Letters to the Editors

Teachers' salaries are fair

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 28, 2000

Re: Adequacy of Pasco teachers' salaries, July 23 letters.

Editor: Letters by Mark S. Alper and Lilyan Dayton argued that based on their analyses, teachers are receiving relatively low wages for the important work they perform. They figured hourly pay at $9.75 and $12.36, after factoring in hours worked away from school. No monetary value was given to fringe benefits that include employer contributions to their pensions, Social Security, health insurance, paid holidays as well as sick and personal days. The teacher pay packet, consequently, is difficult for outsiders to evaluate. But we can compare the amount of time teachers have to spend at their school with normal work days from the rest of us.

Using the official Pasco school calendar for 2000-2001, we find that the teachers' school year will run Aug. 7 through May 30, 2001, a period of 213 weekdays. After subtracting 14 otherwise normal work days, but not the two embedded paid holidays falling in the periods of the winter and spring vacations, we are left with a teacher workload of 199 days, or 1,592 hours based on an eight-hour day.

These numbers should be contrasted with the standard workload in business, industry and the federal government, which is 260 days, or 2,080 hours. In addition to their eight paid annual holidays, Pasco teachers have 11 paid planning and in-service days without any students to teach on these days.

If we take Dayton's hypothetical $30,000 teacher and divide by the 1,592 hours actually worked in the year, we find that the true hourly wage is $18.84, exclusive of any cost of fringe benefits. Teachers deserve fair compensation, and I think that after taking all these factors into a balanced analysis, they are receiving it. Quick proof: $18.75 times 2,080 hours equals $39,000 in annual salary, plus benefits. Not bad for this area.
-- George H. Lane, New Port Richey

Winn-Dixie ads alienate seniors

Editor: Winn-Dixie has adopted a new policy that has a very far-reaching, deleterious effect for the senior citizens in this and all retirement areas.

Senior citizens and retirees tend to be on fixed incomes and no matter how intelligent, may not be able to afford computer setups. Winn-Dixie now advertises that it is smarter to use priceline.com and save up to 50 percent on groceries each week. They imply that we who are not online are not as smart as the other (read: younger) shoppers who can point at the man in line ahead of them and state "I only paid $2 for my coffee and he paid $4."

They have already closed my neighborhood Winn-Dixie and we were willing to travel the extra mile to the next nearest store. Now this! I have a message for Winn-Dixie.

I hope the credit card buyers take up enough slack for you to make up for losing me and lots of others as customers. I not only am an ex-Winn-Dixie shopper, I am also an ex-Winn-Dixie store employee.
-- George L. Jennings, Elfers

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