Folks, there is only so much money in school budgets (and that money comes from YOUR tax dollars) and the kids need to be the beneficiaries of education, not the teachers!
We live in America not in a communist country! Look at this comment from the post above:
"They have assured us that there is no evidence the district’s team cannot afford to make a better offer."
It's tantamount to blackmailing, extortion. How would you like it if you went to the supermarket and you couldn't buy a gallon of milk because they figure you can pay more based on your income or your assets??
We need to support choice of schools, vouchers, charter schools, elimination of tenure, bonuses for the best and brightest teachers directly out of the pay of the bottom 10% of BAD TEACHERS that would be let go!
THAT WOULD TRANSLATE TO SUPPORTING THE KIDS - YOUR KIDS - OUR KIDS!
THE LAST THING WE SHOULD BE SUPPORTING IS THE STATUS QUO!
There is no evidence that an increase in pay for the teachers will do anything to improve the education of the kids! VOTE FOR THE KIDS!
Do the kids need teachers like this? Teachers that spend so much of their time focused on a 0.66% decrease?
"If teachers accept the District team’s offer of 5.24% in total compensation, it will translate to a PAY CUT in the real value of our salary, or a decrease of 0.66%. Factor in the increasing cost of health benefits and DOUBLE-WHAM!!! Does that seem fair and reasonable?"
How many of you parents have seen a pay cut in the real value of your income? I wouldn't be surprised if that's the majority of parents - the healthcare issue this nation is facing affects us all.
The health benefits provided to government workers like teachers, along with retirement, and job security are probably better than many of you get from your employers!
Teacher's are supposed to be serving the public, not the other way around!
TM70 is unwilling to do anything else other than maintain the status quo and get her raise! The teachers union DOES NOT SUPPORT THE KIDS. If they did they'd be more focused on ensuring the kids get the books and resources they need instead of focusing on their own pay!
TM70 supports the teacher's union - not the parents and not the kids! TM70 is:
Unwilling to give up tenure which does nothing but damage education through lack of choice and lack of competition. Lack of ability to pay more to the best and brightest because the budget has to carry the bottom 10%.
Unwilling to commit to higher educational performance of the kids in exchange for higher pay.
Unwilling to support vouchers, competition, and a system that would help the kids!
Unwilling to support lower cost higher performance charter/magnet schools for the kids! And a resulting improvement in student to teach ratios in public schools.
Unwilling to support parents to help change a broken educational system!
Unwilling to support the students to ensure they get a better education.
They are willing to strike! (The hell with the kids! - ME, ME, ME, first, foremost and always)
They are willing to use veiled threats of non-performance! (You get what you pay for...)
They are willing to use your kids (their students) as pawns to extort higher pay while making no concessions regarding the elimination of tenure - not even for the bottom 10% of teachers!
PARENTS UNITE BEHIND THE SUPPORT THE KIDS CAMPAIGN!
DEMAND:
- school vouchers,
- school choice for kids,
- charter / magnet schools,
- pay for performance,
- elimination of a "free ride" - tenure
- elimination of the bottom 10% of teachers
- ability to hire and pay bonuses (based on performance) to the best and brightest teachers
THE TEACHER'S UNION IS AGAINST:
- Supporting the Kids - (they'd rather get their raise than see the kids get the books they need)
- education reform
- the best school choice for kids
- lower cost better performance charter schools
- pay for performance
- the best and the brightest
THE TEACHER'S UNION STANDS FOR:
- mediocrity, not meritocracy
- monopoly power, and lack of choice, not competition and choice
- the status quo, not improvement
- mediocre performance, not excellence (through competition)
- the average, not the best and the brightest
- no (school) choice for kids
- extortion, blackmail, any tactic to take money from the kids and put it in their pocket
- tenure, which creates mediocrity, lack of competition, keep the 10% of WORST TEACHERS in the educational system for decades!
They have no shame, they stand on the backs of the children to play out their agenda. They brainwash the kids by influencing them about adult issues that kids can't possibly understand by wearing clothing to school to support their position! What an outrage!
Our kids are there to get an education, not to be pawns in a salary debate and be influenced and brainwashed into supporting a teacher's political opinion!
We need to educate our kids on what those shirts mean! It means less for you little Johnny and more for the teachers!
THE TEACHERS ARE NOT THE PROGRAM, THEY ARE THE TEACHERS.
A program entails numerous resources, not a single resource. I should know, I've been a program manager and have managed global programs responsible for generating billions in revenue.
The difference is that in the private sector, a "bad worker" will be let go. Those don't last very long 3-6 months tops. Even very good/excellent workers are let go.
In the teaching profession, a tenured "bad worker" is impossible to get rid of, and once you reach tenure, what's the incentive to perform?
In the private sector we have the carrot (higher pay) and the stick (getting laid off) both work in concert to achieve the best performance possible.
In the public sector, the carrot is supposed to be (job security, benefits, and benevolence in serving the public, doing a public good). Unfortunately, workers in that sector quickly take for granted those things because they have them, and focus on the pay - so there is no carrot for those workers because the teacher's union prohibit excellent teachers from getting more compensation and bad/mediocre teachers from being laid off.
SUPPORT THE KIDS!
SUPPORT YOUR KIDS!
SUPPORT OUR KIDS!
SUPPORT IMPROVEMENT IN EDUCATION!
SUPPORT EDUCATION REFORM!