Over the past few years, this control has been slowly returned to the school board. Right now the only area that is not in the purview of the school board is the finances, which is still in control of the state appointed administrator.
School closures/consolidations is its first big decision that they have had to make in the past four years. Anyone who has lived in a community for any length of time understands how difficult this type of decision is for anyone - especially those whose positions are tenuous. Piss off the electorate and you've lost your seat.
However, most people also understand that sometimes tough decisions need to be made especially now during one of the most horrible economic downturns this state has ever seen.
I think that teachers understand this better than anyone. Most of us love our schools. The last thing we desire is closing the place where we have worked tirelessly for the students we love. That is why is was stunned when I heard the words uttered by one of the recently reelected incumbents. In the last school board meeting, he stated that he would not be voting for any school closures. Okay, I'm fine with that. He (and the rest of the board for that matter) may very well vote to keep all the schools open.
However, when he stated that cuts would have to come elsewhere and demanded that the teachers union and other staff shoulder the burden, I just about came out of my seat.
Let me break it down for you. So far, teachers have shouldered the burden over the past four years by
- taking a 20% cut in pay by agreeing to give up full benefits. This 20% expired when our contract expired in June. Teachers are now picking up 33% of the cost of their benefits and each year as the cost increase, we get to pick up the difference.
- losing over 300 of our colleagues.
- the elimination of class size reduction which has seen K-3 class sizes increasing up to 32 students.
- loss of classified staff by making our campuses less safe and impersonal to the families we are supposed to served.
- With 15,000 students in our district, we have two nurses. Our librarians have been virtually eliminated, but we have managed to hold on one to serve the whole entire district.
Call me crazy, but I still maintain that our teachers and classified staff, we have MORE than shouldered the burden.
Posts
9 comments:
So true! We have been shouldering the burden for years. In fact, when times were great, we shouldered the burden and no one, NO ONE, suggested teachers get a raise during the economic high times.
Yesterday, my mother-in-law's school district did a forced furlough. Our school did not. The main reason? We have a strong, active NEA membership and the CEA (or local) fights for our rights.
I did a blog post on a similar topic yesterday:
http://jtspencer.blogspot.com/2009/12/dont-lecture-me-on-hard-times.html
I agree--we are always asked to care about the students enough to...whatever the district, state or federal government wants us to give in on, whether it's benefits or pay. (or added duties--we're seeing lots of those)
You should shoulder more burden so he doesn't need to make a tough, but necessary decision? Nice.
Teachers are an easy target, partly because of incorrect perceptions and also because we will sacrifice so much to help the students.
At some point teachers will have to decide enough is enough and stand up, or they will continue to be pecked at.
You are absolutely right, it seems that you have already been forced to do more than enough to shoulder the burden. Yet another example of teachers being taken for an easy target. The situation in the UK is similarly bad and is one of my most common blogging topics.
And now we have a new problem to add to this mix. Those teachers who are "new" to our district are, just like the rest of us (some 30+ years, like myself) killing themselves to raise test scores, cover every base, support special ed. students and EL students (countless IEP's and student studies) and be invincible. The new teachers are fighting to keep their jobs and the rest of us (just like the new teachers) do it because it is the right thing to do and because it's who we are. However... we once were given "release days" to grade district-wide writing tests, attend professional development, technology training and more. Now we do it "after school." The newer teachers never experienced this and just take it for granted that this extra time is just part of the job. So everyone is exhausted by the end of the day and THEN we go home with an armload (or box load if you teach English) to grade at night. I arrive at school at 6:45 in the morning. Our school ends at 1:55 and the meetings BEGIN at 3:00 in the afternoon and last, often, until 5:00. How many doctors, lawyers, firefighters, store managers, (this is where you add things...) would work all these hours without compensation?
And what about PARENT RESPONSIBILITY. When will our union voices push for accountability for parents. Every Tom, Dick and Harry who runs for ANYTHING wants "power to the parents." It seems to be in vogue, these days, for political candidates to promise that she/he will make educators "listen to parents" and increase their "power." There are parents who are partners with us, parents who stay out of the way but "try," parents who do nothing, parents who gripe at everything and all degrees in between. When the child fails, it is often "our fault." I've been after our school admin. for YEARS to provide a check-off sheet where parents of "at risk" students are REQUIRED to attend "Back to School Night," "Parent Conferences," seminars for how to help their child study, ensure that their children attend after-school tutor sessions, etc., etc. This is the biggest FAILURE on the part of our unions. WHY are they afraid to push legislation that emphasizes PARENT RESPONSIBILITY? (Ok... a rhetorical question, I know...) I have only a few years left. After I retire, I will work harder writing letters, pestering the unions and going to Sacramento, Washington and local legislator's offices (which I have already done, by the way... but they are SO busy...). NEA and AFT??? Are YOU listening???
way to go wife, mother, teacher! you can do it!
自慰套,真愛密碼,
自慰套,自慰器,充氣娃娃,
性感丁字褲,AV,按摩棒,電動按摩棒,情趣按摩棒,
角色扮演,吊帶襪,丁字褲,飛機杯,
按摩棒,變頻跳蛋,跳蛋,無線跳蛋,G點,
潤滑液,SM,情趣內衣,內衣,性感內衣,
情趣用品,情趣,
I agree- we always seem to bear the brunt of economic troubles, most notably by getting real-term cuts in pay. This will never change unless the perception of teachers as an easy target is completely abolished.
Post a Comment