DougRoss: By ACC – My family is full of teachers. I respect teachers. I value what they do. But let’s get real here. This – as my old buddy might say – is “a straight up jack move” from the unions. This is theft from the taxpayers. Sorry. I know your union “negotiated” the pensions with politicians which got money from your union but it is just stealing with the veneer of bureaucratic legitimacy. You know it. We know it.
The median household income (total) in Illinois is $54,916.
I was never in a union,so I don’t have a pension.
I don’t know . . . if you’ve taught long enough in Chicago to retire (and stayed alive) maybe you deserve it.
Albert Shanker famously said, “When schoolchildren start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of school children”
The CTA is going to go on strike for higher wages and pensions. If I was on the other side of the table, I would fire them the second they walked off their jobs. I would tie their union up in court for years. I would break that union for good.
I would hire new teachers at the market clearing price which is no fucking where near $73,000/year. It would set an example for the entire country. I would stand in the school house door and forbid the courts to order me to rehire these teachers. I would take it to the mat.
These public sector union demands are madness. There is in effect NO ONE representing the interests of the taxpayer. You have government officials on both sides of the table. Higher wages? No problem, we’ll just raise property taxes-but hey it’ll only add $25 per $100,000(or whatever) of assessed value TO EVERYONE so STFU and sit down.
I have been saying for 30 years our number 1 enemy is the NEA and their state run off shoots. They’re turning out millions of idiots that have no appreciation of the unbelievable luck they have to have been born here, they’re destroying our culture & traditions and they’re bankrupting virtually every municipality across the nation.
C’mon.
– These retired people worked a grueling 7 hours a day, nine months a year – in punishing air conditioned or heated environments.
– And they had to stay home on snow days and teacher’s conferences.
– They didn’t get job security until they put a whole three-five years in and achieved tenure status.
– I hear they even contributed a whole 4 or 5% toward their own retirement funds!
Us taxpayers are such suckers. These teachers decide they’re not paid enough (even though they are), so they go on strike and who suffers? The kids.
A lot of these school districts give their soon to retire teachers big pay bumps near career end to pump up the pension. Who pays the pension bump? Not the school district. No, that falls on the state’s pension fund to cover. (BTW – Most school boards are dominated by retired teachers – imagine how that conflict of interest protects the taxpayers – it doesn’t.)
We taxpayers are getting a bad deal. Way overpaid teachers, protected by the strongest unions in the state, and piss-poor performance in the classrooms.
in the meantime, a military pension is a pittance
Between In Service days, Spring break, and Christmas break, they get another 4 weeks off per year. Poor things.
Let’s go easy on the stereotypes, folks.
Mrs. Mxyzptlk taught for 30 years in the inner city.
She experienced:
Windows that wouldn’t close all the way in the winter (but wouldn’t open all the way when it was hot).
No air conditioning when it was hot. Bring your own fans.
Supply materials out of your own pocket (no tax break then, either)
Almost daily gunshots outside in the neighborhood
Working every night on grading and lesson plans until 8 or 9pm
Having to attend stupid conferences which meant nothing.
The school year ended at the end of June, but had to attend conferences the first two weeks of August and school started the 3rd or 4th week of August.
The school would call snow days, but “teachers to report to school” in case kiddies showed up. It sure was easier for the kids to get to school than for the teacher.
Having to go to the school for Parents Night when NONE would show up, even if you fed them.
She was in the union. When she started teaching she was making $6800 a year.
Tenure? Had to go back (on your own dime) and get a master’s degree. The pay difference wasn’t worth it.
It was no picnic.
“Stereotypes” or “archetypes” are based on common perceptions.
There are, of course, exceptions, but that doesn’t change the fact that unionized teachers are, for the most part, ignorant socialist indoctrinators of our youth, to the detriment of our country – destroyers of our civilization.
Through 12 years of “school” (5 or 6 separate “teachers” per day) I can recall, maybe, 4 or 5 good teachers.
izlamo delenda est …
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how to save a bunch of $.