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Teachers play an important role by virtue of their part time job where they are supposed to be educating our youth, although the 30 to 40% drop out rate in this state may belie those efforts.
But here's a clue, clue-getters: WE ARE IN A HORRIFIC RECESSION. AND AS MUCH AS YOU THINK YOU'RE WORTH, YOU'RE NOT WORTH ANY MORE THEN ANYONE ELSE.
Were it in my control, all government employees at any level, elected or no, would take an immediate 25% cut to their pay an benefits.
Government employees generally and teachers specifically have precisely zero right to be upset with their pay. Presumably, those whining the loudest about their compensation DID have the opportunity to review it BEFORE they took the job?
Well, that whiny, sniveling putz of a teacher was babbling about how failing to give her a million dollars a year or so "disrespected" her because of how tough she had it and her education and qualifications, yaddah... yaddah... yaddah.
Chris Christie, who I would want as president if I could wave a magic wand, said this:
At the end of the day, Gov. Christie nailed it: if all of you working for the people, regardless of your position but ESPECIALLY teachers, don't like what we pay you... then quit.
It's simple, really.
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4 comments:
"Teachers do it because they love it." Yes, and the somewhat-rare privilege of doing something they love for a living is part of their compensation.
If teachers' salaries were artificially raised, there would be a glut of trained teachers, and a shortage of people trained to do my vital but not-particularly-fulfilling job. (I don't think anyone grows up dreaming about doing what I do for a living.)
I sure hope the lady in the video does not teach economics...
Speaking of supply and demand in the labor market - I think we need to be careful about cutting the pay of government employees. If you think the bureaucracy tends toward incompetence now, imagine it once all of the best people have been priced into the private sector. I would like to see the number of government jobs cut, but I do not want the most marketable employees to be the ones that go.
The problem is this: there is no private sector to "price" into.
Here in Clark County, our unemployment hovers at a measured rate of 14% or so, and a real rate of 20%.
I'm very big on "shared sacrifice." I need to know: while the public continues to suffer and our taxes continue to skyrocket, with public employees like the one in the video... where, exactly, is the sacrifice being shared?
For far too long, public employees seem to have taken us for granted. Isn't it about time hat EVERYONE bear the brunt of our economy?
Here is where the grey areas come in for me. I understand what this woman was saying, and I also understand what the governor was saying. Yes, teachers go into their profession with eyes open as to the pay, but I know many teachers who spend money out of their own pockets for supplies and classroom enhancements for their students that the state is not providing. They put in many, many hours outside the classroom for which they don't get compensated and depending on the area they teach in, their student load ranges from the well behaved to the unmotivated to the criminally inclined. In my opinion, being a teacher is a profession that is generally under paid. However, with that said, Chris Christie is correct...if you know all these things and go into the profession anyway, don't complain unless you have some solutions that actually make sense and are economically doable.
I do believe that if this situation does not find a solution at some point, we will lose the valuable teachers that we have and could attract. If people can't support themselves, no one can fault them for finding other jobs. True teachers, those with a true gift to teach are amazing individuals and need to be encouraged to stay in the profession.
"True teachers, those with a true gift to teach are amazing individuals and need to be encouraged to stay in the profession."
My biggest problem with teachers here locally and those like the one in the video is a complete lack of situational awareness.
We find ourselves on the receiving end of a 30% drop out rate which the Washington Education Association assures us that teachers bear no responsibility for, and we're in the midst of the most horrific recession we've had since the Carter Administration.
In economic times like these, our public servants should first be thankful that they even have a job, at ANY level of pay, given the millions out of work.
Respecting teachers for what they do is something I can get behind. But on the other hand, those same teachers need to respect the increasingly smaller few of us who pay their salary. In this day and age, they should be thrilled they're getting any kind of pay check.
Teachers in Washington have no formal system of accountability or merit pay; their outcomes are not measured in any way that can rate their effectiveness; and, in fact, have guaranteed pay raises and step increases here; which are, in these economic times, absurd on their face.
The result?
In the midst of a recession, we just got jammed for $800 million in tax increases, a recovery crippling series of tax increases which will cause much more harm than good.
Teachers and all public employees must beware. The public is becoming increasingly restive to the idea that they should get paid more when many are losing everything.
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