Why are some more equal than others?
The teachers’ Union in Chicago has not called a strike but nor have they come to work. Their excuse is that the buildings are not safe and they want to teach virtually. First of all, when did the union get to decide when schools are open or closed? The mayor of Chicago is negotiating with the Union to decide on the terms when they will agree to return to school. I wonder if dozens of students, instead of thousands, had been kidnapped, would the Mayor still be negotiating with the kidnappers? Teachers’ unions have evolved from being professional organizations into labor unions. They may call themselves professional organizations but they are not. One of the indicators of a profession is that the individual puts the needs of the people they serve first and not their own needs, a person is a professional by that criterion not by the standard of just getting paid for the job or service.
Excellent and well-trained teachers are paid much less than they earn. It is also true that marginal teachers are being paid much more than they deserve. But merit pay is a non-starter for unions.
Teachers’ unions are not allowed to strike, so this is not a strike. The teachers are just not providing the services for which they are paid. By the way, there has been no mention of any monetary consequences to teachers for not doing their jobs. The other issue is, I wonder what these teachers are doing while they are home. How many are going out to visit unvaccinated friends or family? Anyone visit a bar lately or go to a movie? Over and over we know that schools do not spread the virus to the community but rather the community brings the virus into schools.
Because teachers won’t work, many parents will not be able to work and you can see where this all leads.
Teachers are not totally to blame for this debacle. School districts have stopped treating teachers as professionals for some time. It is hard to discern which came first, teachers acting like assembly line workers complete with pacing guides to tell them what they will be doing every day or unions declaring the number of minutes a teacher may work a day. As professionals, we are supposed to put the best interests of the people we serve first. Oh, wait a minute, that is neither the school districts nor the teachers, it is the students. It is a struggle but we should try to remember that salient point.
Teachers should be deemed essential workers, just like grocery store clerks, medical assistants and police officers. Teachers can’t have it both ways, behave like an assembly line worker and be treated like a professional with significant responsibility. Teachers have a job to do and it is a VERY important one. They need to get up off their collective bargaining agreements and get to school. The mayor of Chicago and all the other mayors need to start treating these folks like the kidnappers they are. Kidnapping a kid’s education is a crime and needs to be treated as such. Teachers are important but they aren’t more equal than others
You are a joke. You are apart of the problem. You preach this and pay your teachers and assistants basically minimum wage. I have seen the job postings, reviews and lawsuits for your schools. Your staff must truly love to teach to work for small salary you pay them. You should be thanking them because if they all decide to stand up to you guess what happens to your private school. It will close or you will actually have to dig in your pockets and pay them what they are worth.
ReplyDeleteNo one who chooses education as their profession does so because of the money, myself included. I chose education when I became a mother; I've remained in education because of Harbour. I'd say still having a job, full benefits, and a retirement contribution during the pandemic when so many do not is a sign of thanks. Dr. Jacobs just doesn't suffer fools which could explain why you're so angry.
DeleteI forgot to ask what’s your yearly salary?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comments. I appreciate it when folks engage. You also give me the opportunity to correct lots of mis-information. You are correct, our salaries are a good bit lower than those of public schools. That is because our salary increases are set by MSDE on an annual basis. Last year the State legislature passed legislation for a 3-year program to bring us into parity with public school teachers. Next school year will be year 2 of the program. As of this date, we do not know if the year 2 commitment will be kept. Our benefits (health and retirement) are among the best in the profession. Our school has never been successfully sued. Our school is a non-profit MSDE approved non-public school, we submit an audit of our income and expense to MSDE every year. And yes, our staff does love to work at our school. Every year for the past 8 years our staff has anonymously voted us a Top Work Place in an annual Baltimore Sun program. The school does not know who votes or how they vote. Oh, and my salary is about 25k less that that of my peers in non-public special education and about 35k less than the average public school principal. Your animus towards our school is clear which I think led to you miss the point of the blog- that is teachers should not put their own needs ahead of those of the students. And, yes our staff would NEVER do that.
ReplyDelete