Comments on: After looking up salaries, a teacher ponders the implications

By: Clive Crisp

Clive Crisp — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:41:29 +0000

The public knowing serves the good of transparency. What’s interesting is you don’t have a problem with looking up your Principal’s and brother’s salaries, then commenting on their salaries in a negative light, but you don’t want your salary published.

By: ruben

ruben — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:57:48 +0000

I personally don’t see much point to having access to teachers’ salaries, but I also don’t see any problem with it. Like both previous comments point out, it’s already possible to find this information with a basic knowledge of the salary steps. The whole idea is to promote transparency, not for teachers (although I did look up a couple of the do-nothing veterans at my school just to relish in the unfairness of it all), but more so for the higher-ups working for Bloomberg and Klein. It’s important that those at the upper ranks of the DOE are held accountable for their salaries, and it would have been unreasonable to selectively post some DOE employees salary information and not others.

By: miss malarkey

miss malarkey — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:10:55 +0000

To be honest, I don’t see how the public knowing specifically what *I* make, or what my colleagues make, serves any greater good. As Ms. Brave points out, it’s not hard to find the salary schedule. I think that there are definite problems with taxpayer dollars and waste, but I just don’t see how this database does anything to correct that. Are they implying that my salary is a waste of taxpayer money? I also looked up my brother’s salary (I know, bad sister) who works for another state agency, and he makes almost as much as I do despite having less education and a job that is much more stress free. Maybe I should see if they are hiring.