My school district just came out with an offer, using federal stimulus money, to buy out 130 teachers who are 60+ and have been with the district 25 years or more. Each teacher who decides to take the offer will get a $25,000 bonus. The qualified teachers received certified letters telling them what they have to do to collect. Decisions must be made by July 15.
And, dear Reader, if you are wondering about me, I don’t qualify on either count. So, I’m sticking around and continuing to plan for next year’s classes.
Is this for early retirement? It would be nice to have a place where the ideas are listed as to what districts do with the stimulus money.
I guess I needed to clarify. The district wants to get rid of those high paid older teachers (average salary $73,000) and hire younger, cheaper teachers. Makes sense to me.
Considering my last couple of months on the job, if someone were to offer me a buyout right now, I might be tempted. But I’m hanging in there and hoping that the stock market revives itself soon!
Will that “help” the kids? I’d like to know how effective these teachers are in the classroom?
Help kids? Well, I don’t know about that except the district will be able to hire younger teachers, ones with more energy. Teaching, and doing it well, takes a huge amount of energy, and as the years pile up, that level drops. So, I think the younger teachers can help there. As for experience in the classroom, the older teachers know how to manage a room full of teenagers (well, most of them do) better than the younger ones.
Our district offered a similar deal. I think they offered $25K if you retired, and $50K if you forego health insurance. But they are only doing it if 25 people sign up. And there is a deadline which keeps being moved ahead a day or two at a time. I don’t qualify either.
I definitely would not forego health insurance for any amount of money. Our district has the best health coverage and at 57 1/2 and 16 years with the district, teacher and spouse get that great coverage for life.
BTW, don’t forget to swing by my Silly Sunday Sweepstakes today. We could use a dose of your sense of humor!
I was just reading your blog and I think you have some really insightful posts about teaching. I’m currently working on a project to help solve some of the issues you talk about in your post. The site I’m working on is Applebatch.com which is designed to help K-12 teachers find jobs and make their lives easier. We do this through allowing teachers to share lesson plans and other resources with teachers they connect with. We are currently working on our second version and I’m reaching out to the teaching community to get feedback and to ask for them to spread the word. I’ve been following your blog for the past couple of months and I think that your work is fantastic. If you have time please feel free to check out the site and send me any feedback you might have. Also, if you are looking for material to post we would love to have you interview our founder. Just a thought. Anyway, keep up the good work and hope you enjoy the site.
Forgot the link.
Applebatch Teacher Community