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I have no problem with unions bankrupting their employers and loosing their jobs. but the public employees work for taxpayers and there is no company to bankrupt. they just raise property taxes to the point where honest hard working Americans loose their homes and could care less. my brother back east owns his home but must pay 1300 a month in property taxes to support the freeloading teachers,cops and fire fighters,town workers etc. I pay 600 per year without those leaches
I see you belong to the union I once belonged to. When they admitted to being a union I got the hell out and was never sorry. I guess you didn't know that back in 1976 they gave Jimmy Carter over $4.5 million that he campaigned with. They didn't ask the membership if they wanted that, just did it. Of course, they got their Department of Education in exchange and had to repay all the members who demanded their share of that money back. Damn, did my peers think I was dumb when I demanded my money back. It was the amount that forced me to demand it back. A whole $4.35 They weren't going to get by with that as far as I was concerned. I should have held that check next to my heart but that was 35 years ago.
I almost forgot to say that I want the DOE abolished as soon as possible and then maybe the teacher unions will go along with it.
To be honest, Roy, I'm new to the whole union thing. I taught in a non-union southern state that was also near the bottom of teacher pay. There had been a pay freeze on teachers since before the recession, while legislators--many of them GOP--increased their staff sizes and raised their own pay. There was no hope of even the slightest raise for me, but my workload kept increasing. I love teaching, but I decided that if I didn't find a way to increase my income while teaching, I'd just leave the profession altogether. I didn't want to do that, but I planned on it.
I get a teaching job in Michigan, near my family, and my income immediately goes up significantly with equally good benefits as I had in NC. I can now buy a home, pay off all my debts--including student loans, and prepare to start a family. I'm still learning, but one thing I noticed is that union states have better pay and benefits. So where was I going to go? To the place with better pay. Higher pay attracts talent. And yes, I think unions have some role to play in that.
I don't like how they oppose every single school reform idea that comes down the pike. And union folks can be too militant for me. (I'm a real nice guy in real life. Activists, by nature can't be nice). But philosophically, am I pro-union? Yes. They're far from perfect, but they're better than being thrown to the wolves in the state legislature.
And before anyone on the right who hates public ed calls me a worthless, parasitic union thug, (as they seem to think all teachers are): my test scores were the highest in my county last year, I tweak my lessons a million times to make them better, I show up to after school events to support my students when I can, and I even work on my off days to get stuff ready. (like I did today) I love my job and my kids--er, students. And there are many more teachers like me out there.
To be honest, Roy, I'm new to the whole union thing. I taught in a non-union southern state that was also near the bottom of teacher pay. There had been a pay freeze on teachers since before the recession, while legislators--many of them GOP--increased their staff sizes and raised their own pay. There was no hope of even the slightest raise for me, but my workload kept increasing. I love teaching, but I decided that if I didn't find a way to increase my income while teaching, I'd just leave the profession altogether. I didn't want to do that, but I planned on it.
I get a teaching job in Michigan, near my family, and my income immediately goes up significantly with equally good benefits as I had in NC. I can now buy a home, pay off all my debts--including student loans, and prepare to start a family. I'm still learning, but one thing I noticed is that union states have better pay and benefits. So where was I going to go? To the place with better pay. Higher pay attracts talent. And yes, I think unions have some role to play in that.
I don't like how they oppose every single school reform idea that comes down the pike. And union folks can be too militant for me. (I'm a real nice guy in real life. Activists, by nature can't be nice). But philosophically, am I pro-union? Yes. They're far from perfect, but they're better than being thrown to the wolves in the state legislature.
And before anyone on the right who hates public ed calls me a worthless, parasitic union thug, (as they seem to think all teachers are): my test scores were the highest in my county last year, I tweak my lessons a million times to make them better, I show up to after school events to support my students when I can, and I even work on my off days to get stuff ready. (like I did today) I love my job and my kids--er, students. And there are many more teachers like me out there.
Good for you,pay for your own health care and pension like the rest of us do and people will stop loosing their homes to outrageous property taxes
Last year, in Michigan it was less than 20%. Oddly enough, the union wasn't upset when it went up--they were worried about other things, like tenure reform. And it doesn't bother me much because I know it's less than most people pay, and times are pretty hard--especially in MI. But my big fear is that over time other states throw the baby out with the bathwater and strip collective bargaining altogether like Wisconsin did, and there will be no difference between North and South. Then talented people who would consider being teachers will simply look elsewhere--where their talents will be paid for fairly in either income or benefits.
You see, I don't see myself as entitled, nor does anyone I work with. Meanwhile those outside the teaching profession--especially on the right--look at us like a bunch of glorified welfare recipients, like we get paid to do nothing, which is so, so far from the truth. If you go to your local school and shadow a teacher sometime and you'd be exhausted by 4:00. I guarantee it.
While I don't believe in outlandish benefits and pay, I think decent benefits and pay will attract and keep more quality educators in the classroom, and that's a good investment for the future. I know that sounds like a cheesy company line, but I truly believe it. No one is going to work somewhere where they don't feel valued.
Last edited by mackinac81; 09-02-2011 at 04:35 PM..
look up Michigan teacher benifits,what a bunch of leaches. 28 % of budget goes to benefits at a cost of 1300$ per student.they are 6th in the nation in spending on ins and pension benifits.
when the unions are gone...... so are decent wages............
corporate america will own you
Wrong. I own my own business and work hard to make sure it is successful. I don't need bully tactics to make someone pay me more than I deserve. It is past time for unions to go.
look up Michigan teacher benifits,what a bunch of leaches. 28 % of budget goes to benefits at a cost of 1300$ per student.they are 6th in the nation in spending on ins and pension benifits.
so who do you think pays the other 80% of your benefits? the old couple down the street through property taxes. ever think about them while you cruise on easy street with you new job.bet not
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There was no hope of even the slightest raise for me, but my workload kept increasing. I love teaching, but I decided that if I didn't find a way to increase my income while teaching, I'd just leave the profession altogether. I didn't want to do that, but I planned on it. 
And there are many more teachers like me out there.
