Reader comments
Lawmakers agree with governor on 3 top needs

Someone needs to come up with a creative idea to reward the good teachers with better pay, but not increase the pay of the bad teachers. We also need to find a way to weed the bad teachers our of the system. Everyone knows that there are some terrible teachers in our education system. Does anyone have some good ideas for rewarding the good teachers and saying goodbye to the bad ones?

I don't think a $10,000 - $15,000 raise for teachers would be out of line this year.

We need to pay them well enough to attract teachers here instead of chasing them away.

That is the way things will improve in Utah.

teachers get some money .. hopefully .... healthcare will never be good enough (nobody keeps medical expenses in check) and air quality .. oh, that will take care of itself when all the over taxed property owners have to either foreclose or sell off their property and leave the state
again the capitol hill gang doesnt get it ... either take our property tax assessments down or 'we the people' will have to gather a signed petition for the ballot next year to return our property taxed assessments to 1% of our original purchase on our properties ... dont know about you but my employer isnt giving me a $.60 per hour raise just cover my increased property tax assessment ...
i would submit that the capitol hill gang needs to re-arrange their top 3 list .. otherwise the registered voters of utah will totally by-pass them and create their own property tax assessment law

It's time for the House Speaker, Greg Curtis, to go. His comments are obviously not the dialogue of someone that is a problem solver. Progress on these priorities can be made, but too many in the legislature, including Curtis, don't have the right attitude. It appears there main concern is to maintain their far-right image.

You will never get rid of all the bad teachers. The way you get rid of most of them is pay teachers more so there is competition and then the bad ones will not make it. So what the gov. is doing is the best first step.

I'm blown away! Repubs actually care about air quality? Isn't the air considered part of the environment? How can this be? Since when does the GOP care about quality of health and life? Amazing.

"Don't pay the bad teachers more":

I agree there is much to be said for motivating improved performance through merit pay systems.

However, there may also be a general overall increase in teacher competency if the pay is high enough to interest bright undergrads and burnt-out veterans in the teaching profession.

Often times in business, the money available to increase salary and benefits is apportioned so that everyone's base salary gets a boost or COL increase, and the rest is allocated based on merit. How does that sound to you?

As an Educator I will take merit pay if I get to choose the students. That is how business works. The minute you force me to take unmotivate students who only show up half the time, then that becomes unfair.

Sounds like the Democrats are taking over the Republican party: Top 3 priorities are all social programs (public education, environment, and health insurance).

I'm confused? Do I vote Democrat or Republican?

Here's an idea. Let's get rid of the "government can serve the people better than the people can serve themselves" politicians and start from scratch with some limited government, liberty-loving citizens to represent us.

two of these are good ideas anyway. I think helping public safety would be a better priority, in front of air quality. The state has to be competitive with the county and private jobs. Why do you think we are losing teacher and police officers at record rates. A six percent raise does nothing when you look at what you are putting the percent on. If you make $40,000 a year(which most teachers and police officers only wish they made) you only get $2400 a year raise. That doesn't even cover the effort, let alone a real raise to become competitive. The legislators are taking a pay increase for themselves greater than that in one month, just as they have in the past. GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT! Those you work for should come BEFORE you!

Bob:

I understand your concerns.

However, absolutely no one in business is guaranteed a clear playing field either.

Further, a teacher's eval should be based upon more than a one-time snap-shot based upon students' test results. It should involve several criteria, as well as periodic updates where your challenges are identified (e.g., unmotivated students), and strategies for dealing with them are discussed. In other words, merit evals also serve as professional development.

Where will the time and money for all this come from? From additional resources allocated by a halfway foresightful and enlightened legislature.

Yeah, okay, forget it. . . .

Hey public safety man, I think you need to research a little more. Yes, the legislators are considering a raise this year--of a whopping $10! That's $10 per day. That means that for their time during the session, their raise is less than $1,000. That's a little less than $2,400.

I have an great idea for teacher raises. They can take extra coursework during their lackadaisical summer months and "earn" a raise. Not only will they be better fit to teach our children by expanding their knowledge base, but the state could recognize this new knowledge with a raise. Wait, we do this already. Why don't teachers take advantage of this system? 20 hours of classwork = about $1000 raise every year for the rest of their career. So, one summer�s worth of education could equal $30,000 or more over a lifetime.

Teachers don't have it as bad as they would lead on. Starting is $31,604 plus awesome benefits and retirement, and more time off than the average working adult could dream of. Work in the summer and you're up to par with starting salaries in Utah. True, the profession is somewhat underpaid, but that has been a result of good old supply and demand. Too many teachers relates to low pay. Now, they are walking away and the legislature is taking note. It's not a novel idea.

As do I.

Since the state started this school year short some 150+ teachers, improving teacher pay would make the profession more attractive to qualified teachers, and more competitive to weed out the bad ones. We lose good teachers who can't afford to make the little that Utah pays.

I am a Republican and I applaud the governor for his concern for air quality. If Huntsman can get the legislature to make progress on those issues, he has my vote. My mom has asthma and it pains me to see her suffer every year from our bad air quality. The temperature inversions are not going away, so we have to do something about the pollution. I like the idea of more stringent emissions standards. I think all Utahns can care about the environment, not just the liberal democrats. The governor knows that air quality is also an economic issue. It affects tourism and economic development.

reality-check out your figures. I got mine from the November 9th story. They're asking for a 7.7% raise. That's quite different than $10 a day, quite a bit more. A check for over $12,000 for 45 days in session is quite a check. I'm sure state employees and teachers could really use that kind of money. The figures speak for themselves. It's time for Utah citizens to stand up for themselves and make the legislators accountable for the money they are giving themselves for serving us. $12,000 for 45 days is more than teachers get for 1/3 of the year they work. Prioritize where we spend.

lackadaisical- adj. lazy; indolent; listless. I certainly hope you're describing the months, NOT the teachers!

Let's give a little real-world twist to your idea, shall we? A Masters degree at the U is a minimum of 36 semester hours, usually spread across 6 semesters, not one summer, or even two... 6 semesters, 6 units each, at the current rate of $1449.14/6-credit semester = $8694.84, plus books, so let's say an even $10,000. Oh, by the way, this all comes out of the teacher's pocket.

To pay the student loan, let's assume a prime rate loan (7.5%), repaid over 48 months. That is a $242/month payment. Oops, interest would have accrued during the 2 years of grad school, so, really, the loan repayment would probably take an additional three to six months. The MEd salary increase in Granite School District is $3604/year, or $300.41/month gross. (about $225/month net, so less than the loan payment).
So, when all is said and done, the teacher will finally realize their raise in about 7 years. Lastly, teachers in Granite receive NO pay increases after 20 years, unless the state WPU goes up. Those last 10 years before retirement are kinda' rough!