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What the teachers are proposing is working the schedule that they are actually contracted to work. In other words, they are proposing working the hours everyone thinks they do. Either they are blowing smoke about how much they work and this will result in no noticeable change for students. Or the public will discover teachers do a lot more than they thought, cuts will happen to things they like, students will be negatively impacted, and parents will pressure the school board to fix the problem. I just want to point out there is a reason pulling such a tactic works - and it worked when Fairfax County teachers have done it in the past. Teachers work far more than what is spelled out in that contract. Things like clubs, tutoring, letters of recommendations, and most grading is done "off the clock," along with planning quality lessons. For instance, such a move would mean no labs in science classes, because they are usually set up and broke down after contract hours.
And just as another note, a beginning to mid-level teacher in this area, who is a head of household with just one child, qualifies for affordable housing vouchers. In a place with a Cost-of-Living index of 196%, with an average per-capita income of slightly over twice the national average, the teachers do not make double the national average. This means that, for all intent and purposes, they are much more poorly paid here than they are in Lexington, Virginia, even though the actual pay is higher.
Reading this from the article had me shaking my head:
Quote:
Supervisor Jeff C. McKay (D-Lee) said the planned protest could work against the teachers as he considers how to handle the budget.
“I think it’s a terrible tactic,” McKay said. “It sends the wrong message to the very kids they are trying to inspire. The victims in that situation will be the kids in our school system. . . . I think it’s downright unprofessional to tell you the truth.”
Unprofessional? The teachers will simply be working to their contract. Sends the wrong message to kids? What message would McKay like to be ingrained into students' heads? That it is acceptable to do work without expecting to being paid for it? That U.S. workers should just be content with the COL going up more than their salary increase (if you're "lucky" to get one, that is)?
Anytime the working class goes against the establishment we are made out to be unprofessional, uncaring and selfish. When in reality we are doing everything we can to preserve or improve the situation for others...smh
This is the county in which I teach. Oldhag is right. Although on the surface the pay looks good, when you figure in the COL, it's really not so great.
The County Supervisors, as much as we can email and present our case for the budget, are not going to provide enough of a transfer the the schools to allow for a pay raise without other cuts in the school budget. From 2005 to 2009, teachers saw average annual cost-of-living and step increases of 5.4 percent. This from the article is accurate: Since then, teachers have averaged a 1.4 percent annual increase, receiving a step increase once, in 2012, and two years of no increase at all, in 2010 and 2011.
Here's the rub on that article. The heading reads, "Fairfax County teachers propose...". The article references a group of teachers from one high school. This is in a district with 23,831 employees, of which 93% are school based. FEA does not think it is appropriate at this time and as far as I know, the action is not organized by FCFT (our AFT local).
What the teachers are proposing is working the schedule that they are actually contracted to work. In other words, they are proposing working the hours everyone thinks they do. Either they are blowing smoke about how much they work and this will result in no noticeable change for students. Or the public will discover teachers do a lot more than they thought, cuts will happen to things they like, students will be negatively impacted, and parents will pressure the school board to fix the problem. I just want to point out there is a reason pulling such a tactic works - and it worked when Fairfax County teachers have done it in the past. Teachers work far more than what is spelled out in that contract. Things like clubs, tutoring, letters of recommendations, and most grading is done "off the clock," along with planning quality lessons. For instance, such a move would mean no labs in science classes, because they are usually set up and broke down after contract hours.
And just as another note, a beginning to mid-level teacher in this area, who is a head of household with just one child, qualifies for affordable housing vouchers. In a place with a Cost-of-Living index of 196%, with an average per-capita income of slightly over twice the national average, the teachers do not make double the national average. This means that, for all intent and purposes, they are much more poorly paid here than they are in Lexington, Virginia, even though the actual pay is higher.
If we worked just our contract in my district, I can tell you that it would take weeks for kids to get back graded assignments in science and they'd do far fewer labs. The only teachers I know who work their contract are math teachers and PE teachers. Math is my only prep that I could manage just working my contracted hours BUT there would be no after school tutoring and all test make ups would require students to miss the material being taught that day so they can go out into the hall and take the test. Forget science. Science is what has me at the school until 5:00 most days. There's no way the music teacher could accomplish what he does working the contract. I suspect the art teacher would be in the same boat. English wouldn't be able to get written papers graded. I have no idea what the work load is for foreign language and social studies.
Anytime the working class goes against the establishment we are made out to be unprofessional, uncaring and selfish. When in reality we are doing everything we can to preserve or improve the situation for others...smh
Agreed. I'm not sure where the vow of poverty clause is in my contract but given the fact I'm expected to get the job done even if I have to work 70 hours a week without a penny extra, there must be one.
If I worked my contract, I'd have to cut what I teach by at least 30% and eliminate most labs. Some labs have massive set ups/tear downs and many leave chemicals that must be processed before disposal.
The problem is that teachers have done the off work hours for so long that it became "de facto" part of the job.
And having worked in the corporate world for over 20 years there are times where you have to put in extra time that is not paid for but it's nowhere near the daily extra unpaid hours that teachers put in.
And then you get your planning/conference periods cut but not the work.
NCLB/Common core demand even more accountability (data entry/testing/etc) and you're working all day during the weekend.
And some states have unions that never spoke up about this.
Why did the teaching profession let this happen ?
And what makes it worse is that administrators have come to expect these extra hours with no compensation.
I watched one new teacher reduced to tears because the Principal told her she had to stay at school until 7pm to meet a parent because that is what they do. This teacher had over an hour drive home.
If we worked just our contract in my district, I can tell you that it would take weeks for kids to get back graded assignments in science and they'd do far fewer labs. The only teachers I know who work their contract are math teachers and PE teachers. Math is my only prep that I could manage just working my contracted hours BUT there would be no after school tutoring and all test make ups would require students to miss the material being taught that day so they can go out into the hall and take the test. Forget science. Science is what has me at the school until 5:00 most days. There's no way the music teacher could accomplish what he does working the contract. I suspect the art teacher would be in the same boat. English wouldn't be able to get written papers graded. I have no idea what the work load is for foreign language and social studies.
The action cited in this article isn't going to amount to anything positive, I can tell you that. It's one group, in one school out of 196. It's not supported by any association or union. If anything, it's going to grab the attention of the public (which it obviously is doing) and give the anti-teacher crowd something to rail against (as I'm reading in some local threads on other boards). I only see it negatively affecting the district's request for funding and any chance at a pay increase.
The problem is that teachers have done the off work hours for so long that it became "de facto" part of the job.
And having worked in the corporate world for over 20 years there are times where you have to put in extra time that is not paid for but it's nowhere near the daily extra unpaid hours that teachers put in.
And then you get your planning/conference periods cut but not the work.
NCLB/Common core demand even more accountability (data entry/testing/etc) and you're working all day during the weekend.
And some states have unions that never spoke up about this.
Why did the teaching profession let this happen ?
And what makes it worse is that administrators have come to expect these extra hours with no compensation.
I watched one new teacher reduced to tears because the Principal told her she had to stay at school until 7pm to meet a parent because that is what they do. This teacher had over an hour drive home.
Great points.
A few years ago the teachers (via contract negotiations) wanted more paid preparation days before school started. At the time we had three paid days, of which 2 1/2 were meetings & in-services, that meant that teachers had 3 1/2 paid hours to set up their classrooms (at the elementary level that usually took at least a day or two by itself), organize their schedules, meet with parents & co-teachers, plan lessons for the first days of school, etc., etc. The administrators on the negotiation team said "Why should we 'give you' any more paid days when we know that all the teachers will do it themselves for free anyway."
The word spread about their comments and many of the teachers refused to put in the unpaid time. There was a huge backlash at the elementary level when the children started on the first day and many classrooms had totally bare walls instead of the cute bulletin boards and displays that usually greeted the children. The next year the district added five more days to the teachers calendar before the first day of school (sadly, they didn't pay teachers any extra for those days but that was a different issue caused by the governor taking away most of the power of the unions).
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Agreed. I'm not sure where the vow of poverty clause is in my contract but given the fact I'm expected to get the job done even if I have to work 70 hours a week without a penny extra, there must be one. 
