CPS strike? (Chicago, Highland, Union: subsidized, salary, property taxes)

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by MI_OH

I know that if my job required a 30% increase in hours, and took away promised future pay, I would be pretty pissed.

Anyone would be. That's the thing. And if you had the power to protest it, you sure as hell would. Anyone who says they wouldn't is lying.

[Drover]

I don't think merit pay is even an issue in this case. As to the issue generally, and being difficult to implement... the alternative then is the status quo where great teachers are undervalued while the mediocre ones are overvalued. With an upside-down incentive system like that, guess which type we're more likely to have a shortage of...

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by MI_OH

What's Mayor Twinkletoes going to do now?

He reneged on the teachers contract, depriving them of promised wage increases, and then increased their hours by 30%.

I know that if my job required a 30% increase in hours, and took away promised future pay, I would be pretty pissed.

What if you were in reality overpaid for the hours you had to work?

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by nana053

The problem with merit pay in teaching is that it is almost impossible to implement. Tying teacher pay to test scores is NOT the best way to determine merit.

In countries like Finland where the emphasis is OFF testing, the kids actually outdo ours on all of the international tests.

Note too, that a teacher who has the lowest scoring group, but manages to get them making progress (sometimes a good teacher can get kids to make 2 years of progress in one, but the kids may still be below their grade level), that teacher should be rewarded, but s/he won't be because the kids still test poorly.

These plans just don't work. Our kids are not widgets. We must deal with too many factors. In manufacturing, if your raw materials are poor, you get to send them back. Teachers, especially in the public schools cannot do this.

Educational Leadership:The Effective Educator:Merit Pay Misfires

Ahhh the comparison to education in a Nordic country.....where the population is very heterogeneous and there is a long-standing culture by families to support education.

Edited because I missed your other post referencing a proposal for assessing merit. Do union-based teachers commonly support a method like that? Maybe it is just filtered news but what I see most often is that teachers unions seem to oppose all merit based systems. They want seniority to control almost everything.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

What if you were in reality overpaid for the hours you had to work?

Then you wouldn't be a Chicago teacher, that's for sure. If that were the case, they wouldn't have trouble keeping good people there for more than a few years before they move on to more functional systems with more engaged children where they are sometimes even paid more.

It's worth noting that none of the people who think being a CPS teacher is a cush gig are lining up to become one.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

It's worth noting that none of the people who think being a CPS teacher is a cush gig are lining up to become one.

No kidding.

Chicago Teacher: This Is Why I'm Striking - Business Insider

[Jandur]

All I will say is this. CPS has some of the highest paid teachers in the country and on average are paid more than any other of the top 10 largest school districts in the nation. Their average salary is about 75k, plus benefits, pensions, lots of vacation time etc. That's 40-50% higher than the average American worker makes and over 3x the per-capita income of 20K a year for the city of Chicago itself.

I don't want to belittle what teachers do, or what CPS teachers have to deal with, but they are very well compensated both comparatively to other cities/states and make way more money than most people in this city. The fact that they are on strike and demanding more (on the public dime) is really pretty pathetic.

[Attrill]

It seems that both sides are close on compensation but there are a host of other issues that need to be resolved.

The state has made severe cuts over the last few years in social and family services, at the same time CPS has made cuts in support staff like counselling and nurses (leaving teachers responsible for things like monitoring diabetic students). This has made working in the toughest CPS schools even harder.

CPS has also instituted a number of changes without thinking through the full impacts. While air conditioning may not seem like a major issue, it is when you look at the fact that CPS is expanding their Track E schools every year, sending about a third of CPS student back to school on August 13th. Many schools have bars on windows so window AC units can't be installed, and in many classrooms the windows can't even be opened. My daughter's school has a number of rooms that turn into ovens when it gets above 85 - not just uncomfortable, but completely unbearable and dangerous. Last March during the heat wave they couldn't even turn off the heat since the ancient boiler system takes a couple of days to get going.

[ChicagoMeO]

all i can say is, this is another thing that makes chicago look bad.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Jandur

All I will say is this. CPS has some of the highest paid teachers in the country and on average are paid more than any other of the top 10 largest school districts in the nation. Their average salary is about 75k, plus benefits, pensions, lots of vacation time etc. That's 40-50% higher than the average American worker makes and over 3x the per-capita income of 20K a year for the city of Chicago itself.

Comparing teacher salaries to national and local salaries is a false equivalency. For starters all teachers have to have at least a bachelor's degree, and many have multiple bachelor's and master's degrees. The salaries are more in line with all national averages when you look at the qualifications needed.

Even more importantly you need to look at the regional job market to see the wage competition. As of 2009 Chicago teacher salaries were 71st in the state for high school teachers and 37th in the state for elementary school teachers. Most of the school districts that pay more are in the immediate Chicago area, so if CPS wants to attract qualified candidates they need to be paying wages in the range that they are currently paying.