Posted on 06/17/2005 4:45:43 AM PDT by Born Conservative
WRIGHT TWP. – Crestwood School District officials said they consider a recent letter from the teachers union a “mass resignation” and plan to vote June 28 to hire replacement teachers for this fall if the contact isn’t settled.
Union President Joseph Chmiola Jr. sent a letter to the school district on Tuesday saying that without a new contract, “we will be unwilling to work the 2005-2006 school year.”
Negotiator John Holland of the Pennsylvania State Education Association said Thursday that the intent of the June 14 letter was to tell the school district that if there’s no new contract, the union will strike. He said no time frame for a strike has been decided.
“We were all in shock that they would write a letter like this,” said school board President Bill Jones. Jones said school district attorneys read the letter and determined it is a “mass resignation” of about 160 Crestwood Education Association members.
But Holland said the school district’s plan is illegal and that it can’t hire replacement workers.
“This board is about as petty as I’ve ever seen,” Holland said. “They’re ludicrous.”
Teachers staged a one-day strike in November. Act 88, the state law that limits the length of a strike, allows students to complete the state-mandated 180 days of instruction by June 30
The school district said in a written statement that unless a new contract agreement is reached, the board at its June 28 meeting will consider a motion to accept the mass resignation. If the resignations are accepted, they will become effective June 30.
“We’re going to accept it and we’re going to move on,” Jones said. The school district plans to advertise the vacancies immediately and begin interviewing replacement teachers to be hired before the school year’s start.
“If they choose to advertise for teachers, they’re going to do so at their own risk,” Holland said.
Chmiola wrote in the letter that he wanted “to stress the importance that the (teachers union) and (school district) reach an agreement prior to the start of the school year.” Union members are working under the terms of their old contract, which expired Aug. 31, 2002.
Holland said the contract issue is a serious matter, but the school district is more interested in “pandering to the public.”
The last contract negotiation session was June 8 when both sides said no progress was made. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for July 6.
Board member and school district negotiator Gene Mancini Jr. said the school district must ensure that there are teachers in place for the school year’s start.
The biggest negotiation issue between the union and school district is health care. The school district wants teachers to contribute to health-care premiums, but the teachers are opposed.
The school district said that if the board accepts the resignations, teachers will be notified that they can purchase COBRA health insurance. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act permits workers to buy health insurance under a group health plan.
You seem to have an in-depth knowledge of the educational system in Pennsylvania...
You, like others here have not only a dislike for unions, but unhealhty didain for teachers, as if 90% don't even try. I'm sure your much much better at what you do.
What do you do? Do you want raises at work? Do you work hard every minute of every day? Do you have parents calling and cursing and screaming when Johnny fails even though he never does his work?
Teachers work harder than you think and more hours than you think. You obviously don't care to discuss the situation from two sides, sit up in the stands clapping for them to let out the lions.
If you want to argue that I don't live in PA and can have no opinion, then post your rant only to PA residents.
Not at all; I'm merely pointing out that you have no way of knowing the SPECIFIC situation here (other than what you read), and are making statements that are incongruent with the situation.
You, like others here have not only a dislike for unions, but unhealhty didain for teachers, as if 90% don't even try.
Please quote a specific statement that supports this.
What do you do? Do you want raises at work? Do you work hard every minute of every day? Do you have parents calling and cursing and screaming when Johnny fails even though he never does his work?
I'm a RN, and yes, I DO have parents call and curse at me. And, BTW, I'm a former teacher, so I think that I can logically discuss this.
We'd love to have you apply for that History teaching gig! Unfortunately, the School Boards in this part of the State are firm practitioners of Nepotism. In order to get a teaching job here, you have to have the degree AND be the wife/sibling/aunt/uncle/grandkid/nephew/cousin of a school board member or superintendent/administrator. I've seen it happen time and again when the School Board was in bed with the Union. They voted pay raises and those 100% medical benefits for the teachers year after year and the public's been paying through the nose ever since. Now that we finally got the public to Wake Up & voted out that School Board, it is more representative of the taxpayers needs & things are better. But we continue to have to deal with the conscequences of all those old deals.
I am a parent of kids in the Crestwood School District....Lucky me!
We have some of the highest salaries(thanks to those 100% paid medical benies)in the county & the state. This is far from a wealthy community however and the tax raises have driven out many of our senior citizens. My youngest's Kindergarten teacher made over $80K a few years back when he was in her class. She was a Rotten teacher! She was burnt out and didn't like little kids... should have gone into a new line of work years ago. They shouldn't let this person within 10 miles of an impressionable 5 year old. But with her years of seniority and the Union, we can't get rid of her.
Not a single teacher showed up at the Elementary School's 6th grade class graduation this year. One went so far as to request to be Paid to put in an appearance at the 50 minute ceremony. The teachers struck for one day in the fall because the School Board wouldn't cave to their demands. There will be more strikes this school year because the Union won't address the Board's counteroffers.
Too bad PA doesn't have binding arbitration for teachers to keep them from striking.....it's coming before the State Legislator for a vote, hopefully this coming school year. I've got my pencil sharpened and ready youbetcha!
Welcome to Free Republic. We hope you enjoy your stay here.
It worked for PATCO, so why not?
"pandering to the public"
Holland refers to those who pay the salaries and benefits of these teachers. What arrogance!
I hope all these teachers are let go and can be replaced by qualified teachers who want the job and don't think they are "entitled". Hope they can find some. The
empowerment of the NEA infuriates me. Unions have their place, were needed, but we also witness their unethical demands in today's world.
Hooray for you! You come across as someone dedicated to your profession. My husband's dear aunt was a teacher when it was looked upon as a dedicated profession. I never heard her speak of the NEA.
I'm sure I am not the only taxpayer who becomes outraged at the demands of teachers. Yes, they have a serious job of teaching our children, but most families (I hope) have a Dad working 40 and more hours to provide for his family. Not only a roof over their heads and meals on the table, but health insurance, life insurance, home maintenance, and on and on. And except for the few weeks vacation time they get, they work all year long.
Add to that the part-time employees at a school, e.g., lunchroom employees. In my state they collect unemployment wages all summer, when they are NOT working!
And you know who is paying for that...the rest of us.
But it's not healthy to be angry.
Wow, do I hear you! The crookedness abounds and how do you fight it, beat it. In one form or another it appears to be nationwide. My kids attended Catholic schools, my choice, and of course we supported the public schools.
When I see the local bumper stickers "bragging" that
MY CHILD IS AN HONOR STUDENT AT _______________SCHOOL, our township middle and high schools, I just shake my head. Our local paper lists the names of these honor students at the end of each semester. The numbers are incredible! So impressive! This many middle-school and high school students merit honor society status?
I don't buy it. What in the world are their stantdards?
I support paying teachers what the market will bear. Get rid of the barriers to lateral entry and encourage career switchers with real-world experience, get rid of tenure, pay outstanding teachers a premium, and get the deadwood and burnout cases out of the classroom. Private schools manage to do just fine operating along these lines.
"I support paying teachers what the market will bear. Get rid of the barriers to lateral entry and encourage career switchers with real-world experience, get rid of tenure, pay outstanding teachers a premium, and get the deadwood and burnout cases out of the classroom. Private schools manage to do just fine operating along these lines."
A lot of private schools in my area pay 15-25 k per year. (The biggest chain here pays $11 an hour with no benefits Thus, their teachers are often college students.) I don't earn a whole ton more than that, but it makes me conclude that even with so-called "merit pay" that the salaries at least here wouldn't be any higher than what I make now because of the resistance against higher teacher salaries.
I am all for those with real-world experience and have many of them come to my classroom. I wish more businesses would realize what resources they have to give and would apply them towards education too.
Again, I'll reiterate, teachers shouldn't be paid as much as many technical positions. Some are OVERPAID while some are underpaid in some areas. There are many, many factors to consider. One thing I will say, is that at least in my area, that most teachers are second-wage earners, co-wage earners, or single (all at my school are in such groups). They are not poor at all, but they are not rich either.
I prefer that teachers' pay -- and everyone else's -- be set by markets as opposed to a cosmic pay board (or its vicar on earth, a federal agency). In a free market educational system, some jurisdictions would pay teachers handsomely. Others would be niggardly. The carriage trade would set up silver spoon academies, skim the cream, and pay top dollar. Whether teachers, on the whole, would end up being paid more or less than people in technical positions is a matter of complete indifference to me.
Sure, I suspect that techies would generally make more than elementary school teachers. That might not be the case, however, when we move to higher grades and more challenging subjects. But wherever it sorts out, I would be willing to live with the market subject to one major condition: there would still be a residual role for the state to ensure that minimum standards are met and that kids in very poor jurisdictions are not left behind.
I have long realized that there are a lot of people out there who work hard at their occupations to support their families. Let's not forget dedicated stay-at-home moms either. One of my chief things is to recognize parents who take time out to support their kids, especially dads, a rare thing in many places. My mom and dad were dedicated parents and it is their example I try to emulate.
Yes, some teachers do complain. I had one complain because I didn't put a capital on a note I wrote sometime (even though I was grammatically correct). It actually goes both ways. One mom complained to another teacher the other day because her daughter got a warning for talking. Usually, though, the parents have been very patient with me and I'm not sure why because I make more than my share of mistakes. In turn, I give the parents a little bit of slack too and we work together.
I just think our society has become more complaining in general. I was at a meeting where this lady was crying because she couldn't afford her mortgage on her 10,000 square foot house. My neighbor complained about being able to only go on four vacations this year (I take 1--back home to see my mom and dad). It's almost funny when I see people move because they think their 4000 square foot home with big bedrooms is too small because one of the kids won't have their own room (I never had my own bedroom and there were 8 kids and 2 parents in a 2000 square foot home). So yes, I understand some frustations. I get concerned when I see people who don't realize what we have and how lucky we are.
I don't support complaining by teachers, but I also don't support condemning all teachers and blaming them for every wrong. I won't expand on this nor will I talk about it.
Your comments bring to mind one of my pet issues. There are so many people who don't realize what a privilege it is to raise kids. I cringe when I see others complain about kids or other things having to do with them. The reason is because I so very much want to have kids of my own, but have not been able to for many, many years. Other things are not options at this time. It just makes me sad to think that some people take having kids for granted. BUT you are right, it does not do any good to get angry. I just do the best I can to serve others' children, to be a force for good in my community, and to remember all the things that God HAS blessed me with.
One thing that is for sure if I am fortunate enough to ever have a child--he or she will not be a spoiled child, but will be the most loved child around. I will never stop thanking the man upstairs for giving me such a precious blessing. If I never get the opportunity, I will never curse God, but thank him for all the great things I do have.
I still don't feel the "market salary" would be any more than many teachers make now. It probably would be less.
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