Florida Teacher Pay, College Democrats & Changing Names - Top 3 Takeaways – May 2nd, 2024
- Narrative busting. This week a new report from the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the country, brought about a host of headlines and news stories seemingly filled with doom and gloom for Florida’s K-12 teachers. Here’s a smattering of those headlines: Florida Teacher Salaries Fall to Nearly the Lowest in the US; Florida teachers are paid second lowest in US, report says; Florida teachers are second lowest paid in America: NEA; Florida teacher pay drops to 50th in country, new data shows. There’s only one issue with this line of reporting and the narrative advanced by the NEA. It’s false. First and foremost, compensation for teachers has only ever gone in one direction in this state and that’s higher. The impression one may be left with given the presentation of news reporting might lead to a different conclusion. All one needs to do to quickly see how false the narrative surrounding Florida’s teacher pay is, is to go directly to the report itself. As is clearly outlined in the report, Florida ranks well above the national average, 16th for starting teacher salary, at $47,178, most recently. But then, right next to that figure in the NEA report, is the reported “average” teacher salary of $53,098 – which ranks 50th in the nation. A curious mind, which evidently doesn’t exist with any of the news reporters covering this story across the state, might wonder how it is that Florida could have one of the higher starting teacher salaries in the country but then turn around and rank at the bottom for average teacher pay? Do we just lure teachers here and then never pay them more? Of course not. The practical fact of the matter is that there’s more to the story. Pay scales vary based on school district across the state. Using Palm Beach County’s as an example, here’s what the pay scale looks like. The minimum annual full-time teacher salary in the Palm Beach County School District is currently $51,500 while the maximum is $104,576 – a figure that’s obviously more than double the starting salary scale. So, what impacts teacher pay? The length of time on the job and the highest degree obtained. As always there are two sides to stories and one side to facts. Those are the uber important missing facts from this story. And the fact of the matter is this. Currently the mean annual salary for a teacher in Florida is $63,470- a total that’s over $10,000 higher annually than the implied “average” figure provided by the NEA and a figure that ranks 23rd nationally – or above average. Adjusting for the education level and length of the time on the job is essential to provide an apples-to-apples comparison. It’s unfortunate but predictable that the NEA didn’t do it. It’s also unfortunate but predictable that news reporters reporting on the NEA report didn’t do it. The arguments may still be had about whether pay should be higher than it is. The analysis in my top takeaway isn’t aimed at that part of the debate but the fact of the matter is this. Florida ranks above average for teacher compensation nationally, objectively. Speaking of education...
- Who are college Democrats? The question about what one stands for is about as old of a soul-searching question as there is. But these are consequential times we live in and it’s a time for choosing. Do we stand for science acknowledging that there are only two sexes and thus two genders or do we reject it in thinking that there are as many as we can think up? Do we believe in protecting the integrity of what this country represents and what it stands for or do we believe we should have open borders? Do we believe that Israel should have a right to exist or do we believe it, and Jewish people along with it, should be brought to an end? Now, for many of us the answers to those questions are obvious. However, that’s what we’re up against these days and the epicenter of the ulterior mindset has been what’s happening on college campuses. On the same day that Brown University caved to illegal antisemitic protestors, by scheduling a vote in October to consider divestment from Israel, the College Democrats of America, the official affiliation of the Democratic Party on college campuses, officially endorsed the antisemitic protests on college campuses. In a statement led by the Muslim Caucus of the College Democrats challenging their party’s leadership they stated: Each day that Democrats fail to stand united for a permanent cease-fire, two-state solution, and recognition of a Palestinian state, more and more youth find themselves disillusioned with the party. To the students out there protesting we stand with you! So, in this time of choosing, those are who college Democrats are. Those who seek to further legitimize Hamas. Those who stand with terrorists over Israelis. So many look back at Hitler’s rise to power and wonder how a European country could have been so fooled. The fact of the matter was the truth was in front of them the entire time. Hitler and his hatred were never a secret. He and it was what enough people choose up to the point where Hitler eliminated the rest of those in his way. So, who exactly are college Democrats in this time of choosing? And what exactly are the implications in the future if this type of thinking is put into political action?
- The Square. Chris Gaines, the artist formerly known as Prince, Ochocinco, probably, eventually, X. Those are just a few of the used but ill-fated attempted names of prominent people and a social media service. Rosemary Square and “The Square” are the two ill-fated names of what everyone knew as CityPlace. For years I’d attempted to call the destination formerly known as CityPlace by the chosen iteration of “Square” only to find that more people were confused by what I was referring to than not. Often, once explaining that it was the destination formerly known as CityPlace which usually was met with the response “why did they change the name from CityPlace”? The answer is probably similar to the aforementioned examples (although Prince’s was the result of a contract dispute). In any event, much like all three of the formers, the original name has been restored as CityPlace announced on Wednesday that they are once again CityPlace. The confusion has been cleared and order has been restored. Now if they just would get rid of the paid parking for patrons...