Family Incomes Decline: Teachers Unions Get Raises

The Daily Herald has a story recently that made me even more upset with the Teachers’ Unions in this and every other school district. The average family has had their salaries decrease 2.3% between 2001 and 2004.


          

WASHINGTON — Average incomes after adjusting for inflation fell from 2001 to 2004, and the growth in net worth was the weakest in a decade, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday.

The 2001 recession and the bursting of the stock market bubble in 2000 were factors, the Fed’s latest “Survey of Consumer Finances” showed. The comprehensive look at household balance sheets comes every three years.

Average family incomes, after adjusting for inflation, fell to $70,700 in 2004, a drop of 2.3 percent from 2001. They fell 11.3 percent from 1989 to 1992, which also covered a recession.

We are making less, but are expected to pay more in taxes so that the Teachers’ Unions and School Administrators can continue getting their above average raises. This is outrageous.


          

The median family income — the point where half the families made more and half made less — rose a tiny 1.6 percent to $43,200 in 2004 compared to 2001.

Are we are still supposed to believe teachers are underpaid with an average salary of $55,558 in 2005 here in Illinois? This average is for an individual teacher. The median above is for a family.


          

Debts as a percent of total assets rose to 15 percent in 2004 from 12.1 percent in 2001.

The taxpayers debt is rising. How much more will it rise when a referendum passes? Why does the taxpayer have to suffer because the school districts refuse to sacrifice anything themselves. They always sacrifice the kids first.

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4 Responses to “Family Incomes Decline: Teachers Unions Get Raises”

  1. Cathy, on March 3rd, 2006 at 6:25 am Said:

    Great post Lennie and Lisa. I am going to share it with the CRAFT group unless you have objections.

    Cathy

  2. site admin, on March 3rd, 2006 at 6:32 am Said:

    No problem. Share it all you want.

  3. Strausser, on March 19th, 2006 at 8:37 pm Said:

    The teacher’s union is such a tricky topic for me. Being a conservative I am nowhere
    near a fan of the NEA but I find myself almost forced to be a member of my local union
    in Phoenix, Arizona. My dues keep going up but the way I look at it, I cannot afford not
    to have this million dollar insurance policy and free legal help incase I get falsely
    accused of something in my classroom.

    So I basically find myself caught between trial lawyers and teacher unions – so I go with
    the “lesser” of the two evils…hehehe

    Nice blog by the way…

  4. site admin, on March 19th, 2006 at 9:10 pm Said:

    Thanks. I can see where you are stuck. The only thing I could suggest is to get more people like yourself organized and starting running for offices in your local organization. You may be able to influence them over time to change their ways. I know there are some conservatvie voice inside the NEA, they just keep getting drowned out. Keep the faith and working toward changing them from the inside.

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