4 ms·

A potential solution: make school year round, eliminate the unnecessary summer learning loss, and have new teachers pay into social security and a 401k like ot

A potential solution: make school year round, eliminate the unnecessary summer learning loss, and have new teachers pay into social security and a 401k like other workers do. No more separate system, students will perform better, and frankly I think parents will appreciate having more frequent short student vacations through the year rather than one large summer and winter chunk like we do now that causes problems with childcare and nutrition for low-income families. The big reason teachers don't get social security is because they do not work year round so the payout would be a fraction of what teacher pensions pay out - with year round school we no longer need to compensate in this way to make teaching a viable career.

bufferoverflow 8y ago
Don't know about you, but I loved the summer off as a child/teen.
- makerofspoons 8y ago
  I did as well, but I do not feel it would be unreasonable to go to school year-round with 2-3 week breaks each season instead. There would still be free time and opportunities for families to travel, but it would not need to occur in a single 2-3 month period like what we do now.
  - antisthenes 8y ago
    I would have preferred this format as well. 3 weeks between each trimester, year round, maybe slightly longer in the summer (4-5 weeks)
djrogers 8y ago
That’s not remotely true. Even a full social security payout wouldn’t come close to the public employee union pension plans - in California it probably wouldn’t be 1/4 of it. In CA, teacher can retire making ~100k/yr, and get 105% of that as a pension for life. Do you really think one of the most polioactive lobbying groups in the state would let that disappear? [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbiggs/2015/08/28/california-teacher-retirement-benefits-are-hardly-modest-but-calstrs-doesnt-want-you-to-know-that/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbiggs/2015/08/28/californ...
- makerofspoons 8y ago
  My idea would be that they would not rely entirely on Social Security, they would be funding a 401K alongside some sort of reasonable match from the state instead, much like the deal people in the private sector get.
  - dragonwriter 8y ago
    > they would be funding a 401K alongside some sort of reasonable match from the state instead, much like the deal people in the private sector get. While it may be a surprise for people who have worked in high demand fields, lots of workers in the private sector have no 401k offered, and of those that do, lots don't have any employer matching offered.
  - djrogers 8y ago
    I’m not saying it isn’t workable - heck, it’s what everyone else does - I’m saying the union, CalSTRS, and their paid off politicians would never allow it to happen.
- metabagel 8y ago
  It looks like that 100k/yr number applies to teachers who have paid extra into their pension fund, such as the one mentioned in this article: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-20150925-column.html# http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-201509... Additionally, they don't receive social security benefits.

bufferoverflow 8y ago

Don't know about you, but I loved the summer off as a child/teen.

makerofspoons 8y ago
I did as well, but I do not feel it would be unreasonable to go to school year-round with 2-3 week breaks each season instead. There would still be free time and opportunities for families to travel, but it would not need to occur in a single 2-3 month period like what we do now.
- antisthenes 8y ago
  I would have preferred this format as well. 3 weeks between each trimester, year round, maybe slightly longer in the summer (4-5 weeks)

djrogers 8y ago

That’s not remotely true. Even a full social security payout wouldn’t come close to the public employee union pension plans - in California it probably wouldn’t be 1/4 of it. In CA, teacher can retire making ~100k/yr, and get 105% of that as a pension for life. Do you really think one of the most polioactive lobbying groups in the state would let that disappear? [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbiggs/2015/08/28/california-teacher-retirement-benefits-are-hardly-modest-but-calstrs-doesnt-want-you-to-know-that/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbiggs/2015/08/28/californ...

makerofspoons 8y ago
My idea would be that they would not rely entirely on Social Security, they would be funding a 401K alongside some sort of reasonable match from the state instead, much like the deal people in the private sector get.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > they would be funding a 401K alongside some sort of reasonable match from the state instead, much like the deal people in the private sector get. While it may be a surprise for people who have worked in high demand fields, lots of workers in the private sector have no 401k offered, and of those that do, lots don't have any employer matching offered.
- djrogers 8y ago
  I’m not saying it isn’t workable - heck, it’s what everyone else does - I’m saying the union, CalSTRS, and their paid off politicians would never allow it to happen.
metabagel 8y ago
It looks like that 100k/yr number applies to teachers who have paid extra into their pension fund, such as the one mentioned in this article: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-20150925-column.html# http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-201509... Additionally, they don't receive social security benefits.