My kid’s district just upped their step 1 salary over 50k for the first time ever. Not a heck of a lot of bachelor’s degree- required jobs that still hire under 50k, regardless of area. The teachers in this district also went without any sort of raise for five years. Not even a cost of living increase all that time.

And from what I hear, benefits aren’t what they used to be, either. High deductible plan that’s not too different from my own.

That’s pretty abysmal for a college-educated profession, if you ask me.

Central bucks may be much better off money-wise, I don’t know. They may also have a faculty that leans older and therefore has accumulated better salaries, I don’t know. And as the other guy said, adding benefits to someone’s salary like that is disingenuous.

Edit: Shit, sorry, I totally ducked that up. It’s actually a starting salary just over 30k for the first time. Holy shit lol

Yea. It’ll be interesting to see what happens down the line in these states where they’re handing out certs to all sorts of people in hopes of filling the vacancies.

I’ll say it a million times: Everyone loves to bitch about teachers. They always have. But when your kids are home all the time or there are kids out and about at all hours of the day because schools are canceling classes from lack of teachers, tunes will change pretty quickly.

The ugly reality is that most of us wouldn’t make it a year as a teacher. We wouldn’t put up with their abysmal salaries and working conditions. It’s a thankless job that too many people have spit on for too long, and it’s gonna come back to bite us big time.

It sucks because, let’s all be honest, yea, there are some deranged adults out there who prey on kids. So that modicum of truth is all these people need to blanket-statement everyone involved in schools or even “the left” as Tromba is quoted in the interview.

I will never speak for God, but I will say that I have a hunch God doesn’t want to be invoked in a flimsy way as justification to hurt people who aren’t like you, let alone cast as “evil” half of the country who doesn’t vote like you do.

True

Yea it just makes me sad and angry as a parent. I read an article where a dad at the bus stop said this was totally preventable and people need to slow the hell down in areas with lots of kids.

And let me guess: the driver was driving a massive truck or SUV and was the only person inside it.

I think the implication is that they still have their communications person, but then they also hired this PR firm, so kind of an added cost whereas internal rearrangement or something could have been much less expensive.

Maybe they fired the communications person you’re speaking of when they hired this firm?

Just remember: it’s not news if you don’t like it!

No way. I’m so shocked.

Seriously, this stuff is so gross. The rich just keep getting richer.

Why did Biden end the strike? Was he afraid of more severe inflation if the trains would stop running? Honest question. I didn’t quite get all of that when it was happening.

Pottsville and the areas between it and places like Hamburg and the Reading suburbs are slowly coming up to speed.

Pottsville itself just had its two hospitals taken over by Lehigh Valley in the last couple years, so the quality of services there and at other offices in the area have increased a bit. There is also a brand-new St.Luke’s hospital that opened last year on route 61 between Pottsville and Orwigsburg.

Pottsville is deceptively large and has different neighborhoods. Not many homeowners actually live in the downtown area; most of the “city” homes are in the blocks that run up from the main drag on Centre Street.

There are a handful of local business owners who have hosted a spate of new restaurants downtown in the last 5ish years, and Yuengling is in the process of handing the reins down from Dick to his daughters, and they are hosting more and more events and becoming more involved in the community.

For someone older not looking for a big scene or anything, it’s really not a bad place. In my opinion, Pottsville is on the edge right now of which way it might go. Plenty of community really steering it in good directions, but also lots of county seat and “city” problems that the local government needs to adapt to quickly.

Pottsville and Orwigsburg would be the only two places in Schuylkill County I would want to live if having access to more modern services is at all important to you.

Seriously. The mornings are already starting to feel like early spring mornings, well before the sun is even up.

It’s probably gonna be like the last 5 years or whatever when we get a blizzard at the very end of March/early April. Ugh.

I lived in New England for six years. I lived in NYC for a year. I know some of the other living situations out there. You presume much. Your comments make more sense to me now.

It’s behind the times, but I wouldn’t call it a “hellscape.” It has a certain charm, and to some who live here, crowded 4-lane highways lined with Paneras and Jersey Mikes as far as the eye can see is more terrifying.

There is history here and good people and opportunities for those who care. I can speak for Pottsville in particular: just got a state-of-the-art Alvernia Campus on top of a slew of new small businesses downtown (axe-throwing place going in soon, new ice cream shop). Yuengling is slowly but surely increasing their community involvement and events as the new guard moves in.

Don’t truly judge a place until you live it and actually know it. And if you lived here 20 years ago, it’s not the same.

Just let the teachers teach. They’re the education professionals, and just like any profession, the overwhelming majority do a spectacular job. As a parent, I trust my kid’s teachers fully until they give me a legitimate reason not to. All of this goose chasing and fear mongering over scattered (and often unproved) rumors is wasted time and energy.

Agreed. That’s how we are these days, though. Most of us are in our respective bubbles, pretty much unwilling to listen to stuff that we don’t already agree with. Pretty depressing, really.

Very true, but unfortunately it’s just typical headline writing for either “side” of the issues these days.

There are great journalists out there, but never forget that any media company needs to make money somehow.

Interesting. So why are you ok with state and local governments inserting themselves into people’s lives in the ways I mentioned?

Maybe you can explain to me: How is stuff like limiting women’s healthcare and telling teachers what to teach and companies what they’re allowed to say deemed “smaller government”?

Sounds good, will do.

Thanks, man, same!

Not me, sorry. I will admit that I have feelings, even when it comes to internet strangers. We’re all human and should just try to help one another. Sorry for the fucks.

You don’t have feelings? Dang, man, I didn’t realize. Honestly, I’m sorry. I don’t know why anyone would say something like that seemingly with pride.