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CAT Tracks for January 22, 2011
HOLIER THAN THOU |
...or at least (in your mind) a helluva better teacher than me, deserving of a few dollars more than me.
In yesterday's CAT Tracks, I issued an appeal...to the hearts and minds of "New Teachers.
It is sadly true that same appeal applies to many "Old Teachers"...teachers who maybe were bystanders in the fight for legal protection conducted on their behalf by the unions...
Maybe these "old teachers" were immersed in teaching..."the children". Maybe it was because of their upbringing...growing up in an anti-union household. Maybe it was a true crisis of conscience...a revulsion toward any union activity because of positions taken by the parent national education association (NEA or AFT) or their affiliated state organizations...abortion being one of many. Maybe it was because of their own personal focus on "job security"...that the local administration had clearly shown that it was out to "get" actively involved union members...personal fear caused them to "duck and cover".
Hell, maybe it was just because they really did think that they were better than Joe Blow next door or Jane Doe across the hall...and should be paid more for their superior efforts.
At the end of the day...at the end of a career, it matters not.
What often matters (despite whatever excuse given) is, well, only the MONEY!!! The golden opportunity to make, well...a little more gold.
ATTENTION:
New Teachers and Old...
Pardon a flashback to my fairy tale youth...
...maybe Michelle Rhee and her education reform minions should adopt this slogan for their movement:
Unlike Aladdin, Michelle doesn't have a magic carpet, but...her broom comes pretty damn close!
Uh, sorry 'bout that...
...my catty urges just simply burst forth when I least expect it...demanding to be satisfied. Guess it's kinda like that "curiosity" thing...even under the threat of death? Ahhh...the satisfaction!
Where was I?
Oh, yeah...
ATTENTION:
New Teachers and Old...
As you contemplate giving back legal protections and benefits achieved over previous decades by union activists, entering into long-term, now-I'm-at-your-mercy labor agreements for the promise of higher salaries than those you look down upon...
...PLEASE...
...take a moment (and that's all it will take since it's a short little missive)...
...read the article below (that didn't even make the New York Times e-mail that I review for stories, probably because it was buried on page 32...at the bottom.)
Hmmm...
Something the article fails to mention...
Since the city is now "suspending" the carrot...is it graciously restoring the previous contractual rights and benefits that protected employees from the stick? (If you are thinking "Yes", I've got a new lamp I'd like to sell you...)
Bears repeating...
New Teachers and Old:
Ignore history at your own peril...
...getting back what you gave away (sold for 30 pieces of silver) will not happen overnight. It took decades to get those contractual rights and benefits in the first place...it will most likely take decades to get the back!
Those who ignore history, are doomed to repeat it.
Okay...
...that was the "bad news".
Where's the "good news"?
(Where is it written...that we must always pair the two?)
Okay, okay...you win!
The good news...
A generation of "New Teachers"...oblivious to the past...blissfully teaching "the children"...aloof from the sordid actions of their predecessors...holier than thou...
Thanks to your "give backs"...sacrificed for short-term gratification, you will now have an opportunity to "get your hands dirty".
"That's 'good news'?", you ask.
Why most certainly!
Take it from me...
"Ahhh...the war stories!!!"
Ooh, ooh, ooh...
Did I ever tell you about the strike of 1988...when Superintendent Armstrong commandeered a school bus and drove up and down the streets of Cairo, snatching kids off the street in a failed attempt to reach the 50% attendance required to count it an official day of school, failing miserably to break the strike. Turns out that the Superintendent had a slight "problem"...that some of those kids taken without their parents' knowledge or permission turned out to be students from St. Joseph's Catholic school...or students kept home that day by parents supportive of the striking teachers, sent to the store for a loaf of break, never to return!
Ooh, ooh, ooh...
Did I ever tell you about the time that one of the scabs (recruited for $100 a day when substitute pay was normally like $25 a day) was so nervous about crossing the early morning picket line that he gunned the engine, almost running down a couple of teachers as they were trying to open a hole for him to drive through?
Ooh, ooh, ooh...
Oh, holy moly, I almost forgot! Probably the best story of all was when...
From Education News...
NYC Suspends Teacher Bonuses Program
By The Associated Press
New York City's Education Department is suspending a pilot program that awarded annual bonuses to teachers based on student performance.
The city says the program will be suspended as soon as this year's bonuses are given out. It says the program could restart if a study due late this spring shows it had a positive effect in schools.
Teachers at 26 schools will get bonuses this year. That's down from 160 schools last year.
The agency says the city's tight budget was one of the factors in the decision to end the program.
New teachers for old...new teachers for old...new teachers for old!
