Potentiality

In 2003-2004 I began a study of justice as it might apply to recognizing, leading and rewarding
Teachers.(The original study may be found here). My thinking about a just system of employing, promoting and/or releasing teachers had to this point focused on qualitative and ethical issues and had not yet added the financial layer. (Links to earlier non-financial pieces are below)

See, for example, my Distributive justice related entries (from most recent) as well (plus links to Corning,Deutsch, and Rawls materials.)

1. A Just Teacher Pay System (3): How Does it Compare
2. A Just Teacher
   Pay System (2): Fair Shares. In which I explain my application of Peter
   Corning’s Fair Shares system to teacher compensation packages. ( (:o[> link
   being a problem... it will show up as my weblog entry for January 25, 2004.)
3. Justice
   for Teachers In which I introduce two teachers with no difference in pay,
   or background, or training, or load, or student population served. However,
   one is clearly more effective in nurturing meaningful student achievement.
   Is this just?
4. Justice:
   A fair distribution of goods and harms (3). Implementation . In this piece
   I use Deutsch's distributive justice questions to examine typical teacher
   compensation approaches.
5. Justice:
   A fair distribution of goods and harms (2). Bio-logic. I discuss Peter
   Corning's Fair Shares approach to the distribution of 'goods'.
6. Justice:
   A fair distribution of goods and harms (1) John Rawls' approach to defining
   justice is outlined.
7. See my full teacher
   justice story for a more comprehensive treatment. (I decided it was too
   long for a weblog entry-- plus it needed a little more 'fire' --personality.
   Thus the sequence of shorter entries [today's entry being the third].)
8. See also Corning, Peter A. , In Press, “Fair Shares: Beyond Capitalism
   and Socialism. The Biological Basis of Social Justice”, in Politics
   and the Life Sciences) (Click here for a pdf copy of the document and here to see his “Complex Systems”
   website).
9. Deutsch, Morton (1978), Distributive Justice, Yale University
   Press, pp 2-4.

What factors, I wondered, went into the making of excellent teaching and learning within any
school. One thought: the teacher should not be expected to take on de facto poverty for her or himself. Nor should s/he expect to short the provision of a good, an ambitious, effort at raising children. A teacher isn’t expecting to be rich. But nor should s/he expect poverty nor promise to never marry.
(The original study may be found here)

My operating premise: a teacher’s salary alone should allow the support of a family of four. Whether the spouses share a teaching job or not most are arguing that the raising of children should not be left to the state, to employees. Nor should children be left to their own devices by design or because both adults MUST work because of insufficient pay.

Thus — when you read of the expenses below… think of the single salary that would have to be
earned in order for the teacher be not only teacher but competent and loving nurturer of a family.

---

I am using this entry to update my reader’s understanding of the economic realities that face
a family that receives sustenance from the public for teaching. *

 

Economic Policy Institute’s Estimates of Necessary Income for a Family of 2 Adults and 2 Children In Calendar Year 2004
	Denver, CO	Portland, OR	Bellingham, WA	Olympia, WA	Seattle, WA
Monthly Total	$3,296	$3,109	$2,778	$3,154	$3,315
Annual Total	$39,556	$37,306	$33,335	$37,851	$39,775

The EPI-provided calculator allows family budget determinations for families
of various sizes. (from 1 adult and one child up to 2 adults and 3 children).
Comparison of these variations allows estimation of per child and per adult
costs. In Bellingham, for example, I used this method to estimate the cost of
the beginning nuclear family (or empty nesters, for that matter), a couple.
The annual nuclear family living budget was calculated to be $28,819.

I will use this method as a starting point as I compare a beginning teacher’s
sequence of career salaries in the proposed Denver system to the same teacher’s salary as determined by the Fair Shares salary method.

For purposes of comparison here are the EPI’s anticipated values for Denver,
Portland and Seattle in 2008. I’ve changed the analysis a bit, as you will see,
thus have had the opportunity to look up the other two. Comparison of these three should demonstrate the magnitude of inflationary forces on living expenses operating between 2004 and 2008.

Economic Policy Institute’s Estimates of Necessary Income for A Family of 2 Adults and 2 Children In Calendar Year 2008
	Denver	Portland	Seattle
Monthly Total	$4,381	$4,029	$4,203
Annual Total	$52,572	$48,343	$50,433

In the next table I’ve broken out detailed expense categories for Denver, Portland, Seattle and Other Cities and living circumstances (rural locations in Iowa and Nebraska) in the Midwest and Northwest.

Economic Policy Institute’s Estimates of Necessary Income for Family of 2 Adults and 2 Children In Calendar Year 2008
Category–>Location	Housing	Food	Child-care	Fuel	Transporta-tion	Health-care	OtherNecessities	Taxes	Total per Month	Total per Year
Des Moines Ia	$701	$668	$986	$97	$277	$344	$359	$336	$3,768	$45,215
Rural Iowa	$535	$627	$778	$126	$503	$344	$314	$108	$3,334	$40,005
Minneapolis, Mn	$991	$627	$1,477	$107	$429	$368	$437	$628	$5,063	$60,757
Denver, Co	$948	$627	$1,069	$107	$429	$357	$425	$421	$4,381	$52,572
Portland, Or	$765	$627	$913	$112	$449	$337	$381	$444	$4,029	$48,343
Boise, Id	$698	$627	$919	$97	$388	$459	$358	$217	$3,762	$45,146
Seattle Wa	$890	$627	$1,125	$107	$429	$341	$410	$274	$4,203	$50,433
Rural Ne	$535	$627	$470	$126	$503	$386	$314	-$15	$2,945	$35,343

*It is worth noting that, if a family were free to locate anywhere, location can have a major impact on the costs of living. In the examples listed for 2008 a family of 4 would have 25000 less expenses if living in rural Nebraska instead of Minneapolis/Saint Paul.

Location does matter. A community should expect to render pay that is sufficient to provide a sufficient living. The expenses listed above make it quite clear that one dollar in Denver is purchase equivalent real goods or services as it does in Portland or Seattle or the rural areas of a state. Communities must pay accordingly or lose teachers and lose the opportunity to the best job of raising their children to meet the demands of their individual potentials.

That’s the general principal. To me that’s also central fact of life one which must be dealt with appropriately.

Details of application need more attention.

One example: In Des Moines, Iowa, a new teacher starts out with [pay schedule via downloadable pdf here] pay of $31,278 per year. With successful performance and continued professional training (at her or his own expense) he or she would, after 5 years, be earning $40,648. Sound OK to you?

Not OK!: After five years the teacher is $5000 short of what I argue and demonstrate to be a living wage which allows teachers to do what others of average to high aspiration ask for themselves. A worthy and liveable existence.

Surely, the ‘getting by’ index [my term for the costs of existence which the EPI index shares] has sufficient authority to justify a reexamination and soul searching on the part of the Des Moines School District and many others like them.

If you would have your teacher honor and raise up your children you must honor, respect, and fiscally recognize each teacher’s need for a sufficient livelihood. They too work in order to give to their mate and children what you would give to yours.