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I am not a teacher but a parent. The PSEA is the teachers' union in Pa. Pa has the highest number of teachers strikes in the nation. A Newsweek ranking several years ago of the top 100 high schools in the nation, not one in Pa. We experienced a "selective strike" when my son was a senior in High school. It was no fun for the parents or students. The union has you by the gonads and keeps squeezing until you give in. And then you have to pay higher taxes when they let go.
Hello all. Lots of great debating going on here about this subject. I would like to put in my two cents worth. Let me preface this reply by saying it late and I am tired.
First, let's remember this was a post about teacher unions. Folks that are not teachers cannot really comprehend what it is like. You know the old adage "walk a mile in a man's shoes." Just because you were a part of a machine worker's union in NJ and got screwed, doesn't mean it would be like that for teachers in NC. Yes some unions are bad. Especially the ones that are run by selfish, corrupt, opportunists that look out for only themselves. Have you ever heard of a teacher that had those characteristcs (rhetorical by the way)? A union would soooooo protect teachers in NC from being taken advantage of. If teachers are happy, then they will be better teachers. Yes teachers should be able to be strong and look past all the exploitation, but not every teacher is like the ones in the movies. It is extremely difficlut to do that all the time. Yes, I am a teacher (I'm sure you could of figured that out). What I (and the rest of my colleges) are asked to do, have to do, and deal with on a daily basis is, for lack of a better word, unacceptable. We eat with our students, we have busy duty, our team planning time is interuppted more than half of the time, we get on average 2 to 3 hours a week for our own instructional planning time, we have parents coming in blaming us because their child is failing, parents that swear at us I(sometimes in front of the class), the list goes on and I have a hand cramp already. People who dropped out of HS and work at McDonalds get an hour break to stay and eat or leave. Teachers get about 25 minutes for lunch, and by the time they drop off and pick up the students from the tables and heat up their lunch, it works out to be 10 to 15 minutes. I know someone will post an awesome and intelligent response like, "if you don't like it then quit or move." It is easier said then done. Also, it is kind of a dismissing and ignorant response to people who devote their lives and their own free time at home, to try and make a difference in this scary world. I am extrememly confident, that if every non-teacher were to go to their child's school and do what we do for a week (after you got rid of your migrane) you would hug a teacher, recognize that they are being treated unfairly as professionals and support a union or something like it, to benefit and respect teachers.
Sorry for the tirade, but have seen this too many times. Thanks for you time and your ears to vent.
Don't know if you are aware that you are responding to a thread that hasn't been active for a year and a half. But, that is O.K. I have done the same. Anyway, I am a former teacher and I agree with your posting although I never belonged to a union when I lived in Florida. I don't personally like unions but found that there were good, young teachers that tend to be replaced for less qualified teachers through favortism, EEO, or whatever reason. I thought that if I made it through the first three years and gained tenure, I would be O.K. and I was. I think that the unions are good for representing those that have been screwed over in some cases through legal representation and are instrumental in gaining pay raises. On the other hand, I hate their liberal endorsements of politicians, etc. Although I am a middle of the road guy, I don't think that it is the business of unions to get involved and influence members politically. But, that is just me.
With all of the talk around Charlotte about schools closing and teachers losing their jobs, it's hard not to have an opinion. I'm from Charlotte born and raised so I have been through the Char-Meck School System and have never seen it this bad. The first mistake was to stop busing which was started to intergrate whites and blacks to level out the ratios. That is a whole other can of worms. I'm not a teacher, parent, PTA member, or any type of CMS faculity. I'm just a concernend citizen of the place in which I live, play, and work. I had no idea what teachers endured on a daily basis nor the work load that was involved until recently. I never knew why someone would want to become a teacher, other than having the summers off? Now I really can't understand why anyone would want to chose this profession? The point I'm trying to make is the teachers need to stand up and make themselves valued. I have never been a fan of unions becasue of ther negative attributes that are related to these organizations. But dammit, these teachers need to get together and organize a group and have a "Teacher Sick Day". This was effective for the Char-Meck Police department, when they used this method to call of work all on the same day. The city was at it's knees and in return the police officers gained the respect and had more leverage for negotations. I know there will be a lot of negative replies to this idea, espically from parents, but you have to look at the long term goals. The childern need stability too, and if the teachers don't have that, then neither will the students. It's like the old saying goes, "S*#T, it rolls down hill". Guess who's at the bottom of the hill? All the kids, K-12.
Unions are the single reason why taxes in NJ are the highest in the state. The teacher's union is mucho powerful and in bed (literally) with the governer.
Introduce teachers unions and watch your taxes triple in 10 years.
I just can not believe that teachers in North Carolina do not have unions to support their needs. I live in California and am a native of N.C. I have enjoyed 21 years of teaching in the public school system and at UCLA. Please tell me, who is available to support a teacher in legal matters? I am concerned about a friend back home who is, in my opinion, being harrassed at work.
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