5 ms·

> If you're making $10,000/year is the US, while having an education, it's your own damn fault. That is a bold and broad generalisation.

frozenport 13y ago
She actually refused aid on numerous occasions, I believe there was something of the Vie Bohème in her. Also according to the math she began teaching at 58, which asks what happened before.
- Xylakant 13y ago
  > Also according to the math she began teaching at 58, which asks what happened before. Probably married with a husband earning the wage, the default mode of living in a marriage for the generation born in 1930.
  - jacalata 13y ago
    I not sure about that, her obit didn't mention a husband and also if she were a widow she should have been receiving survivors benefit from social security.
- angdis 13y ago
  Does it really matter what happened before? She deserved some compassion. By any reasonable point of view this was well-liked competent teacher who gave 25 years of service to her employer. She happened to fall through the social safety net. Sadly, the way things are going, such miserable endings are going to become far more common when our generation becomes elderly.
rorrr2 13y ago
$10K/year is equivalent to $5/hour full time. Even a complete moron with no education can make more money doing cleaning, washing dishes, delivery, etc. And that lady was not a complete moron, she was teaching.
- Xylakant 13y ago
  So the take-away is that american schools value their teachers less than restaurants their dish-washers. That's a great lesson about the state of academia.
  - rorrr2 13y ago
    That's not true. The lady worked part time. Most dish washers work full or longer time work shifts. The academia pays alright, you just have to do the hours. She didn't.
    - Xylakant 13y ago
      The lady worked part time, granted. However, I would expect a high-skilled job such as teaching to pay enough for a living even on part time - 3,500 USD for a whole course seems a bit on the cheap side for me. Then, there's a couple of other factors that come into play: The university only hands out part time contracts, so they're in a position to keep the wages low: Demand too much, no problem, we'll take another teacher for your course next year. I dispute your notion that academia in general pays enough. The given university pays an average of 20 - 25k to 75% of it's teachers. That's about half of the average wage in the USA. Even if they're working part-time that's still way too low for a job that requires university grade education. That's the people you entrust your childrens education to, not your dishwasher. I assume that most of those 75% would love to have a full time job at the faculty, but the faculty obviously doesn't let them. So they either have a second/third job or live on scraps. Neither of those options is even remotely beneficial to the students education.
    - trevelyan 13y ago
      Read the article. Leaving aside the absurdity of expecting 83 year old people to work, this woman wanted to work and was let go.
    - king_jester 13y ago
      > That's not true. The lady worked part time. Most dish washers work full or longer time work shifts. This is not true at all for dish washers and retail workers. The trend over time has been to schedule those workers at the maximum possible amount without them qualifying as a full time employee, which may entitle them to some kinds of benefits.

frozenport 13y ago

She actually refused aid on numerous occasions, I believe there was something of the Vie Bohème in her. Also according to the math she began teaching at 58, which asks what happened before.

Xylakant 13y ago
> Also according to the math she began teaching at 58, which asks what happened before. Probably married with a husband earning the wage, the default mode of living in a marriage for the generation born in 1930.
- jacalata 13y ago
  I not sure about that, her obit didn't mention a husband and also if she were a widow she should have been receiving survivors benefit from social security.
angdis 13y ago
Does it really matter what happened before? She deserved some compassion. By any reasonable point of view this was well-liked competent teacher who gave 25 years of service to her employer. She happened to fall through the social safety net. Sadly, the way things are going, such miserable endings are going to become far more common when our generation becomes elderly.

rorrr2 13y ago

$10K/year is equivalent to $5/hour full time. Even a complete moron with no education can make more money doing cleaning, washing dishes, delivery, etc. And that lady was not a complete moron, she was teaching.

Xylakant 13y ago
So the take-away is that american schools value their teachers less than restaurants their dish-washers. That's a great lesson about the state of academia.
- rorrr2 13y ago
  That's not true. The lady worked part time. Most dish washers work full or longer time work shifts. The academia pays alright, you just have to do the hours. She didn't.
  - Xylakant 13y ago
    The lady worked part time, granted. However, I would expect a high-skilled job such as teaching to pay enough for a living even on part time - 3,500 USD for a whole course seems a bit on the cheap side for me. Then, there's a couple of other factors that come into play: The university only hands out part time contracts, so they're in a position to keep the wages low: Demand too much, no problem, we'll take another teacher for your course next year. I dispute your notion that academia in general pays enough. The given university pays an average of 20 - 25k to 75% of it's teachers. That's about half of the average wage in the USA. Even if they're working part-time that's still way too low for a job that requires university grade education. That's the people you entrust your childrens education to, not your dishwasher. I assume that most of those 75% would love to have a full time job at the faculty, but the faculty obviously doesn't let them. So they either have a second/third job or live on scraps. Neither of those options is even remotely beneficial to the students education.
  - trevelyan 13y ago
    Read the article. Leaving aside the absurdity of expecting 83 year old people to work, this woman wanted to work and was let go.
  - king_jester 13y ago
    > That's not true. The lady worked part time. Most dish washers work full or longer time work shifts. This is not true at all for dish washers and retail workers. The trend over time has been to schedule those workers at the maximum possible amount without them qualifying as a full time employee, which may entitle them to some kinds of benefits.