30 year higher paid teacher retires early to save jobs - 3 jobs saved

[Liberal_in_LA]

on edit: 3 teachers will be making 1/3rd the pay to do that same job.

Retirement helps halt Cumberland layoffs

Joe Astrouski
TOLEDO, Ill. (WTHI) - For more than 30 years, Tom Finley has taught at Cumberland Elementary School in Toledo, Ill., and has even taught the children of his former students.

He has relished the career and earned honors including News 10’s Golden Apple Award.

“I could have gone into other lines of work that would have paid more money, but not one of those jobs would have given me the fulfillment that teaching has,” Finley said.

----------------

Despite his love of teaching, Finley offered to take an early retirement, hoping to prevent the layoffs.

The district accepted.

Since he had reached a high pay bracket through seniority, his retirement freed up enough money to pay two new teachers, district officials said, and three teachers’ jobs were saved. “This has been the right place for me,” Finley said. “I think this was my destiny.”

http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/news/illinois/retirement-helps-hault-cumberland-layoffs

[sarcasmo]

1. Good move if he can afford to retire, way to go Tom Finley.

[Brickbat]

2. So sad. This is how they pit us against each other.

[dkf]

5. He sounds happy to do it.

He doesn't have to stop teaching but can volunteer and maybe decide to help out the most needy.

[Brickbat]

6. That's nice.

Doesn't make it right. When older workers say they'd like to hang on after a company says early retirement would save jobs, it creates resentment among workers with lower seniority.

[dkf]

7. I am sure they would understand if someone can't afford to retire though.

Maybe there would be resentment if a person is flush and has the luxury of retiring or not and chooses that another person loses their job. But that would be on their conscience in any case.

[Brickbat]

8. Having seen it happen, I can't agree with you.

[dkf]

10. I would retire if that was the case and I was worried about the welfare of young people.

I might even volunteer to be laid off now if it came to it. I am in better circumstances than my co worker.

On edit: my former boss did this for me. She had done well and wanted to retire in a few years so when it looked like we were at a crunch she retired.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. And if you had to pay an additional $600 a month for health insurance

while living on 50% of what you had been earning before you retired?

That's what happens in my district when you retire. I'm sure that's pretty common.

[dkf]

16. Notice I mentioned about being in a crunch.

If you can't afford to retire then you can't afford it. How anyone could resent that is beyond me.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. We're talking about TEACHERS

After being in a profession that has underpaid them for 30+ years, how many teachers do you imagine can afford to avoid the crunch? Personally, I don't know any.

[dkf]

19. Goodness I know quite a few.

Teachers are paid better than the average state worker around here after the legislature tried to increase salaries to improve our poor scores. It is one of the few professions that get paid better than mainland counterparts. Our retirement system was based on the highest salaried years so with teachers getting significant wage increases and regular state workers not getting them they are the higher paid of the bunch.

On the other hand our professors are seriously short changed.

And because we have a state wide system teachers don't have to depend on real estate values and local revenues but get to benefit from tourist dollars and general economic expansion. We really boomed with huge construction spending up tip a few years ago and teachers were the main beneficiaries of the increased revenue. Over 10 years our education spending doubled, much of it in teacher salaries and benefits.

I have a feeling this gives me a distorted picture of how well teachers do. To be honest I wouldn't be so upset if only our test scores were decent. But we are constantly at the bottom of the barrel, even now after the wage increases.

And I know about salaries because my sister works in the school system, other family members are state workers, and my parents retired from the state system.

[dkf]

3. Maybe he can even help tutor some kids.

[femmocrat]

4. There are a lot of early retirements this year.

A lot of districts (not ours, though!) are offering retirement incentives to get rid of veteran teachers so they can hire newbies at half the cost. I would go too, if they would offer an "incentive" (i.e., health care) to early retirees.

However, many districts are not replacing veterans in order to downsize staff and costs. There will be increased class size and program cuts next year.

[spartan61]

9. The school system where I taught offered buy outs

a few years ago. Several of the teachers (myself included), who were at the top of the pay scale and with Master's, took the buyout. This enabled they system to hire teachers with little or no experience and with a Bachelor's Degree at a much lower salary. Even with the incentive money that was offered, the system saved big bucks.

[Gabi Hayes]

11. FANTASTIC!!!!! I hope that they can go full steam ahead and just start

firing anyone who makes too much money; that's pretty much what the great reformers are aiming at>>>>getting rid of those greedy, elitist, highly (too highly) paid, experienced teachers

do that for every job, including pilots, surgeons, army/navy/AF officers

walk right in. no experience necessary

works great in TFA, yes?

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. They offered us a buyout

By the time they take out taxes, it isn't that much money. It would have been less than 20% of a year's pay for me. No thanks. :)

[randr]

12. My sister-in-law works at the local Veterans Administration

and said that some of her co-workers have been talking about an early retirement idea they heard is going around.
The gist is that the Government would offer early retirement for G4's and up. This would allow positions to be filled with new workers at lower pay scales. The savings to the government would be significant.

[aquart]

13. So many heroes fighting the greedy, unpatriotic rich and their minions.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Very sad

Teachers where I work are being pressured to retire.

If we funded our schools appropriately, this wouldn't be an issue.

[Bigmack]

20. Good luck to him! Taught for 30 years....

and retirement is the best job I ever had.

Was very involved in teaching.... both Ms. Bigmack and me, so we thought we'd never leave, and thought we'd do subbing.. guest shots and like that.

Never went back. Got too involved with life beyond working. All that "active senior" stuff.

Now we volunteer like crazy, though.