A closer look at teachers’ salaries
Re: “Put teacher pay into perspective,” Feb. 5 David Harsanyi column.
I am not surprised that the conservative think tank that David Harsanyi cites chose to calculate teachers’ salaries on an hourly basis. They, and Harsanyi, know full well that such a procedure will inflate and therefore distort the result, because teacher contracts only cover about three-fourths of the year. However, teachers and their families must have food, shelter and other goods and services all year. Therefore, an annual salary figure would have been much more appropriate. And no, there are not many employers out there anxious to hire adults for three months of summer work. Those who might are not offering $34.06 per hour.
It is interesting to note that the seasonal nature of the work is used as a reason for paying the building trades more per hour, but never similarly for teachers. It shows the position of education in the American pecking order.
Gary Waldman, Aurora
…
David Harsanyi tries to make the case that teachers are well-paid. I wonder how many teachers he hangs out with. His case might be admissible if teachers really just worked eight-hour days, but in fact they work much more. In 16 years of watching our sons’ teachers in Denver Public Schools, I saw them come early, stay late, visit sick and injured children at home on their own time, and grade papers and work out lesson plans in the evenings. Many of them furnish basic school supplies for students at their own expense. How many professionals do that?
Our children are the future of this country, and we entrust them to teachers of one kind of another every day. Yet our society is unwilling to invest the kind of money in salaries and education for these people that we deem necessary for other professionals who do little to guide or train our children (pro athletes come to mind). Arguments like Harsanyi’s only guarantee that we will continue to shortchange the educational systems on which our country’s continued well-being depends.
Pauline P. Reetz, Denver
Senate Republicans’ blocking of Iraq debate
Re: “GOP blocks Iraq debate,” Feb. 6 news story.
I was disappointed but not surprised to see that Sen. Wayne Allard voted with his party and the president to block debate and a vote on the Senate’s Iraq war resolution. The American people want an end to this stupid, senseless war, but our incompetent president and his sheeplike followers in the GOP don’t even want to discuss it. This is democracy?
The Iraq war will go down in history as one of our great nation’s most tragic blunders. By siding with those who refuse to even discuss the matter, Sen. Allard has demonstrated that he must be considered to be complicit in that blunder.
I almost wish he were running for re-election so I’d have the great pleasure of booting him out.
William Hambric, Broomfield
The Dems are in power
You can tell that the Democrats are back in power, even if you missed the election results. Simply read the front page of your Denver Post and you’ll learn about a myriad of bills designed to control individuals. Senate Bill 23 would restrict minors’ use of tanning beds, and SB 80 would require Colorado school-aged girls to get the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. It seems that all individual rights and personal responsibilities are being taken away by elected officials. Of course, there is the argument that mandating healthy choices is beneficial to society at large, but is it government’s role to tell citizens to act intelligently?
I know that, in general, Democrats believe government should have a greater role in civic life, but this is the party known for supporting a woman’s right to control her own body. Shouldn’t women be allowed to choose? As a recent college grad, I resent the inference that I cannot make intelligent decisions about my body.
Marissa Johnson, Littleton
To send a letter
E-mail: openforum@denverpost.com (only straight text, not attachments)
Mail: The Open Forum, The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, 80202
Fax: 303-954-1502
Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 200 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.
To reach us by phone: 303-954-1331
