Topic: Chicago teachers asking for 30% raises over next 2 years

[Libertas]

Can't wait to see how the Rahmhole deals with this!  30%?  Why not 60%?  He loves unopns, yes?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-ctu-proposals-0217-20120217,0,6829485.story

Just one among many reasons why I am glad I do not live in Chicago or will ever go there and spend one penny!

 

[Glock32]

It is really an insulting outrage that they make such demands, when the people working in the productive economy are lucky if they still have a job, or haven't had a wage reduction, forget about a RAISE. And it is these latter who pay the salaries for these incompetent union leeches in their sinecure. But boy, they sure do deserve a raise for the excellent product they're churning out don't they?

I'm glad they are making these highly public demands, because people are starting to get severely pissed about it.  It won't matter in a place like Chicago, but it's not doing the unions any favors in the national debate.

[trapeze]

So...this whole strike thing that they have going on now...

...any chance it will go full on stupid with violence and stuff?

Could the left finally have their "re-create '68" nonsense in the very home of the 1968 DNC riots?

Oh, the irony.

[warpmine]

In this case glorified baby sitters that have to double as security agents but forget about the "teach" part in the position name.

[IronDioPriest]

I happen to think that good teachers deserve to be paid very well. I see no logic behind entrusting the future of our children and country to worker-bees who have no incentive to excel in their work.

But my model assumes commerce in education. A taxpayer funded practical monopoly on education can never produce an industry employing incentive-based educators.

As always, my beef is with the government and those who seek a lock on its tit.

[Alphabet Soup]

So...this whole strike thing that they have going on now...

...any chance it will go full on stupid with violence and stuff?

Could the left finally have their "re-create '68" nonsense in the very home of the 1968 DNC riots?

Oh, the irony.

The convention was an embarrassment that the driveby media can barely contain. The bounce was a fabrication. The FUD that they tried to foist on us snared only a few rubes.

Øbozo snubs  Netanyahu at a critical juncture when a functional president is needed. The reason why is later discovered that he didn't wish to mess up his opportunity to have his ego stroked on a television show. Two of our embassies are attacked and the US Ambassador to Libya is murdered. In the wake of those actions our state department issues contradictory and humiliating statements.

That is the backdrop to the teacher strike.

My guess is that someone from the Øbozo regime is going to have a quiet talk with the head moron leading this strike and make them an offer they can't refuse. They will be reminded that they can strike anytime but Øbozo must get reelected now. Word will go out that "Cooler heads prevailed" and they've reached an agreement.

As usual Øbozo will take credit.

[fingerroll]

I'm a teacher (on lunch break) at a private high school.  I taught for 10 years in public schools, two of them were inner-city and one was a rural district.  I am not surprised by the teachers in Chicago although I am disgusted with them and their demands, and quite possibly their myopic view.  Their inability to see that a 16% pay increase in this economy is unacceptable while their student population is being cheated as evidenced by their pathetic test scores is nearly unbelievable--except that it comes from unionized teachers--which makes in perfectly believable.

The old argument that teachers are underpaid is not true any longer.  Obviously in Chi-town they are paid very well when compared to the average worker salary in that city.  They receive nice benefits and most likely a good tax-payer funded pension.  The lie no longer holds true.

More importantly, people need to remember that the teachers unions serve the teachers.  They work to get better working conditions, higher salaries, and benefits for their constituents.  They are not in the business of worrying about teaching kids.  The lie is that they do things for the kids.  They serve teachers and don't give a rats pooper about kids.  

I left the public system because I wanted to work in an environment that took education seriously and sought to educate kids without the interference of the unions.  There is no way I would allow my kids to attend a public school knowing what I know and seeing what I have seen in those schools.  

[LadyVirginia]

I'm cynical about education in this country--"we" say we're "for" education but we're not. 

[IronDioPriest]

I'm a teacher (on lunch break) at a private high school.  I taught for 10 years in public schools, two of them were inner-city and one was a rural district.  I am not surprised by the teachers in Chicago although I am disgusted with them and their demands, and quite possibly their myopic view.  Their inability to see that a 16% pay increase in this economy is unacceptable while their student population is being cheated as evidenced by their pathetic test scores is nearly unbelievable--except that it comes from unionized teachers--which makes in perfectly believable.

The old argument that teachers are underpaid is not true any longer.  Obviously in Chi-town they are paid very well when compared to the average worker salary in that city.  They receive nice benefits and most likely a good tax-payer funded pension.  The lie no longer holds true.

More importantly, people need to remember that the teachers unions serve the teachers.  They work to get better working conditions, higher salaries, and benefits for their constituents.  They are not in the business of worrying about teaching kids.  The lie is that they do things for the kids.  They serve teachers and don't give a rats pooper about kids.  

I left the public system because I wanted to work in an environment that took education seriously and sought to educate kids without the interference of the unions.  There is no way I would allow my kids to attend a public school knowing what I know and seeing what I have seen in those schools.  

Excellent post.

I would expand on only one point:

More importantly, people need to remember that the teachers unions serve the teachers.  They work to get better working conditions, higher salaries, and benefits for their constituents.  They are not in the business of worrying about teaching kids.  The lie is that they do things for the kids.  They serve teachers and don't give a rats pooper about kids.

The teachers unions at least equally serve the Democrat party - if not more so, even to up to applying the standard 80%-20% rule: 80% serving the Democrat party/20% serving teachers.

Their reliance on a symbiotic and incestuous relationship with the Democrats "in service of teachers & children" has become the prime feature of the unions, to the point where serving Democrats has become the primary mission. They are nothing less than undeclared subsidiaries of the Democrat party.

[benb61]

The old argument that teachers are underpaid is not true any longer.  Obviously in Chi-town they are paid very well when compared to the average worker salary in that city.  They receive nice benefits and most likely a good tax-payer funded pension.  The lie no longer holds true.

One of the talking heads on TV last night said the average salary in Chicago for teachers was $75,000, and that does not include the benefits (health care, pension, etc.).

[Pandora]

In this case glorified baby sitters that have to double as security agents but forget about the "teach" part in the position name.

Precisely.  They are charged with educating the uneducable.  They know this better than anybody, but can't say it (and probably wouldn't.)

Which is what is behind them revolting against being held to account for testing results, because for all the lip-service paid to "standards", there are none.

[Glock32]

I'm also sick of the old canard about how we aren't providing enough funding for education. This country spends more per capita on primary and secondary education than almost any other country in the world. I think the only countries who spend more per capita are some of the tiny, wealthy principalities like Liechtenstein or Luxembourg. We spend more than other major industrialized countries such as Germany, France, Japan, etc. It goes without saying that all of those countries are wiping the floor with us, too.

For every dollar thrown into the gaping maw of "education", I wonder how much actually reaches students in the form of classroom time or instructional materials. I would bet it is no more than 10 cents. There are way too many sacred cows in our public discourse -- Social Security, Medicare, teachers, and so on -- and that more than anything explains our dismal fiscal state.

[LadyVirginia]

I wonder how much actually reaches students in the form of classroom time or instructional materials.

I read an article about this years ago and no reason to think it's changed--most of the money goes into "administration".  Most school systems are top heavy.  After that money goes into more "programs" someone  has "created" for the "children".  The rest goes...there is no "rest".

[Weisshaupt]

I wonder how much actually reaches students in the form of classroom time or instructional materials.

I read an article about this years ago and no reason to think it's changed--most of the money goes into "administration".  Most school systems are top heavy.  After that money goes into more "programs" someone  has "created" for the "children".  The rest goes...there is no "rest".

The teacher to administrator ratio used to be  1:30 in the 50s. Now it is  1:10 -  and all of them well paid. In my elementary school - the administration consisted of 1 full time principal, and 2 half time secretaries.  The Secretaries did everything - from book keeping, answering phones,  any nursing boo-boos required, and the Principal mainly dealt with any problem issues- children in need of  disciplinary  attention, and Parents who had issues beyond the authority of the secretaries.  The elementary school my children attended  had assistants for the Secretaries and everyone was full time.  Same size school. In fact, I think mine as a child was slightly larger.  Add into that the fact that these Admins get paid 6 figure salaries.  But the real problem is the pensions. The Extravagant promises made to Past teachers is what is sinking the system now. Just like the past promises we made to seniors in SS and Medicaid are sinking the National Budget.  Check it out - I will bet that in your school district payments to the underfunded Pension plans make up a significant portion of the budget - over 25%

[warpmine]

I'm also sick of the old canard about how we aren't providing enough funding for education. This country spends more per capita on primary and secondary education than almost any other country in the world. I think the only countries who spend more per capita are some of the tiny, wealthy principalities like Liechtenstein or Luxembourg. We spend more than other major industrialized countries such as Germany, France, Japan, etc. It goes without saying that all of those countries are wiping the floor with us, too.

For every dollar thrown into the gaping maw of "education", I wonder how much actually reaches students in the form of classroom time or instructional materials. I would bet it is no more than 10 cents. There are way too many sacred cows in our public discourse -- Social Security, Medicare, teachers, and so on -- and that more than anything explains our dismal fiscal state.

Checkmate, the liberals won.
Chased God out of the public square, out of classrooms etc....This is what they asked for and received.
We'll have to scrap not only the public education institutions but somehow we're going to restart what is defined as parental responsibility towards the teaching basics before the child even get's close to the school. That's really the crux of it all, the abdication of parents being parents. At this point a collapse of the entire system would be advantageous in that a reset can occur. It sure as hell won't be easy for so many of the generation that rely exclusively on the public schools systems nationwide but it will have to be.

[Pandora]

I'm also sick of the old canard about how we aren't providing enough funding for education. This country spends more per capita on primary and secondary education than almost any other country in the world. I think the only countries who spend more per capita are some of the tiny, wealthy principalities like Liechtenstein or Luxembourg. We spend more than other major industrialized countries such as Germany, France, Japan, etc. It goes without saying that all of those countries are wiping the floor with us, too.

For every dollar thrown into the gaping maw of "education", I wonder how much actually reaches students in the form of classroom time or instructional materials. I would bet it is no more than 10 cents. There are way too many sacred cows in our public discourse -- Social Security, Medicare, teachers, and so on -- and that more than anything explains our dismal fiscal state.

Checkmate, the liberals won.
Chased God out of the public square, out of classrooms etc....This is what they asked for and received.
We'll have to scrap not only the public education institutions but somehow we're going to restart what is defined as parental responsibility towards the teaching basics before the child even get's close to the school. That's really the crux of it all, the abdication of parents being parents. At this point a collapse of the entire system would be advantageous in that a reset can occur. It sure as hell won't be easy for so many of the generation that rely exclusively on the public schools systems nationwide but it will have to be.

If I may, I don't give a rat's ass; there are days (like the past two) that I believe hardship is required for those folks.

The teachers may be striking, but alternate "facilities" have been set to feed and police the ferals.  What the hell kind of world .... nah, nevermind; rhetorical.

[LadyVirginia]

That's really the crux of it all, the abdication of parents being parents.

Our family was at a party at a friend's house once.  I was hanging out with the other moms.  The hostess was complaining about a particular behavior of her 5 year old.  She added that the problem would be solved when he started school and the teacher showed him that wasn't acceptable!!

I had another friend who used to brag that her daughter learned to read from Sesame Street. (I might add that she used the tv extensively as a babysitter so she could tend to herself.)

I can't tell you how many parents have questioned me about how do my homeschooled children learn not only academics but how to behave in ways they think are appropriate (how to take turns, stand quietly, sit at a desk -- yes, a dad asked me this!)

It's clear to me that while I do know some fantastic parents and their equally wonderful kids I am outnumbered by the adults who think the trappings of parenthood (cool stroller, cool kids clothes, an over-scheduled child) make them parents.  I'm talking about the well-off parents in nice suburbs.  I don't know anything about the parents who have to see tv commercials to be reminded to send their kids to school (as they do in Chicago).

[Weisshaupt]

That's really the crux of it all, the abdication of parents being parents.

That is really the crux of liberalism in general - the abdication of personal adult  responsibility for anything.  All adult duties need to be handled by the nanny, and the nanny needs to clean up all of our messes.  Liberals CAN'T parent, because they never become adults themselves.  Why else do you think they want to be "friends" with their kids?

And Conservatives?  The liberals see as as siblings-  the more mature, older sibling whom the parent leaves in charge of the little ones. What do you mean you don't want to fix my lunch and change my nappy? Nanny said you had to! You are Family! You Have to do what the Nanny says!

[Libertas]

(Intermission)

Found a pic, looks like Rahmhole to me...but he isn't wearing ballerina gear...



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2202569/The-colourful-new-species-African-owl-faced-monkey.html

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