What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
I don't have the words to convey the ire I feel toward public school teachers who would strike against taxpayers and students. Let me reiterate that, against taxpayers and students. I write those words because that is who the teachers are striking against, not "management." Government isn't business. There is no wealth creation or insufficient distribution of profit earned by all sections of the supply chain. No. There are services paid for by taxpayers. Taxpayers who have agreed to pay a certain percentage of their wages, and have additional monies added to their purchases, in order to pay for services.
"Management" isn't "exploiting" hard working teachers. Teachers are exploiting hard working taxpayers.
Let me just share a couple of quotes and facts regarding the issue.
Chicago Public Schools had to agree to hire new teachers to prevent teachers from working a 7-hour-40-minute day, an " unworkable, seven-hour, 40-minute teacher work day," as described by CTU President Karen Lewis.
Unworkable?
According to the Sun Times, Chicago teachers currently have 170 "instructional" days and work 1039 instructional hours. For this, they make an average of $71,000 a year excluding benefits (using the union's lower average figure). This means that a teacher makes $68.33 per instructional hour.
The average full time worker works 8 hours a day. They work 2000 hours a year (if they take two weeks of vacation).
The median income for a "household" in Chicago is $46,877. This is $9,000 less than the average household income for the state of Illinois.
This means that the median worker in Chicago makes $23.44 an hour. Not nothing, but almost a third of what a teacher makes.
The average employee doesn't have near the perks and benefits of a Chicago teacher. The average employee is paid by a company that is distributing profits. A strike against a company doesn't deal with money that is compulsory. If customers are frustrated by striking workers, or a company's policies regarding its employees, they can buy from a competitor.
If a taxpayer is disgusted with the CTU or CPS, they "can" pull their kids out to pay for a private school. Though they will then be paying for two educations -- the public one taken from taxes as well as the private one -- and will likely be doing so on a salary that is a little more than half what a teacher makes and while working roughly twice as many hours.
Teachers are on the gravy train. They've got it easy, and they have the future in their hands.
It is a travesty.
"Unworkable seven-hour, 40-minute teacher work day?" I guess all those double shifts I worked in construction and at the casinos for a lower wage than teachers were "unworkable" too.
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Comments:
Jul '11
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
I was driving to work and Rush said this is manufactured for Obama to save the day. How the pennies from heaven come raining down in to the budget is another story.
Feb '11
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
Call me cynical, but in our current age that is the best way to look at the world. I suspect this is a set up for an Obama October surprise (maybe September surprise). They are doing this so that Obama can ride to the rescue,resolve it and look like a hero just in time for the election.
May '12
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
First off, some teaches spend extra hours doing non-instructional work, but depending on the teach, course, school, grade, experience this number drop to zero. I work extra hours, too. I read and study at home about issues at work. Why do people have briefcases and attache cases--so they can take work home.
Second, teachers here in Nevada are under the impression that a 401K is a pension. The union/lobbying outfit tells them that.
Ask a teacher about funding sources for their pensions, never an understandable answer.
Ask a teacher if they are salary or hourly, even more nonsense. I had one spend 20 minutes trying explain. I just gave up.
Ask a teacher about SSN and how/why they get out of it: crickets.
Ask a teacher why so many of their fellow teachers bash the private sector--the source of the tax revenue--and you get incomprehensible gibberish, but usually it boils down to 'they work so hard.'
Last, if $76K is the average salary, what is the low and high salaries? What is the union minimum? Are some school teachers making over $100K a year?
Edited on September 10, 2012 at 6:57pmDec '10
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
If Emanuel were as smart as he thinks he is, he would ask the school board's negotiators to work verrrrry slowly and let it sink in to the teachers that this strike was going to be costly to them.
Apr '11
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
JimGoneWild:
Last, if $76K is the average salary, what is the low and high salaries? What is the union minimum? Are some school teachers making over $100K a year? · 6 minutes ago
Edited 0 minutes ago
Yes, some teachers in the Chicago school system can and do make 100K. They usually have at least 15 years on the job and probably a PhD or at least a Masters in education. The CPS pay scale is partly based on ones credentials. So for a PhD holding teacher, compensation can be quite good. Most CPS teachers though I don't think have PhDs but I believe many do get a Masters in Education over the course of their career, as this gives them an instant pay boost.
Sep '10
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
$70k for 9 months of work and master's degree or less education strikes me as princely, especially for Chicago region cost of living. It approaches $100k annualized
Feb '12
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
Ride to the rescue on what? The Red Horse? Or maybe the Pale one...
Dec '10
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
By the way, the teachers aren't striking over economic issues - those demands are a smokescreen. The real issue that terrifies them is the proposed teacher assessment program that is meant to hold them accountable for results. The union has somehow decided that at least 6,000 teachers won't meet the criteria right off the bat - but won't say how they came to that figure.
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
So I tweeted this post & guess who retweeted it? Both Chicago Teachers Union (@CTULocal1) and @CTUSolidarity. I can only imagine they did this inadvertently. I'm wondering when they'll realize that the post is critical of them and delete it. Their tweet to this post has already been up 45 minutes!
Jun '12
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
Maybe they're just products of the Chikago Edukaton Musheen.
Edited on September 10, 2012 at 10:41pmFeb '12
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
I expect we'll be seeing some trolls then?
Aug '10
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
But will the strike cost them? If they are paid for the 9 months of instruction, and the state will require the same number of days of schooling, won't they be employed for the same amount of time when the strike ends? Aren't they just moving next summers vacation to now? Not a lot of incentive to settle.
Feb '12
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
Devereaux
Natalie
drlorentz: Albert Shanker, once president of the AFT, was quoted as saying
Whether or not he said it, this is the attitude. In some sense, it is reasonable: the unions work for the teachers, not the students. That's their job. The disingenuous part is that they pretend otherwise. Whenever I hear union leaders say that they'redoing it for the children, it makes me ill. At least Shanker was honest.
Edit: typo · 54 minutes ago
Edited 0 minutes ago
Where does Mr. Shanker think teachers get the money to pay their union dues? How about from the parents of the students through taxes that go towards teacher salaries. What a chimp. · 7 hours ago
Actually the Illinois democrats have been clever enough to move a lot of school funding to the lottery. It is, of course, "for the children". But when there is money from the lottery, a like amount is then NOT funded from the general revenues. · 5 hours ago
Really, I didn't know that. Makes sense though since they're collecting less in property taxes.
Jul '11
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
ConservativeWanderer
Reality check.
The Mayor of Chicago is Rahm Emanuel.
He'll decertify any union when a flock of pigs with wings flies by my window. · 12 hours ago
You might be (pleasantly) surprised. Rahm needs to get control of this and that is the way to do it. Lewis is currently on a different planet...
Jun '12
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
Wade Moore
ConservativeWanderer
Reality check.
The Mayor of Chicago is Rahm Emanuel.
He'll decertify any union when a flock of pigs with wings flies by my window. · 12 hours ago
You might be (pleasantly) surprised. Rahm needs to get control of this and that is the way to do it. Lewis is currently on a different planet... · 6 minutes ago
I'm not from Missouri, but I'll believe it when I see it.
May '11
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
I too have teacher in my family, and I have to agree with Dean about the extra amount of work, and the stress of dealing with some very troubled kids. My sister who is a wonderful grade 1 teacher has to also deal with working in an area that is it not safe after dark, to walk to her car in the parking lot. I'm not, as in NOT supporting what these union thugs are doing in Chicago at all, but I am saying that the good teachers get lumped in with the bad too often.
Feb '11
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
Stu In Tokyo
I too have teacher in my family, and I have to agree with Dean about the extra amount of work, and the stress of dealing with some very troubled kids. My sister who is a wonderful grade 1 teacher has to also deal with working in an area that is it not safe after dark, to walk to her car in the parking lot. I'm not, as in NOT supporting what these union thugs are doing in Chicago at all, but I am saying that the good teachers get lumped in with the bad too often.
I'm not belittling teachers' efforts on those fronts, but I would point out that it's 10:12pm and I am still doing work, per usual. I will be up at 5:30 am for a breakfast meeting with some tempermental business associates. So I don't have too much sympathy re work hours and conditions.
Edited on September 11, 2012 at 3:02pmDec '11
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
I am a teacher. I work hard, I take pride in my work and in my students. I am well compensated and am grateful for that. I am proud of the hard work and dedication of most of my colleagues. I love the community I live and teach in - a small city with many families with low incomes, and a great many of our students coming from less than ideal circumstances.
We just tentatively agreed to a contract that gives us no raise this year, and between 1-1.2% raise the following three. When I started here in 1999 we were paying nothing into our health insurance. Now we are at 12%. We are working with the administration to keep costs down, knowing we have many older teachers set to retire in the next 1-3 years so that we may save the jobs of younger teachers, and keep whatever enrichment programs we can.
I grant that I don't live or work in Chicago, and that there may be circumstances I don't know, but based on what I do know, I am embarrassed by them, and angry that their action reflects badly on me and my colleagues.
Sep '10
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
Mister D: I am a teacher. I work hard, I take pride in my work and in my students. I am well compensated and am grateful for that.
...
Unfortunately, this discussion might leave you and others with the impression that we feel teachers don't deserve good pay and our respect. Quite the opposite. I appreciate the dedication, competence, and hard work of most teachers. Some teachers I know resent their unions, or are indifferent towards them.
The worst among teachers make all the noise and get the attention. Rest assured that folks generally recognize the difference between most teachers and union activists. The slime does not rub off on you.
Edited on September 12, 2012 at 9:30amJun '12
Re: What The Chicago Teacher Strike Is About
Looks like Teh Won is starting to get some of the blame from the union thugs masquerading as teachers:
I'm sure the signs were professionally printed by a union shop, too.