Teachers in Hopatcong should be ashamed of themselves. The average worker puts in roughly 250 working day (5 days a week, times 52 weeks, minus 2 weeks vacation) and teachers work 180 days, the state minimum (I was able to do the math because I didn't go to school in Hopatcong). These teachers get paid higher than the teachers in the wealthier Morris County districts, yet Hopatcong schools are rated well below the Morris County schools. Voters in Hopatcong historically vote down the school budgets, and they take every last penny to the budget fatten their lazy wallets. Makes me sick that they make their money off of our hard earned taxed dollars, retire at 60 with a sweet pension, and have the best health plan in the state working 2/3 the amount of you and me, all the while I pay over $9K a year for health insurance when I have to pay a $30 co-pay to see a family doctor and a $300 co-pay for an ER visit. Just makes me sick! Oh, wait, I forgot... It's "for the children"... With test scores in the bottom half of the state. Bang up job they're doing!?

If we terminated the superintendent and did not back fill this vacancy would anyone notice?

The state's data is always highly suspect.

For example, I can't work out a scenario where Hopatcong's "average" teacher's salary could have increased by 28% over two years unless they fired a huge number of new (i.e., cheap) teachers after the 2008/09 school year AND all their remaining teachers were two steps below the Top of the Guide that same year.

The report card shows a 20% increase between 2008/09 and 2009/10. That's preposterous.

Here's a copy of their EA contract. Since the author says she is a data analyst, we'd love to hear how those increases were possible.

http://www.perc.state.nj.us/publicsectorcontracts.nsf/Contracts%20By%20Employer/01B99AA7D307B69085257651006B36EC/$File/Hopatcong%20BE%20and%20Hopatcong%20EA%202008.pdf?OpenElement

One other note - The state should really show average compensation, including health care and pension costs, because that total is what really drives the cost of the school district. Now a days, the health care insurance increases are the most punishing to a board of education or municipality.

Averages are easy to compute and easy to compare, but they are statistically not very useful, since they are not very representative of the data. For example, the average of 50, 60, and 70 is 60, and the average of 25, 60, and 95 is also 60. Folks might be a lot more unhappy if teachers making 25K were working side by side with teachers making 90K than the would be if teachers making 50K were working alongside teachers making 70K. Also, the average of 35, 35, and 110 is also 60. The chart would start to become a lot more useful if it showed the median, the minimum, and the maximum. (People into statistics would love to see the standard deviation or the variance as well.)

One thing that sticks out though is that West Morris Regional has the highest average Admin salaries. And here's a statistic from the chart that is COMPLETELY PREPOSTEROUS: If you subtract the Teachers' two-year percentage change from the Administrators two-year percentage change, you get a number that indicates the degree to which the administrator pay changes have been out of proportion to their teachers' pay changes. For this important statistic, West Morris Regional BLOWS AWAY the others with a gap of 13.5%. Mendam comes in second place with a gap of 10.7%, and Bloomingdale is third with a gap of 7.4%. All others have gaps below 4%, with 14 of the 24 districts having negative gaps, meaning teachers salaries went up while administrator salaries went down. Ask yourself: What's better for the kids?

I guess I should have become a teacher. I worked in the insurance industry for years and when my department was eliminated, I barely made $40,000. based on a 52 week work year with 10 paid vacation days plus I paid quite a bit for my benefits.

ARTICLE IS MISLEADING; My calculation shows the average teacher salary today (~$60k) is exactly in line with the inflation adjusted number from 1985 (~$61.2k) see below:

The author is comparing minimum salaries from 1985, inflation adjusted to today, and then makes a "jump" to inappropriately compare that to today's average salary, saying its $22k higher. Why not compare the inflation adjusted AVERAGE from '85 to today's average? According to an archived article from Education Week (http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1985/09/18/06220025.h05.html) the average teacher was making about $25,000 in the '84-'85 school year. Also, the legislation that was signed in '85 bumped the average starting teacher's salary from $14.9k to $18.5k, a $3.6k increase. If that $3.6k increase is then applied to the $25k average, that adjusts the average 1985 teacher's salary to be ~$28.6k. Finally, using the BLS inflation calculation for 1985 to 2012, that $28.6k becomes ~$61.2k, just over the current average cited by the author.

Therefore, it appears the average salary for NJ teachers has remained almost exactly in line with inflation over the past 27 years, no more, no less (or maybe even a little bit less).

The teachers' salaries are actually not that big, even considering the work hours that are much lower than average. They have a tough and often ungrateful job, especially in elementary schools. It is the perks and the administrators' pay that feed the outrage. Do schools truly need that many administrators that haven't seen the inside of the classroom for decades? And are tenure, Cadillac health plans, sabbaticals, sick days accumulation, defined benefits really a necessity?

The first thing we need to do is get unions out of all government. Even FDR prohibited unions in government recognizing "We can't have servants of the people striking against them.

Teachers salaries and benefits are at appropriate levels when [a] quality teachers are applying for positions and [b] available positions can be filled and [c] turnover is at acceptable levels.
I'd sure like to know what makes administrators so much more costly than teachers. What do teachers think of the value of administrators?
Robin Brueckner

I'm not a teacher but I come from a family of teachers. To say teachers work 180 days a year is inaccurate and the extra hours they put in on lesson plans, grading and other after-hours activities should not be overlooked. Plus I know very few teachers who can actually take their summers off, as most work different jobs through the summers to make ends meet. Also remember that teachers need Masters degrees (sometimes more than one) and often times need extra certifications. Top that off with having to handle ~25 kids everyday (with all different personal issues and levels of maturity) and that's a tough job. While everyone complains about teachers' salaries, no one is saying anything about the lesser educated but higher earning wall street types. 6 figure salaries with 6 or 7 figure bonuses while our economy is in the toilet. We're paying for their abuse of the system, but since our taxes reflect the school budget we take out our anger on the educators of our children. I think we're misdirecting our frustration at the easier targets.

Dang, if Colleen O'Day says it....It won't be long before Hopatcong is used as the poster child for what's wrong with education in this state. Teachers and Administrators making way over the state average but our kids testing and scoring on the SAT are below state average. Hell, 25% percent of our kids aren't even proficient in basic math. Nice to know that our ever-rising taxes are going to the kids

Hey folks... $60 K is NOT a huge salary. Nobody earning that amount is dining out five nights a week, or planning to send a kid to Princeton (barring scholarships).

Look instead at the disparity between what the teachers get and what the administrators get.... and while you're at it, look at how MANY administrators and vice-principals and principals-in-waiting are bellying up to the public table.

Suggestion: Sack one out of three adminstrators, and all but one vice-principal per district, and redistribute the money among the TEACHERS, who are the ones doing the real work.

Teacher salaries are much too high. They are nothing more than high priced baby sitters. I think we should just pay them minimum wage for what they do. So let's see... $7.50 per hour, six hours a day, 180 days a year = $8,100. But they are not just babysitting one child, they are babysitting about 25 kids in their class, so multiply $8,100 by 25 and you get $202,500. Maybe they're not paid so much after all!!!

I really don't feel teacher salaries are out of control , I think what bothers most of us is the union situation. In the real world we don't get contracts we live in fear every day of getting fired or our positions getting eliminated .
In the private sector we have all managed to get gouged for health insurance and our vacation time gets smaller every year.

Tenure for teachers should not even exist - Should have been eliminated years ago - Keep attacking the schools Christie, ALL of NJ schools need to start having large cuts in employees

Hopatcong has to many schools for such a small town, school board really needs to start merging together like other "Smart" towns

I personally believe you all are being a bit ridiculous, just because teachers saleries seem high (to you) doesn't necessarily mean they are. Look at this way, teachers are technically professionals in the area they teach, such as history, math, literature, etc. Yes, obviously there are problems with test scores, but that doesn't give anyone the right to bash away at the students and faculty. I can agree there are teachers who completely take advantage of their pay, but dont they have that everywhere? Professional atheletes complaining because they lost a million off there multiple million dollar contract, I believe that's rather ridiculous. But that is off topic a little bit, anyway, instead of all you people gathering here like a local salt lick, if the teachers pay really bothers you that much, why dont you do something about (Which I dont think there is anythign wrong with it), but instead of just talking trash. Seems a bit immature.

I have for children in the LV school district. To say that our teachers are glorified babysitters is completely insulting. All four of my children have received IEP (extra help) at one point or another. My daughter who is currently a freshman at WMCHS has made high honor roll this entire year after being considered special needs at BAC. That is through the intervention, guidance and direction that these teachers and administration have provided. They are thorough, very in tune with each child's specific needs and genuinely care. If my tax dollars are paying for that kind of babysitting, I'll take it and gladly pay for it!

You live in Upper Middle Class Long Valley, not Working Class Hopatcong. If you want to pay teachers to put in extra effort, and you have the money, great. The working class of Hopatcong does not have the disposable income that people in Long Valley have, but we have a higher tax percentage, and MUCH worse schools.

You are ALL in Luck

In New Jersey, you can go alternate route and join easy street as a teacher.

You might want to read these two links first, however

http://www.ocean.edu/campus/osr/alternate.htm

http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin252.shtml

Good Luck all, and know this too. Almost 50% of the alternate route teachers DO NOT return to teaching after their first year. Most of them say it was much harder than the job they left, and that is because teaching is like an iceberg. What you see is only 10% of the total job, but it is the remaining 90% that makes teaching so difficult.

@Brian I have to side with Stacie, most of us here in Long Valley do not have disposable income. I too am a stay at home mom married to a blue collar worker and we make alot of sacrifices.

The reason everyone is a self-declared expert on education is because everyone was, at one time, a student. The same cannot be said for other professions. I fly as a passenger in jets all the time, but that doesn't make me an expert on piloting!

The haters would run, after having peed themselves and crying like babies, after trying to teach a rough class. The haters have no clue how many of these kids don't eat right, are up to 3am doing...whatever...and coming to school on 3 hrs' sleep. The haters have no clue how much many of these kids party, drink, smoke, etc., and come to school under the influence. The haters have no clue how many of these kids are caring for family members. The haters have no clue how many of these kids don't care one iota about learning anything. The haters have no clue that some kids miss 20, 30, 40, or more days of school (or parts of days), but the system can't handle retaining them.

Imagine being an Algebra II teacher in high school and most of your class struggles with basic addition and times tables.

Imagine being told, by a 15 yr old, to "shut the f*** up!" and then after calling home, daddy says, "what did YOU do to get him so upset?"

In private industry, if you make blueberry pie and you get a shipment of less-than-ideal blueberries, you throw them out or send them back. Public school teachers are expected to make awesome adults from, sometimes, really subpar blueberries. In fact, sometimes strawberries come through the door.

One more thing, people: the State Report Cards show median, not average salary. After Christie's chainsaw two years ago, many at the bottom were cut, which pushes up the median salary figure. That does not mean everyone got a big raise, just that those with bigger salaries survived.

And the median teacher has about ten years' experience (varies by district) and frequently holds a master's degree. The typical administrator has a master's (required) and usually 15 - 20 years' experience. I imagine someone in accounting or engineering with 10 yrs' experience and a master's is making a LOT more than $60K, more than offsetting the days worked issue.

Mike, Bridgewater had a "Be a Teacher For a Day" program. A Lawyer had volunteered to come in and teach a 3rd grade class. She was appalled when she ask for the lesson plans for her teaching day, when she was told she was expected to make them and then pulled her name from the program.

How many folks in corporate America who wake up sick, run into work to leave lesson plans, for their substitute worker? Ever been in a school an hour or two before it opens. You can count on seeing at least one sick teacher there, leaving lesson plans for the day!

I know people who teach in Special Ed. They are beaten, kicked, bit, and Lord knows what else on an almost daily basis by at least one of their students. How many people in corporate America would tolerate behavior like that in their work place?.

One more point - Schools are obligated to take whoever shows up at their door. The only restrictions are residency and age. Now just for kicks, imagine how well your local McDonalds, Bank, Gas Station..... would be running with a workforce of anyone who happened to show up?

No offence to anyone on this thread, but I would have to assume if you are only making $40K after 10 years, 1) You do not hold a college degree. and 2) your not a stellar worker, at least not in the eyes of your bosses anyway!! Also, this is a free country, so if you think you are worth $75K a year, quit that 40K job and go get a $75K job!

I've seen others post similar ideas, but since I feel the need to weigh in, I'll post a repeat. Many private sector jobs also allow tuition reimbursement. On top of that, a teacher's workday doesn't end at 2:30. As a high school English teacher, I find myself entering the school at 6:45, leaving at 3 then doing at least 2 hour of work at home, and that's just during the week. On the weekends I put in at least 3 hours a day. Many people on here seem to think the job is so easy and we're overpaid. If that's the case, why didn't you go into teaching as a career? Seems like that would be the intelligent thing to do if you think the profession is so stellar in terms of perks and pay. While you're considering that, please consider the fact that we're asked to deal with things beyond the curriculum itself. Have you ever had to announce to students that their classmate committed suicide? Died in a drunk driving accident? Had to counsel them after the fact? Had a teenager come to you because they were scared to go home because their parent beat them and was bound to be drunk on any given night? Had a student confide in you that they were gay and afraid to come out to their parents because they were born-agains? Spent extra time helping students fill out their college applications because their parents had no idea how to do it? I'm not suggesting that I should be paid a six-figured salary for this, but my 62 thousand is nothing exorbitant given the contents of my workday.

And one more thing....do you regularly spend money on supplies for your workplace because the budget of your job doesn't allow for whatever that item is? Just wondering, because I do (and I know elementary teachers spend way more than I do) and we only get to write off $250 of it on our taxes.

I'm admittedly split on tenure but what I will say is that I have seen several tenured teachers get fired in my seven years of teaching. So it's not like tenure is the be all , end all.

Jessica is the perfect example of the teachers that I have grown to know and love in our 10 years in Long Valley. EVERY single thing she said and does has been my experience. It IS exemplary!! Right down to comforting children with family issues. When my niece committed suicide, my kid's teachers, staff and administration rallied around them and let them know they were there for all of us. My kids receive an excellent education but these people who dedicate so much more than the education aspect are invaluable.

My husband and I considered moving down to North Carolina at one point to save money as the cost of living is SO much better. Then I started investigating the schools. The best schools there are equivalent to the "average" schools in NJ per the federal report card ratings.

I'm happy to have my tax dollars pay qualified teachers decent salaries so I don't have to spend money on private schooling to provide them a good education. Actually, an excellent education.

You get what you pay for.

Side note, you could not pay me enough to be a teacher. Especially given the mentalcase parents they have to deal wtih every day. My friends are teachers and I think they're saints when I hear the stories.

Another interesting statistic from the above chart is the average admin salary vs. the average teacher salary for each district. The range is huge, from 2.52 to 1 for Mendham, down to 1.56 : 1 for Hopatcong and 1.44 : 1 for Unity Charter School.
That figure shows just how bloated the admin salaries are in some districts (or how underpaid the teachers are in those districts, you decide.).

Here's the chart showing that figure:

District Avg Admin Salary as a % of Avg Teacher Salary
Mendham Boro 252%
Green Brook Twp 242%
Watchung Boro 234%
West Morris Regional 229%
Montville Twp 220%
Bloomingdale Boro 219%
Bridgewater-Raritan Reg 214%
Jefferson Twp 210%
Warren Twp 204%
Bernards Twp 201%
Mendham Twp 200%
Chathams 196%
Madison Boro 194%
Butler Boro 192%
Chester Twp 188%
Watchung Hills Regional 184%
Washington Twp 182%
Morris Plains 180%
Hillsborough Twp 173%
Kinnelon Boro 172%
Parsippany-Troy Hills Twp 168%
Morris School District 164%
Hopatcong 156%
Unity Charter School 144%

I honestly can't believe how miserable people must be to say the things they do. We don't have to agree with one another but we don't need to completely insult one another either. It's an open forum but this gets ridiculous.

Hey taxpayers, you don't think after 2008 you're federal income taxes helped bailout Goldman Sachs, AIG and other such entities, meaning that many people who were contempuous of you, offered to society and made money off your losses continued to collect your money to maintain their obscene salaries. Then you begrudge teachers, who have chosen to go into the most noble profession, a barely livable salary. Your priorities are seriously messed up. And if you don't question that hypocrisy than you are just another brainwashed sheep who has fallen for the propoganda slyly promoted by Chris Christie and company.

The average in our town is $78,000 and I would hardly call that a barely livable salary. The people in Hopatcong are pissed because the teachers were asked to take a pay freeze for one year and they said it's not about the children, it's about my 4.5% raise nor do they want to accept responsibility for their students who can't even test TO the state average much less above it. Plus their union rep didn't even bother to show up at the meeting to discuss it. They were willing to slit their own throats than pull together and save all jobs. Combine that with the fact that our schools are the worst in Sussex county but have the highest paid teachers and Administrators in the County. Does that make any sense to you?? Not to mention as said in the article, our last super was the highest paid in the STATE! Guess who's paying for his 180,000 retirement?? This town is a complete embarrassment from the way they run it to the over paid, under performing teachers and the many many useless Admin jobs paying over 80,000.(While the good doc fires 10 or so teachers 2 years ago, he hires his friends for a nice cushy Admin position) We have a serious problem in this town and the sheeple need to wake the hell up and start voting in people who actually gives a shit about somebody other than themselves.

ThinkClearly....unfortunately, you aren't....the money "spent" by the government was actually "investments" that paid off handsomely for the taxpayers. Effectively, these "bailouts" - as you call them - actually REDUCED the deficit because the government got more money BACK than it initially GAVE to these entities - that's known as a "good deal" for the government! The only Really BAD investments the government made was to GM; in that deal, the government gave away the company to the unions, and, so far, its been a big loser for taxpayers.
As for obscene salaries, what you & your types don't understand is that those salaries are determined by the free market, and Wall Street has regular purges of people, allowing them to actively restructure and keep their organizations competitive & fresh. Why are teachers afraid to let the free market determine their compensation? Why do they need anti-competitive unions bribing public officials to support their sweetheart deal contracts? Perhaps its because teaching is a cushy, 9 months out of the year job, and if anyone could get in, salaries would plummet? And I hate to take this line of reasoning, because most people who feel that we need to reign in public employees have a great deal of respect for teachers, police, fireman, etc., but are sick & tired of their bullying, bribing unions...THATS the problem!

Jersey:
Let me ask you a question: you probably have 2 or 3 kids in the public school system, right?; and each kid costs $15,000 a year to educate, right?....so are you paying property taxes equivalent to support those bills, i.e., if you have three kids in the PS system, are your property taxes $45,000? And that's just the cost of the schools; add in fire, police, etc... anyway, my guess is no, you aren't paying property taxes that are anywhere near the services you utilize...so do you know who is paying to educate your kids?

Brian...what's your problem? If you are so angry about Hopatcong....then MOVE!! I will continue being happy with LV, the teachers, schools and administration. Maybe it's time you go back to where you grew up if you're that frustrated with your town. With regard to your snide remark about comforting kids is the parents job....you just don't get or want to see the bigger picture and I feel sorry for you.

@Stacie-MOVE? Really? I'm sure he'd love to. Would you be willing to buy his house that is now worth 2/3 or less of what he paid for it a few years ago yet still taxed at what it was worth those same few years ago? Would you be willing to buy his house and put your children in a school system that is "almost" performing at the state average? Would you be willing to buy his house knowing that if you need emergency services they will have to take the long way to your house because Hopatcong has no ordinances against on street parking and so many park their boats and project cars in their driveways and their cars on the street? Would you be willing to buy his house knowing that ordinances regarding property upkeep are not enforced and it's likely that your neighbor will let their lawn grow knee high, use a broken washing machine for a lawn ornament and not bother to clean up garbage strewn across their driveway by an animal? If so, bring your real estate agent and your lawyer and come on over to Hopatcong. If you don't find Brian's house suits your needs or is to your liking come check out my house that was on the market for a year and is currently rented out. I'll be glad to sell you mine. Just love how people respond to other people's dissatisfaction with Hopatcong by saying "MOVE". Gee, why didn't we think of that?

been there done that:
A few things, what types like you don't understand is that countless maggots at Goldman Sachs and AIG, etc. distorted the function of their companies, using money that wasn't theirs to turn their workplaces into casinos to enrcih themselves. The derivatives they were using contributed nothing to society, were unethical and in many cases illegal. When their scam went bust. WE, all, paid for it including compensation toward these creeps' lavish salaries (so much for getting paid based on performance, a bedrock principle of free markets).

But, here is what types like you really don't understand. Teaching. The skill set required of teachers is like no other profession. They must juggle dozens of cognitive processes simultaneously for six hours with a few short breaks in between. Most teachers are still working into the night. Most work through the summer. Free markets do not apply to education. Children are not "products" to be manufactured. School is not an assembly line. Education does not lend itself to free markets. Types like you will never understand this. I could give you lots of reasons why teachers need unions, but here is just one, to protect themselves against misguided and harmful ideologies like yours. And, I love how you cherry-pick teachers unions influencing politicians. In actuality, their unions are just another lobbying group just like the oil companies, Wall street, Farmers, etc.

Sounds like anybody wanting to run for a political office in Hopatcong would have an easy time winning the election by promising to clean things up. Seems like a real mess based on the posts on here. Is there anybody who lives there who dislikes it enough to run for office and make some positive changes?

I think everyone is taking what Stacie is saying out of context. She just made a point that she is happy with Long Valley Teachers as am I. From what I read she is not all up in Hopatcongs business nor is she bashing the place. I really do feel for all of you that have to deal with those types of problems. Stacie is a very nice woman and I hate to see her comments twisted.

I am sorry for those who are unhappy in Hopatcong. And Long Valley is certainly not perfect. But I understand Stacie's comments completely. And Brian's statement about a parent being the one to comfort chldiren was uncalled for. Of course we comfort our children but when tragedy strikes and your child has to be at school 7 hours a day it is comforting to know that you can count on the teachers and staff to be understanding.

No school district is without it's problems. There are good and bad apples everywhere and we have all seen our home values decrease. I feel your frustrations. Let's not take them out on each other.

I appreciate your support cv and GiGi. I am growing to dislike the Patch because it seems impossible to even state an opinion without someone jumping down your throat. Then when you defend yourself, all hell breaks loose and your opinion is called BS and that you're on a high horse. It's boring really and too frustrating to not be able to use this forum for what it reall is meant for...friendly debate and/or simply posing an opinion.

To Watcher - Stacie is responding to something on the LV Patch

This article came up on the Long Valley patch also.

Yes, Watcher. Thank you for watching me!

And quite frankly, you care why, Watcher?

Actually, I am sorry Watcher. I am frustrated with how things are so taken out of context and you certainly don't deserve me being everything I hate in how people respond. It was disrespectful and I'm sorry.

I'm not sure but sometimes you end up on the Hudson Count Patch even if you start in LV or Morris. Thank you for accepting my apology. I was a jerk.

I am a special ed. teacher and have been for seventeen years. I love my job and especially my students but I tell every young person who is interested in teaching to find another career, including my own daughter. After all these years, I make less than $60,000 and with the caps will probably never make that much money. Therefore, several days during the week, I leave school to work a second job at night until 11pm. I work weekends and summers, too. Then I go home and plan lessons, write reports and grade papers. With four children and the last two presently in college, working two jobs is a necessity. I am happy to say two have graduated (and are not teachers) but have a ton of loans to pay back even with my help. I work with hard working,caring teachers who do a lot more than anyone will ever know. I am sickened reading these comments of fools who need to walk a mile in a teacher's shoes and then tell us how easy it is to be a teacher.