European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday May 30, 1986 readers fire Back at writer irked at teacher pay i am Nai a teacher bul i would like to reply to the Anonymous idler which complained about teachers recent pay raises. I wonder if the writer has Ever spent a Day or a week or years in a classroom of 30 students first Grade 12th Grade or any thing in Between and tried to not Only keep order but actually meet the educational needs of each child from observation i know that this is no easy task. Being a Good teacher requires on going education commitment Dedica Tion and caring about Ilic students. What would 11 Cost you in terms of time Energy and emotional and material re sources if you were to give your child Chil Dren a Quality education at Home rather than have someone better qualified a it for you on a doily basis. Someone in some profession is always going to be making More Money thin you arc or i am. Goof teachers deserve every raise i hey get Linda c. Erickson Raf Alconbury England. The writer seems to be trying to excite envy in military and / regular civil service parents by citing the 9 per cent and 7 percent pay raises Given teach ers the last two years. As Welcome As these were however they Only bring Dodds teachers Brick up to the pay Levels they enjoyed in 1973-74. .,.-. A few years ago the military received a healthy id percent increase in pay. Bui 10 percent More than what the base Sala Ries were Low to begin with and the raise Only served to malic military careers slightly More attractive. Relax we teachers expect to get dumped on again a Tew years Down the Road. That seems to be the constant lot or at persons in the Public  Robert Johnson Kapanna As Germany As professionals an annual raise is part of the incentive provided to expand our skills and increase the Quality of Edu cation provided to family members All members of the work Force need and de serve an annual raise i doubt anyone will dispute this even with this pay raise the Dodds teachers fell below the National average pay increase of 7.2 percent. As i m sure Many Are aware teachers salaries nation wide Are still significantly below other employees in comparable professions. Thi current Aba research arid  s Endicott report find that nationwide beginning teachers in school year 1985-86 make an average $11,000 less than a beginning Engineer in aver Uge s9.000 less irian a computer technician and an average s4.qog less than a general bus Ness graduate since pay increases arc not the Issue then what Are Dodds teachers complaining about i suggest that you ask any teacher overseas and you will hear a similar response. The Dod school system has taken a lion s share of the Granv Rudman mandatory cutbacks at 10.9 per cent when other agencies arc talking 4.9 percent. And those cuts Are in areas that affect the Quality of your child s Educa Tion. Jan m. Pepelnjak Frankfurt. The Altitude that fins pervaded our society of treating teachers As second class citizens and paying them a Bare minimum is what has gotten so Many slates in Edu uti onal hot water students cannot . Having taught in the slates 1 feel that i Odds offers its students a Quality Edu cation that is unsurpassed in Many Stales. Besides the obvious cultural advantages Dodds provides excellent textbooks materials and supplies and also Quality educators. However to say that Dodds provides everything i need would be unfeasible. Most leathers buy supplies and professional material out at their own pocket and Are not reimbursed. How Many Mili tary or civil service personnel have to equip their offices and do not receive compensation 1 guarantee if the disgruntled parents were to add up our extra class room expenditures you would see a Large amount of personal income going towards i he classroom. I do resent the disgruntled parents who do not understand what it is like to be a teacher usually they have not spent any time volunteering in the school and Only come to school to attend the mandatory full conferences. Teachers Are shaping the lives of 2i students every 10 months. We provide one of the most necessary and most important services in our american society and should be treated As the respected. Important professionals that we Are. Company being All it can be i have to write this letter to say that i be never worked with and beside such a fantastic group of people this company is doing a lot of things for the support of their company and families. It s sort of like one lakes care of the other and vice versa. When a bake Sale is needed the spouses come through with very Little notice. The company comes through by contributing and All around enjoying what we bake. We just had a company party which i loved again the spouses and company came through Tor each other As i know we will in the future i m talking about b co 141st signal in in  people Ore terrific they make me proud to say my husband is part of the company and i m proud of be in the midst of the nicest people i be Ever met. Can be assured and 1 thank you does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thanks for letting me and my family be a part of in Alt Brett i Ray Ansbach Germany walk proudly b co., you you re being All you can be Ai for it your hard work Doe if my letter still has not enlightened these disgruntled Parent let me leave you with one lust thought if you think Edu cation is expensive have you tried Igno Rance. Lauren Sec Parniuk Zweifl Ruesken and Germany let me begin by stating simply that a society that values its children should place a  on the professionals who influence those children teachers salaries then should be a reflection of what people think about i heir children and the future. First of All the salaries of Dodds teachers Are by Law based on the average salaries paid to teachers in school districts of similar size scattered across the United states. Regarding teachers salaries Gener ally then let me cite a few things that the irked writer might not have been aware of. Metropolitan life just two months ago match i986 published the results of a nationwide Survey by Louis Harris associates. Called the Survey of former teachers in America in tried to answer the question of Why so Many teachers have left the profession. The main reasons according to the Survey were poor salaries and poor working conditions sixty percent of former teachers cite poor salaries As the chief reason for Leav ing the classroom. Another 36 percent named such poor working conditions As too much paperwork too Many non teach ing duties and a Lack of input about their jobs. What  leaving  to these former teachers according to the Survey the average former it actor experienced in immediate 19 percent Rise in Sal Ary and much less stress on their new jobs. The Point of All this is quite Sim ple. There is no Job shortage far Quality people. If we Ivani Quality people to enter the leaching profession and stay. Then we be got to pay them what their Worth. The intrinsic Joys of teaching arc no longer enough to keep Good teachers in the classroom. Only a very Small minority arc willing to be martyrs or their profession sacrificing their Ami ties and their future. Experts say that to Avert a pending crisis in our nation s schools we have to attract Over 1 million talented College graduates into leaching Over the next seven years. If we re going to accomplish this the problems of Low pay poor work ing conditions and Low prestige have got to be addressed by everyone irked Reader included ankle cd Vicenza. Italy the Quality of education your child gets is directly proportional to the Quality of the teacher. Several years ago Dodds und Many stateside schools were suffering from a teacher shortage. Colleges a lid universities were not graduating enough because the pay and some of the working conditions were less than Ideal. What Good teachers were left began leaving in search of better paying jobs. With thanks to president Cugan and a return to conservative values the leaching profession was. Put Back on a Pedestal where it belongs. Much of their Success can be linked to pay raises incentive pays and continuation Bouses. Dodds teachers did receive a catch up pay and i believe they arc scheduled for several More. The military received a 14/7 percent pay raise in july of i9so, this helped us fix our tagging retention prob Lem. I deserve the same consideration As he military. The Quality of our teachers is Buck where it belongs. I deeply believe we should recognize their talents and give them an a Edward Tull ten Athens Greece Drivers want their Side known we have taken notice of the recent Arti Cle Boycott by Tan Drivers urged with astonishment we seriously regret that such statements have been made by taxi Drivers in Frankfurt. At the same time we want to emphasize that our taxi association has nothing to do with the initiators of these intrigues but strictly condemns the same. We would greatly appreciate in if our standpoint could be stated in the stars and stripes to prevent uncertainty among our customers. Peter  chairman of the Board taxi association Abeln Maln  the april 27 article in the stars an stripes described How leaflets were distributed among taxi driven urging the not to take customers seeking Traa Sporia Hon to us. Military installations. The1,700 member Frankfurt taxi association denied responsibility for Ike leaflets signed by the Frankfurt tax Drivers  traveler seeks items lost on tour bus i am writing in Hymi of Btung Mia to it cow Mai list j Tot on in amt my Lour bul Mitha in kind i fwd 1. I Ruhr Ltd turn i Lour or Hail nov Ltd Wlms changed bump in Man Halm Lor my swing Llort Bac id  i led rw3 Mckno on Ike Overhus  mod of Fth unfit wort  i had Purina Ltd and i can put a trim Ihal hut. In new a Ihm Hummel pint of Lour singing pm mini outta Holto int a i Nova four unt Nullo of Mellon it expend. I Hava Chi cad Ullh me lout a ency which Alia checked with it but Del Var. I Rould nope thai Youyun Hilp it ten Dkl win it it � Peg to who look a Bui id ii following Igot Lionti Bulluch Tatu in Frankfurt Dar Mindl. Hanan. Fulda utri Burg Aie Tonwen Schwat furl furl a the amount we re trying to keep besides that How Many congressmen have had their orders changed right before they pcs this happened to a fellow in my husband s unit last month. Fortunately they bad not signed a contract on a Home in the states yet. Abo Haw can you wisely Aisys schools churches neighbourhoods Etc. In a strange town on a Short toy we have written to realtors in the area where we re going. They Are More than willing to help us of course however now thanks to the Gramm Rudman Hollings act our pcs u in sep tember. This is 105 Days beyond our re investment time limit. So there we Are How Many other families Are in this same boat fortunately base housing will be Avail Able at the base where were going �0 Days Afler we arrive. We certainly won t have the Money to buy a House. So unless someone can brainstorm an appropriate so Lution Well say Bye Bye Money and Home ownership Linda Goeldl Raf Gre spam common Enmund