# Teacher Raises versus Teacher Layoffs **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 29, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-raises-versus-teacher-layoffs/620336 "2012-04-29T17:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-raises-versus-teacher-layoffs/620336/21 "2012-04-30T19:42:24Z")
> [@Crab\_Rangoon](#): > > In our district - I don’t know if this is common or not - we have about 15 “steps” for teachers. This means, for the first 15 years you teach in our district, you are guaranteed a fairly decent raise. Really? Funny, when I taught they had these steps as well…but I never received any step. Every year it was ‘frozen’. You sure those teachers are getting their steps? EVERY year?? Are these steps above inflation or do they not include a COLA normally as well? In other words…does a 12 year teacher who STARTED in your district make more (AFTER adjusting for inflation) then when he started? Sounds like your district needs to close its schools. Merge with a neighbor or something. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-raises-versus-teacher-layoffs/620336/22 "2012-04-30T19:48:40Z")
Maybe I came off wrong in the previous post. I constantly look at new opportunities…and was recently invited for interviews at a place that will pay me a good 40% more (though that is a promotion in terms of responsibilities). So, teachers are not alone here…if a teacher teachers for 10 years at a school and only gets 2 steps…he has to move to a new school to get full credit for his experience. Same thing I guess. The low salary and no increase in salary for 5 years drove me from teaching…but I still remember the pain of finding out new hires with less experience were paid more than me because they received a step for every year of experience they had where I received none. That’s what provoked my reply…your ‘steps’ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crab\_Rangoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Crab\_Rangoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crab_Rangoon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-raises-versus-teacher-layoffs/620336/23 "2012-05-01T00:18:15Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > It sounds like your district might be a candidate for merger with another, neighboring district. This will cause some overlapping seniority issues, but nothing insurmountable. One set of upper level administation can do the job formerly done by two. Yeah - the funny part is that we just went through a forced consolidation 3 years ago. We used to be in a three-town district (about 500 kids) - now we’re in the “big” 8-town district. And it has saved money - no doubt - the main reason we have not had to have cuts in the past two years is from the savings from consolidation. The down side is that we are with completely incompatible towns - demographically and geographically (there are actually towns _in between_ the towns in our district.). Consolidation was a great idea that was executed poorly in our case. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-raises-versus-teacher-layoffs/620336/24 "2012-05-01T21:10:43Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Low wages are less of a problem, but having people resent every penny of those pages is. Amen. You go into these professions expecting modest but sufficient wages. You don’t go into it expecting to justify and fight for modest but sufficient wages. If I were a conservative I would focus a lot more on undercutting seniority and tenure and replacing it with more performance pay. ---
**Author:** ![Crab\_Rangoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Crab\_Rangoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crab_Rangoon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-raises-versus-teacher-layoffs/620336/25 "2012-05-02T00:51:12Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Amen. You go into these professions expecting modest but sufficient wages. You don’t go into it expecting to justify and fight for modest but sufficient wages. > > If I were a conservative I would focus a lot more on undercutting seniority and tenure and replacing it with more performance pay. How do you do that with unions firmly in place? Seniority is the holy grail. The new teachers (or state workers) always lose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-raises-versus-teacher-layoffs/620336.md?page=1)