Middletown Teachers Agree to Return to Work ["I never want to see another bologna sandwich"]

The New York Times ^ | December 7, 2001 | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

[Hildy]

You pay for the choices you make. I live in San Diego. The average home is $350,000. WE pay to live in paradise. If I couldn't afford it, I'd move. I wouldn't whine about how expensive it is.

[testforecho]

If x=hours, since there are 24 hours in a day we could write 24/24=1; and 1+150/50(3)=4 and she will be able to eat 4 slices (1*4=4); if she must sleep 8 hours, we then write 16/24=(2/3), so, at 2/3(4) she only gets 2+2/3 slices; if she were not a teacher with unimpugnable character, she would simply eat all 6 slices and go on vacation; are you sure you have structured your equation correctly?

Well, this was a back of the envelope creation. I was playing off of the quote where the one teacher said she couldn't look at another balongna sandwich. So the equation was set up to simulate the surfeit of slices she would get in prison. I only put 6 slices in there as a standard word problem trick to see who would multiply 6*3.

[Bommer]

I look at it on the flip side. There are millions of kids being taught by teachers who make $56,000 a year who get cheap medical benefits, and yet graduate dumber than when they went in. Put them all out of business, homeschool! They will be smarter, conservative and socially responsible citizens who respect our country!

[JZoback]

The teachers, who make an average of $56,000 annually, are fighting a move to increase their health care premiums by up to $600 per person, per year. Currently, they pay $250.

The majority of employees of any company pay FAR, FAR more for health care benefits than $250.00 a year.

$600.00 is what, $11.00 a week?

Most likely, their hike in premiums is ONLY part of the total increase and they are being asked to cover their part of the total package.

The other part of the premium increase not picked up by the teachers would have to be covered by TAXES.

Me thinks they have it pretty good and are spoiled rotten.

[Let's Roll]

"What planet are these clymers on? I can't BELIEVE someone would object to paying $600 a year in health care premiums. They DESERVE to go to jail simply on the grounds of being out of touch."

Good gah-ravy! I pay $1200 a year for just me and it's an HMO besides.

[xkaydet65]

A teacher is required to obtain a Master's degree, at their own expense. Try 36 credits at $300-500 dollars a credit. Your mythical average worker: who is he? What does he do? What educational requirements are needed for his job?Are you saying that all jobs are equal? All compensation should be equal? Sounds like an idea that could be found on another site.

I teach in NYC, and while my pay and benefits are comparable to those in Middletown, an area I know quite well, I'd kill for their working conditions,but I won't claim that they should be forced to accept my working conditions simply because theirs are far above those of the "average teacher" A socialist I am not.

[strela]

How many employees of private companies pay their health insurance?

(raises hand)

I don't know anyone around here that doesn't pay at least a portion of their health insurance.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Nice try, I never said all wages should be equal, but rather asked where is there some unwritten right moral justification that says teachers should make more than the average person? Again, if you can get it great, but if you can't I shouldn't feel sorry for you. There are lots of jobs that require a person to have a master's degree(at their own expense, why should that be different? I'm in school paying for mine, don't expect anyone else to do so, and am not gonna whine about it, that's just what is required to get ahead in my CHOSEN field.) And there is no single average worker profile, its kinda implicit with the use of the word 'average'. But lots of office staff, managerial, commercial workers make less than $56,000, just check the Bureau of Labor Statistics if you doubt that.

When teachers were making $17-25,000 a year, I could agree that they were underpaid. But rejecting $62,000(63,000-1,000 for self-paid health benefits) and sticking it to the kids during the school year just stinks of an over-inflated sense of worth and value.

[maxwellp]

My husband and I are self-employed and pay $520/MONTH for our health insurance - AND IT'S DIFFICULT. And these morons teach our children. No wonder American children rank so low in every aspect of learning versus other countries.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Hmmm.... perhaps we need to define 'average worker'...

I think (and hope) that there are a lot of outstanding teachers out there, somewhere... unfortunately, they are being paid the same as some teachers whom I wouldn't trust to shine my shoes correctly. Sort of like the education system proceeds at the pace of the dumbest kid in the class, the compensation system works the same way - which is unfair to the outstanding teachers who actually teach.

Perhaps, we should privatize the education system, and each teacher could negotiate pay on their own - based on their ability, education, etc... the same way most of us get jobs, rather than some arbitrary 'contract' decision. This way, we could get rid of the worthless ones, and pay higher wages to those who deserve it, and thereby attracting MORE competent educators.

In other words, let the Free Market work the way it was intended, and watch our schools improve, and our children grow up with an actual education, instead of just high self-esteem.

Note: this is not a blanket indictment of teachers, but the system itself....

[Lancey Howard]

The teachers, who make an average of $56,000 annually, are fighting a move to increase their health care premiums by up to $600 per person, per year.

The previous article I read about these parasites said that their premiums were increasing from $250 per year to $600. That would be an increase of only $350 per year, or less than $30 per month - - barely a fraction of their Porshe, shore house, and boat payments.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

You pay for the choices you make. I live in San Diego. The average home is $350,000. WE pay to live in paradise. If I couldn't afford it, I'd move. I wouldn't whine about how expensive it is.

Totally agree, I was pointing this fact out for those who acted as if the prices in central New Jersey were out of all proportion to other real estate. Middletown is an middle to upper middle class suburb of NYC, and their prices are less than those in most of that metro area.

[StevenJ]

Good voicing of many teacher's days. Another thing that can be added is about contracts. The school system I work for went without a contract for four years. Teachers brought home less pay each year because there were no pay raises and insurance costs kept going up. Another thing about teaching not being rocket science. That may be so, but let's see anyone else put up with what teachers have to put up with on a DAILY basis. Unruly students who like nothing better than to challenge authority figures. Parents who cannot understand while their child is failing, even though the child has turned in 50% of their homework (if their lucky) and is scoring in the 40's and 50's on their tests. It's the teacher's fault because the kids do not have the social and work ethics that parents should be instilling into their children. A lot of parents believe every cock-a-mamy story their kids tell them because they are too stupid to look further than their nose. Do I sound bitter? Heck yes! Idiots like those who say teachers making 50k after 30 years work is doing good. In many cases yes, but even that depends on where you are working. A couple of teachers in my school district are making 37k after 25 years service. The cost of living in this area is fairly low compared to the rest of New England. I'd like to see some of these people take on this job. But before they do, I have to warn them that teaching is now considered one of the most stressful jobs in America. I was a cop in the military, and I had MUCH less stress because I knew that when I had to bust someone, there were consequences. In the school they may, if the action was serious enough, get suspended from school for three days. But guess what? They come back with the same crappy attitude as before, maybe even worse. Yep, I DARE them to become teachers. They will sing a different tune before their first year is up. IF they last that long.

[grasshopper2]

I teach in NYC, and while my pay and benefits are comparable to those in Middletown,

You and your co-workers deserve far more than that. The teachers in Camden, Newark, and Trenton also deserve much much more.

There are many teachers who would like to teach in a suburban district like Middletowne. The Middletown teachers themselves, wouldn't trade their jobs for yours or for any other district, apparently, because even though they claim to be unhappy year after year, they never quit.

Some of them seem to be good teachers, but I'm really tired of the strikes (2 in three years) and the threats of strikes. For part of the time I've had kids in the schools, the teachers have been withholding "extras" like school plays, parties, field trips, etc. It's really a shame that the children must suffer.

[Lockbox]

Does this case set a precedent? Does this mean that any Government worker in NJ who does not want to work without a contract will be jailed? Or just essential services such as teachers? And in a liberal world, what Government worker is not proving “essential services”.

Next, what about “essential service” private services, such as the Power Company employees? We should not have any work stoppage of the light company, because so many important other “essential services” rely on the lights, such as hospitals. Will a NJ Judge lock up Power Company workers when their contact expires, and they choose not to work without a contract? Will there be a desire on the part of management to negotiate when you can get a Judge to jail your workers for not working?

Will benefits, which were covered under the last contract, still be in effect? I can see an insurance company stating that legally their coverage ended with the termination of the contact, therefore employees do not have coverage. Lots of issues, which the Judge just made worse. Looks like the only winners will be lawyers!