For the past several months Casey Banas has written several articles about Wheaton-Warrenville District 200`s financial situation and the teachers` pay hikes. As a District 200 teacher, I would like to present another side to the article, ”District 200 didn`t budge on budget.”
We should stop blaming the teachers for money needed in education. Teachers dedicate their lives to helping, nurturing and educating our nation`s children. It appears now Mr. Banas wants us to fund education too!
Banas states that teachers in District 200 will receive a 38.7 percent pay hike over the next three years. A teacher would actually have to work four years in the district, not three, to benefit from that pay increase.
Although the percentages appear high, the actual salaries of teachers remain below average for comparable professionals. A District 200 teacher with four years college education and four years teaching experience will earn $28,250 in 1992. A reporter at the Tribune with the same level of education and experience will earn $42,600 annually. A teacher with a Ph.D. and four years of experience will earn $5,587 less than the above mentioned reporter.
Perhaps Mr. Banas can ask his fat-cat colleagues for the money needed to purchase our sixth- and seventh-grade math textbooks.
