Apparently, settling for a 16% pay increase over a four year period is not enough. And the left wonders why teacher's unions have a bad rep. Seriously, what is so bad about the school board's offer that warrants a strike?
Not really. Only reason anymore I support the idea of public schools, is because conservative solutions are all rigidly ideologically aimed towards a society of only rich kids being educated, and the rest being brain-dead serfs. When the options are shit, or nothing, you're kind of held at gunpoint to side with shit.
Pretty much explains a lot for me. If I had time I'd look up the stats on dropouts and the like but I tend to think they aren't that good but I welcome being shown wrong here.
The ideology of conservatives is to give parents more choice of where to send their kids. After all, they ARE paying for that child's education already. I have no problem with public schools in general.. I just have a problem with a public school system that thinks it's entitled to more money when it isn't doing the job it is paid for.
Four percent a year is a baseline level of raise that is consistent with the sum of expected inflation and expected real GDP growth per capita. It is a a minimum fair raise if the economy hits a median projection or so. Throw in the fact that teachers start out underpaid relative to their experience, educational attainment, and importance to society and demanding 4% raises a year is obviously a pretty weak demand while settling for less would be outright spineless. Two percent a year in particular would be limiting raises to the expected inflation rate, with teachers getting no share at all of increased societal productivity nor any acknowledgement of their importance in the way that matters most. Fuck you up the ass with a rusty dildo if you think a 4%/yr raise demand is some sort of outrage rather than the minimum we owe teachers.
80% of Chicago 8th graders can't even read or perform math properly. Fire the lot. Hire a monkey to juggle plastic alphabet letters and numbers. They can't help but do a better job.
And how many of this 80 percent don't have a dad at home/give a shit in the first place/are surrounded by other malcontents who make learning impossible. Sorry, not blaming this on teachers - you can't teach those that aren't even there half the time.
Can't be said enough. Urban school problems are a reflection of the problems in the urban population they serve. Take those kids, put them in a well performing school, and they will still do poorly. Conversely, take a well performing kid from that well performing school, place them in one with low test scores, and they will still do well. It's the kid and the support in that kid's life that makes the biggest difference. The teachers are important and it is right to insist on the best, but they do not cause the failure.
Does T.R hate his teachers? It's the administrators who, by and large, are overpaid. Only the simple-minded ignore the paper-shufflers and attack those in the trenches.
And how does any of this give teachers the right to walk off the job and thumb their noses at a yearly pay increase?
Does T.R hate his teachers? Do you just have a hard-on for teachers, or do you feel nobody should ever get more than a cost of living increase? Or do you feel even a cost of living increase is excessive, and everyone should just accept the pay they were hired at? Unless they work in the executive suite, of course. No thoughts on school administrator pay? Or just no thoughts?
I don't see why one teacher should make more than another teacher. Reset them all to the currently lowest paid teacher, then use the excess windfall salary (that the profiteering teachers have been receiving) to pay for the cost of living increase.
Is that how it works at your employer? They periodically reset everybody back to the fresh out of college starting salary rate?
Unless one teacher is teaching more classes or does afterschool activites, why do they get to be paid more? Doesn't that seem unfair?
If you're going to be part of a union that ensures fair wages for all, I don't see why some wages are more fair than others...
Compensation is calculated in a variety of ways, but very few employers don't consider experience and knowledge base. Teacher pay generally connects pretty directly to continuing ed credits and classroom time. But as with most other employers, very often there is also a cost of living adjustment factored in. Does your employer not use any of these methods to inform compensation?
The worst part with the schools close now all these little angles are on the loose to give Chicago even more to worry about with the on going high crime and murders hitting the city..the Chicago schools may not educate their students but atleast for 7-8hrs a day it kept a large population of the cities trouble makers contain.
None of you read the article, did you?? Wages are not the issue...they agreed upon the wage structure. The sticking points are that the Union wants the Principal to have to hire laid off teachers from shut down and "shaken up" schools before they can hire anyone new. You know...keep recycling the same old teachers that sucked somewhere else, here. And the teachers are upset about a new teacher evaluation process that they think puts too much weight and emphasis on student test scores. That's why they are striking...not compensation packages.
Because the only reason teachers are laid off is because they suck, not because budget slashing necessitated closing schools.
Re: Does T.R hate his teachers? Well then you agree with me that Chicago school are just there to keep the trouble makers out of the way for a few hours a day.
It's a legitimate issue. What if the school sucked because the principal and half the teachers were no good. Close the school, and you lay-off the other half, the good teachers. They should indeed get firsst shot at other openings.
Re: Does T.R hate his teachers? No. "Whereas clearly your school system did neither" says nothing about the Chicago school system, though I'd love to see the data behind your expertise on the subject.
When I buy anything (a meal from a restaurant, something from a department store, a new car, etc.) and everything isn't right, there's someone I can go to: a manager, the owner, etc. I may not ALWAYS get satisfaction, but anyone who operates in good faith will at least hear me out and will try to salvage the situation. Since I'm paying for the public school system with my taxes and the results are poor, I'm a dissatisfied customer. Exactly WHO do I see about that? WHO is RESPONSIBLE for QUALITY in this system? WHO is to be HELD TO ACCOUNT?
