The Spectacle Blog
The more people learn about the protesting government workers in Wisconsin, the more they side with Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican legislators who are trying to limit the employees’ union power and perks.
Attempting to play on sympathy for school teachers — and create the idea that the Wisconsin conflict is actually about education, which it’s not — unions have been using teachers as the “face” of the Madison protests. But this seemingly clever idea is backfiring as Wisconsin taxpayers learn exactly how much these teachers are paid.
Nearly all of the teachers featured prominently in media accounts earn substantially above the average income of Wisconsin residents (about $37,000 a year) and the value of their benefit packages adds a shockingly large amount to their total compensation, as Matthew Boyle of the Daily Caller reports:
Wisconsin’s 2010 Teacher of the Year, Leah Lechleiter-Luke of Mauston High School, told CNN the budget changes would force her to look for additional part-time work. “When people say that public sector employees live high off the hog, I’d like to share that for 13 of my 19-year teaching career I have held a part-time job either in the summer or teaching night class at the local technical college,” Lechleiter-Luke told CNN. “In addition to tightening the belt even more and crossing our fingers that nothing breaks, I will need to find part-time work again.”
Lechleiter-Luke makes $54,928 in base salary and $32,213 in “fringe benefits,” which include health insurance, life insurance and retirement pay.
Brad Lutes and his wife, Heather Lutes, told MSNBC’s Ed Schultz that Walker’s budget would hit them twice as hard.
“Having to explain to an 8- and 10-year old that the governor of your state basically wants to take money away from dad and mom? It’s just really, really frustrating,” Brad Lutes told Schultz.
He makes $49,412 in base salary with $27,987 in fringe benefits and his wife makes $50,240 with $9,413 in benefits. That’s $137,052 annually between the two of them… .
Several similar examples are cited by Boyle. At a time of economic hardship, it’s hard for the average citizen to work up much sympathy for people who are collecting relatively generous compensation. As one veteran conservative operative in Wisconsin explained to me, people “hear the whining for what it is - Marie Antoinette on the way to the guillotine.”
It’s hardly surprising, then, that the White House has recently attempted to downplay reports of its involvement with the Wisconsin protests.
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HeatherRadish | 2.22.11 @ 3:45PM
I've been wondering if being forced to pay for a small fraction of their own health insurance would induce teachers to demand simpler, less-comprehensive plans that cost less. You know, like other businesses look for when the cost of their employees' premiums begin to rachet up...
Ellios Wyatt| 2.22.11 @ 4:08PM
That's for 9 months worth of work too. There are alot of people in the country who would be willing to take that gig, even if they had to work a full year to make that much.
Deborah D | 2.22.11 @ 4:15PM
They seem to be heading off the same cliff in Indiana...so how will they be claiming this isn't some kind of grand anti-democracy strategy cooked up in Barak Obama's living room?
Pelligrino| 2.22.11 @ 4:31PM
If I learned that any of these teachers who have shown up in Madison on work days lied about illness to free themselves to be in the capital, well, they'd be fired already.
We teach the kids more than just reading, writing, maths, and the sciences. We teach morals and ethics.
An immoral teacher willing to lie to attend has no business anywhere near a school building.
Kurt in S.L.C.| 2.22.11 @ 4:50PM
Let's see, the Lutes make about twice what the average couple make, for part-time jobs with no accountability. Heather,Brad my heart just aches for you. By the way , is using children to further your selfishness some sort of teaching related infliction?
Joe Redfield| 2.22.11 @ 5:37PM
Sarah Palin as Madame DeFarge?
Brooke| 2.22.11 @ 8:55PM
Nah, Sarah's not vindictive.
Tina B| 2.22.11 @ 5:43PM
Oh just get me on my soap box.
Kurt, part time job? We all do at least 50 to 60 hour weeks, regularly. Can't get the work done in less. Thats an extra day every week maybe 2.
Not accountable? I can't drink in public, smoke in public, yell in public, stick my middle finger out the window when I get cut off. . . I am accountable whenever I am in public. At all times. I am on view every minute I am at work, no potty breaks except at lunch (maybe on "planning" time in secondary ed)
But, I am not in agreement with the Wisconsin teachers, and I left the union very quickly. As soon as I learned some of my NEA dues went to fund Planned Parenthood.
I am pleased with my salary, now, today, and I earn what the Wisconsin Teacher of the Year does, and I have the same number of years as she does. But I received no raise for 3 years, and made $5000 less last December. I had been waiting for that "big raise" 3 years longer than others. The economy tanked in Florida, so no raises. My retirement is based on my last 5 years. I am 62 this October. GRRRRRR.
I love children and I love math. That's why I do this, and I would not walk out on my job. I also would not have a doctor lie so I could take a personal day. Good grief!
Brooke| 2.22.11 @ 8:57PM
At least you have great health insurance that is paid and a decent retirement--many Americans don't. Count yourself lucky.
Flee| 2.22.11 @ 5:46PM
As a basketball ref in my spare time I have met a lot of teachers. A good majority of them are married to fellow teachers and most seem to have already socked away enough cash to have their retirement home paid for in some nice quiet state and find ways to pay for their new cars with cash. Any time I hear about their hard luck stories I wonder why they don't give it up and join the real world work force where economics rules the compensation pool and not organized labor. I think we would see some real hand wringing and that is why they see the end of their union power as a real threat to the continued existence of the gravy train.
Tina B| 2.22.11 @ 6:08PM
Do people really think just anyone could stand in a room of 20 to 30 children, ages 5 through 19, divided not by age, but by someone's idea of ability or functionablility, all day long 5 days a week, and have everyone turn out better off for the time spent together? Do you think you could do it, day after day, for even a year? I am talking about a room full of 5 year olds, or a room full of 13 year olds, or a room full of 18 year olds. Sometimes up to 40 of them if they are in high school.
You think most teachers aren't special people? Gifted people? If they didn't teach 'em a thing, teachers would need to be gifted just to keep the children from fighting. Or keep them from touching each other during puberty (which seems to last forever) or keep them from having public sex when they're older. Teachers, decent teachers, are gifted people who can keep kids behaving, all day long, 5 days a week.
Then we get to try and convince them to listen to us and learn about and even enjoy the worlds of maths, social studies, sciences and language arts. Then we get to test them, constantly, and can you imagine how much these kids love to be tested?
Then, and this is the best part, I get to spend all those "free" hours I get in my "part time" job grading these works, and praying that I see just one little thing I taught them reflected in their work. I get so happy when I see that. I live for that.
And I do see that. I do have a gift for teaching. And so do most of the hundreds of teachers I have known and worked with the past 20 years.
We earn every cent of our paycheck. Most of us, anyway.
MikeD| 2.22.11 @ 6:39PM
I don't believe a word of it. Frankly, my dear, nothing you write will make the slightest difference in the rapidly deteriorating opinion of teachers. You're ALL overpaid, under worked, whining children with the emotional maturity of a six year old. The truth is immaterial because your union, and the democratic party that has helped destroy our country are also perceived as traitorous, spoiled, violent thugs who don't give one damn bit for the rule of law or the value of our Constitution or traditions. You can cry, whine, complain, and scream all you want, but I won't hear a word because I no longer care to listen to your crap. And you have nobody to blame but yourself. Live with it.
MikeD| 2.22.11 @ 7:01PM
Now that I've (hopefully) got your attention, here are a few words of wisdom: Right now, it really doesn't matter if you're the best teacher in the world. You may be an excellent teacher, and very dedicated; but the impression of all teachers is now the loud-mouthed morons screaming "Fox Lies!" over and over at the top of their lungs; soliciting and accepting false absense excuses, and supporting the state senators who have made laughingstocks of themselves by leaving the state instead of doing their jobs.
As our pseudo-president (What IS he hiding?) just HAD to say in 2008, ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. Because of the democrat's behavior, lack of civility, and downright arrogance, the whole country is enjoying their, and YOUR failures in spades. Get used to it.
The best advice I can give you is to keep your mouth shut and do your job. At least YOU have one. Thanks to the disastrous policies and failures of the democrats, the REAL unemployment rate is closer to 17%, not the 9.4% that the democrats publish. You may not be responsible for this, but, thanks to their arrogance and incompetence, you are closely identified with them.
Brooke| 2.22.11 @ 9:08PM
Tina, 2/3 of Wisconsin 8th graders CAN'T read proficiently despite highest spending per pupil in the Mid-west.
I have nothing against teachers, I love teachers--but it's obvious there's something seriously wrong with our public school system.
tonypal| 2.22.11 @ 10:51PM
This whole "teachers are special" mentality is pervasive. I hate to break the news Tina, but you're not working harder or doing anything more challenging than most of us. I'm an attorney with my own practice and I average 12 hours a day at my office. Then, just for fun, I go in on the weekends to catch up on paperwork. Once a month, I spend most of my weekend balancing our books. I haven't taken a vacation in over three years.
On top of that, I deal with more personalities during the course of a day than you can ever conjure in your wildest dreams. Everything I do is scrutinized by my clients and every professional I do business with, including other attorneys. If I screw up, I don't have tenure to protect me.
Quite often I successfully represent someone who was aggrieved and rightfully wins a damage award, something that can actually make or break a person's life. Mostly, I help bring joy to people's lives by guiding them through the purchase of their home. I help people to prepare and order their lives so that they can put many of their worries behind them.
To top it all off, in order for me to even become eligible to work as an attorney, I need to spend three years in law school, then take the bar exam, which requires me to study and memorize three years worth of material in 8 to 9 weeks. When I'm done with all of that, as a reward I receive notification that I need to start paying off my six figure student loan bill within 6 months.
Now let me tell you what I don't have. I don't have a 10 week vacation over the summer. I don't have taxpayers paying for my retirement and health benefits. I don't have a 7 1/2 hour work day, lunch period or prep period. I don't get to take the day off when it snows. I don't have a collective bargaining agreement to protect me if I engage in some of the egregious behavior we see from many public school teachers. Most of all, I don't have access to children who form some sort of metaphorical human shield for me every time I feel the need to whine publicly about the unfairness of it all.
In spite of everything I just told you, I don't see myself as special in any way. I'm just like 10's of millions of hard working Americans who through application of effort and a certain amount of intelligence have been able to build successful businesses. We do this at great financial risk, yet never whine if we lose money and never look to the taxpayers to bail us out.
I and every other conservative I know respect teachers who do their jobs well. We believe that those who excel should be paid like anyone else who excels in their profession. Many of our loved ones and friends are teachers. But we also believe that each individual citizen, no matter what they do for a living or how hard they work, must ultimately be responsible for his or her own way in life. You cannot continue to insist that your fellow taxpayers, the people who live next door to you, your family and friends, pay for lifelong benefits and pension plans long after you've ceased to be productive.
If you choose to respond, I hope I don't get the standard you hate teachers bull****. Understand that as long as you continue to delude yourself as to the "special" nature of teaching, you will further alienate Americans who would otherwise support you if your cause was just.
Patriot| 2.22.11 @ 11:40PM
I guess I would feel differently about the 'specialness' of teachers if our kids could read and do math well.
tonypal| 2.22.11 @ 10:54PM
I almost forgot about the "gifted" nature of teachers. I went to school with a lot of people who became teachers. They were almost uniformly the least intelligent and least ambitious people I knew growing up.
Tina B| 2.23.11 @ 6:50AM
Gosh you guys are a hoot.
I didn't see anyone state that they had ever been in a classroom in the past 20 years. I have friends who are in all walks of life, and NONE of them want to come and teach for a few days.
Special, teachers? Which of you got where you are without teachers? I know folks who never needed a lawyer in their lifetime, but I've never known anyone who didn't need a few good teachers to get them through life and help them earn their great living.
Is the public education system screwed up? absolutely. who did that? the voters. The Dept of Ed should be eliminated, the States can give the populace the education they want. Tenure? get rid of it, I'm not scared. Year round school? bring it on. My students would do much better without such long breaks, therefore so would I. Voted down in my area.
I am not offended anymore by ignorant comments about teachers from the general public. You are giving birth to or raising these children, if you do a good job at that my job is simple. Then you love me. If you raise lazy, rude, apathetic children who do poorly, you'll blame me. I don't take it personally. I just keep walking into my classroom and loving my students, your children, and teaching them every day to the best of my ability.
And if you don't have kids, why criticize me, you obviously don't know what teachers do today.
WI made teachers look really bad. And every lawyer who lies to get a murderer set free and calls it their job makes lawyers look really bad. And on and on for the losers of the world.
tonypal| 2.23.11 @ 8:58AM
Tina, you might find this hard to believe, but I wasn't born 18 years old. I actually went through the public school system, so I'm pretty sure I know what a day is like in a public school.
You used the term "special" to describe teachers, as if they're doing something that no one else could possibly do. Again, I can tell from personal experience that far too many people go into teaching as a fall back position when they can't make it elsewhere. Sorry Tina, but that's just a fact. I understand some people feel a calling and become teachers because they honestly believe they're making a difference in society. In fact, many of them do just that. But far too many of them become teachers precisely because they lack the brainpower or drive to do anything else. To repeat, I know this because I know many people I went to school with who became teachers, people who I wouldn't trust around sharp objects.
The fact that you know people who don't need a lawyer is utterly irrelevant to my point. What I was simply trying to point out is the folly of asserting teachers are somehow special. You attempt to support your point by stating "I have friends who are in all walks of life, and NONE of them want to come and teach for a few days." Here's a question: How many of them would want to be a coal miner for a few days? How about an inner city fireman (which is what my dad was)? I doubt anyone would sign up for those jobs for even a day, yet in all of my 45 years I never heard my dad or any other of the many firemen I know declare themselves to be special.
I appreciate some of the other things you said, but you fall into the trap of assuming people like me don't know what you do on a daily basis. I understand that in many instances, teachers have been tasked with managing kids who get no parental supervision. It's very hard. I would also point out that I was married to a school teacher, so I know a hell of a lot more about this than you can imagine. Taking all of that and much more into account, you're just not special. You're just like everyone else who has to overcome challenges on a daily basis.
Tina B| 2.23.11 @ 6:54AM
Let me just add this. . . the majority of kids I teach have great clothes, toys and techno. And many of them take home Fs and Ds and still their parents buy them their goodies and leave me to raise them. Hard to do when they get rewarded for doing nothing. Tough to convince them to get to work when they don't have to do that anywhere else.
tonypal| 2.23.11 @ 8:59AM
An excellent point Tina. Still, how does this make you special?
Jamie| 2.23.11 @ 8:44PM
Tina, we've got nothing against teachers, but the unions are another matter.
We're broke and our kids are poorly educated--don't you care?