Pay cut for teachers v. quality of education (Gorman: schools, salaries)

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by r-rated

UNION 4 EVER! UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS I love you!

rah, rah, rah - go cheer on your NY board - not sure why you think you need to be here since you don't live in NC? Are you that bored, or just that boring?

[r-rated]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

rah, rah, rah - go cheer on your NY board - not sure why you think you need to be here since you don't live in NC? Are you that bored, or just that boring?

You sound bitter, actually I need to be on the "UNION" board. I am pro union and I am on this board because of how NC mistreat its teachers and cut their salary and I find that to be outrageous and I am steaming mad about that. I feel NC is able to mistreat teachers because they don't have a union. You are trying to change the subject because YOU KNOW I AM RIGHT

[r-rated]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

rah, rah, rah - go cheer on your NY board - not sure why you think you need to be here since you don't live in NC? Are you that bored, or just that boring?

Also, I love getting on this board to put u in your place. you always pretend to know everything and you really dont. I just proved right here on this thread that your views are limited. go to google and research the role that unions have played in the history of this country, just to expand your views

[baybook]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

I've been to NYC - many times. Nice to visit, but you couldn't pay me a trillion dollars to live there, but I'm so happy it works for you. The reality is, many of your fellow New Yorkers find life here in NC much more palatable.

You can keep your unions, they have ruined every state they dominant.

Come on now. Unions ruin every state they are in??

[getatag]

Originally Posted by zwally

I don't really see why people here freak at the word union- a lot of positives come from them.... Yes, there are also negatives and politics, but I find that states with unions for teachers have great advantages....

Yep, Unions have been great for the US auto industry, how long before the "teaching" industry follows?????

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by baybook

Come on now. Unions ruin every state they are in??

Reread what I wrote please I said unions have ruined the states where they dominate - not every state they are in. And I gave the examples of Michigan, California, Massachusetts to name a few.

[lowercountry]

Originally Posted by r-rated

UNION 4 EVER! UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS I love you!
it is written in our contract, government cannot balance their budget at our peril by laying off teachers and reducing their pay, thats right!

No, in unionized states such as NY the budgets are balanced on the backs of the children. But hey, teachers are protected so who cares about the children, right, R-Rated?

Also, if you are a teacher I certainly hope you haven't taught children that the second person pronoun is "u".

Finally, you are trolling... and you even admit it.

[LLN]

Unfortunately, due to gross mismanagement, and perpetually taking advantage of teachers, I am afraid that I am now for a strong, militant teacher's union.

My class size has gone from 22 to 30, I have been assigned a 47% increase in after school duties this year, and the state cut our bonus for excellence last year by 1/2. A good strong militant union would not have permitted these things. Not to mention the huge constraints placed on teachers (and not other state employees) on when the 1/2% furlough could take place. For the not bright, no issue with the furlough, just the constraints that were placed on teachers and no others.

The bad news is, we will get screwed more and more this year. If management had a clue, we would not need a union, but over and over again, management has shown a predilection for demanding more and more, and giving nothing in return.

lln

[lowercountry]

Originally Posted by LLN

Unfortunately, due to gross mismanagement, and perpetually taking advantage of teachers, I am afraid that I am now for a strong, militant teacher's union.

I've often said that the state's leadership is opening the door to precisely this line of thinking, and it is certainly understandable. Be careful, however, what you wish for. Unions for teachers are not the Utopia they would seem to be. States such as Calif. are falling in on themselves and no union could save the over 15,000 teachers who were laid off. Unfortunately, we live in perilous times financially and at some point states need to make REASONABLE cuts and PRUDENT decisions. For me personally, I'd rather have a few furlough days to save more jobs than deal with what Calif. is having to do; not touch some teachers' benefits at the expense of over 15,000 co-workers.
Again, and I stress this, I know exactly how you feel and it is understandable. Unions, however, are not going to help states balance their budgets, and eventually if the states don't balance their budgets, even unions can not save a job (i.e., the UAW in Michigan, teachers' unions in Calif.). No union is going to give monies to the states to pay teachers when revenues are too low to do so.

Our recent troller from NY had better keep an eye on Albany there. They are having woeful budget issues and can't get a budget hammered out. Like Calif, the state is eventually going to have to make very hard decisions, and since the union won't let them consider even minute cuts in pay or benefits temporarily to ride this out, I fear that teachers even in the "Utopian" NY state are going to find that the union can not save them when there's no money left to pay them. It's tough out there for everyone in these financial times and about all a union can do is prolong the inevitable in public sector (and many private sector) jobs in a severe recession.

[HenryDGandhi]

I think we all understand that in tough times, most people are going to have to tighten their belts and deal with some type of cut in hours, pay, benefits, etc. I object however, to CMS dealing with their budget woes by laying it primarily on teachers. Gorman can do all the "we've cut central office to the bone" dance he wants - check out the recent Observer article and so some research for yourself - CMS has the ed Center on 2nd Street, many floors at Walton Plaza, an airport center, and now all the "Learning Community" centers - and many of them lost not even a secretary. In bad times, everyone who doesn't TEACH and contact CHILDREN should be cut - keep the students' good in mind first. Instead, CMS officials protect those who were desperate to get out of the classroom, protect their little fiefdoms and personal projects - like Gorman's wife's Parent University. Pah.