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Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Teachers' Vote Today
Today is the day the teachers are voting on the contract proposed by the fact-finder that the NASD Board approved last Monday.
If you have news on the outcome feel free to post it in the comments. If I hear anything I'll post it as well.
14 comments:
Anonymous
said...
you can go to mcall.com and see that the teachers have rejected the fact-finder's contract proposal by a vote of 290-4
Wow, I guess I am not terrible surprised...Interesting that a 3rd party sided with the school board. It make me think that the contract offered by the board was fair and that the teachers are being unrealistic!
why can't the teachers come into the real world a 4% raise is better than what alot of working people are getting and as far as your health care cost go.... how would you like it if your employer came to you and said we are no longer paying for health care if you want health care it will cost you $958 a month (another mortage payment) and that is for a group plan
I'm gonna play devil's advocate and suggest that perhaps the no vote wasn't about the raise... perhaps some of the verbage the fact finder offered was the concern, and the case may be that more time is needed to review? I would suggest that the anonymous who suggested teachers come into the real world should wait for the "facts" from the report before casting his/her opinion. It is a sad state of affairs when we paint the teachers who teach our children as greedy just because that's what our school board reports out.
I am not surprised to hear the vote went in the direction it did and cannot blame them. Educators are routinely blamed for our country's ills without receiving credit for it successes. We seem to live in a society that fails to respect the work of those who labor on the educational frontier. When success is measured by a paycheck teachers are on the lower pay scale. Those who want more would see a career as a teachers as settling for less. Teachers hold our country's future in their hands. They instill and inspire a love of learning. Many teachers hold 2nd jobs to make ends meet and support their families. I much rather see the $$$ go into educating our children then all the fancy buildings and luxuries this district thinks they need. Teachers play a vital role in our children education. If our nasd district cannot pay its chalkboard heroes the salaries and benefits that they deserve ...at least nasd can accord them the esteem and respect they merit and insist we do the same.
For the teachers and the "morality clause" all I have to say is welcome to the real world. Most large corporations have clauses around those lines with the ultimate goal of preventing sexual harassment.
This is yet another clue that teachers haven't a clue as to what the real working world is like.
If they did, they would take the districts offer and run with it as it is better than what rest of the working world is getting.
My guess is that the last two posts came from teachers as the contract/report itself has yet to be put out there for public consumption.
I also find it interesting that there has been a lot of discussion on this site, some of which I am sure has included teachers. I have seen many well thought out arguments as to why the districts offer is fair and why the teachers are not being reasonable.
I have yet to see anything of real substance come from the side of supporting the teachers other than "we should give them what they want because they are teachers".
So I throw the challenge out to the teachers that are posting hear, this is your opportunity to tell us why you rejected the report, and tell us exactly what you want.
Your union reps have done nothing but make your union look bad throughout this entire process. The district has openned the kimono and showed us everything while the union has said not a word as to their demands, only thrown stones at the district.
Yikes-if the board is opening their kimonos I suggest you shield your eyes-can't be pretty-or were you speaking proverbially?bad visuals on too much coffee--
We need a see thru vision to look into the board spending cost on recent and upcoming projects. Too bad the morale is down due to the on going lack of respect for the teachers by the admin. When you have that many teachers who voted against the fact finding, there are other issues here? Teachers teach not buildings or admin etc. Keep putting the money into everything that is a want and we are losing sight of the needs. Which is teachers teaching our children for their and our future.
I agree with Anon 8:17...The Union Rep. is hurting the teachers; I am speaking about Mr. Blunt! I cannot believe they still allow this man to speak in public for them. This man is such a poor representative for them. He is doing tremendous harm for the teachers’ position.
On a personal, one to one basis there are many good teachers, many people I know, and many people I went to school with and am friends with.
Collectively, though they have come across in a bad way - nothing is good enough, everyone is out to get them, and no-one they are dealing with plays by the rules.
This seems to come from the voice of this individual and it has not done them any good at least in public.
I was at the Teachers Support Meeting held on Oct 10 at St. Johns UCC. The teachers who were there in attendance were very reserved and careful whenever they were talking about the board. Not Mr. Blunt. He used some pretty venomous words and descriptions whenever he mentioned the board or members (however, never individually by name).
Specifically, I remember he said that there are several members of the board 'who are just bad'. He also used the term 'runaway board' several times.
For those posting that the teacher's are underpaid and that the contract offered is unfair -- what are your suggestions for fair teacher salaries? I would be curious to see what you would offer.
It is not uncommon for a starting salary for college graduates in other industries to be in the 50K-60K range. Depending upon how good you are and how often you jump companies, that base salary can easily increase to 100K within 5-10 years. Is this what we should be paying teachers? Does it matter that these other careers in the corporate world offer almost 0% job security, are year-round positions, requiring unpaid overtime as management deems necessary, no company pensions, and very high healthcare contributions?
Printed demographic reports for Nazareth show slightly less than 20% of our population is in the 6-figure income range. Should the teachers be raised to that point, just because others are? The teachers are working with our children and holding the future of our country in their hands.
How much are you really willing to pay? What is fair? For all who are saying 'unfair', I am curious as to what is 'fair'.
14 comments:
you can go to mcall.com and see that the teachers have rejected the fact-finder's contract proposal by a vote of 290-4
Wow, I guess I am not terrible surprised...Interesting that a 3rd party sided with the school board. It make me think that the contract offered by the board was fair and that the teachers are being unrealistic!
why can't the teachers come into the real world a 4% raise is better than what alot of working people are getting and as far as your health care cost go.... how would you like it if your employer came to you and said we are no longer paying for health care if you want health care it will cost you $958 a month (another mortage payment) and that is for a group plan
I'm gonna play devil's advocate and suggest that perhaps the no vote wasn't about the raise... perhaps some of the verbage the fact finder offered was the concern, and the case may be that more time is needed to review? I would suggest that the anonymous who suggested teachers come into the real world should wait for the "facts" from the report before casting his/her opinion. It is a sad state of affairs when we paint the teachers who teach our children as greedy just because that's what our school board reports out.
I am not surprised to hear the vote went in the direction it did and cannot blame them. Educators are routinely blamed for our country's ills without receiving credit for it successes. We seem to live in a society that fails to respect the work of those who labor on the educational frontier. When success is measured by a paycheck teachers are on the lower pay scale. Those who want more would see a career as a teachers as settling for less. Teachers hold our country's future in their hands. They instill and inspire a love of learning. Many teachers hold 2nd jobs to make ends meet and support their families. I much rather see the $$$ go into educating our children then all the fancy buildings and luxuries this district thinks they need. Teachers play a vital role in our children education. If our nasd district cannot pay its chalkboard heroes the salaries and benefits that
they deserve ...at least nasd can accord them the esteem and respect they merit and insist we do the same.
I think the teachers were opposed to the clause that was included stating they will not sleep with their colleagues.
The teachers would not accept the morality clause.
For the teachers and the "morality clause" all I have to say is welcome to the real world. Most large corporations have clauses around those lines with the ultimate goal of preventing sexual harassment.
This is yet another clue that teachers haven't a clue as to what the real working world is like.
If they did, they would take the districts offer and run with it as it is better than what rest of the working world is getting.
My guess is that the last two posts came from teachers as the contract/report itself has yet to be put out there for public consumption.
I also find it interesting that there has been a lot of discussion on this site, some of which I am sure has included teachers. I have seen many well thought out arguments as to why the districts offer is fair and why the teachers are not being reasonable.
I have yet to see anything of real substance come from the side of supporting the teachers other than "we should give them what they want because they are teachers".
So I throw the challenge out to the teachers that are posting hear, this is your opportunity to tell us why you rejected the report, and tell us exactly what you want.
Your union reps have done nothing but make your union look bad throughout this entire process. The district has openned the kimono and showed us everything while the union has said not a word as to their demands, only thrown stones at the district.
So, tell us what you really want.
Yikes-if the board is opening their kimonos I suggest you shield your eyes-can't be pretty-or were you speaking proverbially?bad visuals on too much coffee--
We need a see thru vision to look into the board spending cost on recent and upcoming projects. Too bad the morale is down due to the on going lack of respect for the teachers by the admin. When you have that many teachers who voted against the fact finding, there are other issues here? Teachers teach not buildings or admin etc. Keep putting the money into everything that is a want and we are losing sight of the needs. Which is teachers teaching our children for their and our future.
I agree with Anon 8:17...The Union Rep. is hurting the teachers; I am speaking about Mr. Blunt! I cannot believe they still allow this man to speak in public for them. This man is such a poor representative for them. He is doing tremendous harm for the teachers’ position.
Amen to 10:03!
On a personal, one to one basis there are many good teachers, many people I know, and many people I went to school with and am friends with.
Collectively, though they have come across in a bad way - nothing is good enough, everyone is out to get them, and no-one they are dealing with plays by the rules.
This seems to come from the voice of this individual and it has not done them any good at least in public.
I'll second Anon 10:03 and NOC.
I was at the Teachers Support Meeting held on Oct 10 at St. Johns UCC. The teachers who were there in attendance were very reserved and careful whenever they were talking about the board. Not Mr. Blunt. He used some pretty venomous words and descriptions whenever he mentioned the board or members (however, never individually by name).
Specifically, I remember he said that there are several members of the board 'who are just bad'. He also used the term 'runaway board' several times.
For those posting that the teacher's are underpaid and that the contract offered is unfair -- what are your suggestions for fair teacher salaries? I would be curious to see what you would offer.
It is not uncommon for a starting salary for college graduates in other industries to be in the 50K-60K range. Depending upon how good you are and how often you jump companies, that base salary can easily increase to 100K within 5-10 years. Is this what we should be paying teachers? Does it matter that these other careers in the corporate world offer almost 0% job security, are year-round positions, requiring unpaid overtime as management deems necessary, no company pensions, and very high healthcare contributions?
Printed demographic reports for Nazareth show slightly less than 20% of our population is in the 6-figure income range. Should the teachers be raised to that point, just because others are? The teachers are working with our children and holding the future of our country in their hands.
How much are you really willing to pay? What is fair? For all who are saying 'unfair', I am curious as to what is 'fair'.
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