Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - 20/20: Stupid in America

ngdawg · 02-13-2007, 08:58 PM

As a (former) teacher's assistant, I can attest to the power of the unions. They are strong lobbyists; they changed the laws here in NJ so that assistants could no longer be laypeople-they now have to be certified and have college credits-if not, then districts appoint teachers as teaching assistants which, of course means higher pay which means higher union dues paid.(compare my $10k a year for assistant vs teacher starting salary of $26k and percentile union dues and it's easy to see why they pushed for the change)
Teachers get tenure; this means that they can not just be 'dismissed' or, as in my case, unrenewed, after they survive a set number of years in the system(in this district, that's 4 years. Guess which year my contract wasn't renewed-in the 4th year, the BoE pays full medical/dental/life coverage in addition to giving tenure).
As long as we have such a strong union making the rules, we will continue to have teachers that are 'gliding to retirement'.
It's one more serious 'glitch' in our educational process that needs to be addressed. Boards of education cowtow to the strongholds of the NEA's.
Do I think teachers should make more? Yes, there's something wrong with a society that places a higher value on a baseball player than a teacher.
Do I believe in tenure? Hell, no. No other profession has this policy, union or not. Bad cop, out. Inept fireman, probationary and maybe out. Bad nurse, gone. Bad teacher-hang on until retirement, barring criminal conviction.

02-13-2007, 08:58 PM	#12 (permalink)
ngdawg peekaboo Location: on the back, bitch	As a (former) teacher's assistant, I can attest to the power of the unions. They are strong lobbyists; they changed the laws here in NJ so that assistants could no longer be laypeople-they now have to be certified and have college credits-if not, then districts appoint teachers as teaching assistants which, of course means higher pay which means higher union dues paid.(compare my $10k a year for assistant vs teacher starting salary of $26k and percentile union dues and it's easy to see why they pushed for the change) Teachers get tenure; this means that they can not just be 'dismissed' or, as in my case, unrenewed, after they survive a set number of years in the system(in this district, that's 4 years. Guess which year my contract wasn't renewed-in the 4th year, the BoE pays full medical/dental/life coverage in addition to giving tenure). As long as we have such a strong union making the rules, we will continue to have teachers that are 'gliding to retirement'. It's one more serious 'glitch' in our educational process that needs to be addressed. Boards of education cowtow to the strongholds of the NEA's. Do I think teachers should make more? Yes, there's something wrong with a society that places a higher value on a baseball player than a teacher. Do I believe in tenure? Hell, no. No other profession has this policy, union or not. Bad cop, out. Inept fireman, probationary and maybe out. Bad nurse, gone. Bad teacher-hang on until retirement, barring criminal conviction. __________________ Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.