Posted on 03/01/2005 10:57:04 AM PST by srm913
Students in the Berkeley school district aren't getting written homework assignments because teachers are refusing to grade work on their own time after two years without a pay raise.
So far, a black history event had to be canceled and parents had to staff a middle-school science fair because teachers are sticking strictly to the hours they're contracted to work.
"Teachers do a lot with a little. All of a sudden, a lot of things that they do are just gone. It's demoralizing," said Rachel Baker, who has a son in kindergarten.
Teachers say they don't want to stop volunteering their time.
"It's hard," said Judith Bodenhauser, a high school math teacher. "I have stacks of papers I haven't graded. Parents want to talk to me; I don't call them back."
The action was organized by the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, which wants a cost-of-living increase next year.
District Superintendent Michele Lawrence expressed sympathy for the teachers but said there isn't money for raises. She blamed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger not providing as much money to education as promised.
Schwarzenegger spokesman Vince Sollitto said the governor has promised that the bulk of new funding in next year's budget, $3 billion, will go to education.
Barry Fike, president of the teachers union, said the district will be getting more money next year and that teachers want a share.
But schools spokesman Mark Coplan said the district still faces a deficit for several reasons, including rising health care costs and the governor's plan to shift some big costs from the state to the district.
Fike said teachers are willing to start paying some health care costs, but without a raise that would amount to a pay cut.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Each teacher is different. Most of the teachers that my kids have had in public school have worked more than the teacheres my son had in private school.
This is the first year that we have a teacher that is not working as hard. She is retiring at the end of the school year, and you can tell. She's okay, but not a great teacher.
Last year, my daughters' had a wonderful first grade teacher. She was in school by 7am and usually didn't leave until after 4pm. She also worked every Sunday afternoon. On days like open house, art fair, or PTA events, she was at school until 8 or 9pm. She also did way above and beyond on classwork. She was definitely better than any teacher I ever had in school, and I was very grateful that both of my daughters had her for 1st grade.
Of course, Berserkeley is the center of the liberal universe...
It's a mixed bag; really it is. My retired-teacher mother bemoans the sorry state of American education today, and yet she can't recall a single good teacher she had in high school. I had a great number of them, and I can honestly say I learned more from my high school teachers than I did from the brainwashing sessions of my liberal college professors.
From another post (LA Daily News Editorial).
Teachers in California are already well (if not over) paid.
problem is... in the case of teachers unions, the "company" are the CHILDREN and the TAX PAYERS!!!
teachers unions should be illegal
This "teaching to the contract" is happening in another California town, Visalia. The teachers are upset because the district is asking them to pay for some of the health benefit premiums (among other concessions).
I know you were being sarcastic, lol. But this is exactly why the union should not be in charge of the school boards. Because what is needed is an administrator who will "fire" these "professionals". They are not getting a pay raise because the state they work for has a bunch of liberal legislators who have spent the money many times over. I would be quite happy in this situation to see kids start their own schools.
Teachers have been skipping any part of the job that they could get away with for years. Yard duty? Hire a yard cop to break up the fights. Dance duty, have the organization doing the dance get the paprents to chapperone. And when they are "on duty" its "Open your books and start the assignment". I would not give them a raise either, and I used to teach.
Actually, in a math department at a University, I thought of a better way than striking. Just give everybody A's. Everybody. Then maybe some of that Engineering bling-bling will come our way. And, no, engineers cannot teach calculus.
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