Chicago Teachers on Strike

Doc · Sep 11, 2012

Yep, they walked out leaving 400,000 kids up in the air as to where to go for the day. With working parents this puts an extreme strain on the families.

The strike is not about salaries. It is about more benefits for the teachers and the teachers complaining about testing and rating of teachers and how they do their jobs. A new system of checks and balances.

Now Paul Ryan has come out backing Rahm Emanuel saying the teachers are on a strike of choice. Both sides were very close and there was no need for them to walk out.

So you would think that the teachers kids would also be up in the air since public school was not in session. Wrong. Fox is reporting that 39% of the teachers send their kids to private school. 39%.

This tells us two things, that even the teachers do not feel the Chicago schools provide a quality education since they pay to send their kids to private school. Plus, that the teachers are making above average salary to be able to send their kids to private schools. Hmmmmmm.

Ryan sides with Emanuel on Chicago strike

Portland, Oregon (CNN) - Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP vice presidential candidate, sided with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday in the strike by unionized Chicago teachers and urged President Barack Obama to stand behind his former chief of staff.

"Rahm and I have not agreed on every issue or on a lot of issues, but Mayor Emanuel is right today in saying that this teachers' union strike is unnecessary and wrong," Mitt Romney's running mate said at a campaign fund-raiser in Portland, Oregon.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/10/ryan-sides-with-emanuel-on-chicago-strike/?hpt=hp_t1

Melensdad · Sep 11, 2012

Highest paid teachers in the nation with an average pay in excess of $74,000

3 months of vacation per year

Bomb-Proof job security for tenured teachers with automatic tenure attainmnet not based on job performance

Benefits including generous pension and cadillac health care pushing pay + benefits to over $90,000 year

Lowest performing metropolitan school district in the USA

Turned down a Merit Pay proposal as being unfair to rank & file teachers

Turned down a 16% pay raise spanning several years

SShepherd · Sep 11, 2012

don't forget..
I hear the average income for the area is around 40k/year
The average teachers pay is around 75k/year

I have a feeling this is another union strongarm move. Where's Jesse Jackson? Al Sharpton? This isn't all about the chirren ?

Melensdad · Sep 11, 2012

SShepherd said:
don't forget..
I hear the average income for the area is around 40k/year
The average teachers pay is around 75k/year

Yes, the average pay in the area is between $40 and $45K per year so the teachers are well paid compared to the average citizen in the city. But the teachers also get a benefits package that is far more generous than workers in the private sector as well as lay-off proof job security.

SShepherd · Sep 11, 2012

Melensdad said:
Yes, the average pay in the area is between $40 and $45K per year so the teachers are well paid compared to the average citizen in the city. But the teachers also get a benefits package that is far more generous than workers in the private sector as well as lay-off proof job security.

lol. we posted at the same time :doh:

mak2 · Sep 11, 2012

What is the average $40K education level?

What is the average teachers eduaction level?

I would not work there for $76k.

SShepherd · Sep 11, 2012

Melensdad said:
Yes, the average pay in the area is between $40 and $45K per year so the teachers are well paid compared to the average citizen in the city. But the teachers also get a benefits package that is far more generous than workers in the private sector as well as lay-off proof job security.

I can't wait until they want to quit paying teachers an professors, you know, like they want to to do the medical profession. :brows:

jimbo · Sep 11, 2012

mak2 said:
What is the average $40K education level?

What is the average teachers eduaction level?

I would not work there for $76k.

(1) The average teacher probably has a higher school learning level than the average ditch digger.

(2) Obviously not enough. The ditch digger generally gets the hole dug. The graduation rate in Chicago is less then half. Those that graduate get an education near the bottom of the national average.

(3) That is the great thing about the market system. You do not have to accept a job in Chicago and/or in teaching if it is not to your liking. Neither do the teachers in the system. Don't like the pay, benefits, or working conditions, don't renew your contract and go dig ditches in Detroit. There are many qualified individuals who will accept the job.

mak2 · Sep 11, 2012

Kinda my point, it probably takes about that much to get anyone to be a teacher in Chicago, then the good ones go somewhere else so the big city is left with not the best teachers. It would take the best teachers to make a difference in the innner city.

But yea, let them dig ditches, teaching is overrated anyway.

jimbo · Sep 11, 2012

mak2 said:
Kinda my point, it probably takes about that much to get anyone to be a teacher in Chicago, then the good ones go somewhere else so the big city is left with not the best teachers. It would take the best teachers to make a difference in the innner city.

But yea, let them dig ditches, teaching is overrated anyway.

Mak, paying teachers, or anyone else more or less does not necessarily equate to the quality of the job performed. That is the point of a union. Everybody is paid the same regardless of the job performance. There is no provision for firing the incompetent. I do not know whether the the teachers are out on strike after signing the contract, in which case they violated their contract, or refused to sign the contract, but either way the short answer for the school system is to replace them with new teachers willing to do the job for the pay provided. That, however, is impossible since the older teachers have tenure, which means that they can do whatever they want to without fear of the consequences.

FrancSevin · Sep 11, 2012

And Now, A Word From Charles
“The teachers average $76,000 a year in the salary. That is the highest of any big city in the country. The average person who pays taxes in Chicago, their average salary is $47,000. Teachers are making 50 percent more than those supporting them, on average.
They have been offered a 16 percent hike in wages at a time of high unemployment, desperation. And they turn it down. Why? They don't want tampering with the health benefits, and they don't want any system of the teacher evaluation so you can get some idea of who is not a good teacher.”
-- Charles Krauthammer .”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...angers-intensity-gap-for-obama/#ixzz26B4yHn44

Kane · Sep 11, 2012

Can't wait to see how Obummer plays this one.

Danang Sailor · Sep 11, 2012

Testing of teachers seems to be the major sticking point. The NEA has been opposed to this since it first came up; they do
not want their members to be tested for competency. From my experiences dealing with some of these "educators" while my
boys were in school, this is understandable: a great many of their dues paying members would be out of work and unable
to pay dues if they were made to show an understanding of the subjects they are trying to teach. The NEA has a vested
financial interest in keeping these people employed, whether or not they can do the job.

I remember "teachers" of English who did not know the difference in "to, two, and too"; "teachers" of History who
had no idea when the treaty of Ghent was signed, or what its significance was, if any. These folks are tenured and cannot
be fired because of the NEA; Chicago is simply trying to find out which ones need to be moved, replaced at end-of-
contract, or have some type of sanctions applied.

FrancSevin · Sep 11, 2012

In New York City, they take incompetent but tenured teachers and put them in a room of their own. They get paid to play cards or just sleep but at least they aren't endangering the kids there.

http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-n...m-where-suspended-teachers-await-due-process/

tiredretired · Sep 11, 2012

Kane said:
Can't wait to see how Obummer plays this one.

Didn't he make that clear in 07 when as a US Senator, he was campainging for the Presidency (when isn't he ) and said that he would walk a picket line any time and any place to support a union. Too warm he asked? Wear a hat. Too cold he again mused? Wear a jacket. Go home, get a comfortable pair of shoes and go walk the line.

That is where he stands. Too hell with the taxpayers who are living paycheck to paycheck to pay their taxes and put food on the table. The overpaid teachers sucking off the taxpayer's teat is where his sentiments lie.

Like the teacher's union he so much loves, he wants not accountability or or job evaluations to gauge performance. It is always someone else's fault.

Kane · Sep 11, 2012

TiredRetired said:
Didn't he make that clear in 07 when as a US Senator, he was campainging for the Presidency (when isn't he ) and said that he would walk a picket line any time and any place to support a union. Too warm he asked? Wear a hat. Too cold he again mused? Wear a jacket. Go home, get a comfortable pair of shoes and go walk the line.

That is where he stands. Too hell with the taxpayers who are living paycheck to paycheck to pay their taxes and put food on the table. The overpaid teachers sucking off the taxpayer's teat is where his sentiments lie.

Like the teacher's union he so much loves, he wants not accountability or or job evaluations to gauge performance. It is always someone else's fault.

Surely Rahm "never let a good crisis go to waste" Emanuel would not have let this happen without an end game for his First Buddy, Barack Hussien. Just can't imagine how repulsive the play by Obama will be, but guaranteed he will make good politics out of it.

Doc · Sep 11, 2012

Kane said:
Surely Rahm "never let a good crisis go to waste" Emanuel would not have let this happen without an end game for his First Buddy, Barack Hussien. Just can't imagine how repulsive the play by Obama will be, but guaranteed he will make good politics out of it.

I had not considered the Obama angle but you very well might be right. Rahm can set em up for O and he can come in and save the day. Or, are we giving the to much credit are they smart enough to try to pull something like that? Even if they are not smart enough or lets say they didn't set it up still they sure could do their best to take advantage of the situation.

BigAl · Sep 11, 2012

Fire every last one of the SOB's . Chicago is a cess pool of Racist blacks just looking for a hand out from their great savior .

I would like to give them a hand ...... Right up side the head :clap:

. It would not do any good as not one of the dumb asses has a lick of sense in his head to begin with .

Yes folks , Some cultures just are not that smart .We see it everyday in these folks .

Melensdad · Sep 11, 2012

BigAl said:
Fire every last one of the SOB's

I love the photos of the teachers wearing their Che T-Shirts and even black Anarchy shirts.

jimbo · Sep 11, 2012

I'm not too sure that this is a favorable play for either Emanuel or Barry. Possibly Emanuel got himself between a rock and a hard place with no way out. The city has no money, and the union is pushing for even more compensation. The original sticking point a few months ago had to do with Emanuel wanting the teachers to work an hour and a half longer. I don't remember the details, but the problems grew from there.

I don't see a favorable outcome possible for Barry in this battle. Perhaps staying out of it, which he appears to be doing, is the best choice. If he steps in and bails out the teachers union, it will be considered another bailout, not exactly what is needed at this time. If he does nothing, he will look bad in the eyes of the unions. Again, not a favorable outcome.

mak2 · Sep 11, 2012

The union members wont vote for romney if hell freezes over. I look for Obama to stand by. He is in the lead, no need to take chances.

Melensdad · Sep 11, 2012

jimbo said:
I'm not too sure that this is a favorable play for either Emanuel or Barry. Possibly Emanuel got himself between a rock and a hard place with no way out. The city has no money, and the union is pushing for even more compensation. The original sticking point a few months ago had to do with Emanuel wanting the teachers to work an hour and a half longer. I don't remember the details, but the problems grew from there.

I don't see a favorable outcome possible for Barry in this battle. Perhaps staying out of it, which he appears to be doing, is the best choice. If he steps in and bails out the teachers union, it will be considered another bailout, not exactly what is needed at this time. If he does nothing, he will look bad in the eyes of the unions. Again, not a favorable outcome.

While I agree with Mak that the teachers will continue to support Obama, I think that misses the real possible downside for Obama.

This is not playing very well on the talk shows and with the parents.

The facts about how bad of an education the students in Chicago get are coming out and its hard to deny/defend. The president of the teachers union today was shouting on a bullhorn that property taxes need to be raised for more pay, air conditioning, etc. This from a union that supports the worst education system in the country and who's members send their kids to Catholic schools.

Obama will get the teachers votes, but the other taxpayers may begin to jump ship.

FrancSevin · Sep 11, 2012

jimbo said:
I'm not too sure that this is a favorable play for either Emanuel or Barry. Possibly Emanuel got himself between a rock and a hard place with no way out. The city has no money, and the union is pushing for even more compensation. The original sticking point a few months ago had to do with Emanuel wanting the teachers to work an hour and a half longer. I don't remember the details, but the problems grew from there.

I don't see a favorable outcome possible for Barry in this battle. Perhaps staying out of it, which he appears to be doing, is the best choice. If he steps in and bails out the teachers union, it will be considered another bailout, not exactly what is needed at this time. If he does nothing, he will look bad in the eyes of the unions. Again, not a favorable outcome.

That is a good point Jimbo. It would seem, and is of no surprise, that the unions would come to odds with the Government despite it being in friendly hands. Unlike the union battle with GM or even the one in Wisconsin, there is a moment when the load crosses the fulcrum, there is no money for the dream and all collapses. Critical mass acheived when Raum must at least appear to balance the budget.

The election is in two months. This is not the time for Barry to send troops or cash to fix it. Or is it?

I suggest we keep an eye on other major cities and their teachers unions. Anybody notice the proliferation of black and red uniforms? Seems awfully well organized to me. Hmmmm

Chicago Teachers on Strike

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