LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Teachers get hit twice as hard as advertised

Crystal Maranto, Las Vegas

Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

In his State of the State speech Thursday, Gov. Jim Gibbons informed Nevada residents that he would be cutting state workers’ pay by 6 percent and freezing all movement on the salary schedule. This means that teachers’ salaries are being cut by more than 6 percent.

You see, I’ve been working incredibly hard to obtain my master’s degree. I have now completed enough coursework (32 credit hours) to advance on the pay schedule. If the governor’s plan goes through, all of the effort I put into my master’s degree will go uncompensated.

I will not only not advance on the pay schedule for furthering my education, but I will also not get my raise for five years of service in the Clark County School District. Please remember that these losses are in addition to the 6 percent decrease in pay that the governor has proposed.

What does all of this mean?

It means that I will actually be making 13 percent less than I was originally promised. So, you see, when the governor tells the public he is cutting teachers’ pay by 6 percent, he is not telling the whole story.

With that being said, I understand that it is a tough time for most right now and that we all need to chip in and make compromises. I am willing to lose 6 percent of my salary or be frozen on the pay scale, but I cannot possibly afford to do both.

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

By jfnance32

1/18/09 at 2:30 a.m.

Suggest removal

There are many people in the state that are making 100% less than promised.

Government layoffs are the other option instead of salary reduction.
By zenitram99

1/18/09 at 2:24 p.m.

Suggest removal

He's cutting salaries. At least he's not laying anyone off. He's making some tough decisions.
By califtovegas

1/18/09 at 3:05 p.m.

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I took a 27% pay cut and don't have automatic raises to start with. I'm just glad to have a job. You should be too.

Wish I had your time off and benefits.
By johnevegas

1/18/09 at 4:07 p.m.

Suggest removal

My empathy for the teachers plight is tempered by my own 100% reduction in income. Times are hard now, and everyone has to suck it up. Sometimes a lot. 12% is a lot in normal times. These are not normal times.
By kramer

1/18/09 at 11:53 p.m.

Suggest removal

Crystal, just realize that I am sure that most posters here who are crying, do not need to advance their education to further their careers or were probably not well educated to begin with.

If you were to look at the people being laid-off or termination, I'm sure you would find a trend that supports that they had minimal education or no higher education at all. Perhaps these people should have thought about getting a better education to begin with when they had the chance, or perhaps they had a Governor that cut education funding and they just did not have the opportunity to get a good enough education (Hmmm).

It is a shame that when one of your jobs along side of teaching is to advance your education (which you pay for out of your own pocket) to provide the best tools for the children, you must endure the ignorance that is present by what I am sure are envious and to be certain uneducated people hiding behind their keyboards.

Just remember the more that you educate yourself, the further you move above the uneducated and the ignorant people who have nothing better to do but complain about the job or salary they once had.

Grow up people and stop complaining about what you lost and figure out a way to correct your problems rather than taking out you childish behavior on our teachers.
By vivavegas

1/19/09 at 11:40 a.m.

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While I certainly feel sorry for anyone who has lost a job, there is one thing that people keep forgetting. The people who have taken a 100% pay cut are also doing 100% less work. Teachers, however, will be asked to take a 6% pay cut and will actually be doing MORE work. Higher class sizes, fewer resources, and students with more problems outside of school will only mean more work for teachers. It seems to me that it would only be fair to reduce the work load by 6% to go along with the pay.
By OhSee

1/19/09 at 12:11 p.m.

Suggest removal

johnevegas
You have 1049 posts on the Sun pages since September 16 2008. Perhaps, you should spend less time posting and more time looking for work.
Just a thought.
By johnevegas

1/19/09 at 2 p.m.

Suggest removal

"Perhaps, you should spend less time posting and more time looking for work."

I work on the web and spend a good 70 hours a week or more on the computer. I make no money currently because I have chosen to forgo my owners draw in order to keep my companies afloat. Because of that, instead of filing bankruptcy, we have survived and are about to recover nicely.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I am an unemployable. I would never work for someone other than myself.