From the Record:
Home building is up, but construction hiring hasn’t followed
While home building is on the rise in New Jersey, construction hiring in the state has actually declined over the past year. But that may change in the months ahead, as multi-family projects pick up momentum.
“We’re still anticipating increased hiring in the construction trades in the second half of the year,” said Patrick O’Keefe, an economist with CohnReznick, an accounting firm with an office in Roseland. “It’s a little bit puzzling that we haven’t seen it already.”
According to the Associated General Contractors of America, a trade group, New Jersey had the steepest drop in construction jobs in the nation in the 12 months ended in June, losing 11,200 jobs, or 8 percent of the total. The job loss came at a time when home construction approvals have been running almost 29 percent ahead of last year’s pace, as the industry continues to climb out of its deepest trough since World War II.
Multi-family construction, especially in Bergen and Hudson counties, has powered the housing recovery, accounting for 61 percent of the activity in the state. That’s a big change from New Jersey’s historic development patterns, which were long dominated by single-family construction. There’s a growing demand for rentals, since many households can’t qualify for mortgages because of flat incomes and still-tight lending standards. And many households, especially in the Millennial generation, prefer the flexibility and pedestrian-friendly lifestyle found in urban rentals.
O’Keefe said the stronger performance of the multi-family sector may be one reason why construction hiring has lagged behind housing approvals. In single-family construction, he said, a builder gets a permit and puts construction workers on the job almost immediately. But a multi-family project requires more site work and is built in stages, which could stretch out hiring, he said.
Another factor in New Jersey’s slow construction job market is that nonresidential building has been sluggish, both in the state and nationwide, according to Ken Simonson, chief economist of the contractors’ group. Public projects, such as highway and school construction, have been constrained by tight federal and state budgets.
And little new office and retail space is being constructed.
From the WSJ:
Fed Survey: Mortgage Standards Ease for First Time Since Housing Bust
Nearly one in four U.S. banks said they had eased mortgage-lending standards for borrowers with strong credit during the second quarter, the largest such movement by lenders since the housing bust hit nearly eight years ago.
As well, the Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of banks’ senior loan officers showed that nearly half of large banks and foreign institutions believed lending standards for riskier syndicated loans to companies with noninvestment-grade, or junk, credit ratings were easier than the post-2005 norm.
…
Though bank lending to businesses has accelerated throughout the five-year recovery, banks have until now remained more cautious about lending to households. Lending standards for mortgages are easing amid sustained increases in U.S. home prices and a plunge in refinancing activity over the past year.
Demand for prime mortgages rebounded to its highest level in a year, according to the Fed survey, offering a hopeful sign for housing markets that have stumbled during the first half of the year.
Despite an uptick in the number of banks that signaled easier standards on mortgage lending to prime borrowers, most banks said standards remain tighter than normal. There are few signs that standards are easing for borrowers without good credit.
Top policy makers have repeatedly raised concerns over the past year that tight credit standards could hamper the housing recovery. While standards should have ratcheted up after the housing bubble, “it is now become the case that any borrower without a pretty pristine credit rating finds it awfully hard to get a mortgage,” said Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen at a congressional hearing last month.
…
Some economists say an equally large headwind facing the housing market is consumers that are too weak. Too many can’t borrow because they have high levels of debt, damaged credit from the recession or insufficient incomes to become home buyers. Looser credit standards can only do so much to easily address those challenges.
We all know what the trend is. Just wait.
“Despite an uptick in the number of banks that signaled easier standards on mortgage lending to prime borrowers, most banks said standards remain tighter than normal. There are few signs that standards are easing for borrowers without good credit.”
From the NYT:
Affordable Housing Draws Middle Class to Inland Cities
Americans have never hesitated to pack up the U-Haul in search of the big time, a better job or just warmer weather. But these days, domestic migrants are increasingly driven by the quest for cheaper housing.
The country’s fastest-growing cities are now those where housing is more affordable than average, a decisive reversal from the early years of the millennium, when easy credit allowed cities to grow without regard to housing cost and when the fastest-growing cities had housing that was less affordable than the national average. Among people who have moved long distances, the number of those who cite housing as their primary motivation for doing so has more than doubled since 2007.
Rising rents and the difficulty of securing a mortgage on the coasts have proved a boon to inland cities that offer the middle class a firmer footing and an easier life. In the eternal competition among urban centers, the shift has produced some new winners.
Oklahoma City, for example, has outpaced most other cities in growth since 2011, becoming the 12th-fastest-growing city last year. It has also won over a coveted demographic, young adults age 25 to 34, going from a net loss of millennials to a net gain. Other affordable cities that have jumped in the growth rankings include several in Texas, including El Paso and San Antonio, as well as Columbus, Ohio, and Little Rock, Ark.
Newcomers in Oklahoma City have traded traffic jams and preschool waiting lists for master suites the size of their old apartments. The sons of Lorin Olson, a stem cell biologist who moved here from New York’s Upper East Side, now ride bikes in their suburban neighborhood and go home to a four-bedroom house. Hector Lopez, a caricature artist, lives in a loft apartment here for less than he paid to stay in a garage near Los Angeles. Tony Trammell, one of a group of about a dozen friends to make the move from San Diego, paid $260,000 for his 3,300-square-foot home in a nearby suburb.
“This is the opposite of the gold rush,” Mr. Trammell said.
Tornader!
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=jLzgU-n7CpPMsQSO3oLgCg&url=http://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DOgH_o4oAPco&cd=1&ved=0CBwQtwIwAA&usg=AFQjCNHPXRD-63PZJavw0vHUoXrar2aHCw
I’d rather be laying dead at the corner of 8th Avenue and 40th Street than alive in Oklahoma City.
Nom? ;)
[5] Eddie,
I called that for you yesterday.
The DC friend I mentioned yesterday is originally from Philly. He’d been a DC-Philly guy all his life until a few years ago when he took an asst GC spot with a mid sized BD based in Birmingham, Alabama. He wasn’t looking forward to it but he really found Birmingham, and now OKC, to his liking. Not for everyone but it works for him.
Nom,
I know, I saw it. :)
A little too much Hope and Change . . . .
http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/04/investing/ghana-africa-economy/index.html
I love this. Note to anon: BS smells and only the ones without sense don’t notice
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101892470
This part cracked me up: “He went on to cite the administration’s successes: “a record stock market,” [courtesy of the Fed and feeding the “fat cats” he so despises] “record corporate profits,” [ditto] “52 straight months of consecutive job growth” [at an anemic pace and fueled by part timers] and “an energy sector that’s booming.” [much to his chagrin and powered by fracking]
If it wasn’t so serious, it would be laughable.
Note to the President: You Didn’t Build That.
I think pretty much everyone with a brain realizes Bojangles is an unmitigated disaster on all fronts.
Too bad people with brains are outnumbered by the welfare classes (both corporate and poor).
Fast Eddie (5)- You might change your mind about that if you saw what I witnessed yesterday in the Dunkin on 40th and 8th.
I think pretty much everyone with a brain realizes Bojangles is an unmitigated disaster on all fronts.
They reelected him so that tells you the number of brainless muppets occupying Amerika.
Eddie as much as I can’t stand going to NYC I echo the sentiment but my reasoning is different. those places are deserts once outside the city centers for decent food both in restaurants and off the shelf. Since I don’t like living in cities moving west like some modern day land rush is not for me. Then again I have had some of my best times in upper mid west cities.
[13] Eddie
“They reelected him so that tells you the number of brainless muppets occupying Amerika.”
Is it wrong of me to secretly hope for an Ebola outbreak in our urban centers?
Looks like people need furniture for their new houses. Check out NJ concealment furniture in Union township. The owner says business is booming.
http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2014/08/gun_owners_are_drawn_to_hunterdon_cabinet_makers_concealment_furniture.html
Eddie [13];
They reelected him so that tells you the number of brainless muppets occupying Amerika.
Well, he did walk across the water to hand them a free ‘Bommaphone. And food stamp enrollment is through the roof. That’s all the people who elected his O’ness want — Bread & Circusses.
[9] redux
I forgot to include “inversions, NOLs, and other tax avoidance techniques” to my first parenthetical. And I forgot to include “coal exports to China” in my last one.
Again, it highlights the fact that the “success” the Empty Suit takes credit for is attributable to factors he has actually been trying to kill.
Imagine how much “booming” we would be doing with a democratic house?
pain,
Every city has it’s a charm and character. I haven’t been everywhere but been to Boston, Philly, LA, Miami, Baltimore and each has it’s own stamp. However, for culture, energy and originality, NYC is above and beyond. It’s the only place I have ever been to that has a pulse in three dimensions and it’s been my backyard my whole life. Every time I go there, it feels like the first time.
Moose,
I thought he parted the sea and lead the tat and muffin tops to salvation. Oh well, through the water, on top of the water, toe-may-toe, toe-mot-toe… a bomma phone is a bomma phone.
[16] toxic
Something everyone should consider. And it isn’t thieves or home invaders I worry about. It’s cops showing up with a search warrant or an emergency power, a la New Orleans post Katrina.
@breakingmoney:
Private firms to dedicate additional $7 billion to promote agricultural development in Africa –
@washingtonpost http://t.co/60p4Tk3XrD
@MotherJones: 33 Years Ago: Reagan Goes Union-Busting, Fires 11,000 Striking Air Traffic Controllers
“Associated Press in Pueblo
Tuesday 5 August 2014 09.27 EDT
A three-year-old girl was shot and injured by a five-year-old child playing with a gun, police in Colorado said.
The girl was in critical but stable condition Monday after the shooting. The Pueblo Chieftain reported that police believe that the incident occurred when the five-year-old and another child were playing with the handgun in the backyard of a home.
Police said a nine-year-old boy got the handgun from the house and that the five-year-old then got hold of it, and pointed it at the younger girl. The gender of the five-year-old was not disclosed.”
If anyone wants to read an interesting article on WW1 and its impact on the last century here is a good read.
http://spectator.org/articles/59563/foul-tornado
June Corelogic HPI has NY Metro area SFH prices seeing some of their best gains since the bubble.
New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ
Single Family Including Distressed – Up 8.8% YOY
Single Family Excluding Distressed – Up 9.2% YOY
New Jersey Statewide
Single Family Including Distressed – Up 4.1% YOY
Single Family Excluding Distressed – Up 5.1% YOY
Other neighbors flattening out a bit.
Connecticut
Single Family Including Distressed – Up 2.5% YOY
Single Family Excluding Distressed – Up 4.4% YOY
Pennsylvania
Single Family Including Distressed – Up 2.7% YOY
Single Family Excluding Distressed – Up 4.2% YOY
I have been following all this AIR BNB and VRBO stuff and it is pretty wild that tenants are now renting and not leaving. You have to go through the whole formal eviction process like a real tenant.
I should short the stock and give 1,000 bums a free night rental as long as they dont leave unti evicted. AIR BNB would be next pets.com in no time
It is funny how Grim continues to post headliners that no one pays attention to. In today’s headline, its about the downside of NJ’s construction market, particularly non-residential. What the article fails to mention is that in NJ, the Supremes have declared business construction to be a direct subsidizer of low-income housing. For every 4 jobs created (I may be slightly off on the number) by a new business that resulted from new construction, the town must set aside 1 affordable housing unit. And, of course, for every 1 low-income housing unit you get 2 new kids in school. And for every every new kid in school, tax expenditures go up $15000.
So what is the end result: Towns, like mine here in Hunterdon County say ‘screw them’. No new business construction. And they will zone that way.
The taxpayers actually wind up paying more if new businesses move in.
Minimum residential zoning in most of my town is now 8 acres. All new major businesses on the main highways must be set back 500 feet from the road. Find the land, guys.
And one other Hunterdon town that I own income property, minimum residential zoning has been 15 acres for a while.
29 – Go out to the midwest and two blocks outside of downtown are nothing but open fields. Out in San Antonio, they just roll the bulldozers out into the scrub and brush and build 5,000 houses. Out in North Jersey, you need to knock two houses down to build three.
TwoAcre plots is the absolute largest plots you need to prevent urban sprawl.
What is point of requiring larger plots?
My town is now zone for 60×100 plots but you can get a variance for 50×100 and some older homes are 40×100.
The few folks with 100×100 corner lots near me often complain it is too much land to handle.
Pretty much 80×100 lots non-corner property with a 2,500 square foot house is the sweet spot. Not to much to maintain and only a 80 foot sidewalk to shovel. The heat, central air and landscaping kill you on large places and prevent first time homewoners or older folks from moving in. It is not a neighborhood if only folks over 40 can afford it and folks under 65 can keep up with it.
Xolepa says:
August 5, 2014 at 10:42 am
It is funny how Grim continues to post headliners that no one pays attention to. In today’s headline, its about the downside of NJ’s construction market, particularly non-residential. What the article fails to mention is that in NJ, the Supremes have declared business construction to be a direct subsidizer of low-income housing. For every 4 jobs created (I may be slightly off on the number) by a new business that resulted from new construction, the town must set aside 1 affordable housing unit. And, of course, for every 1 low-income housing unit you get 2 new kids in school. And for every every new kid in school, tax expenditures go up $15000.
So what is the end result: Towns, like mine here in Hunterdon County say ‘screw them’. No new business construction. And they will zone that way.
The taxpayers actually wind up paying more if new businesses move in.
Minimum residential zoning in most of my town is now 8 acres. All new major businesses on the main highways must be set back 500 feet from the road. Find the land, guys.
And one other Hunterdon town that I own income property, minimum residential zoning has been 15 acres for a while.
5. You may be nuts bro — just got back from a trip out west (CO), now I know Oklahoma aint Colorado. But Colorado was terrific.
I see plenty of new homes go up in Long Beach on 30×60 with four bedrooms and a two car garage. Amazing what you can squeeze in. Those houses have zero grass. Main level is just a ground level two car garage.
homes are around 24 by 54 and are three full levels. With two big decks. Amazing what you can do.
30. Jersey is an overcrowded cesspool and poster child for income inequality and redistribution. It’s ugly here and bound to get uglier. It’s not just housing, but the whole enchilada that make Jersey a risky bet going forward.
(31) That’s not how it works in my neck of the woods. First, we have minimal sewer infrastructure, mostly septics. The town knows that if you upgrade any sewage systems in the business district, residential developers will take advantage of that and sue for the ‘excess capacity’. It happens aplenty. That means high-density housing. So the town determines instead that it must maintain the quality of underground water by overzoning lots – essentially saying that you must set aside extra space on your property for a new septic system in the case that your current one fails.
You are comparing apples to oranges in terms of overall infrastructure – once you have it, North Jersey you become. No one over here wants that. Except for the developers.
My town has kicked developer butts in the last few years. They wait for the big guns to go on vacation, usually around July but mostly around Christmas time and suddenly schedule a hearing on zoning law changes. Then POW!, ups go the minimum zoning. One near neighbor of mine, a sheep farmer, crazy dude that he is, was so upset at this tactic that he brought sheep dung pies at one hastily scheduled hearing.
Not to mention that Jersey is about to collapse under the weight of progressive policies (in exchange for Dem votes) resulting in over regulation and public workers benefits that will bankrupt the state. Just wait until they try to raise taxes to cover the pension shortfalls. I urge you all to go to NJ by the numbers at the Star Ledger site and pop in the name of your child’s teacher or a local cop or fireman. Or even your local director of public works. I think you’ll be astounded. Then dig around the NJ Treasury site to see their benefits. But don’t take my word for it. Do it yourself. For sh1ts and giggles, do the same at a non-blue state. Then you’ll understand why businesses and residents are leaving NJ in droves.
If min zoning requirements fall the sheep farmer sitting on a huge lot could get a huge financial windfall as he sells off parts of his property.
A bungalow near me is for sale that is 274 square feet with an attached one car garage sitting on a 40 by 55 plot. bascially a studio apartment with a one car garage for storage etc. and a narrow driveway that is actually 55 feet long as runs beside house. The garage is unheated and the 274 is gas heated, land is cement, some white gravel and some small bushes. No lawn to mow.
walking distance to train, plenty of bars and restaurants and a park.
Honestly for a single person what more do you need? I see too many widows in big old houses they cant maintain or afford cause neighborhoods have crazy zoning.
Xolepa says:
August 5, 2014 at 11:14 am
(31) That’s not how it works in my neck of the woods. First, we have minimal sewer infrastructure, mostly septics. The town knows that if you upgrade any sewage systems in the business district, residential developers will take advantage of that and sue for the ‘excess capacity’. It happens aplenty. That means high-density housing. So the town determines instead that it must maintain the quality of underground water by overzoning lots – essentially saying that you must set aside extra space on your property for a new septic system in the case that your current one fails.
You are comparing apples to oranges in terms of overall infrastructure – once you have it, North Jersey you become. No one over here wants that. Except for the developers.
My town has kicked developer butts in the last few years. They wait for the big guns to go on vacation, usually around July but mostly around Christmas time and suddenly schedule a hearing on zoning law changes. Then POW!, ups go the minimum zoning. One near neighbor of mine, a sheep farmer, crazy dude that he is, was so upset at this tactic that he brought sheep dung pies at one hastily scheduled hearing.
36. The admin. folks (management) are the people walking away with the premier pensions. Of course those who taught for 40 years also will make out. NJ has gone ahead and followed the lead of the red state governors and effectively broken the union and the tenure laws. Unlike the red states though, the schools are performing at a fairly high level. Now watch what happens when the experienced people leave. Sure, you can say some are good and some are bad, but it’ll be those with other options who decide to leave teaching. The better people will retire earlier as pension reform kicks in and your kid will be taught be some twenty-year-old without a clue. Better save now for private schools –
Funny,
I don’t recall anyone in my undergrad (known for it’s teaching program, heck it used to named Montclair State Teachers College) going into teaching for the money. They all had an insatiable desire to work with kids. Call it a charitable demeanor. Yet the progressive argument is that by cutting benefits to what is the norm in the private sector, you will lose your brightest and best. Hate to say it, but the brightest and best are not there now.
Plus, if one’s income levels are a predicative of how their children will perform in school (another progressive argument), then by lowering your taxes, your net income level rises, which should result in better educated students.
Hmmmmmm?
Whenever you read a story about a public employee actually leaving for more money… it’s for more money from a different public job, not a private one.
Libturd in Union says:
August 5, 2014 at 11:37 am
Funny,
I don’t recall anyone in my undergrad (known for it’s teaching program, heck it used to named Montclair State Teachers College) going into teaching for the money. They all had an insatiable desire to work with kids. Call it a charitable demeanor. Yet the progressive argument is that by cutting benefits to what is the norm in the private sector, you will lose your brightest and best. Hate to say it, but the brightest and best are not there now.
Plus, if one’s income levels are a predicative of how their children will perform in school (another progressive argument), then by lowering your taxes, your net income level rises, which should result in better educated students.
Hmmmmmm?
[32]
You may be nuts bro — just got back from a trip out west (CO), now I know Oklahoma aint Colorado. But Colorado was terrific.
Next time, stay there.
NJ would be perfect if it had Skyline Chili.
Why are you intent on destroying the #1 ranked state in public education? You think raising taxes will drive off the wealthy to other states. Nah, destroying the education system will do that. I hate when people don’t realize what they are asking for. Go live in the cheap states with their worthless education system that brings down u.s. education scores.
Libturd in Union says:
August 5, 2014 at 11:37 am
Funny,
I don’t recall anyone in my undergrad (known for it’s teaching program, heck it used to named Montclair State Teachers College) going into teaching for the money. They all had an insatiable desire to work with kids. Call it a charitable demeanor. Yet the progressive argument is that by cutting benefits to what is the norm in the private sector, you will lose your brightest and best. Hate to say it, but the brightest and best are not there now.
Plus, if one’s income levels are a predicative of how their children will perform in school (another progressive argument), then by lowering your taxes, your net income level rises, which should result in better educated students.
Hmmmmmm?
I strongly suspect that septic systems will be outlawed in the US in the next 20 years, with homeowners being required to utilize small-scale waste treatment plants (single home plants do exist), or municipalities will be required to install sewers, at significant cost.
At a cost many multiples of a septic system, I suspect most homeowners will have no problem voting for sewers.
Sltd baby!!!! Killing it!!!!
46- I’m up huge on this stock!!! Renewable energy market is hot right now
Michael is day trading. The end is near.
39. I think teachers are a unique breed. Many either have an innate idealism or a love of the content area. Half leave after 5 years in the industry. That rate is about 50%. Their idealism is gone and they tire of the antics that empower administrators and not the people who actually are doing the work.
Corporations run under the very same restraints. Enable the bosses and not the worker and it’s only a matter of time until innovation dies and the whole enterprise fails.
In terms of “best and brightest”…that terminology references a novel about the Kennedy administrator and that term was used as ironically to describe the characters. FYI
Here it is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_and_the_Brightest
I’ve held this same position since I recommened it 3 weeks ago.
Libturd in Union says:
August 5, 2014 at 12:07 pm
Michael is day trading. The end is near.
grim, please unmod me
So anyway, as I was saying. It takes about 10 years to become a really good teacher. So, if you have 1/2 of the workforce leaving after 5 years because they don’t like the work and the pay and diminishing benefits are not attractive when compared to jobs that can yield 2-3X the pay on day one. These individuals never have the chance to become good teachers, the system becomes unstable now as the revolving door becomes the norm and the stability that benefits the kids is gone.
Looking at teaching another way, in a ambitious person’s prime earning years they are able to climb to great heights of responsibility and income. In teaching you either continue to teach or become an administrator where you make a bit more money and spend your day fielding calls from “concerned parents” — uh. Yeah.
So you see “why” the system is as it is, Yet your answer is what?
And then there is this:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/americans-got-2-trillion-benefits-federal-government-2013
Guys from the credit rating agencies should from this guy’s playbook…
http://online.wsj.com/articles/japanese-stem-cell-scientist-yoshiki-sasai-is-dead-1407206857?google_editors_picks=true
@BreakingNews:
Health officials: 1 person who recently traveled to West Africa being tested for Ebola in
Columbus, Ohio
54 Essex.
The way I read it..
Teachers made deal with Christie, they paid more in, he did not.
He says he can’t, says his math was off a bit. Did he ever intend to pay in??
You can choose to believe that or not.
Only winners are the already retired.
The young ones are now paying in more (the agreed amount).
Christie has stated the already retired are not getting touched one bit.
So now a current worker is paying more into a system that is not going to pay them back.
Sounds a little like redistribution.
58. I think that might be about right – but it is a really small sliver of the thing.
We’re in a second internet wave where twenty-somethings can go work for six figures and share an office with their peers, play air hockey on breaks, go eat lunch at cool restaurants.
So do you think that the education system can attract the “best” when the best can actually do as well as they are now?
Here, let’s put you in this unairconditioned room with twenty five children. See you in 9 months. Yeah that sounds like fun.
So you’ll lose the mid-career and late career people and then the kids that you want to attract to the profession (which now has the same job stability as a corporate job)…..yeah that is going to work.
what you talkin’ bout
aren’t teachers the 1%?
everybody here is envious that teachers reach “great heights of income”
Essex says:
August 5, 2014 at 12:19 pm
a ambitious person’s prime earning years they are able to climb to great heights of….income.
day trading loose lending standards who installed a time machine
39. Irony of ironies however is using Montklair State and “best” in the same sentence to begin with.
@SenSanders:
The top 25 hedge-fund managers made more than $24 billion last year, enough to pay the salaries of more than 425,000 public school teachers.
Can I get in on this?
http://www.njea.org/njea-media/pdf/2014SEHBPActivePrograms.pdf?1407254267608
64. I dunno Stu, is healthcare high on your list of priorities? Most younger teachers could not care less about healthcare. Most young workers aren’t too concerned with a pension. It’s the older folks that start to care about that stuff so your employer, if they are any good, might provide great benefits for those workers it needs. Not the case?
Here with go with the Public Sector pointing out that everyone in the private sector is either a hedge fund manager or paid like one. What world do you guys live in?
And I could have gone to a more challenging school Essex. But I didn’t want to be encumbered by debt when I got out. To be honest with you. The main reason (besides cost) that I went there was because at the last moment, I opted out of joining the Air Force. No one else had as late of an application deadline. By the time I finished partying my freshman year, the option to transfer was out of the question. Still managed to graduate with honors.
I’ve come to the realization that NJ public school salaries are completely f@cking dysfunctional.
“It’s the older folks that start to care about that stuff so your employer, if they are any good, might provide great benefits for those workers it needs. ”
Do you really believe that Essex?
If Frank Alvarez isn’t a hedge fund manager, he sure is paid like one.
Grim here fixed it for you
I’ve come to the realization that NJ public worker salaries are completely f@cking dysfunctional.
70 – appreciate that
67. and this is based on your exhaustive study of what pray tell?
You guys are out of touch with reality. What the hell do you think these people should get paid? Avg teacher salary is 66,000. Should we lower it to 45,000? What the hell will you attract? 50,000 is nothing for a young person in north jersey. You guys are living in a little bubble if you think we should be envious of teacher salaries that avg 66,000. Pathetic! Please stop attacking reg govt workers as some lucky people getting rich off the system. You are crazy.
painhrtz – whatever says:
August 5, 2014 at 1:12 pm
Grim here fixed it for you
I’ve come to the realization that NJ public worker salaries are completely f@cking dysfunctional.
re: Ebola – I wish the press would cut the fear mongering.
The people that get it eat the flesh of apes that died of Ebola. Basically eating RAW roadkill presumably after the ape ate fruit contaminated by bat feces. They also eat bats dried or in a nasty looking soup that even Anthony Bourdain would pass on.
68. I believe people will settle for what they think that they are worth. At any given interval in their career. Schools compete for talent just like companies do.
Gator Jr. had a six-figure kindergarten teacher who never went to the University of Puerto Rico Online to get her masters. It’s a shame too. She probably would have made another $25,000 a year easy. By the way, she was terrible and out of touch. I mentioned differentiated learning since my kid came in at the first grade level (had technically gone to school for 11 hours per day since his birth) and she really wasn’t familiar with it. The following year we moved to Glen Ridge.
But hey I guess “Partying Project Manager” just isn’t a hot career field right now…? Or is it? I dunno ask JJ.
76. You voted with your feet. Who the hell would want to teach kindergarten? Seriously. Worst job in the known universe. Differentiated instruction at K level? yeah, more like…”Johnny please don’t hit Billy in the head with that toy”….. P.S. Just because someone knows a buzzword like ‘differentiation’ doesn’t mean much.
67. and this is based on your exhaustive study of what pray tell?
1) Superintendent, Principal, and Assistant Principal salaries
2) Salaries of guidance counselors, school psychologists
3) Near 6 figure kindergarten teacher salaries
4) Compare #3 with the new employee, making less than half for doing exactly the same job
5) High school gym teachers making more than $100,000 a year
6) Fights that the $175k superintendent salary cap is somehow hurting our kids education
7) Tenure still exits
Six figures means she earned it. She did her time. She dealt with kindergarten for over 25 years and you are busting her balls. Should she be getting paid 70,000 after 25 years as a professional? You are out of touch with your attack on teachers. We are no 1 in the nation. They are doing a good job as far as I’m concerned.
Libturd in Union says:
August 5, 2014 at 1:21 pm
Gator Jr. had a six-figure kindergarten teacher who never went to the University of Puerto Rico Online to get her masters. It’s a shame too. She probably would have made another $25,000 a year easy. By the way, she was terrible and out of touch. I mentioned differentiated learning since my kid came in at the first grade level (had technically gone to school for 11 hours per day since his birth) and she really wasn’t familiar with it. The following year we moved to Glen Ridge.
Essex…I can buy that response. But at what point does NJ do a Detroit? The bulk of our property taxes, the highest in the nation, go to our schools. Our schools are ranked well, but are also some of the most expensive. I’m sure there is a relationship here, but it’s not the whole enchilada. NJ also has a lot of wealth and with wealth comes better test scores. But if the state politicians key enriching these public sector benefits to the point where they are treated measurably better than what is COMMON in the private sector, well then the private sector will up and leave as will the taxpayers paying these benefits.
I’ve studied these pension plans and the whole slew of retirement benefits from health care, to dental to life insurance. The pendulum has swung way to far in favor of the public sector. And the public sector doesn’t even appreciate it. For them, it has almost become a right.
But the end game is near. The numbers are simply too large for these benefits to paid in full. The taxpayers are really suffering with the overall decline of the middle class. Yet the public sector salaries still go up 3% a year minimum.
Here’s the bigger question Essex. If the pension deficit is 50 billion and the medical deficit probably doubles this to 100 billion. But, NJ annual tax revenues (between property, sales and income tax) are about 30 billion per year. Add to this that tax revenues are dropping in NJ. So what do we cut to maintain the brightest and the best? Keep on raising taxes?
Before we go any further read this:
http://www.mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/Education/Closing_the_talent_gap.pdf
Essex.
Differentiated learning in kindergarten is not making my son learn colors and shapes when he came in knowing addition, subtraction and how to read. If you think school is place to play blocks, then I can understand your position. My son received twice the education from his minimum wage earning Philipino non-citizen teachers in his day care center than what he was getting from his 30 year veteran 6-figure veteran at the public school. Plus his class sizes at the Education Station were much smaller. Then again, his day care center didn’t have to pay for substance abuse counselors, curriculum experts, or any administrative staff whatsoever. Private school might not be such a bad option, if we didn’t have to pay for the public schools simultaneously.
82 – Don’t need to – simply eliminate tenure and pay grades based on duration of employment.
What recovery? How poverty is moving to suburbs
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101892537
Essex…Just skimmed through it. It’s pretty interesting, but the part I found the most interesting is how the salaries could be increased by increasing class size as our average class sizes are small compared to countries with much better educational rankings. Also, the study only involves salary and not overall compensation. I truly have far less of an issue with salary then I do with the outrageous benefits. Make the salary better, but take away the gold plated benefits that were really only given in exchange for votes and endorsements. Will read it in greater detail later. Thanks.
86 – Funny I keyed on the same thing I scrolled through, South Korean average class sizes of 35. Isn’t that just about heresy in NJ?
Differentiated learning in kindergarten is not making my son learn colors and shapes when he came in knowing addition, subtraction and how to read.
Differentiated instruction is a buzzword. Administrators love talking about it. Every teacher claims they do it. Academics claim it is necessary for success. In the end, it’s all a dog and pony show.
I purposely refused to differentiate a single lesson two years ago to prove a point. Never saw better results in my life.
So anyway, as I was saying. It takes about 10 years to become a really good teacher.
Complete nonsense. The best teacher I have ever known probably mastered his craft around year 3. Honestly, it’s sink or swim by the end of year 2. If you haven’t figured out the profession by year 2, you probably won’t. Good teachers are able to establish themselves really quickly. I haven’t seen anyone take that long to develop into a good teacher.
I’ll go one further. You should be praying that your teacher is 3 or 4 years into the job. They are still filled with idealism and will work their butt off for your kids. Speaking from experience, every year, you get more and more fed up with administrative BS, being treated like crap by administration and certain parents. You have to read uniformed comments about your works schedule. It ends up leaving a bad taste in your mouth. A teacher that is still relatively new to the profession is more likely to be 100% dedicated and willing to break their back for your kid.
That being said, if you get the new teacher that is just incompetent, you can end up with one of the most frustrating experiences of your life. Regardless. That work ethic and endless idealism that brings out the best in your students usually is reserved for those that haven’t been through all the bs yet.
That is a good job. Love to do that for Playboy or something.
I have never been laid off or unemployed and actually it has burnt me out a bit. I mean my 401k and stuff is rock solid as I had no breaks in service. But getting laid off is sometimes good for folks. My good buddy who is like 54. Got laid off Spring of 1988 right before getting married and had severance and unemployment and enjoyed a full six months of relaxing and fun. Then he got let go again for another six in Spring 2008.
“lucky me” got my first job at Barclays Bank when I was 18. I have been working continously since. And every job change the new company needed me right away. This job I quit my old job on Tuesday and started here Wed.
Being a man I did not even get maternity leave. And lucky me I am in good health not even a disability issue. Heck once went ten years without a sick day.
Closest I got to taking off was the four weeks after Sandy when I was working 14 hours a day on house. Guess what the physical work, no computers, no phones, no commute it actually oddly enough refreshed my brain.
Essex says:
August 5, 2014 at 1:22 pm
But hey I guess “Partying Project Manager” just isn’t a hot career field right now…? Or is it? I dunno ask JJ.
NJ schools only rank well in cities where the typical parents are college educated. But the teachers are happy to take credit for the success of those children. In the failure factories of Newark, Camden, etc., teachers demonstrate minimal success and are fully willing to lay all of the blame on the parents.
To summarize: when NJ teachers get good test scores from kids of dual masters-degree parents, it’s because NJ pays up for the best teachers. When teachers making the same amount of money are incapable of basic literacy instruction, it’s not their fault, it’s the parents fault.
Got it? The teachers are always right, and always deserve more pay.
The future innovations in education will come when someone figures out through technology how to deliver skills of the best teachers to the largest number of students. How to scale up the supply of the best product. Then star teachers can start earning million dollar incomes, while the third tier teachers assume their proper role of day to day babysitters, homework collectors and test administrators, and one-on-one tutors for the kids who didn’t learn the lesson the first time.
Any of you ever worked in a union shop in the private sector where compensation was based mostly on tenure? I did for 3 years. It’s a great way to punish and drive away the talented newcomers, while building up a team of people overpaid relative to what any other employer would value them. “Lifers”. Hard to motivate, don’t much care about performance.
Helacopter Parent.
Libturd in Union says:
August 5, 2014 at 1:44 pm
Essex.
Differentiated learning in kindergarten is not making my son learn colors and shapes when he came in knowing addition, subtraction and how to read. If you think school is place to play blocks, then I can understand your position. My son received twice the education from his minimum wage earning Philipino non-citizen teachers in his day care center than what he was getting from his 30 year veteran 6-figure veteran at the public school. Plus his class sizes at the Education Station were much smaller. Then again, his day care center didn’t have to pay for substance abuse counselors, curriculum experts, or any administrative staff whatsoever. Private school might not be such a bad option, if we didn’t have to pay for the public schools simultaneously.
92. indeed.
Why does education or good schools even matter for a lot of folks?
I mean back when I gave a career speech a few years ago to around 250 business school students who were about to graduate I noticed a large amount of the kids in college are now women, a large amount are asian and indians and a lot are culturally a bit shy and have language issues. Heck some of the kids did not have licences or visas. But I tell you what I was extremely impressed these kids had dual majors, doing MBA and undergraduate at once and some already passes CPA or CFA while still in school and had solid work experience.
One girl who was actually President of the class who was a sweet nice small asian girl, very well spoken with a straight A average was grilling me afterwards about how to get good jobs. Finally she gets to point and says your actual educational background does not look like you could get all these jobs. I go what do you mean? She says at one point you managed 40 accountants and dont have an accounting degree, you worked in IT with an IT degree. I tried to explain it but in her culture I could not.
I mean you cant go to school to have a personality, be tall and good looking. And be completely full of BS. I recall once I had the balls to flirt with and ask out the girl in HR during an interview at Merrill Lynch. My only problem is getting the interview. Getting the job is easy. An Asians problem often is getting the interview is easy getting the job is hard.
Sometimes it backfires. I once applied way back when to be a IT person in a really white shoe IT bank. Great firm I always wanted to work in. Figured I apply go to HR sweet talk them and go on another interview. So anyhow I sweet talk HR throw it around with the folks in IT and get hired. Building a huge system, working on GUI, business requirements documents.
Guess what I never used a computer in my life. I recall calling up a girl I was dating and whispering with her how to use email. My mother was alive at time and she was like you really should know what a computer is before building a multi million dollar system. OMG I guess I have some asian in me.
But I dont learn I also at one point was in charge of the Japanese Financial Serivces Practice at a big four firm. And that went very well. Apparantly a good handshake and know how to bow and drinking lots of sake is all you need to be in charge.
To summarize: when NJ teachers get good test scores from kids of dual masters-degree parents, it’s because NJ pays up for the best teachers. When teachers making the same amount of money are incapable of basic literacy instruction, it’s not their fault, it’s the parents fault.
And with your point of view, there’s no way to convince you that someone in a suburb actually does a good job.
SX [51];
Somehow I thought that link was going to be about how the education field was poisioned by (so-called) “anti-war” leftists (who were really only against war if the US won) that hid out from the draft in teachers’ college using education-related deferrements.
91 – Ragnar
I normally like your posts, but this is not one of them. You are selling the argument short if you think social, economic, and cultural factors do not play into urban districts and their education capabilities and ultimate levels of subject mastery.
You state yourself that districts with educated parents do well and practically tease out the idea that those teachers really are not doing much for their “success”. You then accuse teachers on the complete opposite spectrum for placing blame on the completely uninvolved / aloof parents, some of which are not even known to their children or are in jail.
Either the parent’s involvement (aka. encouraging school, not in jail, and present in their life) is the most important factor or its not, you cannot have it both ways. The answer likely falls in the middle, but your post makes no room for that and bashes teachers either way.
With all that said, I personally believe student achievement is 75% parent and home-life based and “teachers” are more or less only acting as enablers of data transfer. A student who wants to learn will learn, with or without a educator, but an educator can speed up the process and provide a sounding wall for ideas. (Disclosure: Married to a teacher.)
Ben I don’t think that was the intent at all. What Rag was pointing out that in low income districts the parents are the problem, while in successful districts involved college educated parents apparently have no bearing on the kid’s success, it is all the teachers.
Ben question for you if somebody offered you 75K a year after 5 years experience, 2% -4% annual increases, 401K with dollar for dollar match up to 6% and benefits that cost 250 bucks a month for a family of 4 for being a teacher would you take it? Also if you could go from school to school selling your talents to the highest bidder would you do it?
44- Grim.
Do you have an estimate of the costs for such a project? I am seeing a NORWECO
Residential Alternative Septic System for around $3200 new on ebay (600 Gallon) and it seems like a comparable deal compared to traditional septic costs.
99 – I can dig it up, we were going to go down this route to build on a property in Kinnelon that wouldn’t perc. I think it was ballpark $25k.
Ben – et al – Differentiated instruction is a big buzz word in districts like Montclair where the haves are integrated with the have nots. Tracking is bad, bad, bad and to be avoided at all costs in Montclair.
Lil Gator came into school reading at a 2nd grade level. 25% of his classmates came in without a day of preschool and many of them were being taught to recognize colors, letters and numbers.
His K teacher once said that she wished that kids were not taught how to write in preschool. Stu was actually scolded for allowing him to write his answers on a homework activity instead of dictating it to us. Some of his homework was literally “draw a line”.
To challenge the kids that were advanced beyond that level, they had to first do that busy work (even if she knew full well that their skill was way beyond it) and only after doing that could they “choose” the option of doing extra, more challenging work. Way to set the precedent early on that excelling is bad and will just get you the punishment of extra work.
100- Grim
Don’t go out of your way if its not handy. I was just curious after seeing that ebay listing because the material price seems pretty low for such a system.
Ben I don’t think that was the intent at all. What Rag was pointing out that in low income districts the parents are the problem, while in successful districts involved college educated parents apparently have no bearing on the kid’s success, it is all the teachers.
Ben question for you if somebody offered you 75K a year after 5 years experience, 2% -4% annual increases, 401K with dollar for dollar match up to 6% and benefits that cost 250 bucks a month for a family of 4 for being a teacher would you take it? Also if you could go from school to school selling your talents to the highest bidder would you do it?
Yeah, but he’s twisting the argument to make it as a negative. Teachers have always been adamant about how good parenting is an important aspect of success. Long story short, the argument has little merit because I don’t see a problem in both teachers and parents sharing credit for success rather than argue over who is more responsible for it.
As per your 2nd question, hell yes, because it’s much better than the deal I get now. As far as shopping talents, I can and I am. The problem is, a lot of admins don’t want to hire people that are smarter than them.
So call me a helicopter parent. At least I don’t yell at the refs at my son’s hockey games and soccer matches. I also don’t pay Kumon to make up for what most parents should be doing.
Speaking of soccer, my son has been asked to play for a flight 1 U10 team out of a local bluecollar town. The two c0aches are cops and one has more artwork tattooed on his body than there is on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. These guys are all about winning. It will be a nice change from everyone gets a trophy Montclair and Glen Ridge sports. In a conversation I had with the c0aches, they said they look forward to the game against hoity toity M1llburn more than any other. This should be an excellent social experience for my kid.
Ben – et al – Differentiated instruction is a big buzz word in districts like Montclair where the haves are integrated with the have nots. Tracking is bad, bad, bad and to be avoided at all costs in Montclair.
Lil Gator came into school reading at a 2nd grade level. 25% of his classmates came in without a day of preschool and many of them were being taught to recognize colors, letters and numbers.
His K teacher once said that she wished that kids were not taught how to write in preschool. Stu was actually scolded for allowing him to write his answers on a homework activity instead of dictating it to us. Some of his homework was literally “draw a line”.
To challenge the kids that were advanced beyond that level, they had to first do that busy work (even if she knew full well that their skill was way beyond it) and only after doing that could they “choose” the option of doing extra, more challenging work. Way to set the precedent early on that excelling is bad and will just get you the punishment of extra work.
It’s a buzzword in every district. Every admin in every school system has been shoving differentiated instruction down people’s throats. You should be primarily concerned with your kid picking up all the vital skills that they should be developing in elementary school. Math, reading, spelling, LOGIC!. The asian families send their kids to Kumon and other programs after school and during summer to ensure this.
As much as they say tracking is bad, it’s inevitable and automatically happens later on towards the end of middle school. We have 3 types of students by the time they get to high school. Regular, CP, and AP. They all get segregated. Funny thing is, the students in high school purposely segregate themselves. The smart kids refuse to take the easy electives because they can’t stand being in class with the goof offs.
I wouldn’t place the reputation of the district on the kindergarten teacher. She’s one of 700 employees and in terms of knowledge and competence, probably on the lower end of the spectrum. I hate the fact that I have to unionize with the elementary school teachers. Long story short, you should be concerned with your child getting what he/she needs out of elementary school. You’re never going to get them to challenge your kid to your satisfaction.
105. sounds like something out of an eighties movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085154/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_35
Ben in regards to my second question that is why I like you. Unfortunately a good number of teachers prefer the status quo as well as administrators. FSM forbid that someone go against the gold star benefits where as if given the choice I’m sure a good number of young teachers would choose the alternative
I think it is important that the class nerds and straight A students interact in that same classes as the goof offs.
It will help them greatly later on in their careers when they are working for the goof offs.
In the book The Millionaire Mind, Dr. Thomas J. Stanley conducted an extensive survey of over 1,000 millionaires in the United States. He approximated that the average collegiate GPA for a self-made millionaire is 2.76.
NJGator says:
August 5, 2014 at 3:24 pm
Ben – et al – Differentiated instruction is a big buzz word in districts like Montclair where the haves are integrated with the have nots. Tracking is bad, bad, bad and to be avoided at all costs in Montclair.
Lil Gator came into school reading at a 2nd grade level. 25% of his classmates came in without a day of preschool and many of them were being taught to recognize colors, letters and numbers.
His K teacher once said that she wished that kids were not taught how to write in preschool. Stu was actually scolded for allowing him to write his answers on a homework activity instead of dictating it to us. Some of his homework was literally “draw a line”.
To challenge the kids that were advanced beyond that level, they had to first do that busy work (even if she knew full well that their skill was way beyond it) and only after doing that could they “choose” the option of doing extra, more challenging work. Way to set the precedent early on that excelling is bad and will just get you the punishment of extra work.
Painhrtz understood my point.
Ben, I’m not saying good teachers don’t matter. I’m just denying the claim that NJ Teachers in aggregate are somehow much more special and better than teachers in other states, and thus deserving of higher pay, simply because NJ test scores might be higher than some other states. It’s like arguing that teachers in Short Hills are better and deserving more pay than the teachers in Camden, because their test scores are higher. (It’s probably true, as the hiring process and admin is probably more corrupt in Camden, but you get my point).
Here’s a story explaining my angle. My boss used to live in Princeton, and once had three girls in the public school. This is before he became super rich. His wife was formerly a teacher, he an Oxford grad. Of course the Princeton school system had really high test scores on average. Lots of kids had dual PhD parents for goodness sakes. They believed that the public schools were actually underperforming relative to the demographics and potential of the kids in that school system. So they helped a movement found a charter school, which of course the union and local bureaucracy fought tooth and nail, who pointed at the test scores as proof that one couldn’t possibly improve on the public schools. The charter schools’ principle would be to increase teacher freedom, pay up for the best performing teachers, not just the oldest deadwood, and focus on student outcomes and let that success drive teacher outcomes and rewards. Of course good teachers like that environment, bad/mediocre teachers don’t – they prefer the seniority based system.
Of course it worked, and students and teachers were happier in the improved environment of the charter school.
I dont understand what is so hard about teaching. Way back in my big four days I got volunteered to be a ‘”national instructor”
Went to a “teach the teacher” week long training and I learned all the tricks. One month later I was teaching new accounting grads accounting stuff. Only thing I remember, considering the class was only 9 am to five pm, man did my feet hurt and my voice was horse. I was as tired as if I worked 14 hours but it was only 7.
JJ,
I bet the people who actually had to work on your amateur IT system cobbled together from hints from ex-girlfriends were cursing you every day. Or maybe you had enough staff that you could just represent the project without actually interfering with it.
Libturd,
I still remember my one and only day in Kindergarten, before I skipped up to 1st grade. I had went to a Montessori school for the prior three years, so when school started I was 5, but my mom argued I should go to 1st grade instead. They made me take a lot of tests, like a junior SAT, and had to draw some stuff. I think they wanted me to spend one day in Kindergarten to make sure I wasn’t going to cry or beat up kids. I mostly remember the kids played with toys and sang songs. They were my age but I thought they were really wasting their time. I remember it being an incredibly boring day, and was glad to move up to first grade the next day, except it was still too easy.
113 – I remember running for the front door, getting out, and having the principal grab me before I ran across the street.
Grim,
If I had done that, they would have kept me caged up in kindergarten all year, torturing me with baby songs. I already knew coming in that I just needed to be good that day, and I’d go into the first grade the next day.
Rags…That is essentially what my son went through. Then in first grade in GR, he got an untenured teacher who was trying to get tenure. So he had about an hour of homework every night. What a stark difference. In Montclair, homework, especially in the younger grades, is frowned upon. Kids should free to explore their creative side. Of course for mine, that would be watching SpongeBob and the Amazing World of Gumball (perhaps the greatest show on TV).
My cousin teaches first grade in a “prestigious” elementary school in Boca Raton. She teaches a first grade class where ALL of the kids are “gifted and talented”. Everyone’s kid is apparently gifted and talented in Boca. Her school actually has two entire first grade classes of gifted and talented students. They must be doing something “right” in Boca. Let’s study it and see how we can replicate it here in NJ.
Here’s a South Park episode that may have been what JJs kindergarten was like, watching Yo Gabba Gabba and wondering whether they would prefer banging Foofa or Toodee.
http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s17e05-taming-strange
Really. They should bottle the water in Boca and sell it. There are 19 “gifted” teachers in this school alone.
http://www.edline.net/files/_sLH4U_/aff536d9a3e659cb3745a49013852ec4/E-Mail_Addresses_for_AMES_9-10-13.pdf
re # 114 – lol – Having never been in any kind of program before Kindergarten other than the school of hard knocks my old man was tasked at dropping me off at PS 95 in the Bronx. First day I had to be taken home, I was way too disruptive. 2nd day I lived in fear of the belt if I acted up. Good Times….
re # 120 – After kindergarten it was then on to the Nuns at Saint Ann’s in the Bronx. Not quite like the movie Doubt but the Nuns did have the ever present wooden ruler to enforce discipline at any given moment. I can remember a few kids pissing their pants whenever Sister Mary got angry.
Kids today have it way too easy.
117,
I looked up the area around that elementary school – that’s the top 1% in Florida for sure. Every house for sale in the district is about $1mn. That’s the equivalent of $2mn + in NJ. I wonder if adding gifted classes is the way they work around a bureaucratic Florida state standards process. My guess is “standard 1st grade” curriculum is too easy for most of the kids.
In my town of Bridgewater, it seems like 1/3 of the classes are accelerated, which I think is a good thing. Why not let kids learn what they’re ready to learn, rather than being slowed down by the slower learners?
Painhrtz understood my point.
Ben, I’m not saying good teachers don’t matter. I’m just denying the claim that NJ Teachers in aggregate are somehow much more special and better than teachers in other states, and thus deserving of higher pay, simply because NJ test scores might be higher than some other states. It’s like arguing that teachers in Short Hills are better and deserving more pay than the teachers in Camden, because their test scores are higher. (It’s probably true, as the hiring process and admin is probably more corrupt in Camden, but you get my point).
Here’s a story explaining my angle. My boss used to live in Princeton, and once had three girls in the public school. This is before he became super rich. His wife was formerly a teacher, he an Oxford grad. Of course the Princeton school system had really high test scores on average. Lots of kids had dual PhD parents for goodness sakes. They believed that the public schools were actually underperforming relative to the demographics and potential of the kids in that school system. So they helped a movement found a charter school, which of course the union and local bureaucracy fought tooth and nail, who pointed at the test scores as proof that one couldn’t possibly improve on the public schools. The charter schools’ principle would be to increase teacher freedom, pay up for the best performing teachers, not just the oldest deadwood, and focus on student outcomes and let that success drive teacher outcomes and rewards. Of course good teachers like that environment, bad/mediocre teachers don’t – they prefer the seniority based system.
Of course it worked, and students and teachers were happier in the improved environment of the charter school.
I get what your saying and what I don’t think a lot of the people here realize is that I’m willing to bet at least 40% of the teachers absolutely hate the union, the status quo, and would be open to change. We a trapped within the system.
We can’t break the union. Hell, I couldn’t even get elected to a union rep position in my building if I tried. They go behind your back and just randomly choose hacks to be their reps.
I’m amazed that people complain about the automatic raise system. It’s a friggin 1000 bucks a year. You never stand any chance of getting higher. If a rewards system were in place, the good teachers would stop leaving and you’d be paying even more.
As far as test scores go, there are ways to use test scores to still measure performance. In the case of Princeton, I can tell you that I know for a fact that I blow them completely out of the water. All you have to do is compare them to similar districts.
My cousin teaches first grade in a “prestigious” elementary school in Boca Raton. She teaches a first grade class where ALL of the kids are “gifted and talented”. Everyone’s kid is apparently gifted and talented in Boca. Her school actually has two entire first grade classes of gifted and talented students. They must be doing something “right” in Boca. Let’s study it and see how we can replicate it here in NJ.
The definition of “gifted” in the Florida educational system is being able to add 5+6 by grade 5.
so are you arguing that the lower the pay, the better the education provided?
too bad Sandusky can’t no longer teach him for FREE
Libturd in Union says:
August 5, 2014 at 1:44 pm
Essex.
My son received twice the education from his minimum wage earning Philipino non-citizen teachers in his day care center than what he was getting from his 30 year veteran 6-figure veteran at the public school.
I think it is important that the class nerds and straight A students interact in that same classes as the goof offs.
It will help them greatly later on in their careers when they are working for the goof offs.
Everyone can’t be a millionaire. Why would you want to ruin it for them. At least let them work for themselves and feel good about themselves for a while before they have to go out in the real world and allow the clowns to exploit their work ethic and pay them nothing.
Anon finally thinks for himself and wishes a pedophile would teach my son. Now I know why you are a parrot.
‘I had went to a Montessori school for the prior three years’
hmmm…
Are there any legitimate careers other than teaching in a public school where one can start at $50,000 with no experience, a bachelor’s degree only, no tough courses like calculus or thermodynamics and enjoy full medical benefits and 15 weeks of vacation?
Rags 117 – Sure and when everyone of those upper middle class parents is told that Graydon and Ellery are merely bright and not gifted, they protest and not soon after that the school realizes that they are indeed geniuses.
They’re putting their own people in the line of fire — and doing it by the book.
The Israeli military said it has captured a Hamas manual on urban warfare — called “Introduction to the City War” — that extols the benefits of civilian deaths and openly admits that Israel tries to avoid them.
The Israel Defense Forces also said the manual — whose cover shows images of militants wielding rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons — crows about the propaganda value of the deaths of innocents.
“The destruction of civilian homes: This increases the hatred of the citizens toward the attackers and increases their gathering around [to support] the city defenders,” the manual said, according to the IDF.
The manual, which came from the Shuja’iya Brigade of Hamas’ military wing, also explained how heavily populated urban areas — called “pockets of resistance” — make operations for the IDF difficult because Israeli soldiers try not to harm civilians.
“The soldiers and [IDF] commanders must limit their use of weapons and tactics that lead to the harm and unnecessary loss of people and [destruction of] civilian facilities,” the manual said, according to the IDF.
Modal Trigger
The Israeli Defense Forces claims it found Hamas’ urban warfare manual.
“It is difficult for them to get the most use out of their firearms, especially of supporting fire [e.g. artillery].”
Israel has repeatedly charged during the nearly monthlong conflict in Gaza that Hamas exploits civilians as human shields — a claim apparently borne out by the seized manual.
The IDF, while releasing two pages of the booklet, said it was significant that it came from the Shuja’iya Brigade.
“The IDF fought a major battle in the neighborhood of Shuja’iya, which had been turned into a terrorist stronghold. The discovery of this manual suggests that the destruction in Shuja’iya was always part of Hamas’ plan,” said the IDF said on its official blog.
Meanwhile, Israel said it withdrew the last of its ground forces from Gaza on Tuesday as part of an Egypt-brokered, 72-hour cease-fire brokered by Egypt. The calm sets the stage for talks on a broader deal for a long-term truce and the rebuilding of the battered coastal territory. If the calm holds, it would be the longest lull in the fighting, which has killed nearly 1,900 Palestinians — 900 of them militants, Israel said — and 67 Israelis., all but three soldiers.
Israel said its troops had destroyed 32 cross-border tunnels built for attacks inside Israel.
Hamas and other Gaza militants fired some 3,300 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel during the hostilities, and Israeli forces destroyed another 3,000 rockets on the ground.
129. Try $40k with a Masters. Yes, there are a shit ton of jobs out there where you can make that money or much better in your first year. Try ‘vacationing’ on that salary however.
Florida is actually well-represented in the top 20 High School ranking:
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings
[132] Essex
Or even taking time off for the kids. I’ve had some bosses that simply could not accept that you might have responsibilities that didn’t involve them.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101782475#.
IMHO, the biggest offenders here are millennials and law firm partners.
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