55 and drawing 80% of salary for thirty years is a hell of a deal for workers, but ultimately not a sound financial strategy for the whole system. Workers will claim they made a deal to accept lower wages in exchange for better benefits and earlier retirement. Somehow, I don't see that as the official statement on the contracts over the years, though workers have accepted it as gospel.

The reality now is that public workers are not necessarily accepting sub-market wages in exchange for a nice retirement deal. Certainly, statistics show higher wages in the private sector for comparable education and experience. But that's not really the point. There is no guarantee that all public workers would be making more if they hadn't "sacrificed the big bucks" for public service. And, wages they "could be making" are really beside the point.

The point is no retired teacher should be drawing a $150,000 a year in pension for thirty years.

High Teacher Salaries in Illinois

A high school physical education teacher in the Chicago suburbs leads the news of shocking teacher salaries by pulling in a yearly salary of $203,154.

I know, I know. It baffles the mind.

The contentious issue of teacher salaries and benefits is always controversial, especially in the current economy with state budgets strained. As a teacher, I've never had any complaints with my salary and benefits, and people have long explained how they feel teachers are underpaid and under-appreciated. However, as the latest release from Bill Zettler at Champion News reveals, that is certainly not the case for teachers in many of the Chicago suburbs. Zettler's website, Champions.net, has published Illinois teacher salaries for years with his agenda of being a taxpayer watchdog.

Certainly, this type of information is nearly indefensible. $200K for teaching PE? I don't care how long he's been working or how successful he is or how high the cost of living is. And, I am sure that he is doing more than teaching kids to play hockey with those pathetic plastic sticks. He's probably coaching and teaching summer school and chairing the phys ed dept. But there's simply no way to justify this to taxpayers ... or other teachers in Illinois. And, of course, Illinois's budget and pension system are absolutely busted at this point. So, the thought of this man retiring by the age of 57 and drawing a $150,000 yearly pension for twenty or thirty years is simply beyond the pale. The same goes for the thousands of other teachers in Chicagoland who are drawing upwards of $180K. Teaching simply shouldn't draw that kind of cash in a budget strapped state.

However, I take exception to Zettler's website which disingenuously fails to distinguish these salaries and districts from the majority of teachers in Illinois. I taught for years in southern Illinois and made nowhere near that money. In fact, the pay scale for Edwardsville School District, near St. Louis, starts teachers in the mid-thirties and tops out at $69K. That top only comes with a Master's degree, plus 32 graduate credit hours, and thirty years of service. Most teachers are not ever topping out in a places like that. And that pay scale is fairly average for the state of Illinois.

So, while ChampionsNews is right to spotlight the extremes of teacher pay in some Chicago suburbs, most teachers are not rolling in dough.

Tebow - All He Does Is Win

At this point, there is no counter argument because all he does is win. Maybe the whole state of Colorado should go to church on Sunday.

Perception vs Reality

Isn't it strange that as of last June, the United States has become a net exporter of oil. We're exporting more oil than we import. Kind of challenges that idea of more drilling ending the country's dependence on foreign oil. Cause it doesn't stay here, regardless of what people want to think.

And, isn't it strange that the yen is so strong right now, yet Japan's debt has been downgraded for years, its economic growth is in its second decade of stagnation, and its top company Toyota is scaling back profit projections and production.

That's the essence of complex systems and public mis-perception.

Pujols and Baseball's Financial Madness

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, now that I got that out of my system, I can express my profound disappointment in the decision by Albert Pujols to leave the St. Louis Cardinals - the best baseball town and team in America and one that revere(d) him - for more money in California.

He is, no longer, Sir Albert.

Certainly, every man has the right and the free will to pursue the best financial deal available for his services. And Albert's services are definitely among the most valuable in the game for going on a decade now. However, in a place like St. Louis where legends like Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, and Ozzie Smith finished illustrious Hall of Fame careers, baseball is more than a paycheck. Loyalty is paramount in the town where baseball is religion.

Interestingly, I recently re-read Bob Costas' seminal baseball treatise Fair Ball: a Fan's Case for Baseball and it perfectly encapsulates the problems with baseball. They are pretty much all about money, greed, the bottom line, the players' union's myopic focus on salary, and the problems this creates for what was sport's purist game. That it is all about the paycheck and nothing more is disheartening, and many in St. Louis naively and foolishly believed Albert was above that. I don't wish him well - I don't wish him anything at all. His wishes have all come true - I'm just surprised his wishes are so devoid of emotion. So, we're left with the memories, and I'll simply conclude that Albert has, for me, left the game, and it wasn't really "for love of the game." Am I wrong? Am I jaded? Is this unfair? Whatever.

The statue of Stan Musial outside St. Louis' Busch Stadium is inscribed - Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight.

Stan "the Man" remains the only one.

Leno Promotes Welders

Jay Leno - car enthusiast - has a video promoting the career of welding as not only a lucrative and fulfilling job, but as the foundation of the country and our rich industrial history. When will school leaders and reformers do the same?

Support Wikipedia

Wikipedia is in need of financial support, and if you use it, even sporadically, I urge you to donate a little cash to this invaluable online information source. This morning I made a small donation because I understand that nothing is for free. The source is free of advertising, and that is a significant condition for a site devoted to the free exchange of information.

Check out this message from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. You can also make the donation from the page.

Politicians Fail Econ 101

While people are quick to criticize college professors as living in the Ivory Tower, it's hard to dispute the criticisms they make of our current presidential aspirants. In a recent piece for CNN Money Magazine, Charles Riley reports from the college campuses where many economics professors argue the presidential candidates - including President Obama - would flunk a basic course in economics.

For example, America's Econ 101 professors say yes. In their view, the candidates continue to offer ideas and policies that wouldn't pass muster in their classes -- populated by 18 year-old college students. "There are so many economic 'misstatements' being made," said Jonathan Lanning, a professor at Bryn Mawr who is teaching two introductory economics classes this semester. "And it isn't confined to any one candidate." Michele Bachmann promised to bring back $2 gas. Tim Pawlenty suggested sustained 5% GDP growth was a realistic target. Rick Perry would balance the budget with lower tax revenues.

Another professor who teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Michael Salemi, was able to identify statements from six candidates that "would earn failing grades in my Econ 101 class." Salemi called Ron Paul's rationale for returning to the gold standard "one of the most dangerous ideas put forward by a politician in recent years." And the idea of waging a trade war with China that was bandied about by Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney at a recent debate? "If we learned anything from the Great Depression it was that starting a trade war by passing new tariffs leads to reprisals," Salemi said. "In the end there are no winners, only losers."

And it's not just Republicans -- the Democratic candidate is slipping too. Neither "side" has a "truly comprehensive understanding of even basic economics," Lanning said. Nelson pointed to President Obama's green jobs initiative, which he said is an attempt to wed job creation and energy production in a way that is unlikely to produce real results. "They should either concentrate on a policy that aids job creation or a policy that creates more green energy; attempts to do both with one policy means they do well on neither goal," Nelson said.

Certainly, we see politics through an ideological bias. But numbers don't lie. And the criticism from econ professors of many political soundbites is accurate.

Jooble for Jobs

Jobs, jobs, jobs.

That's the focus these days, and everybody has an opinion. How we create jobs and connect people with available jobs is at the foundation. And the internet is a key to job creation and networking that the country so desperately needs. In the past, it was all about job fairs and classified ads. Now, we have a myriad of websites from Monster to CraigsList. In fact, I've looked for freelance writing and education jobs on Craigslist before.

Another website that may be of interest to job seekers is called - jooble. I recently learned of the jooble website, and I took a few minutes browse around. The site is pretty straightforward and accessible, though I admit I haven't used it to actually connect with employers.

At this point, our economy is moving in new direction with employment, and who knows what it will look like in the future. But it will most certainly include more freelancing and sites like jooble are certainly a part of that.

Worth taking a look if you're looking for work.

Conservative Appeals Court Upholds ACA

Consider this from the Court of Appeals:

"That a direct requirement for most Americans to purchase any product or service seems an intrusive exercise of legislative power surely explains why Congress has not used this authority before – but that seems to us a political judgment rather than a recognition of constitutional limitations," Judge Laurence Silberman, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan wrote in the court's opinion. Silberman was joined by Judge Harry Edwards, a Carter appointee. But, they added, "The right to be free from federal regulation is not absolute and yields to the imperative that Congress be free to forge national solutions to national problems."

Samuelson Busts Budget Myths

While I don't feel good about any options for repairing the budget - and I'm still torn between which party I think is more screwed up - I do know what I think about the current budget mess and the shameless campaigning that is going on regarding it. Robert Samuelson of the Washington Post voices my sentiments exactly on this catastrophe today in the Washington Post

Among Samuelson's many - and obvious - insights:

... Many government programs deserve the ax. I’ve railed against some for years: farm subsidies (food would be produced without them); Amtrak (it is non-essential transportation); public broadcasting and culture subsidies (these are unaffordable frills); community development block grants (they generally don’t enrich poor communities).

Entitlements — mainly Social Security and Medicare — should be trimmed. I’ve also made that a crusade. We need higher eligibility ages to reflect longer life expectancies. Wealthier retirees should receive less Social Security and pay more for Medicare.

But plausible savings don’t match conservative rhetoric. All the suspect “discretionary” programs come to tens of billions, not hundreds of billions. Culture subsidies total about $1 billion annually; community block grants in 2010 were $4 billion. Meanwhile, total federal spending was $3.5 trillion. Do conservatives really want to eliminate the national parks? The FBI? Highways? Food inspections?

And, of course, this:

Contrary to liberal dogma, the rich already pay plenty of taxes. Indeed, they pay for government. In 2007, the richest 1 percent of Americans paid 28 percent of all federal taxes; the richest 10 percent (including the 1 percent) paid 55 percent.

For most millionaires, federal tax rates — the share of income taxed — exceed 30 percent. Some rich have lower rates. Raising these rates is justified but wouldn’t balance the budget. The plan by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for a 5.6 percentage point surtax on incomes exceeding $1 million would raise an estimated $453 billion over 10 years. Deficits over the decade are realistically projected at $8.5 trillion.

As for the Pentagon, the military was cut sharply after the Cold War. Combat forces are half to two-thirds of 1990 levels. Defense spending as a share of national income is headed toward its lowest level since 1940.

What liberals don’t say is this: Unless Social Security and Medicare benefits — the bulk of the budget — are reduced, we face three dismal choices. Huge, unsustainable deficits. Massive tax increases on the middle class, as high as 50 percent over 10 to 15 years. Or draconian cuts in the discretionary programs that liberals accuse conservatives of wanting to gut.

And, so, we are left with a super-committee that will, by most accounts, accomplish nothing. Where have you gone Tip O'Neill/Ronald Reagan?

A Better World

Recently, I gave an argumentative writing prompt to my senior Intro to College Comp class, asking them if the "world is getting better." The subsequent discussion - as they debated their positions in class - confirmed most of what I believe about young people. Roughly two-thirds of the class saw the world as improving, while the rest were more pessimistic. Both side made valid assertions, and the discussion reinforced my opinion. Despite all the naysayers of gloom and doom on issues from education to the economy to health care to the environment to our "culture," I'm upbeat and hopeful about the time in which I live - and I can't imagine wishing to live in any other era.

Certainly, reasons for pessimism abound, and the economy/fiscal/jobs crisis leads the charge. Disparity in wealth at current levels is never good for a society, and the lack of solutions about how to reverse the credit/cash crunch are slim. Rising health care costs always make me anxious, and I see no end for the conflict about how to cut spending and raise revenue for society to meet its basic expectations. Education costs are certainly getting out of hand, and the results for sixty percent of our population are disheartening. Additionally, I worry about popular culture and its licentiousness as my children head toward adolescence.

Nevertheless, the world is a wonderfully opportunistic place these days, and the future knows no limits. My students talked about the increases in technology that improve health care and daily life. They reminded me how many students are taking advanced calculus and sciences in high school - the types of classes reserved for college in the past. They are an incredibly tolerant generation who will probably see less violent crime and prejudice in their world. While the war against islamic terrorism is certainly troublesome, the world sees far fewer wars and deaths from violence than at almost any time in history. Additionally, we have a lot of altruistic people out there who are doing the heavy lifting - and financing - with the hope of clean water and development for impoverished peoples. Changes are happening - albeit slowly - in education, and access is increasing worldwide.

Ultimately, the world is what we make it. And, thus, if our image is positive, our world most certainly will move in that direction. Thus, I asked my students at the end of class, not if the world was getting better, but if they were.

So, how about you.