This is not meant to depress you. It is food for thought:
Well-Paid Teachers? I’m on Board by Christine Graslow explores
The Equity Project Charter School (TEP) which will open this September.
Moral of the story? Teachers should be paid for their real hours, not their fabled hours. And, it's possible. I would love to see this school's budget, simply to find out if these types of salaries are sustainable.
I'm concerned for colleagues who will become addicted to this level of pay and then find the school shuttering after a few years. Call it the wrought-iron handcuffs.*
Also, the cost of living in NYC is extremely high, the hours demanded are "greater," the length of the school year is longer, and teachers perform administrative functions (which we do anyway). When Dan is not too lazy, he will figure out the level of pay in terms of cost of living.
However, bear in mind: more hours = rather than sitting in your classroom grading papers until 5 pm, you are required to be there and are compensated for that. The days are long, but so are lawyers' days....doctor's days....see where we're headed? So, in order to make a professional wage, we may need to be willing to trade off the perceived flexibility of the teaching day (which is bogus and will be explored later), or at least the ability to occasionally get out of work to meet one's own children after school, run errands, hit the bank before it closes.
In essence, we may need to stop conceiving of teaching as The Mommy Job.
Or, we may need to demand more flexibility. That is in the next post.
***
A new paradigm has been born. I hope this school is an astonishing success. It needs to be in order for us to have a model of much higher teacher pay resulting in benefits to students.
So, it's not all bad news!!
* Couldn't think of an alternative to the "golden handcuffs" syndrome super rich lawyers complain about, which entails becoming so used to the money that it seems impossible to leave the job, no matter how odious, time-consuming or soul-draining. On 125 K a year in New York, the handcuffs wouldn't be golden, but...something not quite that good.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The Wild West
Teen Charged With Trying to Kill Teacher, Aide
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 26, 2009
Filed at 7:13 p.m. ET
SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) -- A 17-year-old boy accused of detonating two pipe bombs at a Northern California high school while armed with a chain saw, sword and explosives appeared in court Wednesday on charges of trying to murder two faculty members.
Alex Youshock, a former student at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, did not enter a plea to charges that included exploding or attempting to explode bombs in a school to terrorize others and possession of dangerous weapons -- the sword and chain saw. [NY Times, 8/26/09]
***
A sword???????
I wish I had been there. I wish I had been there to scream, "Who do you think you are, Highlander?"
I want to know what happens when this crap goes down. Is defending yourself against imminent death in your job description?
Have you ever seen your job description?
No, neither have I. But we all sign a quote-unquote "contract" every year. Where else in American do you sign a contract SIGHT UNSEEN?
We want to know how much we will be PAID if we have to blockade the door, throw ourselves in front of a bullet.
We're not joking. How many people have been reprimanded for not following the "code blue," or "lockdown," or "the sniper is nearby" procedures? And if we can be reprimanded, scolded, or made to feel as if we aren't doing our jobs, then we want:
1) hazard pay
2) real training, not the joke training we all get
3) an opt out
4) a lawyer to explain to us EXACTLY what we are quote-unquote required to do and NOT required to do
4) a guarantee that if we do put ourselves in harms way to save a student or students, our families will receive a FRIGGIN' LOT OF MONEY.
The question becomes 'are you willing to die for these people?' For little children, probably 100 percent of us would answer yes. But we have heard colleagues, quite reasonably say, "You know what--some of these overgrown thugs have treated us so horribly, in what space-time continuum am I going to die for them? "
And having your own children is a game changer. No, I'm not dying for some of the worst people I will ever meet and leave MY children without a parent. Guess what--I'm not dying for some of the BEST people I will ever meet and leave my child without a parent. We are not the police. Yes, teachers have children, too.
Dumb administrator moment: Our VP scolded us for not taking the most idiotic training seriously, with the admonition, "I have a child, and I'm scared to think some of you would be in loco parentis.
Well, you know what--we have children, too, and they way you have trained us 1) endangers all of us, including our own children, and 2) Who the H-LL do you think you are? You think we should die to save YOUR child? No. My child is coming home to see her Mommy tonight.
Get a grip on reality, America. We are not paid enough to do this. Maybe you need to hire Blackwater.
Just once--JUST ONCE, I wish that when a lockdown drill or what have you is announced, an entire faculty would sit down in the hall with signs that say, "We have no idea how to protect this building."
Peter says, "I work in a district where a guy off the street walked into the girl's locker room after hours and just sort of hung out. That could have been a tragedy."
***
It's very, very true--we don't deserve more money. We should stay after school, after having worked for EIGHT HOURS, and be the police, as well as tutor, coach, paint floats, Xerox, grade....
....for free.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 26, 2009
Filed at 7:13 p.m. ET
SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) -- A 17-year-old boy accused of detonating two pipe bombs at a Northern California high school while armed with a chain saw, sword and explosives appeared in court Wednesday on charges of trying to murder two faculty members.
Alex Youshock, a former student at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, did not enter a plea to charges that included exploding or attempting to explode bombs in a school to terrorize others and possession of dangerous weapons -- the sword and chain saw. [NY Times, 8/26/09]
***
A sword???????
I wish I had been there. I wish I had been there to scream, "Who do you think you are, Highlander?"
I want to know what happens when this crap goes down. Is defending yourself against imminent death in your job description?
Have you ever seen your job description?
No, neither have I. But we all sign a quote-unquote "contract" every year. Where else in American do you sign a contract SIGHT UNSEEN?
We want to know how much we will be PAID if we have to blockade the door, throw ourselves in front of a bullet.
We're not joking. How many people have been reprimanded for not following the "code blue," or "lockdown," or "the sniper is nearby" procedures? And if we can be reprimanded, scolded, or made to feel as if we aren't doing our jobs, then we want:
1) hazard pay
2) real training, not the joke training we all get
3) an opt out
4) a lawyer to explain to us EXACTLY what we are quote-unquote required to do and NOT required to do
4) a guarantee that if we do put ourselves in harms way to save a student or students, our families will receive a FRIGGIN' LOT OF MONEY.
The question becomes 'are you willing to die for these people?' For little children, probably 100 percent of us would answer yes. But we have heard colleagues, quite reasonably say, "You know what--some of these overgrown thugs have treated us so horribly, in what space-time continuum am I going to die for them? "
And having your own children is a game changer. No, I'm not dying for some of the worst people I will ever meet and leave MY children without a parent. Guess what--I'm not dying for some of the BEST people I will ever meet and leave my child without a parent. We are not the police. Yes, teachers have children, too.
Dumb administrator moment: Our VP scolded us for not taking the most idiotic training seriously, with the admonition, "I have a child, and I'm scared to think some of you would be in loco parentis.
Well, you know what--we have children, too, and they way you have trained us 1) endangers all of us, including our own children, and 2) Who the H-LL do you think you are? You think we should die to save YOUR child? No. My child is coming home to see her Mommy tonight.
Get a grip on reality, America. We are not paid enough to do this. Maybe you need to hire Blackwater.
Just once--JUST ONCE, I wish that when a lockdown drill or what have you is announced, an entire faculty would sit down in the hall with signs that say, "We have no idea how to protect this building."
Peter says, "I work in a district where a guy off the street walked into the girl's locker room after hours and just sort of hung out. That could have been a tragedy."
***
It's very, very true--we don't deserve more money. We should stay after school, after having worked for EIGHT HOURS, and be the police, as well as tutor, coach, paint floats, Xerox, grade....
....for free.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Learn Your Place!
While trolling for any and all reportage of teachers agitating for better working conditions and salaries, which we find entirely lacking and sparse, we found an article from last year concerning a planned/possible strike in Florida:
One anonymous commentator spewed: “....Looking closely at the facts here, it is reasonable to conclude that this strike is not really about Saucon Valley schools but about a broader strategy by the teacher unions -- namely, continuing to drive up comparative teacher salaries through formulaic pay scales and expecting taxpayers to pay for the escalating cost of health care.....”
I [Rachel] would like to reply: You are correct, sir! Teachers want to drive up comparative salaries--check--no, check-plus!! We want tax payers to pay for the escalating cost of health care--BINGO!! If we didn't know our anonymous commenter clearly despises teachers and regard them as "lessers"--we'd HIRE you as a guest blogger!!
Would anonymous commenter rather teachers go on strike to request that their salaries keep them mired in student loan debt, permanently ensconced in the lower middle class*, forever obligated to take 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th jobs to pay mortgages on house in the districts in which they teach?
To that we say, "G(o) T(o) H-E-Double Hockey sticks! We're not your worker bees.
Or...maybe we are, and just like the collapse of the honey bees, we should take our act on the road. Go to law school. Set up our own tutoring companies. Withdraw our labor. See how you like them apples....
*Yes--actually, you are in The Lower Middle Class. Oh, you don't think so? Well, you're wrong. We will elucidate you tomorrow.
One anonymous commentator spewed: “....Looking closely at the facts here, it is reasonable to conclude that this strike is not really about Saucon Valley schools but about a broader strategy by the teacher unions -- namely, continuing to drive up comparative teacher salaries through formulaic pay scales and expecting taxpayers to pay for the escalating cost of health care.....”
I [Rachel] would like to reply: You are correct, sir! Teachers want to drive up comparative salaries--check--no, check-plus!! We want tax payers to pay for the escalating cost of health care--BINGO!! If we didn't know our anonymous commenter clearly despises teachers and regard them as "lessers"--we'd HIRE you as a guest blogger!!
Would anonymous commenter rather teachers go on strike to request that their salaries keep them mired in student loan debt, permanently ensconced in the lower middle class*, forever obligated to take 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th jobs to pay mortgages on house in the districts in which they teach?
To that we say, "G(o) T(o) H-E-Double Hockey sticks! We're not your worker bees.
Or...maybe we are, and just like the collapse of the honey bees, we should take our act on the road. Go to law school. Set up our own tutoring companies. Withdraw our labor. See how you like them apples....
*Yes--actually, you are in The Lower Middle Class. Oh, you don't think so? Well, you're wrong. We will elucidate you tomorrow.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Private School Homies
Private school teachers negotiate their salaries.
Individually.
Some of them.
I have worked in such a place.
Very tony, very chi-chi school.
Huge endowment.
No, no--you don't get it--in the hundreds of millions.
Just a thought.
I'm not saying...but I'm just saying...
Look, I know the issue of being paid based on quote-unquote performance is thorny.
Give it some thought, check back in.
Individually.
Some of them.
I have worked in such a place.
Very tony, very chi-chi school.
Huge endowment.
No, no--you don't get it--in the hundreds of millions.
Just a thought.
I'm not saying...but I'm just saying...
Look, I know the issue of being paid based on quote-unquote performance is thorny.
Give it some thought, check back in.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Myth of Tenure
Our blog posts are often too long, and we live in the age of the sound-byte, so in brief:
We call this the myth of tenure:
If they want you gone, you’re gone.
***
Veteran teachers know:
If they like you, you can do anything you want--come late, never hand back papers, dress crazy, not bathe, and you're golden. You're untouchable.
It is so much like being back in high school--you know, the arbitrariness, the impossibility of figuring out how to "get liked"--
....you may not know what you did--perhaps you looked at someone funny, perhaps your sub plans were on the right side of your desk instead of the left side of your desk, perhaps you made friends with the "wrong" people....but once "they" have set their hats against you....you may as well put in for a transfer and get your resume in shape.
We speak not from a place of bitterness, but from witnessing others disappear. Haven't you noticed this? One day someone's there, the next they're gone? And we often assume that because it is "so hard to fire a teacher," that person must have done something morally reprehensible, unforgivable, a crime against nature. They deserved to go. Why else would the administration go to such trouble, given that it is so hard to get rid of a "bad" teacher!!!
And, of course, administrators, being paragons of virtue and entirely lacking in human emotion, never act out vendettas...[SARCASM ALERT!!! SARCASM ALERT!!!]
We call this the myth of tenure:
you ain't got tenure; you ain't got squat. [Technically, this teacher wasn't fired...we are researching what happened to her. However, harrassment, poor evaluations, and constant beratement is one of the tools employed to drive people out...]
***
We have found that frequently, when someone vanishes, the rumor mill actively reports that the person did something abominable; months later, we find out not only was the person exonerated, but is happily, successfully teaching elsewhere, or, living on a beach enjoying the interest on the hefty settlement and hush money they received...
***
When a colleague is "disappeared," we suggest that you find out what really happened before you pass judgement.
***More examples to follow, and ways to avoid being placed on the sh*t list. In the main, we aim to make this a forum for the real, secret knowledge all veteran teachers have, which is usually transmitted via oral tradition in faculty rooms, at bars, and psychically, through looks and expressions.
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