#NJPatchChat Chatters Split on How to Pay Cops, Teachers

We had a pretty light crowd on our latest#NJPatchChat Twitter discussion Thursday night, but we saw the two views reflected on New Jersey's public employees—views that more or less sum up the most common feelings about what we pay our police, teachers and others.

Twitter user shill57 reminded us that police put their lives on the line every day. And shill57 said great educators are worth every penny they're paid, and a whole lot more: "Of course 50k plus is worth it for a fresh out teacher. People really have no idea all that is involved."

But fiscally concerned coachkarlPA (Karl Smith) said it's a tough economy out there, and we can't afford to keep paying public employees—including cops and teachers—more. And he said salary caps are a no-brainer in an environment with caps on tax increases: "I think all public sector jobs should have salaries cut 10% across the board and frozen for two years."

#NJPatchChat is a weekly Twitter conversation on big issues with local impacts. It takes place every Thursday at 8 p.m.—just follow and use hashtag #NJPatchChat to participate. If you're new to Twitter chats, further instructions are at the bottom of this post.

Here's the transcript of our most recent installment. As always, you'll need to read from the bottom up (since Twitter feeds show the most recent posts up top). And if you missed it, check in on last week's installment, on The State of Our Schools.

NJPatchChat: Until then, good night, good luck and good #NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: OK, light crowd tonight on #NJPatchChat , but thanks to those who stuck with us. Next Thursday @ 8: Whatever happens tomorrow w/ARC tunnel

NJPatchChat: Pub employees also paid more for health insurance. Does all that ring true for you? #NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: Though public employees w/o degrees did much better than private ones#NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: For same educational level, experience, schedule, private employees made 11 percent more #NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: Last topic: Common wisdom is public employees get more than private sector counterparts. Study says nope http://bit.ly/96EHgEHYPERLINK12 hours ago

coachkarlPA: @NJPatchChat #njpatchchat Legislators - no other job allowed; pay increase based on increase in average New Jersey salary.#incentive

NJPatchChat: Legislators: many hold jobs in private sector. Lots of room for conflicts. Should we pay legislators more to reduce incentive?#NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: @coachkarlPA at (sometimes) 90K, not exactly dirty deeds done dirt cheap.#njpatchchat

coachkarlPA: @NJPatchChat #njpatchchat I worked in a machine shop for 8 years. No shame in dirty jobs. Look at Mike Rowe!

NJPatchChat: Topic 5) NJ Legislators make 49K. Report today says 1 in 3 legislators holds extra public job. http://bit.ly/de198K #NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: @coachkarlPA In theory, sure. But it ain't a pretty job. Important job, but not a pretty one. #NJPatchchat

coachkarlPA: @NJPatchChat #njpatchchat So that should mean plenty of people looking for work, right?

NJPatchChat: Related: Legislators tackling Arbitration. http://bit.ly/aZ2i5xHYPERLINK#NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: @coachkarlPA about 9.4 percent. a little under the national level#njpatchchat

coachkarlPA: @NJPatchChat #njpatchchat If I were unemployed? Not all that much. What's NJ's unemployment rate?

NJPatchChat: NorthJersey.com says some DPW workers make 80K, 90K and uphttp://bit.ly/aMXANq #NJPatchChat but disparity between towns can be huge.

NJPatchChat: Topic 4) How much would someone have to pay you to be a DPW worker?#NJPatchChat you'd have to do a lot of literal dirty work

coachkarlPA: @NJPatchChat #njpatchchat Nonsense. Capped income (taxes) means capped salaries. End of story.

NJPatchChat: Mayors say they need the cap on raises, as taxes are capped. Cops&firefighters say since they can't strike, they can't bargain#njpatchchat

NJPatchChat: Related: Legislators considering whether to cap salary boosts for cops & firefighters, who can't strike. http://bit.ly/cGjOjdHYPERLINK12 hours ago

coachkarlPA: @NJPatchChat #njpatchchat I think all public sector jobs should have salaries cut 10% across the board and frozen for two years.

NJPatchChat: @coachkarlPA Politics aside, what do you think is a fair amount? Say for an entry-level cop. #njpatchchat

NJPatchChat: @shill57 But should pay be higher in the more dangerous areas? You can get shot in Mendham, but guessing more risk in Camden.#njpatchchat

NJPatchChat: @shill57 that they do. just to be clear: We're not taking a stand for/against, but curious what you and others think. #njpatchchat

coachkarlPA: @NJPatchChat #njpatchchat Political suicide to try to cut cops' pay.

NJPatchChat: 3 out of 10 cops made at least 6 figures, according to the report? Too much -- or worth it for our safety? #njpatchchat

shill57: @NJPatchChat No area is "safe." There is more crime some places than others, but even the burbs experience crime.#NJPatchChat

shill57: @NJPatchChat and cops put their lives on the line every day.#NjPatchChat

NJPatchChat: We admit, risk of being shot as an online-chat-runner is MUCH lower-But article says pay is highest in some of the safest areas#njpatchchat

NJPatchChat: Topic 3) Ledger also says police salaries are highest in the nation. Median pay is 90,672. http://bit.ly/c3vdao #NJPatchChat

shill57: @NJPatchChat Of course 50k plus is worth it for a fresh out teacher. People really have no idea all that is involved. #PatchChat

NJPatchChat: @shill57 Oops, now realize you WERE talking about the admins. So asked and answered. Twitter chat confusion is fun! #NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: @shill57 how about their bosses? Should school administrators be getting 6 figures, sometimes above $200K? #njpatchchat

shill57: @NJPatchChat Superintendent's are CEO's and if they're good, they're worth it#NJPatachChat

NJPatchChat: @shill57 So you'd say then that the $50K plus is worth it? Are we getting a bargain with our teachers? #njpatchchat

NJPatchChat: @shill57 Didn't notice your reply at first! Make sure you use#NJPatchChat in the tweet so everyone can see it

shill57: @NJPatchChat If they're good, then they're worth what a CEO makes.

NJPatchChat: No one's saying a school superintendent has an easy job -- but more money than the gov? Does that make sense? #NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: Then, guess we're moving to topic 2 (might be quick one tonight!): Administrators. 235 make more than the gov's $175K salary.#NJPatchChat

shill57: @NJPatchChat Not too much when fresh out engineers with a BS start in the 50's. Just read that yesterday. Fresh out chemical eng. in the 90s

shill57: @NJPatchChat We are one of the best school systems in the nation.

NJPatchChat: Not a lot of comment out there on teachers? Payscale.com puts salary at about 50K. Just 3K more than a retail store manager.#NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: On teachers, Ledger also says New Jersey's teachers are the fourth-highest-paid in the country, btw #NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: @coachkarlPA , you mean for types of public employees, or everyone-everyone-everyone? #NJPatchChat

coachkarlPA: @NJPatchChat #NJPatchChat fair enough. quick question, have there been any across-the-board paycuts in NJ?

NJPatchChat: Ledger puts median for teachers at $57K a year. Enough to get good ones? Too much? #NJPatchChat http://bit.ly/cbtkYN

NJPatchChat: Topic 1) We talked about teachers last week, so let's start there.#NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: Coach, might just be you and us. But last week started off slow too, so we'll get started. #NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: Last week's talk on education went a little long. aiming for under an hour tonight#njpatchchat

NJPatchChat: @coachkarlPa Welcome back, coach! #NJPatchChat

coachkarlPA: @NJPatchChat #NJPatchChat quick hi

NJPatchChat: Aas we get ready to talk about teachers, cops, legislators, even the gov, can we get quick "Hi"s from ppl following the chat?#NJPatchChat

NJPatchChat: Here's how to follow along: Search #NJPatchChat (or just hit that link) and watch the discussion. Use #NJPatchChat in your post to jump in.

NJPatchChat: Welcome, all to tonight's #NJPatchChat . Tonight we'll be taking on an always-fun topic: How much NJ public employees get paid.

Using #NJPatchChat:

Head to Twitter.com and search for #njpatchchat. If you're new to Twitter, that's what's called a hashtag—a special keyword you can search for to see what people are saying about a certain topic, even if you don't normally follow those people.

If you do that Thursday, at 8 p.m., you'll see the conversation live, as it takes place—you'll see our questions and the answers or comments provided by anyone in the online community. If you want to jump in with an answer, question or comment, make a tweet [a Twitter post] using the hashtag yourself.