A few teacher fans swing by and anonymously, of course, leave a little something on my door step.

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A few days ago, I pointed out some of the fallacies of the prima-donna teaching profession, primarily centering on the fact that as public employees, they see themselves beyond sharing the sacrifices the rest of us have to undergo to pay their exorbitant salaries.

Here are their comments, unedited.

	Misinformation?? Absolutely! Your article with fraught with half-truths and baseless opinion. Your insulting, tasteless, classless article disgusts me. You obviously have no idea what teachers do for our children and the sacrifices they make every day to make sure our children are safe, cared for, and educated. A 60 hour work week is a minimum for a teacher. I suggest you walk a while in a teacher's shoes before you write such nonsense again. Then again, I certainly wouldn't want you educating MY child! Thank goodness for those who choose to join the teaching profession and shame on our state for sacrificing them again! Shame on you for this article! By Anonymous on Cut their pay 3%? Teachers all over Washington St... on 4/20/11 Publish | Spam | Delete
	Misinformation?? Absolutely! Your article with fraught with half-truths and baseless opinion. Your insulting, tasteless, classless article disgusts me. You obviously have no idea what teachers do for our children and the sacrifices they make every day to make sure our children are safe, cared for, and educated. A 60 hour work week is a minimum for a teacher. I suggest you walk a while in a teacher's shoes before you write such nonsense again. Then again, I certainly wouldn't want you educating MY child! Thank goodness for those who choose to join the teaching profession and shame on our state for sacrificing them again! Shame on you for this article! By Anonymous on Cut their pay 3%? Teachers all over Washington St... on 4/20/11 Publish | Spam | Delete
	What misinformation are you spreading? That they only work 183 40-hour workdays. They go in on weekends and holidays to catch up with work. They bring work home. They spend time during the summer setting up their classes and spending money out of their own pockets for supplies that aren’t provided. They DID NOT know about the summer classes that they would have to take in the summer, paying hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets. Most of that popped after they were hired. “No child left behind” added countless hours to their workload. You don’t just quit a job that you have mastered after many years of training, trial and error. And older teachers can’t enter the workforce like a 20 or 30-year-old can. It’s not like they are congressmen who can raise their own salaries by a simple vote, and who get the best healthcare and benefits of anyone in the country. The tea party crowd has been making it sound like the problem with this country lies with the teachers, and that teachers should be paid the same as McDonald's workers. By Anonymous on Cut their pay 3%? Teachers all over Washington St... on 4/19/11 Publish | Spam | Delete

These remarks were left in response to my post concerning the juvenile whining, moaning and complaining these clowns are doing as a result of a measly 3% pay cut.

One major element unassailed by those shilling for the WEA types infesting us is this:

No one forces anyone to teach.

You don't like the pay?  You don't like the professional requirements?  You don't like conditions of employment?

Then quit.

And out of this, what I find the most odd is that when it comes to education... such as it is with a roughly 30% drop out rate... teachers take all the credit for anything good... and none of the responsibility for anything bad.

Teachers would rather dive into a pool of boiling hydrochloric acid then give up their tenure (aka, a license to steal) or allow ratings to determine layoffs.

Teachers are not saints.  They are not sacrificing to do this part time job.  And the longer they teach, regardless of performance, the more... much more... money they make.

Some teachers are good.  Some aren't.  But they're all being treated the same.

We have a horrific economy which, to the minds of many in the teaching world, shouldn't touch them.  Those of us paying their bills, who have to do so on much less income then we used to have.... or no income at all... should cheerfully fork over OUR cash so they can continue to produce a substandard product that can't even begin to compete with the rest of the industrialized world.

When the public they allegedly serve is suffering, no public employee should be immune from that same suffering... and that includes teachers.

I have advocated and will continue to advocate for massive cutbacks in pay and benefits to ALL public employees, who frequently forget, as those commenting here seem to have forgotten, precisely who it is they work for.

The post that started all of this provided facts, statistics and sources. responding have provided outrage, but nothing to dispute the facts I've posted.

This was my response to one such comment:

"You think there is an abundance of good teachers waiting in the wings for jobs if these teachers quite[sic]?"

I presume that you meant "quit."

Absolutely. Hundreds that have been laid off across the country, not based on their skills and abilities... but their lack of seniority... would clamor to fill the positions.

Teachers should thank God every morning they have a job, because I KNOW that for each available slot dozens would apply to take their place at the beginning scale.

And the teachers know it as well.

I've heard all of your presentation before. An let me make it clear: I. DON'T. CARE.

I don't care that they have to pay for their own classes.

They knew they were going to have to do that going in.

I don't care that they claim to work 60 hour weeks.

They don't.

I don't care what their wages are, as long as they don't go up.

Teachers know that we're in a horrific recession just like everyone else. And again, no one forces anyone to teach.

At the end of the day, every one of these people knew what the deal, including the pay, was going to be before they signed on.

And, as always, I reiterate:

If they don't like it, they can quit and take some other job.

What's that?

There AREN'T any other jobs?

Too bad.

a for "spreading misinformation," I'd love to know precisely what "misinformation" I'm spreading.

But the facts have a nasty tendency to speak for themselves. And in this case, teachers, who in reality aren't any more special then any other government employee, lose.

If they don't like it... then they have to quit.

But I am sick of their monumental, incessant bitching over their pay... a lot of money for their 183 day a year job.

To disagree with teachers or their union... take a contrary view... be concerned about the outcomes... write anything advocating that teachers generally and public employees specifically be held accountable... and this is what you get.

In the end, I go back to the over-arching aspect of this which they cannot deny:

If you don't like it... use your option and quit.

Because *I* don't like it, and *I* don't have the option of refusing to pay you.
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