Loading ...THE REST OF THE STORY
If you read yesterday’s post, I provided you with some details about why the Indiana State Teacher’s Union is not a big fan of the property tax reform plan that came out of the Legislature. Well, today I have another one for you.
ISTA was critical of the State picking up the final 15 percent of the operation costs in order to provide homeowners with property tax relief. In an e-mail to its members the organization said the state picking up the tab would leave no local source of funding for those costs.
What this is really about is contract negotiations. Think about this. A few years from now a school district and its local teachers’ union will sit down to negotiate a contract. Things will go south and probably hit a major impasse. The union will demand more money and the district will say they don’t have it, the State does so go negotiate with them. That local will have to go to the state and right after one does it another will follow and then another and then another.
Eventually this could lead to statewide negotiations between the State and ISTA. And I would argue it would be much more difficult for a teacher’s union to hold the entire state hostage over contract negotiations than a local school district.
Now you know the rest of the story.
March 18th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Those who can, do. Those who can’t,teach. Those who can’t teach run the teachers’ union.
March 18th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Witty, but untrue.
Those who can’t teach, administrate.
March 18th, 2008 at 8:27 am
To my understanding (please correct if I’m wrong), the largest expense in public education is salary & benefits for teachers/administrators/school boards. I urge having a comparative study of headcount and salary/benefits. The Indy paper did a similar comparative study months ago for township school superintendents. From first-hand experience, home-schooling and video/online teaching aren’t always wonderful compared to having a good, reasonably compensated live teacher. But, taxpayers are cornered into considering alternatives if we’re not provided comparative data to substantiate where to spend tax dollars. If I can get info on which plumber to call or which new car to buy, this doesn’t sound incredibly unreasonable. We may be getting a heck of deal. We may be getting beat-up. We don’t know.
March 18th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I suppose one could start up some kind of Angie’s List® for teachers, but it would likely prove to be more of a complaint forum (reactive), than informative (proactive).
There would have to be some serious consideration of standards and measurement criteria, else the whole house of cards might collapse under an avalanche of libel suits.
Plus, the organization would likely be reviled by all levels of the educational order. A strong commitment would be required to withstand the firestorm that I foresee.
Then, there would be the issue of a funding mechanism. How would such an organization be funded? How can funding be separated from political agendas?
Interesting concept, but very difficult to get off the ground.
Still, if it worked, then the same philosophy could be applied to other segments of the public sector as well. That would be amusing.
March 18th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Grading teachers got Ms. Clinton in trouble big time in Arkansas as the then First Lady of the State. Teachers are as a collective group worse almost than the Storm Troopers of Nazi Germany. Kind of like the fanatical Republican Right that wants to burn every book but the Bible and impose their idea of morality on everyone in their little Brown Shirts. Swastikas galore in both groups.
March 18th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Not trying to weigh the merits of individual teachers. Trying to compare what’s spent in headcount and salaries/benefits for teachers/administrators/school boards to publicly educate kids across different locales, ideally, per kid. My guess is my township comes out in the middle of the pack like we did in the prior comparison of school superintendents. But, we don’t know, do we?
March 18th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Maybe Abdul should consider promoting the national “Ten Worst Teachers” contest. I’ve heard radio hosts in other markets talking about it over the last couple of weeks, but not in Indiana. Winning teachers get $10K each.
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http://www.teachersunionexposed.com/worst_nominate.cfm
March 18th, 2008 at 11:17 am
$10K to give up the best job they’ll ever not perform for? Not enough incentive.
March 18th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Sorry Charlie, you are many decades behind the times. Pl 217, I think, is the orginal contract with the teacher’s union. Its short and is the best work the Republicans were capable of.
March 18th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Variangaurd,
That was my first thought too. It was also the first comment by both radio hosts who I heard interviewing the guy whose running the contest. But it generated a hell of a lot of discussion and a lot of callers to the shows - especially in Cincinnati.
On the other hand, despite the low $$$ amount, the contest is generating national interest regarding the corrupt affairs of teachers unions. That’s the important message.
March 18th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
There’s enough culpability to go around. Ill-trained, agenda-driven school boards; misguided, under-qualified administrators; the universities who churn these graduates out; state legislatures who play political football with our childrens’ futures. Teachers’ unions are not the root cause here. They simply thrive in the environment provided.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
If we run public schools like private schools , meaning, each school is it’s own entity and is accountable to the parents, then I think all of the bad teachers and administrators would be naturally weeded out in the spirit of competition.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Ask that sincere union of souls, the ISTA, et al, if they will peg their retirement dollars (401K’s, etc.), to investments that parallel the performance of our public schools (sub 50% grad. rates, etc.)… since it’s all about “the kids.”
March 18th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Jon G. Don’t hold your breath on that one.
Dave. Ask Washington. “No child left behind”. What a canard. It’s more like “More children left behind, but we look good making this doofus policy”.
Unless you wish to be tied directly to policies promulagated by executives or legislatures, don’t tie teachers to the ISTA willy-nilly in the same abstract way.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
There’s no way to prove it to you, but this WILL have a detrimental effect on cities.
Why? Cuz cities plow snow, build sidewalks, fill potholes, and catch bad guys. People are fickle - they say they want cuts, but then scream when you cut stuff THEY want.
I can’t wait to say I told you so.
March 18th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
The problem isn’t the teachers — except for the ones who allow themselves to be hoodwinked by the scare tactics sent out by organizations like ISTA. The problem is the administrators who rake in huge salaries, do absolutely NOTHING to further real education, and wouldn’t dream of cutting their own perks and palaces but would instead eliminate the people doing the hard work. Truly dedicated teachers, and there are still a lot of them, have their hands tied in every direction. They are not allowed to maintain discipline in their classrooms, parents fight them if they attempt to teach children respect for others, and the final indignity is the administration that cuts them off at the knees instead of backing them up. Remember the Perry Meridian teacher who tried to get her students interested in writing (what a revolutionary pursuit — must be suspicious) using a book that was so successful a movie was made about it? She was fired. THAT’s how the administration supports teachers. Throw the ivory-palace occupants OUT and let the teachers teach — they’ll be able to do it with a lot less money than the admins are using now, and the money will actually go for education, not sports stadiums.
March 18th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I like the idea of public schools run like private schools. Then they don’t have to take all the special needs kids. Students who don’t cut the mustard academically are just sent away.
Of course that won’t work. Someone will have to work and try to teach our poorest students.
March 18th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
My kids go/went to Cathedral and they have students from all socioeconomic backgrounds and educational levels.