Unions and Teachers

Well, since I wrote about unions and our economy, I have been doing a little more research and listening to some people and what they understand about the topic.  To put it simply, it is a very complicated topic since teachers in every state get paid at different rates, contributes to health benefits and pensions at different rates, and union strength and representation even varies.  Now before I jump headfirst into this topic and expound on my views a little bit, I will a share a little quote with you which was shared by a friend yesterday.

"Physical man gets into an uncomfortable place when he concludes, "I and those like me have come to the right decisions, and everybody that's living outside of these right decisions is wrong." And then he spends his life pushing against all those "wrong" decisions and cutting himself off from the Life Force that would help him have joy in his, what he concludes to be, right decisions. There is no one right path. There are endless paths, and the differences in the paths are what make them more and more, and more, perfect. The same old path no longer serves."                  --- Abraham

This quote should serve as a model for any conversation that is being had between governments on any level and their opposing group (lets call them unions this time, next time I am sure it will be different.)  And it should definitely not just hold true for higher level discussions, but those that are being had between individuals.  Most times, people are extremely stubborn when it comes to their own views, keeping their proverbial blinders on to everything else around them that could offer enlightenment.  So lets all keep this in mind moving forward. 

On to teachers.  Teachers are being slammed in the news and by protesters as having cushy jobs, summers off, and shorter days.  Let me be the first to say that having a wife who is a teacher, a teacher's day does not end at 3:00, at least not the day of a good teacher.  There are those that put in the minimum amount of work as in every job.  However, those teachers who make an impact on students spend many hours at home drawing up lesson plans, grading papers and projects, and assisting in extracurricular activites with students.  This includes summers, the good teachers take extra courses over the summer to learn more and continually assess how they can change what happens in their classroom to make a bigger impact on students.  Lets move on.  I am going to preface my following comments by saying that I am not singling out any one state here.  I believe that there should be national standards for teachers, especially when it comes to contributions to health benefits and pensions.   Contributions vary greatly state to state.  For instance in New Jersey, teachers currently contribute nothing to their health benefits and pensions.  Contrarily, in Connecticut, they currently contribute 6%.  This is a big difference, yet even CT falls short of corporate pension funds (if there are any left) that require a worker to contribute 11-12%.  (The preceding link was in reference to Illinois, but we can apply that nationwide).  Teachers in NJ are vehemently fighting a proposal for them to contribute 1.5%, a ridiculously low contribution.   If all pension funds required more investment from the people drawing on them later in life, there might actually be some money there to be had.  Having such a low contribution rate inevitably puts the burden on taxpayers and thus government to make up the difference in the end.  It all goes back to fiscal responsibility which I have discussed before and will not delve into again right now.   Now if more is to be expected in terms of contributions to health benefits and pensions, then the pay of teachers should not be affected.  Should salaries be frozen due to current economic circumstances, yes, and in many cases they are already, but they should not be lowered.  For starters, take a look at superintendents who normally make ridiculoulsy more than teachers.  What is their overall role compared to teachers?  After all, they do not directly influence a child's life, they deal with the board of education, decide when to close schools for snow, issue press releases, is there anything else?  How does this warrant making 200K a year?  Lets also look to union leaders who draw money from teacher's salaries and often times can't stand up for teacher's rights in front of the board of education.  Lets take a look at the excesses and start cutting those back before looking to the teachers (outside of pensions and such).  

There was an article in the NYTimes yesterday about teachers.  One of the questions raised was if the teaching profession could still attract high quality teachers with all that is going on.   Many states are fighting to have tenure removed as a means of ensuring teachers jobs.  By eliminating tenure, I feel that you could attract more high quality teachers.  Currently, unless a teacher is grossly negligent in her daily duties or assaults a child in some way, it is very hard to get rid of teachers.  There are some who have been there way to long and even some who shouldn't be teaching period that are kept on board because of this archaic concept.   By eliminating tenure and instituting merit based pay, you can weed out the ineffective teachers and hire new, better qualified candidates.  Tenure in and of itself is a highly contested issue, especially by those it would affect; i.e. those who put in the minimum amount of time and whose overall effect on students is questionable.   Merit based pay is another contentious issue.  It seems to be most contentious because people feel that in order to gauge how a teacher is doing, one has to look at standardized test scores.  These are ineffective measures of how a teacher is actually doing.  Every student varies in their learning ability and despite the most concerted effort of some teachers, some students can or will not grasp a concept.  Rather, the burden should be put on the administration, not just one, but multiple individuals, to assess the teachers based on classroom activity over a year.  Tied into this, administrators should not notify the teachers that they are coming, but rather drop in randomly to see how things are going.  Currently, administrators mostly notify the teachers when they will be coming and the teachers pull out their most interactive lessons and prep the students to be on their best behaviour encouraging more participation that they might otherwise exhibit.   In addition to more observation by the administration, perhaps there should be an exam every five years to make sure teachers are up to the task of remaining teachers.  (This one might be tougher, but it could be an alternative at some point.)   So I guess it boils down to the fact that there needs to be a way to remove ineffective teachers and bring in those that would actually put in the effort to make sure that students are learning. 

So how to sum it up.  Well, teachers should maintain their current pay and contribute more to pension and health benefits.  Also, ineffective teachers should be able to be removed allowing new, vibrant, worthy teachers to be brought in.  Start at the top and cut the excess before moving the target to the teachers.  Yes, this is a shift in my views, but you know what, I am open to new ideas and ways of doing things.  Perhaps more people should take off their blinders and look at the whole picture and consider all options before digging in their heels and saying "I will not change my point of view!"  If no one can put their ego aside and openly discuss our current situation, then our system will be in a deadlock and inevitably it will be the students who suffer.  We were all students at some point.  Lets not ridicule teachers, lets instead praise the good ones for the job they do and fire the ones who don't, the same as in any other job.  Till next time, keep your mind open, do a little research, and lets all arrive at a consensus together whether it be about teachers of anything in life.  Smile, life is good.