Does this mean you do not support this strike?
I never like the idea of a teacher strike. But with that said, I (and most other people) don't have any idea what it's like being a teacher in those circumstances, so it's hard for me to really be critical of them for a strike.
What I can say is that, as a teacher, I would not ever be comfortable with myself striking.
Don't look to CNN comments for an effective discussion on any topic beyond Anderson Cooper's sexuality.
But it's the ignorant who often yell the loudest, and it frustrates me people are so dense.
What is the appropriate way to evaluate teachers other than the success and growth of the students?
In-class reviews of teachers by administrators. Teacher submitted materials. Amount of continuing education. That's just three off the top of my head.
Success and growth of students is something which can be part of the process, but it should not be the only factor. There are simply so many factors outside the control of the teacher which affect student achievement, and to say that a teacher who sees a child for one hour a day should be able to overcome those factors is simply not logical.
Good education requires three parts: the teacher, the parent and the student. If 2/3 of that equation aren't willing to pull their weight, how is the teacher supposed to overcome that in only 1 hour a day, 5 days a week?
Remember you were able to get an education with materials from 10 plus years ago. I was able to be educated with materials from 20 years ago.
First of all, I imagine that many teacher materials in some of these Chicago schools are from a lot longer than 10 years ago.
But let's take your example of being educated 20 years ago. Think about everything that has happened in 20 years. Think about the growth of technology, how cell phones have become part of everyday life. Think about the national awareness of AIDs and breast cancer, as well as the immense amount of progress that has been done to combat them. Think about things like cloning and the human genome project. Think about the terrorist attack of 9/11 and how that has completely redefined the world we lived in. Heck, think about how we now have a black President, when only 100 years ago most blacks in the South couldn't even vote.
Don't you think today's students deserve to have textbooks which acknowledge and discuss those things?
Plus the city is already in a $600plus million hole.
I have never seen the budget for the city of Chicago, so I can't tell you what's being spent well and not being spent well, but if education of our children is as important as so many people want to claim it is, then it seems like it should be made a priority.
It's hard to claim something is important and then not make it a priority. Raise more tax revenue. Cut spending in other areas. I don't know how to address the $600m hole, but either education is a high priority or its not.
No teacher is being stopped from picking up a bat and going to play for the White Sox. But like you said this isn't about money.
My point is the citizens of Chicago pay $14 million for a terrible hitter. They pay for it through tickets to ball games, merchandise, etc. They clearly have more money they can spend, it's just how they choose to spend it.
I don't care that they spend it on ballgames, and I don't care that Adam Dunn makes $14 million for being a terrible hitter. But don't tell me the teachers should be taking less money because there just isn't enough money, when it's obvious that statement is not true.
The median salary is $76K. Take it from someone who has worked with plenty of compensation data in his life that it is hard to go in to the public or private sector and find that level of income plus benefits with such a family friendly schedule.
Average salary is not indicative of the situations all teachers are in. Furthermore, while that $76k seems like a lot, when you factor in cost of living, as well as the money spent by the teacher to further his/her education to achieve a level of education worthy enough to earn $76k, that money isn't quite as lucrative as it seems.
I don't have a salary schedule with me right now, but in order to move over on the salary schedule, I have to have my Bachelor's degree, plus 8 hours of college credit. To move over again, I need a Masters. Then a Masters + 8 and Masters + 16 (I think).
College is expensive, and in order to maximize my salary, I have to spend a LOT of money on college classes. I know a faculty member here even has her doctorate and is in debt to student loans. So while $76k seems like a lot, you have to remember that's not a starting salary, but rather one which comes from years of additional expenses.
Finally, as I mentioned earlier, not every teacher is earning $76,000. Some teachers in the Chicago area earn an average of $40,000, which in Chicago is a tough salary to live on. You simply cannot put together an average of thousands of teacher salaries and paint them all with one broad stroke and say "you're making too much". You have to be willing to do a lot more work to evaluate the different situations. For example, wealthy areas of Chicago will bring in a lot more tax revenue for the local school district than the poor, and so those schools will have more money to spend on teachers. Of course, the trade off is that owning property and living in those areas is also much more expensive.
It's just simply not enough to say $76k and think the case is settled.
But some of us do already. We pay state taxes (5%), sales taxes (you visited Chicago, you must have noticed how high they are) and property taxes (mine have doubled in the three years I've been in my home).
That's not a donation. When you are forced to give something, it's not a donation.
On top of that the families do fundraising for their schools. My wife wrote a $100 check to my daughter's public pre-school and we are donating supplies as well.
And teachers spend a lot of money for the children too. Last year, I spent a couple hundred dollars for the various programs here at school which were doing fundraisers. Teachers many times buy their own supplies and decorations.
Believe me, I understand what you're saying. What I'm saying is that for those people who think teachers need to suck it up and be willing to lose money out of their pocket (and their family's pocket) for the good of the children, also need to be willing to do the same thing. Don't tell me I need to sacrifice hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, from my paycheck for the good of education, unless you are willing to do the same.
That's my point. And don't tell me that you already pay taxes, because I pay taxes too.
Kids can get by and be educated without all the material items that the teachers are demanding. The teachers are using the silly excuses to get more money and not look so bad in the press.
They've already agreed to the 16% increase, which is a compromise from the 19% they asked for. If it was just about money, why are they still striking?
I'm sorry, I disagree with your assessment. I think it has much more to do with proper evaluations and proper materials for students. Apparently some schools don't even get textbooks until a month into the school year.
As I said, I'm not a fan of teacher strikes. But to say this is only about greed seems very wrong to me, since there are legitimate complaints they are making, in addition to the raise in salary which has already been agreed upon.
