Teachers across the country face pay freezes and possible layoffs, but the heads of the two biggest teachers unions saw their pay jump 20 percent last year, to nearly half a million dollars apiece.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten's pay jumped to $407,323 between 2010 and 2011, while her counterpart at the National Education Association, Dennis Van Roekel, got a raise to $362,644. Factor in stipends and other paid expenses and Weingarten took in $493,859 and Van Roekel $460,060 for 2011.

The big salaries drew jeers from many educators and their advocates in the US, where the average nationwide salary for teachers is a scant $44,000 a year. By contrast, nearly 600 staffers at the NEA and AFT are raking in six-figure salaries, according to Association of American Educators Executive Director Gary Beckner.

“In terms of salaries, union executives rake in nearly 10 times the average household income and far more than any teacher," Beckner said. “Are teachers or anyone in the private sector experiencing those increases in times of financial hardship?"

The union bigwigs are well-insulated from the paycheck-to-paycheck lives of most schoolteachers, said Tracie Happel, an elementary school teacher in Lacrosse, Wisc., who has spoken out in the past against the practices of the unions.

“It’s always about the union. It’s never about the teachers or students,” Happel said. “When you’re a teacher, you know you will not always be able to have the money for renovations on a house or go away on vacation, but it’s a tough pill to swallow when you can’t do those things when the people who are supposed to represent us get paid more and more every year.”

Happel added that while she is safe for now, many of her colleagues in worse situations. “They are finding it hard to pay their bills. They are having trouble with basic monthly bills.”

Officials for the NEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

READ FULL SOURCE ARTICLE

Editor's Note: But, but...unions fight for the workers...right?...Right???...


The BasicsProject.org informational and educational pamphlet series is now available for Kindle and iPad. Click here to find out more...


The New Media Journal and BasicsProject.org are not funded by outside sources. We exist exclusively on tax deductible donations from our readers and contributors. Please make a tax deductible donation today.