Teacher Strikes

[TexasFreedom]

Have others heard about all the state-wide teacher strikes? I think it's Kansas or Oklahoma, and another state before this one.

Teachers are demanding a $10k pay increase among other things.

I've got a counter offer. I'm good with a $10k per teacher pay increase. But we're going to make their medical plan switch over to Obamascare. And we're going to drop their pensions... instead we'll add $3k each to their pay and they can manage it themselves. And we're going to take the percentage of students that are homeschoolled and pull that funding from schools and put it into homeschool-specific programs. And any teacher caught having sex with a student gets an no-probation 10 year prison sentence, lose of all pension benefits, and voided teaching credentials nationwide.

It's called accountability. It's called the real world. It's time for teachers to see it up close and personal. I really do wish them well. Oh, and they can spank/paddle kids all they want to vent their frustrations.

 

[Mountain trapper]

They need to bust the teachers union. Fire a few of of these slackers and maybe the rest will go back to work.

 

[Silent Earth]

Over here teachers work on average 6 to 7 hour day for five days a week, they never go six weeks without a 2 week half term break (paid) and at least 6 weeks off in the summer, 3 at Christmas. over the last 50 years the quality of education in the UK compared to other nations has een the UK sliding down the league table. The UK teaching unions are loaded with Marxists and Socialists.

 

[user 7704]

Kentucky teachers are really mad at the governor. I'm from KY, so lots of my Facebook is KY related. They are hot.

 

[user 7704]

Have others heard about all the state-wide teacher strikes? I think it's Kansas or Oklahoma, and another state before this one.

Teachers are demanding a $10k pay increase among other things.

I've got a counter offer. I'm good with a $10k per teacher pay increase. But we're going to make their medical plan switch over to Obamascare. And we're going to drop their pensions... instead we'll add $3k each to their pay and they can manage it themselves. And we're going to take the percentage of students that are homeschoolled and pull that funding from schools and put it into homeschool-specific programs. And any teacher caught having sex with a student gets an no-probation 10 year prison sentence, lose of all pension benefits, and voided teaching credentials nationwide.

It's called accountability. It's called the real world. It's time for teachers to see it up close and personal. I really do wish them well. Oh, and they can spank/paddle kids all they want to vent their frustrations.

In KY, teachers don't participate in Social Security, so they rely on their pensions. The unions are the problems.

 

[lonewolf]

Over here teachers work on average 6 to 7 hour day for five days a week, they never go six weeks without a 2 week half term break (paid) and at least 6 weeks off in the summer, 3 at Christmas. over the last 50 years the quality of education in the UK compared to other nations has een the UK sliding down the league table. The UK teaching unions are loaded with Marxists and Socialists.

my stepdaughter is a teacher in a college, once the students have gone home she regularly does 30 or more hours a week of marking and setting up the work for the next week and the next term, this is all unpaid.
the work dosent just stop when the bell goes.
she dosent know from one term to another whether she will have a job when the students come back after the holidays, if enough students drop out then the course is cancelled and she is out of a job.

 

[lonewolf]

there is no such thing as a "job for life" in the UK anymore.

 

[user 7704]

My daughter attended a small, public, magnet school and for some reason, most of the teachers opted out of the union.

I wonder if it's from having jobs without all of the bullying, etc. Since it was a select school, one strike and your butt was out of there.

One kid came in, the next week he said said something about hurting someone, and he was gone that day.

 

[user 7704]

there is no such thing as a "job for life" in the UK anymore.

No tenure? I am totally against tenure. I've seen some teachers do stupid things and then say "they can't do anything, I have tenure." They can, of course, but in most cases it's too much of a hassle and they just ignore the infraction.

 

[Gazrok]

Teachers work FAR more hours than just teaching class. When do you think they prep lessons, grade homework, etc.?

While I'm all for negotiating better pay, etc. for teachers, as it is state funded, you also need to come up with a way to PAY for such increases, as part of your negotiation. If you don't, then it's just going to stagnate.

 

[Squirtgunsquirter]

10 grand? If they were making 100K a year, that would be a 10% pay raise! That's huge! Nobody gets that kind of raise. Maybe phased in over a few years or something, but man, that's a big chunk to ask for right out of the gate.

I do think teachers are underpaid in general, but I feel like they have some decent benefits to make up for it.

Of course, I've never been a teacher in Kentucky, so I really don't have a clue as to whether or not the raise is necessary or deserved.

 

[Gazrok]

I'm sure the 10K is the starter, so they can negotiate down, but yeah, that's pretty high. Then again, for all we know, wages in that state may be way below average, etc. so need the context.

EDIT - I used to work for a school software company, for about 3 years, and we'd often go into schools, work with teachers on training, innovations, etc. So I gained a pretty good handle on what they do daily, and it's way more than you think.

 

[user 7704]

10 grand? If they were making 100K a year, that would be a 10% pay raise! That's huge! Nobody gets that kind of raise. Maybe phased in over a few years or something, but man, that's a big chunk to ask for right out of the gate.

I do think teachers are underpaid in general, but I feel like they have some decent benefits to make up for it.

Of course, I've never been a teacher in Kentucky, so I really don't have a clue as to whether or not the raise is necessary or deserved.

Teachers in KY are lucky to make $30k. That's why teachers also coach various sports. To supplement their income.

 

[Squirtgunsquirter]

I can look right down at my home state of Illinois, specifically Rockford, and the Rockford school system.

Not saying anything about any of this being right or wrong, it just is what it is.

In the 80's and 90's, Rockford was a serious manufacturing area, with some of the best pay for Union and non Union Tradesmen (and teachers) in the country. The tax base was healthy, the teachers went on regular strikes and in many cases negotiated higher wages, and better benefits. And, so did we, I stood picket lines while I was in the Union.

Usher in NAFTA, and loss of the manufacturing base and the wages that went with it, along with "white flight" and "brain drain" as those who could left for greener pastures, and the school system flat out crashed. Multiple bankruptcies, absolute bottom of the barrel graduation rates, a constant rotation of State "overseer's" who all failed to turn around a broken school system, because what could they do? The money just wasn't there, you can't beg good people to stay in a bad situation out of the kindness of their hearts. Shop classes and sports eliminated, schools suffering from maintenance issues, high incident rates of violence and drop outs... it's a mess.

What I'm saying is, things change. If Kentucky COULD support that raise now, what is the flexibility to change it in the future?

Because in Illinois, those changes are locked in now. And the State suffers because of it.

 

[Squirtgunsquirter]

Ok thirty grand is not very livable, even in Kentucky. But there needs to be a realistic look at what the State can support. Otherwise, you travel the same road as Illinois, and kick the can until the road comes to a cliff.

 

[user 7704]

Ok thirty grand is not very livable, even in Kentucky. But there needs to be a realistic look at what the State can support. Otherwise, you travel the same road as Illinois, and kick the can until the road comes to a cliff.

As I mentioned before, they don't contribute to SS either, so their pension is it.

I blame the unions.

 

[Squirtgunsquirter]

Well, this is from a site that monitors teaching salaries around the country...

http://www.teaching-certification.com/salaries-benefits/kentucky-teaching-salaries-and-benefits.html

Average of 50 grand after 2011, hovering around 40 grand since the late eighties.

The strikes seem to be as much about recent retirement changes as much as pay. New law changed the traditional pension to a hybrid 401K after 2014.

I would guess people have been looking at the math, and not liking what they see.

40 to 50k a year, retirement based on final average salary x years of service x a 2.5% multiplier... That's not horrible.

The new 401k sucks, but hey, that's the new standard. Looks to me like the State took a look at the math, and said decided something had to give. I don't blame the teachers for not wanting to lose out, but there it is.

Now, did the State Legislators take a hit? Maybe NOT get a cost of living raise? A reduction of their Pension multiplier? That would be telling.

 

[user 7704]

The have had raises since I last spoke to a teacher. When my daughter was in public school, $26k was typical. That was 7 years ago.

What I dislike about the Unions is them telling their people who to vote for.

 

[Gazrok]

They can TELL all they want, they can't ENFORCE it though...

My wife TOLD her liberal friends she was voting for HRC, but in the booth, voted for Bernie out of protest for both candidates, lol. My kids voted for HRC, and I drove them to the polls, lol. (meanwhile I filled in the circle for Trump).

 

[Mountain trapper]

My sister is a teacher. She loves her job. Decent pay, great benefits, very little work and LOTS of time off. They seldom put in a full 5 days a week without some reason for a day off. And of course that day off is always on a Friday.