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Sitthixay Ditthavong / AP
Members of the Chicago Teachers Union hold an informational picket outside Willa Cather Elementary School on Monday in an effort to call attention to ongoing contract talks with the city's Board of Education.
The Chicago Teacher's Union voted unanimously Thursday to strike on Sept. 10, with members agreeing to head to the picket lines unless a deal can be reached with the city’s schools -- a move that could affect 400,000 students.
The result of the ballot, cast at a Chinatown union hall, was met by cheers from the more than 700 delegates who voted.
The decision comes a day after CTU president Karen Lewis issued a 10-day strike notice. Sept. 10 is the earliest that teachers can strike, and the date falls a week after many students head back to class.
"We're tired of being bullied, belittled and betrayed," Lewis said at a news conference following the meeting. "We have done everything asked of us, yet we continue to be vilified and treated with disrespect."
Read the full story at NBCChicago.com
Lewis said negotiations will continue until a contract is hammered out that resolves concerns over wages, job security and a new evaluation system.
In a statement, Chicago Public Schools chief executive Jean-Claude Brizard said: “If our priority is our kids, then strike should never be an option.”
"Should CTU leaders decide to strike on September 10, more than 350,000 students will be taken out of their classroom, just as they're making progress with a Full School Day. Varsity sports for 11,000 student athletes will be suspended. More than 400,000 daily breakfasts and meals will no longer be served.
6 July: Students who suffer from drug and alcohol addiction are finding help at special schools where the kids work toward common goals: education, graduation and recovery. NBC's Kate Snow reports.
“College transcripts and recommendations for 20,000 seniors will be put on hold. If our priority is our kids, then strike should never be an option. That's why we need to take advantage of each of the next 11 days and work until we reach a fair resolution for our teachers that will allow our kids to stay in school where they belong."
CPS officials have been making preparations in the event of a strike.
Brizard said the district plans to keep 145 schools open for half-days even if the Chicago Teachers Union calls a strike and teachers walk off the job. The union on Wednesday filed a 10-day strike notice that would allow them to strike as early as Sept. 10, just a week into the school year for a majority of public-school students.
If that happens Brizard said CPS will partner with City Sister Agencies, local faith organizations and other non-profits to keep kids engaged.
"We need to be prepared to provide our students with services they need should CTU leaders decide to strike, and our Children First plan will do that," Brizard said.
As part of the precautionary strategy announced Thursday, CPS would keep the group of schools open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to provide activities to children and keep them engaged in independent reading, arts, sports and computer-based programming.
27 June: The City of Stockton, California, is likely to become the largest municipality to declare bankruptcy in an effort to deal with a $26 million deficit and $700 million in debt. Cnbc's Jane Wells reports other cities may soon follow suit.
Per the plan, the schools would be staffed with Central Office personnel, non-CTU employees and organizations that submit a request for proposals to provide programming. Brizard said the staff-to-student ratio would be capped at 1 to 25.
CPS also said it will provide breakfast and lunch to all students at the locations and will extend between 70 and 80 Chicago Park District summer camps.
Brizard said he's committed to avoid a strike but says CPS will be ready if the teachers strike.
“These plans are simply a precaution," Brizard said, "but we have an obligation and responsibility to our children and their parents to make sure they are not left behind in the event of a strike.”
CPS said it is seeking a waiver from the Illinois High School Association to continue sports if teachers strike.
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Leave a Comment:
Not sure of the details but going to support the teachers on this one.
I'm a Democrat that think Unions should not be in our schools or Governments a shut down or threat of a shut down I view as extortion, on matters like this I agree with the REPUBLICANS " No Political sheep here ".
Domewars - you don't know anything about the issues but you will support the unions anyway? You are a perfect example of how the proles and their unions have damaged business and government in this country. I don't want to hear another word from you against the tea party or other conservative groups. Your ignorant devotion to unions has disqualified you from expressing any kind of valid opinion.
Amazing how people can support greedy union thugs even when the education of children is at stake. Here they aleady have great paying jobs with incredible job security (even if they behave very inappropriately at work) but it's never enough. More cities and municipalities need to take after Camden and get rid of public sector unions so we can finally develop some fiscal sanity in our budgets. Give regular Americans a shot at the jobs monopolized by moonbat union thugs and I bet you it'll have a stronger impact on unmployment than Obama's porkulus pacakage ever will
Domewars: I'm with you, until all the facts are in I'm sticking with the teachers. We need more information.
This is sad, only the students will lose out here. People in this country think way too highly of their teachers. In my experience, most of these individuals are just failed professionals in their chosen field. Education starts and ends in the home, not the classroom. The teachers are meant to be there only as a guide for what you should be learning. Remember the old saying, 'Those that can, do. Those that cannot, teach'. I wish the city would just fire them all and find suitable replacements, even if that takes longer than settling the actual labor dispute. It's time to send a message to these unions that this type of extortion will not be tolerated. Unfortunately this is Chicago, so instead we'll see either more debt, or higher taxes put in place so the union members can get what they want. Typical response by a cesspool of a city that's controlled by these legalized mobs. In fact, perhaps we should change Obama's new campaign slogan to: "Lean Forward: we're not done f*cking you yet"
These are the same teachers that have always demanded more money because "It's for the kids."
Wow, I just noticed the picture. Are those the teachers on strike or is that the line outside the local employment office? What a bunch of fat, lazy slobs.
I hope some city official keeps the statistics for publication on the number of shootings in Chicago, while the teachers are on strike. Any excuse for not providing adult supervision for the youth of Chicago, in the form(s) of guidance, education, personal accountability, etc., is just what Chicago needs to maintain its crime status.
Love how one of the signs are cropped just right to say Azz Sizes, which is the problem, a lot of these union teachers got that way by sitting all day and not doing anything to educate the students.
Just one more example of Rahm Israel Emanuel's great leadership in action, got to pay back the unions for their support of his election to that great corrupt system known as Chicago politics.
Domewars- Read the story again- "We're tired of being bullied, belittled and betrayed," Lewis said at a news conference following the meeting. "We have done everything asked of us, yet we continue to be vilified and treated with disrespect."
Not once did Lewis say the conditions for the student's education were in jeopardy. Not once did Lewis say the building was falling down around the students. Not once did Lewis say there were inadequate or insufficient texts for the students. Open your eyes, liberal! It is all about respect, bcz in Chi-town, you ain't nuthin' les u got cred..... The teachers should respect themselves rather than demanding more money. They are actually some of the higher paid teachers in the nation.
Domeware-
The details are the same as they always are for these public school teachers. They are typical union demands: more money, less work, and zero accountability.
I would really like to know if any of you actually have any experience in the chicago pubic school system. It is an absolute tragedy that this system is run by individuals who have little to no experience in education. Before you comment, think about what you actually know to be true. Perhaps if you spent any time in a CPS school, you would see the complete inadequacy of resources available to students. We are fighting for the right to not work for free and for students to have basic resources. Would you work for free? Could you do your job with your hands tied behind your back?
US school teachers are some of the highest paid in the world. I would expect our students be ranked on average as some of the highest educated students in the world.
I have a solution, out teachers get paid an average pay based on where our kids place internationally. If our kids place 20th we take the pay teachers from the 19th and 21st place recieve and average it. Now we have the pay for our teachers.
Chicago needs to fire all the union teachers and hire a new batch of teachers that are not Union. I bet enough people are in need of work that they could do it.
@ A CPS Teacher-
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual wage estimate for teachers in Chicago was $62,240 as of May 2009. Elementary, middle and secondary schools had a mean annual earnings range of $45,380 to $67,960.
I am sure your salaries have not been lowered since then. If that is what Chicago public school teachers define as working for free, it is no wonder the students are so poorly educated.
A CPS Teacher:
Oh please. I highly doubt there is anyone out there who's calling for teachers for work for free. I'm guessing this dispute is over the fact that the city is out of money and is trying to get you guys to fund a greater share of your own health care benefits and retirement package; something private sector workers have done for decades. The fact is the CPS has an operating budget of over $5 billion dollars to educate roughly 400,000 students:
That's $12,500 per student. I don't know about anyone else, but I think that $375,000 a year should be more than enough money to educate a classroom of 30 kids (yes, I know that money is not ALL going to the teacher). The teachers say it's all about the 'kids' but remember that every dollar that goes into their pockets is one less dollar that goes towards school supplies, update text books, computer labs, etc.
All of this is just more evidence that we should do away with the public school system, and instead just give out vouchers to parents to allow their children to attend the private or charter school of their choice. Nobody benefits from the current system except teachers unions and administrators who are sucking the system dry. Imagine how much power a low-income family would have if instead of being held hostage by labor strikers, they had a $10,000 credit that could be applied to any school they wanted. This is the primary reason why my kids are going to private school instead of dealing with the cluster-f*ck that is our public school system. Unfortunately, not every family has the resources to do the same.
Meanwhile, I'd like to point out that the city will turn in part to local religious organizations to fill the gap. Ironic that the teachers are considering striking because they are tired of being "vilified", and the people who are going to charitably (ie without requiring government enforced moral values in the form of higher taxes) fill their void will be the people those on the left just adore bashing the holy pooh out of. What if the churches decided to strike???
From the article: "Lewis said negotiations will continue until a contract is hammered out that resolves concerns over wages, job security and a new evaluation system."
None of those things affect the kids in any way! If they were fighting for education, they would be threatening to strike for more and better resources for the children, by restoring things like the arts, extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities.
I seriously do not understand how people continually say "teachers are so underpaid!" They work 9 months a year, have winter break, spring break and every conceivable holiday off. And make a healthy middle class salary!
Get Unions out of our schools, PLEASE.
Guys, guys... the sign says "Fighting for the schools our students deserve". Obviously this means schools that don't have these teachers in them.
Just some data. The median teacher income in this country is over $40K. Starting is around $35K. It isn't a fortune, but they get tons of time off (although the good ones probably work their asses off while school is in session).
I do not live in Chicago, however I do have a friend or two that works for the City. The issue here is the city is looking to cut the pay of the teachers and increase already over crowded classrooms by about 50%. The pay cut would bring over 63% of the teachers under the poverty level. Many of these teachers use their own money to buy supplies to teach the kids because the school refuses to even update out dated text books. (One science class is still using books copyrighted in the 70's. Thats not preparing the kids for the modern day.)
Republican sheeple keeps pushing to lower their pay and cut those budgets, the kids suffer. The teachers are using the ONLY way they have to protect your children. perhaps you might want to think about that a little bit before you judge the way these teachers look, morons.
It sickens me to think that war spending is so popular but education funding is continuing to be cut. The cost of ignorance cannot be measured.
Are you kidding me? Your damn right $35/40K is not a fortune! Its barely enough to live on! Living in a $70k household and we barely have enough money to make ends meet! What did we suddenly forget about bills, taxes, and the general cost of owning a home or raising children or owning a car? Dear God! Almost every teacher I have ever had from middle school through college has been married and has a family and they have worked their asses off. Who gives a crap if they get the summer off? Look at what their dealing with; children and their parents. That would be enough to make anyone go stir crazy. Dealing with kids for 10 minutes makes me want to jump off a cliff and imagine having classes of them to deal with? I'd say a month off is the least they deserve but thats besides the point. 40k is LOWER MIDDLE CLASS. Thats just a step above poverty. I say go teachers, strike all the hell you want! Trust me, with the way our system works it wouldnt matter for our kids chances or education if they had three months out of school. This system is already so @!$%#ed up, they could easilly just piggy-back the system like so many others. Honestly, all this negative crap I hear about teachers is infuriating.
Hey ren. If your $70K doesn't work you should look at your spending and perhaps those entities that seem to be taxing you.
Ever notice how teachers NEVER go on strike in say- JUNE or JULY? If so, they do what's "best for the kids" without jeopardizing the kids' education. They'd have ALL summer to work out the details. But they don't- because it's never BEEN about students or the quality of the education they receive and because there's no leverage there.
They're not negotiating to improve school conditions, nor the quality of instructional material, nor the facilities or even the length of the school day.
They're negotiating THEIR OWN COMPENSATION. The travesty is that they've been doing this FOR YEARS and it's only now that the average taxpayer FINALLY sees it for the self-serving ruse it's always been.
Shame on us for letting this nonsense go on in the name of making things better for the kids. It's only when the money runs out does the light go on. sheez....
This is beyond pathetic. I'm sick to death of THE BIG LIE, that we don't spend enough on k through 12 education. We spent more per child than any other country except Austria. We spend a boat load of money per child, and we get squat for our money. Over paid administrators that do not even involve themselves in anything to do with real education, they're paper shufflers. The NEA and Federated Teachers Unions are nothing but blood suckers, and Union minions. No Unions in the public service areas of this country.
And, I agree look at the girth on these losers. "those who can, do, those who can't, teach"
I want an answer to that question also. More money needed, I don't think so. We are being robbed by the Teacher Unions. Probably most of it goes to retired teachers who worked the system. I hope they fire every one of them.
That's what this is about- not the national average salary for teachers. Chicago teachers make more than the national average but have no problem asking for more.
As an educator in higher ed I'm with you and I also agree that many of the comments are infuriating. I wish that the United States would close all public schools for 120 days, just long enough for many sleazy lawmakers and lazy, uninformed parents to jump off the nearest bridge when they realize the job that teachers actually perform on a day-to-day basis.
I'm betting that during that 120 day hiatus many parents will quickly figure out that many of Chicago school systems problems is in the home with them - Their own children!
It will be a cold day in hell when many parents take over the education of their own children in this country.
At $12000 spending per student and 30 students per classroom, that's $360,000 per year. Many of you are having trouble with teachers getting $65000, but I have to ask where the rest of that money is going?
Maybe smaller class sizes so kids get more individualized treatment, less administrative services and supportive services. If that smartboard is too expensive, maybe they'll have to get by with a chalkboard or white board. Maybe the book/testing monopolies (think Neal Bush) needs to be broken up.
Has anyone calling these teachers "union thugs" researched how much rent/housing costs are in Chicago? Also, at a normal 22 years of age when teachers get though with school (with a bunch of student load debt I might add) their thoughts are to settling down and starting a family. Should teachers be denied the American dream?
I'd say there's a lot of other things that can be cut before the teachers pay. These school districts like the rest of our gov. and business is looking for a fall guy and it seems to be that they are picking on the most vulnerable. Its the same formula in the way they think that justifies cutting Social Security and Medicare rather than removing tax breaks for the wealthy and subsidizing big business.
LIES! From wiki the average Chicago teacher has an income of $73,7511 NOT INCLUDING BENEFITS! Underpaid my rear. Disgusting union goons. Fire all of them.
Bah! Striking over job security? Allow me to translate. We want a contract that prevents firing us for any reason. The inmates truly are running the asylum. And since Chicago schools get a skim right off the top of all state money before anyone else even gets a shot at it, this will hurt everyone in Illinois. Chicago is an open cesspool.
Yes, Granny I do know, my sister lived there until recently. Chicago housing is less than half the coast of NYC, yet they make almost as much. "Student loan debt" is jusy bull Granny, I had no student debt, I WORKED a job and also went to school. If I can do it, anyone else can too. Poor decisions by others shouldn't cost me money. Starting a family has nothing to do with this issue, that's a "choice". Teachers denied the "American Dream"? I'd call working 9.5 months out of the year making $73,000 plus a retirement pension, plus health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance and all the other perks, is the friggin American Dream lady.
End all unions and let the people keep their money in their pockets. also we need to end all this tenure bs as well. If a teacher can teach, then keep them, but if they can't, then it's time to replace them.
As for the strike... these teachers should consider themselves lucky they have a job in today's economy. Striking is not the way to do things imo. Don't take it out on the kids. If you strike, then I personally feel that the schools should be allowed to replace the teachers for failing to do their jobs.
Isn't that what the students have been saying for years, and the schools and teachers just ignored their cries for help and protection.
OBAMA 2012
Gee, an article about a teacher's strike and absolutely no details on what the issues are. It can't be that difficult to say something like "base pay is $......... and the union wants it raised to $xxxxxxxx but the school board position is it should only go to $yyyyyyy. Given the liberal media's solidarity with unions, I suspect that the failure to include details is probably because the details don't favor the union.
It was in the local Chicago paper a few weeks ago, Chicago Public School Teachers average a wage of $70,000 plus benefits and pension. Keep in mind this is far more then the average household income of this country and many, many of those teachers are in households with another income. The funny thing is the Chicago Public School system is going to be short hundreds of millions of dollars next year and they have no idea how to fill that gap, but thats the way the City and State operate, they rack up the bills as IL continues to dig a deeper debt. The States credit rating was just lowered earlier this week because the Politicians are not addressing the hugh pension issues of the State workers. So the question is why are any workers in State and local government getting raises when the debt continues to grow, this does not happen in the private sector. As a household that never will have any children, I find its time to change public education to a way that everyone pays more of their fair share, meaning if you have kids in the system you pay more. Im tired of having to cover $5000 plus in yearly property taxes towards just the schools of which our household does not use. Over the term of our 30 year mortgage that will be well over $150,000 into the school district which we do not use, can I please have half that so me and my wife can retire 2 years earlier instead of working till our deaths? What Im saying is I do not want my money going towards Overcompensated Union workers who vote and support Democrat and their agenda which I do not believe in. Its been long over due but its time to get Unions out of every single public sector postion as they do nothing but increase the cost of each and every single product, service and tax we purchase and pay, it really is that simple. Doubt me, compare your property tax bill to the one 4 or 5 years ago, ours is up $1400 plus annually, the schools just bumped it up $400 alone this year for a total of $7400 with $5500 of it going to the local school district.
Millions of Americans are without jobs and the Teachers unions want a 30% raise. They should be happy they still have jobs. Nice to see that many Americans still blindly support the unions even though it's our money that they are extorting from the Government. I hope that they seize your money through new taxes to give it to these overpaid teachers. At a time when many are unemployed the teachers want a 30% raise to continue be lazy and not educate the children. I say replace them all with volunteers! Parents and grandparents that are educated but unemployed, at least then the students will have chance to learn because the people educating will actually care about them!
The US should never give in to terrorist organizations that would hold children hostage! Get rid of them!
I would gladly pay a very good teacher 100k a year if that teacher would agree to give up tenure, and be open to job termination should they not perform adequately. That being said, teachers would rather strike, hold "were doing it for the kids" over everyone's head, make a 100k a year, AND have carte blanche over evaluations.
Unions served a purpose in this country and still do in a lot of industries, but education is not one of them. Teachers in Chicago are paid fairly....this is ALL about the city asking them to work an extra 40 minutes a day in the classroom since Chicago has the shortest workdays in the country and their results are garbage.
"It was in the local Chicago paper a few weeks ago, Chicago Public School Teachers average a wage of $70,000 plus benefits and pension."
It's unbelievable. Teachers are some of the best compensated people in the country and they still want more. Who else has health care, a pension, and that kind of salary? No one!
John, you are right. Have you watched "Waiting on Superman"?
http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Teacher-l-Chicago,-IL.html
2019-2011 figures, $59,000
http://www.rentals.com/Illinois/Chicago/
Rent looks like it's going to cost around $1500 for a modest apt also, not to mention a home. I stand by my earlier statements.
"I'd call working 9.5 months out of the year making $73,000 plus a retirement pension, plus health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance and all the other perks, is the friggin American Dream lady."
It's never enough. Right now they want $100,000. Five years from now it will be $150,000. These teachers are not teaching because they like what the do, they are in it to be some of the best compensated people in the country. They all want to be rich. Large salary, health care, pension. We have become a country filled with people that believe that they are entitled to large sums of money even though they offer little in the way of Return On Investment. If these teachers were any good, they would not hold the children hostage. Fire them all!!!!!
Rich, greedy, worthless excuses for human beings! Privatize all schools and don't allow unions in. If a teacher refuses to teach, they get fired. No more tenure. No more passing the failing teachers to another school in hopes that the new teachers you get from another school will be better than those you just got rid of because you can't fire them. Hole teachers accountable for their actions. That is how our students will once again actually learn in school!
WATCH "WAITING ON SUPERMAN". Great Documentary on Public Schools and the teachers unions that have destroyed them.
Are any of you teachers? What right do you have to judge us as educators without having a clue? First of all, 45,000-65,000 isn't much when 50-75% of classroom expenses comes out of your pocket and you aren't reimbursed for it. Yes, we get summers off but not paid summers off so most teachers get a job in the summer time. Some have second jobs in order to pay for their teaching jobs. We get vacation time but if we use it we're labeled as not dedicated to the students so a lot of teachers don't use all of their time. We have parents who encourage their students to "stand up" to the teachers which entails cursing, hitting, rude comments, etc from both student and parents. As a public school teacher I make 46,000 but in the private sector I could easily make over 60,000 (with less politics and testing) and then I would'nt mind more insurance coming out of my pocket. People are comparing us to other countries but what most people do not know is that most of those top listed countries have special schools where students with intellectual special needs go to so public school teachers do not have these types of disabilities to educate (in the US it takes roughly 2-4x to educate a student with special needs than a student without). Not everything is black and white. US teachers teach about 1100 hours a year whereas countries like Japan and Germany teach anywhere between 600-800 hours a year. They also make more money than we do. Here are some facts in case you doubt my statistics:
Private and even charter schools are not required to take ALL disability types so of course they achieve, they're getting the creme of the crop. The average income for a garbage collector is 43,000 and in some states up to 65,000 and that's entry level! A portable toilet cleaner makes an average of 50,000. Testing is a huge issue where test writers make upwards of billions of dollars yet most tests are unreliable and invalid. Education is very political. Every 4 years a new president rolls through and has the miracle policy. They write it and expect us to implement usually with little to no training, little to no time, with huge consequences. Whatever happened to it taking a village to raise a child? As educators, we are responsible for feeding and teaching, we're advocates and social workers, therapists and public relation officers, testing coordinators and custodians, first aid providers, case managers and parents. Oh did I mention we're expected to be miracle workes?! We are constantly having things put on our plates and nothing gets taken off...sooner or later something is going to break. I love my job and I love my students but I challenge you all to take a step in my shoes. Go volunteer to be a teacher for a week and then post your comments. Are teachers perfect? No, but I normally give the teachers the benefit of the doubt until all facts are out on the table because unlike most of you I actually know what goes on behind the scenes and inside of the classroom.
"2019-2011 figures, $59,000"
Teachers in Baltimore make $39,000. Must be nice to teach in Chicago. If a teacher can not live well on that amount of money then they are not intelligent enough to teach IMO. They need to learn how to live on a budget like 98% of America has to do. I realize that you think teachers should be the best compensated people in the country, but not while they are failing at doing their jobs.
Thanks for filling in some details. Yup, explains why the details weren't in the article. But, this surprises no one anyway.
Special Educator,
If you don't like your job then quit. There are thousands of unemployed teachers that will gladly take that job. I live in a family that has several teachers, my Uncle, my Aunt, and my sister in law. They love teaching and have never supported taking the children hostage in an attempt to extort money.
"Some have second jobs in order to pay for their teaching jobs."
There are people in this country that are working 3 jobs and don't get any vacation. Nor do they have health care or a pension. If the teachers don't like it, quit. There are many that would take their place.
VFW.Member
Using the same tool Baltimore, MD teachers make $55,000.
http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=Teacher&l1=baltimore%2C+md
This site isn't right or left wing, it's just a neutral information site to give an idea of what the pay scale is around the country. You folks are so brainwashed, you can't see facts if they slap you in the face. It's almost like you want everyone's education to fail just like it has failed you.
Do some research on your own for once, find neutral unbiased sources, think through the info you find and then you can present an accurate picture that is believable!
"2019-2011 figures, $59,000"
That figure is a flat out lie, that's the beginning salary, not the AVERAGE salary. And IT DOES NOT INCLUDE BENEFITS. Stop lying about Chicago teachers, they are very well paid, and their benefits are gold plated compared to the average American worker. Fire them all.
"Education is very political."
You got that right. The teachers unions have bought and paid for the Democrat Party.
Working 3 jobs is a good thing?
THE TRUTH from CBS News Chicago!
Updated 06/12/12 – 7:24 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) – A day after Chicago Public Schools’ teachers overwhelmingly authorized a strike, CBS 2 wanted to know how much the average teacher earns.
As CBS 2’s Dana Kozlov found out, it depends on who you ask.
Salary figures provided by the Chicago Public Schools show teachers here have the highest average salary of any city in the nation. But, according to the Chicago Teachers Union’s calculations, Chicago teachers would rank second behind New York City.
During a vote taken last week, 90 percent of the city’s public school teachers voted to authorize a walkout, if no contract compromise is reached.
A top sticking point? Pay increases to compensate teachers for working a longer school day. But just how do teachers’ salaries here compare to teachers’ salaries across the country?
A Chicago Public Schools spokesperson said average pay for teachers, without benefits, is $76,000.
yeah, sure they're soooooooo underpaid. Add the benefits and you're looking at nearly 6 figures for 200 days of work per year. Greedy thugs.
just for giggles, i also went to monster.com and entered $5000 a month ($60,000 a year) as income. It came out as 57th percentile which would mean $60,000 is kind of high.
http://itgranny.com/stuff/monster-teacher-salary-chicago.jpg
"Working 3 jobs is a good thing?"
Not everyone can point a loaded gun at a child's head and say "Give me more money, or else".
Can we say Camden Police Force? Fire them all and rehire. I'll bet there are quite a few people who would like to have their jobs...
Granny,
Could you explain this that JCB posted?
"A Chicago Public Schools spokesperson said average pay for teachers, without benefits, is $76,000."
itgranny...
have to include bennies...add healthcare and retirement, then recalc. Look better now?
VFW...beat me to the punch!
Sounds pretty vague to me. Nobody wants to own it. (well the neighbor of my son in law's friend says it is so so it has to be true.) This is what I mean about doing research! Get reliable sources.
Camden, NJ is disbanding their police force due to lack of funds. If the police had children that they could hold hostage like the teachers do then this would not happen.
ANOTHER teacher's strike just before the start of school.
Typical Modus Operandi......"But it is for the CHILDREN".....meanwhile back in the real World (refer to VFW.Member's post #1.53).
" More than 400,000 daily breakfasts and meals will no longer be served."
8,000 of those are just for the teachers in the picture.
VFW
Camden is actually going to get more police on the streets. The Union Police is 267 members. The Non-Union county police will provide 400. That is an increase in the force size of 50% and will cost less. This did not need to happen except politicians who took contributions for unions returned the favor by giving them just about anything the unions demanded.
The Union pretty much has backed itself to the edge of a cliff, and more politicians from both parties are going to push the unions off the edge if they don't stand down.
Sounds pretty vague to me. Nobody wants to own it. (well the neighbor of my son in law's friend says it is so so it has to be true.) This is what I mean about doing research!
Hey Granny, why don't YOU go google "average Chicago school teacher salary" and research it for yourself. It's all there in black and white. Also hit the link from CBS News channel 2 in Chicago and listen up, then hit the wiki link for a second confirmation to that stat. Vague, not in the least Granny. The numbers you posted are NOT TRUE, mine are.
Fire every Teacher & Administrator now..... Start over with a new crew and do not allow the UNIONS PIGS in..... Yes do a REGAN or a Camden.....
If you want the truth about how much Chicago teachers make, look at the Chicago Public School budget that lists every public school and average teacher salary in each. Looks to me like $70,000 is about average.
JCB-I DID! I just gave you 2 sources! READ! RESEARCH!
You're the one who hasn't supplied neutral sources.
Geesh! We're getting getting a first hand view of why education is so important. Nobody wants to look up anything. they just echo what others are saying.
It won't let me post the link, just put www. in front of it.
cps.edu/About_CPS/Financial_information/Documents/0910ProposedBudget/12_0910_ProposedBudgetSchoolsAtAGlance.pd
Granny. Do you think that the Chicago Public School budget is neutral?
Special -Educator, while I respect your opinion and point of view I think you're not fully listening to the views of others either. I am not a teacher, but I also didnt sign up to be one. You say teachers are spending large portions of their salaries on classroom supplies without reimbursement, which is nice of them, but who said they had to do that? You choose what to do with your paycheck, if it's buying supplies that's great but it certainly wasnt in your contract that it was a requirement. You do not get paid in the summer, but you are paid during the year so you could in theory put money in the bank and live off of that in the Summer if you didnt want another job - again, it's a choice. I cant speak for your vacation, I think if you have it you're allowed to use it, but perhaps there are political angles to that I'm not privvy to. And I dont know about the teaching structures at other schools or in other countries, but I do know many teachers who were laid off and would love a job - even if it involved an extra 40 minutes a day. You want us to all feel sorry for you, but the truth is you chose to be a teacher, you knew that wasnt traditionally a highly paid career path, and that it involved summers off, dealing with children/families, politics, testing, etc. and you made a choice to go into that field. You say you love your kids, but it certainly doesnt sound like you like anything about your job from that tirade you just posted.
We're talking about a city with a huge crime problem, please explain to me how going on strike and leaving these kids to their own devices isnt going to help some of them get into trouble?!
granny...
I actually used your numbers before reading the posts of others who actually looked it up. Even with your number of $40k...add benefits! What do you believe they are worth? $15K...$20K...$25K/ year...oh yea, 9-months!
Not bad, if you ask me!
Did she write this report from her couch. OK, I'm not a reporter but here are a couple of tips
What are the demands?
What is the performance level?
How does the community feel?
Because the federal government is so heavily involved in local schools, we all have a right to know the details. Chicago isn't exactly in a good light right now are the schools just as bad? This is another case for school choice.
A CPS Teacher,
You say that you are fighting not "to work for free". Have teachers become so bad with math that they think $70,000 is nothing?
Some people do work for free, they are called volunteers. I don't have a job right now but instead of sitting on the couch all day I voluteer to help others less fortunate than myself. You see, I receive no government help because for the 20+ years that I had a job I had saved my money and am now able to get by on income from investments. I don't live the high life that Chicago teachers can afford to, I live off off of Ramen and Fruits & vegetables and never eat out. But, to answer your question "Would you work for free?" my answer is yes, yes I would and do.
We need to revamp our whole system of Public Education in this country.
It has been taken over by people who have no business educating children; .i.e, the lower quartile of those who attend college. Hell, some of these so-called "teachers" can barely read and write themselves...
let's fire them all - administrators included - and make them take a competency test if they want to be rehired.
...time to weed out the losers who feel "disrespected"
"If that happens Brizard said CPS will partner with City Sister Agencies, local faith organizations and other non-profits to keep kids engaged."
So much for the Constitutional rights of separation of Church and State, huh? I don't think my tax dollars should be spent helping Jesus freaks tell my kids the world is flat, I'm crazy for believing in Aliens, but their is an invisible person in the sky that we must believe in or else...
-
Ok, so monster.com didn't contact the chicago public school board to get it's figures, But it does go back to my original concern. Looking at your figures from the pdf you posted, where does the extra money go?
http://cps.edu/About_CPS/Financial_information/Documents/0910ProposedBudget/12_0910_ProposedBudgetSchoolsAtAGlance.pdf
Abraham Lincoln Elementary School says it costs $4,628,816 to teach their 655 students. That's $7066 per kid. The student to teacher ratio is 20 to 1, so the teacher cost of that classroom is $141,338. Since the average teacher gets paid $69,209 where the hell is the rest of that money ($72,129) going?
You go down the list and each and every school has more than half of it's costs going somewhere. Personally, i believe the teacher is the most important element in that classroom besides the kids. Why don't the figures reflect that?
Isnt there a huge amount of unemployement in Chicago and surrounding cities? I bet many of them are teachers. They should just fire this lot, and hire people that will actually care about the students and dont just whine for more money all the time.
I understand the plight of teachers. I married one.
The bureaucracy, unreasonable parents, near-impossible demands and paperwork, nonexistent funding for supplies...yes, I understand. And I respect it. In many cases, being a good teacher requires more work for less pay than with most other occupations.
But teachers in Chicago are paid very fairly...especially considering what others make in other parts of the country. My wife was a teacher for over twenty years and makes less than the entry-level salary is in the Windy City.
"Pay for Performance" is what we should be asking of our school systems. Not a safety harness that retains all teachers regardless of dedication and effort.
And I do have to agree with the nauseating rhetoric spin: this is *NOT* about the kids. It's about the teachers.
And when those teachers are paid fairly yet strike to get more at the expense of those kids, it's beyond reprehensible.
I can explain why they can't strike in the summer time -
Teachers are only employed when school is in session. They are also only paid when school is in session. Most school districts have an option for the pay to be spread throughout the year so the teachers get a steady pay check. Since they aren't technically being paid in the summer (They're actually getting backwages), it would be impossible to strike.
As for the working for free comment - they're complaining about the workday being extended without a corresponding increase in pay. So, their explanation is that the extra time is being worked for free.
I also saw several comments about working multiple jobs if they really want more money - every decent teacher I ever had frequently worked 10 to 12 hour days during the school year (not every day, but more than once a week) and are also required to attend mandatory paid training courses throughout the summer which are somewhat random in nature.
Now at $76,000 a year - I can understand the complaining about the increased workday, but that's still a very decent income. I don't understand why the teachers are striking if they're truly making that much money before benefits. There was some stuff about increased class size, but if that was the main reason for the strike, they never should have even brought up pay.
These teachers are out of control. They already have the summers off unless they are getting greedy and getting extra salary for other work they do. Their benefits and retirement packages are already extravagant and they want more.... more, more, more. Chicago thugery at it's finest here. What a bunch of BS.
That $76000 isn't before benefits according to the pdf supplied by vfw.
The average CPS teacher makes $76k a year. When you add in benefits, they make $107k. 3 months off in the summer, 2 weeks off for Christmas, a week off for spring break.
Then they want a 30% pay raise because Rahm wants to increase the school day by an hour. How many people in the private sector on salary would get a raise? Easy, ZERO.
CPS is already about $600 million in the red. In order to pay for this, Chicago would need to double property taxes.
They need to bust the union, give teachers a choice to stay on strike or be rehired as a non-union employee.
Heck, CPS teachers make more than Chicago Police. CPD is a FAR tougher and more dangerous job.
All right!!!!! Go Rom Emanuel... show those Republicans who is boss.... yeah..... right.
Romney/Ryan 2012
So jealous, all of you. Enflaming class warfare against other middle class people (teachers) who have conceded a hell of a lot over the last ten years, only to have all those promises by state & local government broken. The disrespect you have for teachers makes me think you were the losers who didn't take advantage of your education and blame teachers for your failures. You all want baby-sitters who can work miracles for the same wages as everyone else even though becoming "qualified" costs a hell of a lot more than most professions. All you idiots voted for bond measures the last 20 years and now when the bill comes due it suddenly becomes teachers fault that there's no money. Just because Generation X sucks at raising their kids, don't blame teachers. It's really that simple.
Easy for him to say. His salary is $250K and not in danger of getting cut...
According to a CBS online story dated June 2012, Chicago Public School teachers earn an average $76K WITHOUT benefits. A union official disputed that figure and said it was about $5,000 less. The story went on to say that at $76K per year the teachers are the HIGHEST paid public school teachers in the nation and at $73K they are the second highest.
Teachers get 3 months a year off - Christmas - Spring Break - summer - plus numerous other days throughout the school year. So the $76K is for 9 months of work. At that rate, if they worked 12 months a year, like the poor slobs who are paying their salaries, they would make $101,333 PLUS benefits. Using the $73K figure, it is $97,333. In what world do these people live to think that either of these figures is not only a liveable wage, but a damn good one???????????? The arrogance of "A CPS teacher" to say that they are "fighting for the right to not work for free" is not only astounding in its ignorance but downright offensive.
I will never waiver from the position that to take back education we first must rid the schools of unions. Second, start giving competency tests to the teachers. I think there are many of them who have absolutely no knowledge of the subject matter they allegedly "teach". You think they are screeching now, wait to hear them if they have to pass a subject matter competency test!!!! I have seen notes, letters and writings from "teachers" who couldn't spell or even formulate a complete sentence. Do we really need to wonder why the children aren't learning??
Education degrees are a joke. One can learn to make a lesson plan in about six hours. Teachers must know the subject matter they are teaching. There are so many older, knowledgeable, experienced people who are barred from teaching because they don't have a degree in "education". The reason - UNIONS. They are protecting their turf as verociously as ghetto thugs.
The unions do not, never have, and never will have the best interests of our children at heart. Until we rid the schools of the unions, common sense teaching will never prevail.
Abby-3258529....yeah, but this is Chicago...you see, in Chicago, well, it's different
That's right. Thug kids aren't the fault of the parents, it must be someone, anyone else's fault. <sarc>
This is why teachers are GETTING a bad reputation !!! FIRE the whole lot , pull a Ronnie Reagan on thier buts !!!!
Not getting the reason of their strike although it appears that if the students were first they would not strike. If it is money well many of us have not had a raise in some time, if it is pension, guess what many of us lost our pensions and any savings during this depression and yes it is a depression. If it is evaluations for doing a job they were hired to do again everyone else other than government employees must meet a set of expectations. So I am not understanding the reasons for striking. There are many young teachers fresh out of college who would love a job so if they do not want to work well, there any many who will. This report needs to state the reasons a little more clearly before others can choose a side.
arizruby: I agree with you in that we need WAY MORE information before we can figure out all that is going on here. Strikes don't really help anyone. It takes two to tango and I don't think anyone really wants a strike. There is not enough information on either side here to make an educated opinion if we don't live there. However, from my research I have to go with the people of Chicago. It is their city and I have to assume that they are supporting their teachers for a reason. They live there I don't.
I agree that the story does not offer any information about what the strike is about. One commenter states what the salaries are. That should be in the article, not a comment. What are the supplies or texts that are in short supply? What are the problems being contested? We need more information about the situation. The article seems to be a goad in the direction of partisan battling between the classes.
From the article: "Lewis said negotiations will continue until a contract is hammered out that resolves concerns over wages, job security and a new evaluation system."
None of those things affect the kids in any way! If they were fighting for education, they would be threatening to strike for more and better resources for the children, by restoring things like the arts, extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities.
People tend to support teachers unions blindly, because hey, everyone knows or loves a teacher somewhere. But I seriously do not understand how people continually say "teachers are so underpaid!" They work 9 months a year, have winter break, spring break and every conceivable holiday off. And make a healthy middle class salary!
Get Unions out of our schools, PLEASE.
If you haven't had a raise in some time arizruby, and you don't have a pension or savings do you think the situation is going to improve by MORE people getting into that situation? For the one who can afford to send their child to a pricey private school, maybe they had better support others who want a decent salary as well.The market value of an hour's work will continue to decline if we don't support the idea of people getting a salary that supports a middle class lifestyle. More and more people are finding themselves the working poor. If you don't support the idea of living wages for others, you could very well be next.
It really amazes me that some people form such strong people form such strong opinions with so little information. Obviously several people on this sight do not have a clue what goes on in education in the United States. First, the US is compared with other nations on test scores. In the US we educate EVERY child and test them. In other countries, only the higher achieving students continue education past the early years. This fact makes it seem like our students aren't achieving as well as those in other countries. IF the other countries tested all their children, a very different set of data would shed more light on the true achievement level of our students versus the other nations'. Secondly, teachers are only paid for 10 months out of the year. During the summers, teachers must attend professional development seminars, classes, meetings, etc. to keep up to date on the latest curriculum changes, testing issues,t etc. There is no pay for that time. Teachers also work long hours after students have left, take piles of papers home to grade, have parent conferences, plan lessons, work ball games, work fall festivals, take students on trips that require 'overtime' with no extra pay,the list goes on. Many teachers buy students supplies, sometimes even clothes, food, and shoes out of their own pocket, just because their students need them. Some of those students probably have parents that are too sorry and lazy to get out and get a job, preferring to sit at home and write a bunch of 'stuff' on the computer about what how overpaid teachers are.
So because a bunch of people get screwed over these teachers shouldnt fight for what they feel they deserve? Not seeing your logic here.
I think this article is sorta skimpy though, yeah there arent any details, mostly because it seems to be coralling us in favor of Brizard and those who are opposed to the strike. But thats the news for ya, half-educating the world one misleading article at a time.
Teachers can fight for what they feel they deserve- they just shouldn't insult our intelligence and say they're doing it for the kids.
That's called lying.
Sandtrich:
That Constitution is a pesky thing. Nowhere in it is education mentioned. But defense is.
" the date falls a week after many students head back to class.
"We're tired of being bullied, belittled and betrayed," Lewis said at a news conference following the meeting.
WTF is this clown talking about?
One week back to work after enjoying your summer off and you are "tired of being bullied"? Remember when it was the children who threw tantrums about going back to school? It is an absolute disgrace that these people and their lazy, greedy, self-entitlement ways are what Americas children are exposed to, no wonder Chicago has so many problems.
P.S.
"We have done everything asked of us, yet we continue to be vilified and treated with disrespect."
You've done nothing asked of you... look at America's test scores. Aren't you at least expected to show up for your job? and here you are walking out after one week. The self-entitlement and greed of these losers is remarkable... and they can't even figure out why nobody respects them.
Fire them all.
Chicago voters for Holder and Obama...how is that Hope and Change working for you?
This is disgraceful, but I expect nothing less from union thugs. Evaluations??? Really???? I've worked in the public sector my whole life and every company I worked for had quarterly evaluations. The last company I worked for you had 6 pages of essay type questions and you had to grade yourself then spend an hour with your manager and go over every one of your answers and debate the grading if they didn't agree with your assessment. Raises where based on company funds and your performance (read: evaluation). This is why this country is in such a mess, in part, unions picking the pocket of the taxpayer then giving the $$$$ to the democrats.
I always feel like I'm writing a research paper when I read articles. Never the right details. Doesn't seem to be a lot of analysis on the Chicago public school system but what I have read isn't good.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/only-21-percent-chicago-public-school-8th-graders-are-proficient-reading
We spend so much money on taxes for schools which I gladly pay. My family goes to private school by choice. But I want results in the public schools damn it. These are our kids!
If students were FIRST in the eyes of PARENTS, POLITICIANS, AND CONSTITUENTS then there would have been no need for teachers to strike in the first place!!! It would be OBVIOUSLY apparent that the education of a city's, a community's children comes first - and the resources supplied to do so then would match the amount of resources supplied to the job to amounts equal to those required by the private sector to do THE SAME JOB.
Please. These are YOUR children, YOUR future workers, YOUR grandchild's future doctor, they are not the teacher's children. Don't place YOUR RESPONSIBILITY on them.
Here's what they're striking about:
The Chicago school district is lengthening school days by about 25%. In compensation for a 25% longer work day (not counting all of the extra stuff that goes along with it), the district offered the teachers a 2% raise.
Yeah. 2%. Not even enough to keep up with inflation.
Chicago claims it can't afford to pay the teachers any more than that, and it's also tightening evaluations at the same time. If my employer did that to me, I'd tell him to F*** off.
I'd strike, too.
So you are using the children to blackmail the community. How about results? All under performing teachers in this under performing school district should be removed immediately. All highly performing teachers should be rewarded. All average teachers should be set up on action plans so they can be rewarded in the future.
As a former teacher, there is no amount of pay that covers what a teacher has to go through now. We are blamed for students that do not reach testing standards when so
many students have little desire to learn.
If a teacher can not entertain like movies, game systems or TV, we are boring. Many students come from homes where school is
no longer a priority and the student is always right. Absentee parents which is due to both parents
working when students are not home or single parent home status may lead to
little support for the student. I have
seen teaching staff hit, bullied, stabbed, and threatened by students and
parents and this was in a high income school area. At some point teachers will have to demand
change from our culture that allows a teacher to teach a student how to learn
and teach themselves. We can not teach to a test and have a good outcome.
Students must see the benefit to learning. Students must want to learn, not be
entertained every moment of the day. Take
the pressure off of the teacher and put it back where it belongs, in the
home. Disciple is taught at home not school. You can not learn without it and you sure can not
teach without disciple either.
Co Co....I would take hope and change over corporate greed, and tax havens for the wealthiest any day!
Remember in 2010 the Republicans ran and won on jobs, they said they would bring us jobs, just like the Bush tax breaks, gee I guess neither were one were successful, no instead they were obstructionist, the party of NO, and had more filibusters than any party in the history of the country. Sounds like they are doing a great job. And yes the Democrat's have their faults, but at least they were willing to compromise where as the Republican/Teaparty refused.
Do you really think that Romney/Ryan are going to help you(unless of course your wealthy) the average person, hell no, they will get rid of Medicare and Social Security, they will tax the crap out of the middle class so the the wealthiest get their tax breaks, end all regulations, kill our environment, start another war(hopefully not world war 3) all in the interests and all the promises that Romney/Ryan have made to the wealthiest.
Like I said I would take Obama/Biden over Romney/Ryan any Day.
Dotties girl..........All the unions $$$ go to the democrat's, oh so its ok for all the $$$ from corporations, and the wealthiest to go to the repub./teaparty, what a hypocrite!
Private schools are out-performing public schools, yet they tend to be non-union and make less than public teachers across the board. So how much more money do these teachers need in order to provide "the education our kids deserve"???
And speaking of being "vilified", these private schools are also the ones who are vilified just because they don't want to provide contraceptives (because that obviously has so much to do with educational quality)
They complain about being vilified and bullied. So basically they're striking because their feelings got hurt???
You wanna talk about teachers who work hard and make sacrifices, look no further than spec ed. They are often under-staffed, they have to deal with unruly kids on a regular basis, they work after school without pay, they provide individualized education, they have to deal with bigoted teachers who "just don't understand" the child's difficulties, they spend a lot more time communicating with parents. If anyone deserves a raise, it's them.
By the way, remember when all those commenters were bashing the governor of Wisconsin for reducing teachers unions power? I don't see a whole lot of those people on this post.
We should have a voucher program or at least a tax deduction on local, state, and national level. President Obama is on record opposing such a program, and yet he gives amnesty to illegal immigrants.
The teachers should all be fired. But of course that won't happen because we all know that what's really important for Chicago is banning guns and chicken restaurants.
hwilson...inflation is currently at 1.4% for 2012. Average inflation from 2008 - 2012 is/has been 2.74%.
CPS Teachers would still receive their annual Step & Lane wage increases in addition to a 2% pay increase.
As a private sector worker, and like most other tax payers, I don't get annual Step & Lane increases. The last raise I received was 1.5% in 2010 - the rate of inflation. With so many of my fellow tax payers out of work, I has happy just to have a job, let alone get a raise.
Got a suggestion for the NEA, since they care sooooo much for their members - how about they waive the teacher's union dues for a year, just like states give a "back to school" tax moritorium. That would give the teachers a big increase in take-home pay.
argumentativebutfair,
Private schools can be selective of who is allowed as students. The one that my son went to would not accept any child who had been in trouble at another school. I am sure there were other factors they looked at. They made it clear they were not a reform school and their intentions was to teach, so they were picky about who they allowed in. Which makes for smaller classrooms, which makes it easier on the teachers.
Laura...you need to do some homework! 11 out of the 20 richest people (billionaires) in the US are Democrats. In 2008 Corporations gave to Obama (60%) over McCain (40%).
You know how everyones whining about bailing out Wall Street and the Banks? Here's how they contributed - Keeping in mind that Obama's Chief Economic Advisor, Robert Rubin, was the head of Goldman-Sachs. Also, AG Eric Holder (an Obama Appointee) and his DOJ "couldn't find" evidence to prosecute anyone in the Goldman-Sachs debacle.
2008 Contributions:
Goldman Sachs interests:
Obama $743,371
McCain $220,045
Lehman Brothers interests:
Obama $391,624
McCain $115,707
Citigroup interests:
Obama $499,598
McCain $290,101
Morgan Stanley interests:
Obama $344,130
McCain $249,377
JPMorgan & Chase Co. interests:
Obama $478,462
McCain $210,992
Another interesting point is that there is a lot of talk now about "Quantitative Easing III" (QEIII).
Part of QEII was the Fed printing money (effectively de-valuing the dollar, and in turn, raising the price of everything) to buy Treasury Bonds. Now, you, me and everyone else, can buy Treasury Bonds directly from the U.S. Treasury. Surprisingly(?), the Fed chose to buy the Bonds through...wait for it...Goldman-Sachs, who, buy the way, received a tidy commission for their efforts. - just sayin'...
Also, as an fyi, CPS has the some of the shortest school days in the nation, yet receive some of the highest compensation. The travesty for them!
Ok..well maybe we should consider that approach, because obviously private schools are doing something different that works better.
Ok class remember, hold your tax payer firmly with both hands and squeeze until you get the last cent.
Unionized teachers want to be treated ike Ph.D.s but act like longshoremen.
tupe; You're against people's right to organize? Tell you what, why don't we all go back to the surf system and slavery. The the rich will have the control you want to give them!
Mike - what do the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean have to do with union organizing? Oh, you meant to say serf system, did you? What an ignorant buffoon.
lol...I saw that too and said "Whaaaaaat?". There's your unionized, public school education for you. Many of them end up pretending to be jounalists on the internet. :)
Mike: I'm sure TUPF would like that. Hitler got rid of the Unions first, and then we all know what happened next. That is all part of their plan. They don't want anyone to disagree with them, or they call us names and tell us to shut up. So much for the pursuit of liberty. They want total control. Good thing we can still vote. I'm not pro or anti Union I believe people have a right to their opinion without being told to shut up. There is more than one side to every story.
Wow so all of those people who send their kids to Chicagos public schools are rich...who would have thunk.
This is what America is about people. The right to organize, I know you righties dont like it, you want to be dictated to I guess. If it werent for unions you wouldnt have weekends, vacations, minimum wages. Go ask your republican polititian what he wants to do with those 3 things and if you get the truth from them it will be to get rid of them. That means you can be made to work 20 hours a day, no days off and get paid 25 cents an hour. I guess for you righties this is ok, so keep voting for them and you will get what you want. But until then us dems will keep fighting to keep those things our parents sacrificed for us to have.
This is not what America is about. This is about extortion. Taxpayers will not get a rebate for the days that schools are closed. Parents will be forced to pay for daycare one way or another, and the students will continue to fall further behind the rest of the world.
Besides, those picketers have obviously not been listening to the First Lady about diet and exercise. They've had the whole Summer to work out and they're still fat. Great role models.
No - just for fighting back against people who organize to take what's unreasonable for them to have.
Just because you have the right to do something doesn't mean that you should do something or that it's the best course of action.
Which is best to exercise your right or to do right?
Debdem
Their plan? Who? Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats that run Chicago? Somehow I doubt that they are "anti-union" in any way, shape or form. Perhaps it has more to do with the fact that Chicago - just like most other cities - cannot afford to pay the exhorbitant salaries, benefits, etc. that the unions keep demanding and that they actually want to get rid of teachers that don't perform. Perhaps they are having to deal with the harsh realities of the burden that union demands have placed on city governments across the country. Perhaps they are finding that driving business away by raising taxes is not making it any easier to pay the bills. Of course, you may be correct that they want total control - but, then again, haven't the Democrats had total control in Chicago for many, many years?
Chicago Teachers Union Demands 30 Percent Pay Raise
Lindsey Burke
June 12, 2012 at 3:00 pm
It takes a lot of nerve to ask for a 30 percent pay raise. You'd better be sure you had a banner year. Yet in Chicago, where just 15 percent of fourth graders are proficient in reading (and just 56 percent of students graduate), the teachers union is set to strike if the district does not agree to a 30 percent increase in teachers' salaries.
The average teacher in Chicago Public Schools—a district facing a $700 million deficit—makes $71,000 per year before benefits are included. If the district meets union demands and rewards teachers with the requested salary increase, education employees will receive compensation north of $92,000 per year.
According to the Illinois Policy Institute, the average annual income of a family in Chicago is $47,000 per year. If implemented, the 30 percent raise will mean that in nine months, a single teacher in the Chicago Public School system will take home nearly double what the average family in the city earns in a year.
According to the union, 91 percent of its members voted for the ability to strike. That vote gives the union the ability to walk out of public school classrooms as children return to school this fall.
The union argues that Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) wants to extend the school day, and that the requested salary increase would compensate them for extending the school day from 5.5 hours—among the nation's shortest school days—to 7.5 hours.
Under paid, yeah sure they are. Greedy Union goones.
Evidently Debdem is so blinded by the lies from the left that she thinks anybody having trouble with the unions must be a righty. Even she must know that Chicago is as blue as you can get and Rahm Emanuel is a Democrat mayor who is standing up to the union based on the reality that he must not allow them to bankrupt his city.
Teachers are the most under paid workers in America. Had it not been for a teacher no one could get a job in America. Now millions of teachers will be be replaced by a babby sitter and classes will be be beamed into the class room on TV of course teaching what the government decides is right for the masses. It has already begun in Cal. and other states as well. Good by America.
If they are underpaid then why does our country pay more for education then any other country in the world?
CPS is the 3rd largest school system in this country - and I believe Illinois is #49 in terms of how much it spends on public education. Resources are also not allocated to students equitably. There are schools without nurses or counselors...
Square dude, good question. The problem is that the public perception is that each student gets allotted the same amount. There is a number for each regular education student that can't be exceeded but our public education system chooses to educate EVERYONE. That is the biggest difference between us and the rest of the world. There are no kids in wheelchairs in Chinese classrooms. Some students in our systems use up the majority of the resources. People don't realize that. Every argument that uses numbers and money spent as a reason why a school should succeed is posed by a person that simply has no understanding of our education system.
International study of teacher pay ranks US 22 out of 27.
Well said Josh. If everyone can 'go to college' because they want to, then college is way too easy.
Rational school systems winnow out stupid and lazy people, as well as motivated but incapable individuals, leaving motivated and capable to further their education absent the losers. If you don't like that concept, then tell your Senator that you want admission to the service academies to be based on ZIP codes, or tell United Airlines that you think almost anybody could be a good pilot.
Liberals think that everybody is equal until they need a surgeon.
If any of the people commenting here about teacher pay (or the lack of it) went into teaching to get rich you are not real bright to begin with. If you are truly a good teacher the students are the priority.
To the CPS teacher who complains about the longer days and paying more for insurance with only a 2-4% raise...come on up to WI...the pay did get cut in many districts, not just more for insurance and retirement. Extra time is what is required to meet the education standards to improve the progress of the students that are set by the government, it is a matter of minutes, not hours. If the students are not your priority, then quit and find another job that pays the same. The starting pay for the teachers in our district is $29,000...our pay has been frozen for 2 years...the raise we got this year is 1.2%...health insurance deductibles are $5000 per family...and we do not have collective bargaining rights. We still have great and committed teachers, but are also now able to get rid of the deadwood.
"Teachers are underpaid." But, how about the administrators? It's interesting that their salaries are never mentioned or the raises they are getting. In my area, they're building high schools into college campuses....Why? It's not a money issue, it's a resource allocation issue. The same old, same old, that govt doesn't spend money efficiently or wisely.
They don't care about the kids...if they did, they'd actually teach them something rather than just lowering the test scores to pass them along. The world raises standards while we lower them and the world is passing us by.
The DOE has been in place since Carter and our education quality has declined ever since...coincidence.?
Please tell me you are not serious Virgile, the most "underpaid" --- OMG you're obviously uneducated or you're getting your information solely from MSNBC or the unions themselves. Please tell me you are NOT a teacher! If you are then you are the reason parents, like myself, send their kids to private schools even though I pay the very taxes that go to the local schools!
$76,000 (average Chicago teacher salary, google it) plus benefits for 200 days work IS NOT underpaid.
You are kidding me, right? If $76,000 is average pay (Chicago), they make more than double what I make and I own my own business. Dang, maybe we all should be teachers, that is damn good money! Plus the other benefits.
BWil,
Does sound pretty good, doesn't it. But, if you could actually get a position as a teacher, you would have to constantly worry about your job (no matter how good of a teacher you might be) because the union that you would be forced to pay dues to (whether you want to or not) would ensure that the teachers that have been there longer (regardless of how good their performance is) would keep their job.
The minute they strike, fire them all and bring in an army of substitutes who are eager to teach and don't believe they are entitled to all they demand. It's a job and one that American teachers have been failing at for decades in the public school systems. I'm tired of their whining and complaing. Do your jobs properly and EARN respect.
Viper: Good luck with that, do you know what it takes to hire a teacher? Even a substitute, even WITHOUT a Union? IT is not going to happen. Even with the amount of people coming out of college with teaching degrees, it is not that easy, let alone people who want to teach in Chicago. Yeah, sure that idea will work. And all those people you want to hire owe so much in student loans they will be the next to strike for higher wages to pay their exorbitant student loans so they can eat and pay rent.
You mean like the public school teachers that wrestled the gun away from the kid in the cafeteria earlier this week. Yeah, they are certainly underpaid and don't deserve respect. Just because your teachers obviously failed you, does not mean they are all failing!
And just because a couple of teachers wrestled a gun away from a kid does not mean they all would, Trying to generalize a group by the actions of a few is typical though. I commend those teachers that wrestled the gun away from that kid and they should get some recognition and an award but that does not mean that every teacher should get an award.
There are many good teachers, But there are many bad teachers, Unfortunately the way the system is set up the people who actually pay the salaries of all these teachers have no way to just keep the good ones and get rid of the bad ones, The taxpayers have no say in how their schools are run and yet have to keep paying the burden of taxes to pay for it.
LostInThePineBarrens: You make excellent points here. That is why I am not Pro or Anti Unions. It depends on the Union. Many of them keep you from firing people who are #*$(& . Some of them are honest, but again it is very hard to tell who is who.
There are great teachers and ones that should not be near children and many Unions protect the ones that are garbage. However, I don't have enough information about this situation other than what the parents in Chicago are saying the article doesn't address enough of the issues on both sides.
Shelly, A few clicks and you can find out a lot about what has been going on in Chicago, The city of Chicago is broke and yet they are trying to bargain in good faith with the teachers union,
The city of Chicago had attempted to fulfill their curriculum responsibility to their students by lenghtening the school day, The union bulked stating the teachers would not work any addition hours, The city of chicago hired over 470 teachers to account for those hours, many of those hired were teachers that were layed off because the city just could not afford them.
So the city is back to being unable to afford the demands...what should they do...raise taxes on an already overburdened populace?
Get your facts straight - this 30% "raise" actually means that the board wanted us to work that much for free. We were asking to be compensated - not get additional money. What public education employee would actually ask for a 30% raise? The actual raise we are asking for is 2-4% - which is basically a cost of living increase. Additionally, the board is proposing to raise our insurance, so that 2-4% would really just cover that.
Dear CPS teacher,
It's hard to get facts straight when practically none are given in this poorly written article.
Viper,
Go ahead and fire them all but I doubt you will find many new graduates in the field of particularly ele-education. As a higher-ed instructor, maybe 1 of (40) of my students will approach teaching as a profession because they know teachers are underpaid and subs are paid even less.
I would suggest getting that truck-load of replacements lined-up first.
If you want to know what is happening with the money, start showing up at school board meetings. you would be surprised how much money they can find when they have to explain what they are doing with it. Which leads to another question? everyone knows the Presidential Candidates and what the choice is in front of us, but how many can name a member of thier local school board? They have a more direct effect on our lives as they are responsible for educating the kids in our area yet we focus more on one race for an office that for most Americans has no affect on thier daily lives.
@A CPS Teacher,
According to ChicagoMag.com as of 2 years ago, the average teacher salary was $69,000 for 9 months of work. That's equivalent to $92,000 for a years worth of work. How pitiful that it's not enough to ask you to work an entire work day like the rest of us. An average of $70,000 for 9 months of work. You are terribly underpaid. I'm sorry that your union reps have lied to you, but you are very much overpaid. This is one reason for the backlash against public service unions. Greedy doesn't even begin to describe asking for a 30% pay raise, when you already as much, by yourself, that 2 of the average households that you serve earn, and you do it in only 9 months. That's four working adults all summed together to equal what you are making off of their taxes.
Pathetic. If I were in your city, I would demand that unions for public service workers be outlawed, and that compensation be tied to the average income of the area you are teaching. But, that would be fair. We all know you don't want fair. You just want as much as you can possibly get.
Milidad, teachers already work a full work day. If you had a Master's degree and spent $40,000 dollars to get it, how much would you expect to earn. My car Mechanic charges $50 dollars an hour. If the students are in school 6 hours, the teachers are there a minimum of 8. $50 dollars an hour x 180 days (teachers actually work many more when you count curriculum and professional development time) times 8 hours a day is $72,000 a year. If you ask them to spend 10 hours a day, which CPS is doing, that would add another 18,000. Doesn't a teacher deserve to earn as much as a car mechanic? Give me a break!
Dave, from that $50 an hour, your mechanic must pay for insurance for his business as well as cover the cost of tools and a place to do that work. Assuming you have a Master's degree, it is obvious that it has nothing to do with operating a business, or you would not be comparing your mechanic to a teacher. Your choice of paying $40,000 to get your Master's degree is a responsibility you chose to take on. I know the latest Democrat gimmick to buy votes is to promise those that knowingly signed contracts to borrow money that they will not have to pay those loans off. Nobody says you have to be a teacher. If you don't like it, do us all a favor, including the students, and try doing something else. I don't know of anybody that went into teaching to get rich.
Look at the bright side of this issue. Now the Chicago kids will have more free time to shoot and kill each other.
Chicago teachers would have been better off requesting (combat pay) to teach in many of the schools there. Maybe that is something that the lawmakers there would understand - as an educator, I would be hesitant to teach in the CPS.
As a military veteran, I like my weapons close-by.
Chicago crime rate is ridiculous. The city is lucky that they still have teachers.
Excellent.....that is one way to reduce class sizes
....and the best part of all is that it won't cost the taxpayers a penny
I don't see having a strike as a good thing because ultimately, the kids suffer from it. They may get time off or half days but this shortchanges them. More times than not, from my experience, the union is the disease. Public Schools are not a sure job for life. Teachers should know this as over time, it has become that. Why? Because they allow unions to effectively take money away from the students. Don't get me wrong, the are some instances where the teachers are right and the city/town are makings wrong decisions on how teachers should evaluated, paid, and incentives/pensions. However, pensions are starting to go the way of the Dodo bird because financially, it is unattainable. Illinois has some pretty good schools for all the crime and murders that pull down the society from Chicago. Again though, the kids are the focus and i believe it is selfish to strike.
Teachers have children too. When you threaten their livelihood, you threaten their children!
Teachers should think about that before they go on strike right before school starts. If they were REALLY worried about their own family, they would've started negotiating early in the summer to ensure their livelihood.
Give me a break! Using children as human shields is one of the oldest, tiredest tricks in the liberal playbook.
@dave,
according to ChicagoMag.com the average teacher salary 2 years ago was $69,000. How is denying them a 30% raise threatening their livelihood? I'm actually so angry that these greedy overpaid public servants would do so much damage to the children they claim to care so much about in order to get a 30% raise out of a bankrupt city. Let's be clear, they want to make $90,000 for 9 months of work, or they won't teach your children.
First, I did not see where they are asking for a 30% raise? I have heard that they are being asked to work a 25% longer day. If they are asking to be paid for those extra hours, that is not a raise. I do not know about Chicago, but in my state teachers are required to have a Master's Degree. $69,000 is cheap for somebody with a Master;'s degree in any other field. As to Oy-vay's comment. I am pretty sure they have been negotiating for quite awhile. If you want professionals teaching the children then they deserve to be paid like professionals. Unfortunately, conservatives always want something for nothing! They deserve to be well paid, but everyone else should work for peanuts! Baloney!
Chicago...The Democratic vision for America.
Forward... Into Poverty, Crime, Bankruptcy, Political Corruption and no Chik Fil A
The bright side is all the OT the cops will get to put in.
So this is how they thank Obama, who rescued so many of their jobs with his stimulus program...........
Unfortunately Rob They will thank Obama by supporting him this Nov, They think it was the government who gave out huge amounts of stimulus money to save the jobs of public sector union members, Unfortunately it is the taxpayers who have to actually pay for all that stimulus money, Those same taxpayers who have to pay for those teachers pensions,Healthcare,holiday and vacation days yet those same teachers will turn around and extort more money and benefits form the people that pay them, The people who are struggling everyday to pay their taxes, pay their rent or mortgage,to find money to put food on their tables and pay their utility bills, These unions do not care about that, They simply want more and more and then they try to twist their demands and make it sound as if it is "For the children"
T E A C H E R S are the most selfish government bureaucrats on Planet Earth
You have ALL summer off: to strike--yet your destroy a childs education while you have a JOB and half of the USA does not.
striking during the summer doesn't work. Only the threat of impacting the children has the urgency to get a 30% raise on top of an average of $69,000 salary.
One would think in this day and age when teachers say they want "more pay" out of one side of their collective mouths and "we're striking for the children" out of the other, that people would loudly laugh cynically. But, in the news stories I'm reading from Chicago, most people support the teachers. This is a great example of what you can expect from a far left city. And, it's also why membership in, and a positive view of unions is as low as it's been in decades (and continuing to fall).
DrMan
When you do NOT pay taxes why would it "bother you" how much money the "teachers" extort from TAX PAYERS???
Sadly, this has been going on for decades. This is one of the reasons Democrat-controlled municipalities and states have larger deficits. They rely on principled but uninformed electorates who support things and people without really looking into things.
Holding the taxpayers hostage, that is what the unions are doing. In these hard economic times, millions out of work, millions more than haven't had a raise in years, and the selfish union is demanding more, more, more. Is it any wonder that we as average citizens who pay these public employees grow weary of their self serving actions with no thought to the children they were hired to educate?
Fire them all and hire non union teachers.
If unions were stronger, maybe there wouldn't be millions who haven't had a raise in years. Maybe there would be some people with some money in their pockets to buy things without working 2 or 3 jobs. If there's enough money for the bankers' bailouts there should be enough for other things as well.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to understand the difference between the Federal government and City government.
-- a move that could affect 400,000 students.
It's about the teachers.
Chicago Teachers Union
It's never about the students.
It's always about the teachers.
Teaching is a job. First and foremost it's a job. Most people go into teaching...for a paycheck. It would be nice to delude oneself into thinking that it has anything to do "with the children." Comments like this seem to insinuate that teachers should just be happy they get to work with those "darling" children and like it. They should sit back and take whatever abuse people like the commenters here and the students and politicians give them and not ask for any more money or safer work conditions. Pathetic.
aardvark...It is the teachers unions who use that comment"It's for the children", They are the one who always use the children.
That's right. When the Teamsters strike, they're honest enough enough to say "We just want more money." Only public sector workers keep up the pretense that they care about everybody else. Please note that non-union trucks present an alternative to shippers during a strike, but public workers provide services that have no competition, like schools, fire and police protection.
The Left's patron saint, FDR was against public worker organization. The CTU shows us why.
@aardvark1234,
Their average pay is already $69,000 for 9 months worth of work. They are asking for a 30% raise in order to work a full work day. That would put them at $90,000 for 9 months worth of work. So terribly bullied and underpaid.
Okay, we can see the impact of the strike from reading this article. It shows how many students would be affected by a strike and what the CPS contingency plans are. But what are the issues that the union has? What are the details regarding salary, job security, student security and performance evaluation. Can we please hear the union's side of the story? Perhaps (more than likely) they are justified in considering a strike. Clearly there is a problem with student safety and academic standards, at the very least. What else?
geo: Thank you for making very good points. Why doesn't the article mention why so many Chicago parents are backing the teachers? Why aren't they talking about the teacher's issues. We need more information.
I wonder if the assumption is that everybody will get on the bandwagon because it's teachers.
Of course the Parents are going to back the Teacher, the parents will have to figure out what to do with the kids if they are not in school so its easier to say " pay the teachers". The problem I have is most parents honestly do not realize public school is not free and that it costs over $12000 on average to educate a child in the US currently. Honestly, I should be able to take the $5500 we are taxed for our property and give it directly to a family to put towards a private school as our household has no kids and never will. The money would cover much of the cost and a child could get better schooling and it would lower the burden of the public schools. If we did this with 30 households, we could get rid of 1 public sector teacher and not have to worry about covering their unfunded pension and healthcare costs in the future. We need to get Unions out of the public sector as they do nothing but increase the cost of each and every single product, service and tax we purchase and pay. I also do not want my tax money going towards Unions who we all know for fact, vote and support the Democrats, I do not beleive in the Democratic agenda and my taxes should not be going towards supporting that agenda. End Public sector Unions for this reason alone.
geo,
What makes you think that student safety or academic standards have anything at all to do with this?
According to the article, none of those things seem to have anything to do with their issues. It's not the security of the students that they are concerned about, it is their job security. It's not the evaluation of academic achievement that they are worried about, it is the evaluation of their performance.
From what I understand they are demanding a 30% pay raise, because they are now being asked to work a full work day.
The average teacher salary in Chicago is $69,000. That's for only 9 months worth of work. If the city gives in and grants this raise, the average teacher salary will be $90,000.
which is why fox news shows BOTH sides to an argument.. ive gotten spoiled with their type of reporting.. fair and balanced... both sides.. and i get to see which side im on, not told which side by chris matthews, or any other left wing media 'reporter''... its time for some of these unions to go... esp the too powerful teachers union... its their way or its a strike.. the taxpayers get no vote!!!!!!!
Do you want to know why you lost your pensions and why it is you haven't had a raise in a long while? It is a lot easier for your employer to tell just YOU to piss off when you ask for a pay raise than it is for them to say no when the whole workforce unites and asks for a livable wage, better work conditions and a decent pension.
Its not as if teachers are getting rich off our tax dollars. I know plenty of teachers that unselfishly spend their own money every year to buy pencils, paper, crayons and other materials for their students. Teachers need your support not your hate.
Teachers do need our support...they are not the enemy and their wages are not exceptional. However, the taxpayer is ultimately their employer..and these unions do have to realize the taxpayer cannot bear the burden of these pensions for much longer. Retirement for all American's, including the 3 branches of governement, is going to have to be a 401 that the employee contributes the majority of the money to and the employer matches up to 6% of the employees contribution...welcome to how the rest of us lives...get over it. But the teachers, firefighters, policemen and government workers all need to realize that the American dream does not consist of getting 80% of your annual salary from the taxpayer for the rest of your life...once you retire...the only way mathematically that this can happen is if we allow 25% of the world's population to move to the U.S. get a job here...pay taxes here...and never need any benefits themselves.
Just because public education is funded mostly via property taxes does not mean my household without kids should have to pay $5500 a year into the system to support the teachers. I ask you mlpnkobji, how many kids do you have or had in public school and how much are your paying into your local school district? How much more are you willing to pay to support the teachers more? Im interested and hope you provide real numbers.
UAW regardless of whether or not you have children in the school system, you and everyone in your community are affected by the quality of education provided by the public school system. Property taxes may not be the best way to fund public education. However there is not currently a better way to pay for education. It is in your best interest to make sure your community is providing a quality education.
Teachers in Chicago are demanding a 30% pay raise on top of their average $69,000 salary. That means they would be making $90,000 for only 9 months worth of work. That would be roughly $120,000 if they teach summer school.
I'm sorry, but no, these teachers don't need our support. They need our boot up their...
400,000 breakfasts each day-Are you kidding me? even if each one cost $.50 that is $200,000.00 a day to feed kids-Free- Guess who is paying for that! It is no wonder the city and states are going broke. Eat your friggin breakfast @ home.
kelldon, you have written the most selfish and stupid remark here that I have seen in a while. Empty stomachs that could be fixed for 50 cents sounds like a good deal, if that's right.
Many of the kids who eat breakfast and lunch at school are eating the only meals they will eat...
Hence our problem. How many government programs EXIST for the "children's sake?"
Liberal policies tend to use children as human shields, a reason to fund all kinds of programs. I think the most compassionate thing we can do it put the responsibility of feeding America's children squarely where it belongs- with America's parents.
These programs make it easier for irresponsible parents to remain irresponsible. They know someone will always pick up the slack, when it comes to their kids.
As someone who used to work with people on govt assistance, their children is the first thing they whine about when threatened to have their benefits cut for non-compliance. They know having children gets them stuff they're not entitled to under any other circumstance.
Whether it's welfare or anchor babies, it's time for America to recognize that what they think is compassion for children is nothing more than enabling irresponsible parents !!!
Period.
TJHarris,
Absolutely, sometimes lunch at school is all of the food that they will have that day. Many of the kids come to school tired, hungry, on medication, simply unmotivated. Many of their own parents are at their wits end. As an educator in higher ed, maybe all parents should home-school until the child reaches the 5th grade. This will solve a lot of the problems.
But we know that this is a long-shot. If you had children and you were uneducated how will you educate your children? The US had better hope this strike does not spread across the country.
It's going to be a long, cold and eye-opening winter if these strikes spread.
Snugglepuss, TJHarris, how many more hundreds or thousand of dollars are you willing to pay into your local school districts? How many kids do you have or had in public school and how much of those costs has your household covered?
then please tell us what these poor children's parents are doing with all of the food stamps they receive
....selling them for crack cocaine?
PARENTS have a responsibility for their kids... they get all the free bennies they can find, so there is no reason they are not feeding these kids.. someone has got to stand up to the irresponsible people that have multiple kids , with multiple fathers, and then dont even try to raise them right... its a big problem..
and it affects the rest of us that do it right!!
My husband and I have 7 children...6 adult and 1 5th grader....we cover/covered all of there expenses. I also spend $1000-$2000 a year on food, clothing and supplies for my students whose parents don't or can't do thierry job as parents. The kids shouln't suffer because of the parents.
Should the kids have to suffer through teachers that don't know the difference between "there" and "their"?
I am from the Chicago area. What everybody here failed to miss is that the teachers in Chicago had the shortest school day in the U.S., they are among the highest compensated, and are now asking for a 30% increase in pay!
Mike: We didn't miss it, it wasn't in the article. Important information. We need more information like this. The article does not give us enough. I am finding it difficult to get unbiased info on this topic. I am researching it but it is good to hear it from someone who is from the area. Thank you for the info!
Something else that wasn't in the article. It was reported 2 years ago that the average Chicago teacher's salary was $69,000. That's significant. These aren't barely making ends meet teachers. These are already well compensated teachers. They just don't want to work that full work day.
If it wasn't such a leftist state, I would do the same thing that Reagan did with the ATC's, fire them all and bring in people that wanted to work. Then there is the problem of disgruntled union workers trashing the subs vehicles, harassment and so on. They should have brought this up before school started instead of trying to throw the state into chaos. I think that’s called extortion, hey, wait a minute, that’s the Chicago way!
Intelligent management of this situation might have included having this fight back last spring and using the summertime to work on it. Leaving it until this fall is maximizing the angst of the situation.
Actually, it was maximizing the union leverage. A strike over the summer doesn't have the same knife to the throat appeal as striking during the school year.
A 1 to 25 staff to student ratio? Wouldn't that be nice in the classroom.
See if you can transfer to district 365 here in Bolingbrook, Romeoville, the class sizes are lower but you will need to figure out what to do with the average of well over $10,000 less a year in wages alone. And remember, lower wages equals a lower pension payout. You CPS teachers average over $70k in wages alone, you get Springbreak, 2 months off in summer, 2 weeks off around Christmas/New Years along with misc days off during the year that many in the private sector do not get off. Its time to give more and make sacrifices just like the private sector workforce has been doing for years and years.
Teaching is a tough job. I would never say it wasn't. I am also sure many are very dedicated to what they do. However, I personally know many teachers. They make a decent salary. Most of them make more than me and I have two bachelors degree and a professional license. They get tax supported pensions and health care. I get NO employer supported pension. I do get employer supported health care. They get 2 1/2 months off every year. I get 2 weeks. They have 4 to 5 weeks of no school. I get none. I have a good job. I look at people who work at Walmart, factories, nursing homes. Some make good money, like RNs, but they work their butt off and they are responsible for people's lives and have to work with the doctors, the hospitals, the patients, and the families. Not easy. I do NOT know what the teachers want but I do know most of our towns and cities are sinking under ridiculous pension plans and health insurance costs, ALL PAID FOR WITH TAXPAYER MONEY. I was in a PRIVATE UNION for 20 years. I got to hate the union as much as the company. They took care of everyone the same, so if you were a totally unproductive loser, you were just as well off as being a dedicated, productive employee. I decided I wanted to go into the private sector so I could choose how hard I wanted to work and how much I could make. I don't make big money. Most teachers, except for first or second year ones, make more than me. Even in small towns. But that is my choice. If I wanted big money, I could probably get it, but I would have to give up a lot of other things and spend most of my life working. Teachers have the same choice, If you don't get paid enough, or have to work too much, or the situcation you work in is not good, find another job or another line of work. I wouldn;t want to deal with the kids, the administration, the parents. One big headache. But unions also tend to live in mucky land, there is always a crisis and always some false sense of brotherhood / sisterhood when a lot of people don't even like each other. I am so glad I am out of that drama. So, I do NOT know specifically what they are fighting for, but my guess is they are doing OK salary and benefit wise. Maybe not getting rich, I'm not. Maybe putting up with b&*&*&. I do. Maybe tired of how unfair some things can be. Join the club. But when towns and cities are going broke, asking for more is ridiculous. If you work for a private company, and they lose money, they fire you or they lay you off.
Why give all kids free lunch, what do the parents on foodstamps spend that money on when the kids are getting free breakfast and lunch?
Good post. Kind of mirrors my experience as well. Being an engineer, I have spent some time in the classroom mentoring students for Future City Competitions. While some aspects of teaching are difficult, there are difficult situations in most jobs if done well. I think as a group teachers are somewhat coddled and for many their performance is overrated. When I was a student, I felt I learned in spite of the teachers. Unfortunately unions usually bring out the worst in people on both sides of the labor/ management equation because the basic reason for their existence has been lost to the politics of greed and power. I was so happy when I was able to get away from the union at my last place of employment. Life is too short to spend it dealing with mean selfish people.
I have to agree with the general content of this commentator. However, the article omits important facts like how much CPA teachers are paid, pensions and benefits. This tug of war needs these facts because I do recall that 50% of students in Chicago fail to get a High School degree.
Ant private enterprise with such end results would be out of business!
If the citizens of Chicago put up with this bulll@!$%# they are getting exactly what they deserve. They continue to elect politicians who drop their pants for the unions.
We as a country spend more per student then any country in the world and yet have some of the worst results. Teachers who fight evaluations want more money and want to make it impossible to fire poor teachers are their own worst enemy. Somehow when teachers say their priority is their students yet do all of the above sound hypocritical to me.
Some of the reason there is low achievement from students is that we waste time with nonsense. I have read that in Japan, there are no janitors in the school. The kids keep the place clean. If they vandalize anything, there's hell to pay from their classmates who have to clean it up. If they act up and disrupt classes, they are in detention, without the option to hang out at the 7-11. If they cause aggravation of any kind, it simply isn't tolerated and there isn't all of the falderall about rights that there is here. Their teachers aren't forced to waste time with the nonsense that they do here. When we pay people to do a job, and then waste their time, we are wasting our money.
First of all I agree with the one post that states teachers are the most underpaid. Think about it, a teacher needs to first get a Bachelor of Science degree, then most often a Masters of Science to continue being employed in their profession, and still in a lot of cases, yes, even a Ph.D. is then earned. Show me in any working situation where that level of education is met with such low pay and people still want the job.
Because of this very fact the education field is becoming less and less of a carreer choice for a lot of young people entering into college. In fact, most pundits claim we have a major shortage now.
Yes, it is all about the students, for without them NOBODY has a job in the education field!
So some say it's because of evaluations. Who exactly evauates teachers?...other teachers, that's who. The administrators (called principals) are the one's to evaluate teachers and they were at one time teachers also. They just went back to school and earned an adminstrator's licence. So if some teachers are not qualified to teach, then some administrators are not qualified to administrate! Ergo; "If you can't work teach...and if you can't teach administrate!"....for far more tax payer money to boot!!
And lastly, no the public school system is not failing our students. Most of what the general public is reacting to is the media's representation of the schools in a broad blanket. When in fact most public schools do their job well...what is being covered by the mainstream media is for the most part inner city schools, and yes they are indeed in trouble, but then as the one post stated,..." education begins and ends at home." Then I ask, where is most of the crime in the United States being perpetrated? That should lend a hand to beginning to understand the the problems in most inner city schools!
If teacher should not be able to strike then what recourse would they have? Administration would just react as this...take it or leave it! Which is pretty much how they enter into any negotiations anyway!!
Everywhere. Do you know where the good money and security is? Electrician. Plumber. You can't outsorce that. You can't send your house to China. College degrees PROVE you are capable of learning, of completing something, of accomplishment. Like an honorable discharge from the service. Proves you can commit and complete something. What does it mean in the end? Not much. All you read is about veterans who can't find a job. All you read is about college graduates living with parents or relatives for years because they can not find work, Having a bachelor's or master's degree does NOT guarantee anyone anything and it shouldn't. Underpaid? $70,000, tax payer funded health insurance, tax payer funded pension plan, 2 1/2 months off per year every year, 4 - 5 weeks no school vacation inbetween, TENURE (can't ber fired to save your life), sabbaticals (take a year off and still guaranteed a job). Ask the people who work at Walmart if they get that. Ask the people who work retail if they get that. Ask the people who work in real estate if they get that. Ask the veteran who served 4 to 8 years, maybe fighting overseas, if they get that? Want more? Want $100,000 like some engineers, lawyers, or accountants. GET OUT OF TEACHING and go into those fields. I guarnatee you will NOT get paid IF you don't show up. You will not have a job if you don't produce. There is NOT tenure or sabaticals. There is NO union in the event you get fired or laid off because the company lost money OR the boss wants to hire his brother-in-law who just got out of jail. If it's so bad, why do you stay? Becuase the other options don't have all those benefits. I am 100% behind the Wisconsin and New Jersey governors who finally put their foot down and said NO. We are broke and we can't afford raises and more benefits. Ask the people at Walmart if they get cost of living raises? I bet that' where a lot of teachers shop. I do. It' cheap. Wonder why. These are the same people who live next to us and yet, they want more. I have little sympathy for them. If they are that smart (bachelors and masters) and deserving of a lot more, GO GET IT. No one is stopping you from leaving teaching and getting what you deserve OR is it all of that is NOT going to get you a lot more OR if it does, you might ONLY get two weeks vacation.
GDB, I'm surprised. You left out how we should pay teachers as much as pro athletes and that the Pentagon should have to have bake sales to fund wars.
For the many teachers I count as friends, they are mothers who wanted a job that allowed a lifestyle, not just a check. They went skiing with their kids because they had the same days off, they traveled during the Summer break to far-off lands for a month or so. If it's all about money, the alternative that you wonder about is to leave the teaching gig and go out into the rest of the world. As you've no doubt heard, the private sector is "doing fine".
"Do some research on your own for once, find neutral unbiased sources, think through the info you find and then you can present an accurate picture that is believable"
My figure came from my sister in law who teaches in Baltimore. My bad if she happens to be the lowest paid teacher in the city. She's not complaining though, she is there to teach not become independantly wealthy. I guess that is the difference with these teachers, some are there for the students while others are there for the money.
The average teachers salary in Chicago is $69,000. That's not underpaid. They are striking in demand of a 30% pay raise. Poor poor you. The toughest profession in the world. Their pay is comparable to mine (more if you count that I work more and longer days than they do). I work weekends. I wake up at 1 in the morning when things go wrong. Poor poor teachers. They won't teach your kids for a full work day, and 9 months without making an average of $90,000.
They've been told for too long that they are being victimized. It's time someone gave them some tough love and told them the truth.
Well, well, well, so you think you know my story? Well, you don't!
I do not get paid as you so erroneously stated! I started out making $6,300.00 a year. The top end pay for teachers in my corporation is about $65K after about 35-40 years experience. We do not get paid vacations. We get six paid holidays. We do not get paid for Christmas break, Easter break, or summer "vacation".
A starting teach in my corp. earns about $28K. No overtime pay, no bonuses, and no perks.
My pension, when I retire, is going to be about $1,800 a month with no health, dental , or eye insurance.
Btw...tenure is a thing of the past and is really no longer relevent.
And lastly a teachers day does not start or end at the school. Most work (without pay) long before school starts and long after...not to mention weekends and holidays too!
So get your facts straght before you want to bash me personally. I started teaching in 1975 and have heard your type of ignorance often...and I just smile! lol
So why did you choose it as a career? Why do you work for a corporation? You sound like that vile woman that has a phobia for children. If you do not like your corporation get a different job. I suspect there are many things you like about it or you would have moved into the public school system. Bottom line is teachers should be held accountable but when someone tries they trigger a mafia type response. The union has to by its nature protect the weakest link. To say tenure is no longer relevant shows that you live in a box. In your box tenure might not be relevant but almost everywhere else in public schools tenure is huge. I doubt it is even irrelevant at your corporation. Even if you don't get tenure your corporation has to tread lightly on seniority.
answer in order of query:
1. because I like kids, learning, and helping others.
2. because that5 is what it is called.
3. I am not a women.
4. unless you are pretty much brand new you do not have much of an option for jumping to other corporations. One just cannot transfer to another school system.
5. I do work in a public school system (inner city)
6. cannot/should not be held accountable for poor parenting.
7. Any teacher can be fired at any time if the infraction warrents it.
8. wrong, my corporation is presently trying rid itself of older teachers.
Now for the stats; present year: 41 kids in my room, buy most of my materials for my class i.e; paper, pencils, notebooks, software, related materials, etc..., not enough textbooks for every child, not enough desks and chairs for every child, no administrative support, no parentalenvolvment or support, do not belong to the union, could go on, but what is the point!?
Been teaching for the most part in the elementary field for 38 years. will retire in 4 months with about $1,800 a month in pension with no medical benifits. Worked second jobs for most of my life to support myself and family.
And no the corporation (at least where I teach) does not care about anything but their own position.
Kids one, teachers two...everything else is ancillary or adjunct to facilitate the teachers job for teaching the kids!