"SB 1040 isn't fair." Not if you wanna retire at 47, it isn't.

We're talking teachers and teachers' unions. But this time, not in Wisconsin - but Michigan.

So the state of Michigan wants to renegotiate health benefits for teachers. What's new? From the article, "The proposed legislation continues the 3 percent employee contribution to retiree health care and further increases out-of-pocket contributions to a total of 8 to 11 percent of salary. And current employees would have to be 60 years old before they could receive any health care benefits. Retirees would see an increase in their health care premiums."

But it gets better. The Michigan Education Association (the union), offers testimony by a number of teachers on this senate bill, but leads with Terri List. Ms. List had planned - (now pay attenton to this) - to retire in three years at the age of.....(ready?)....47. Under SB 1040, she wouldn't qualify for health benefits until aged 60.

“I understand we have to tighten our belts, but we don’t have to use a tourniquet and cut off the blood supply entirely.” - Ms. List

Ms. List is 44. She wants to retire at 47. And the teachers' union in Michigan is making her a martyr.

It probably would've been a smarter move to leave Ms. List's comment about retiring at 47 out of the article, no? And the unions wonder why they're not liked by many. More on Ms. List...if you can stomach her. (There's a teacher pictured in this article but she's not identified as Ms. List so I didn't put her picture up. So I posted Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" instead. Smile!)

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Ex-ass. Sec. of Edu. says teachers' union not the problem & merit pay is bad.

There was a time when Former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch thought No Child Left Behind, school vouchers and charter schools were good for the American education system.

Not any more. Ravitch states during an interview on NPR's Fresh Air:

I came to the conclusion ... that No Child Left Behind has turned into a timetable for the destruction of American public education...I had never imagined that the test would someday be turned into a blunt instrument to close schools — or to say whether teachers are good teachers or not — because I always knew children's test scores are far more complicated than the way they're being received today.

I don't know enough about No Child Left Behind to comment on whether it's good or bad. But two points Ravitch made I clearly find puzzling.

1) Teachers' unions are "not the problem". Tell that to the New York State teachers' union. Millions wasted on "rubber room" teachers getting full pay and benefits for sitting in a room doing nothing. I'm not saying teachers' unions don't have their place - just that they're not perfect. Oh - and tell that to one of Wisconsin's "best new teachers"...who was laid off because of union collective bargaining rules.

2) "Merit pay is bad". Why? Because it's gives teachers' added incentives to "teach"? I'm not advocating that a teacher's entire salary be based on merit; however, even President Obama was an advocate for merit-based pay back in 2007 and in 2009, when he gave a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce:

Good teachers will be rewarded with more money for improved student achievement, and asked to accept more responsibili-ties for lifting up their schools.

I'm unaware if Obama's stance has changed. Regardless, you can find just as many articles and studies that laud merit-based pay as those that decry it, so don't quote me facts either way. Use common sense. How many times have you heard sports' fans bitch about overpaid athletes and how athletes should get paid based on their performance? Why can't teachers have a similar pay incentive?

It might just help weed out those who are consciously trying to make a difference in a child's education from those who are just biding their time until they retire. And which teacher do you want instructing your child?

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What's wrong with these protest signs?

Just a few protest signs in Madison as various union folk gather to voice their disgust with Wisconsin Governor Walker's budget initiatives, which include severely limiting collective bargaining rights. The first two signs, I'm assuming, are being held by teachers.

On the surface, what kid wouldn't want to be taught by this lady? She exudes warmth, caring, kindness. But who cares what your working conditions are, ma'am...you're not in class teaching the children so your sign is a mute point. Go back to school.

No one's son is in your class. You're not teaching him. You're not protecting him. And you're not inspiring him...because you're not in class today. (Unless you're trying to inspire children to be irresponsible - well, then fine. You are inspiring children.)

Then you've got this dude. I hope he's not a teacher. I won't even comment.

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Obama's merit program has no merit with teacher's union. Duhhhh.

No shit. Saw this on the front page of today's Los Angeles Times. The teacher's union is nothing but a mafia-esque group of pigs who do nothing but keep tenured, ineffective teachers in classrooms while laying off thousands of young teachers who might possibly perform their teaching tasks more effectively. Teachers getting paid on "merit"?? Egad! Guess it's too much to ask that the teachers of "America's future" conduct themselves in anything less than a "meritorious" manner when it concerns their students.

Take, for instance, New York. You wanna talk about a fucked up school system? New York keeps "ineffective" and "questionable" teachers who are in the midst of disciplinary actions sequestered in hidden "rubber rooms"...collecting full paychecks while doing nothing. NOTHING. And no one seems to want to discuss and address this issue. More on "rubber rooms" in a later post.

The Los Angeles school board recently voted to send notices of impending layoffs to more than 8,800 teachers and other employees, adding to the 20,000 teacher pink slips already issued. Incidentally, according to a November 19, 2008 USA Today article, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranked the United States 18th among 36 nations in secondary education, South Korea ranked 1st, with 93% of high school students graduate on time compared with the 75% in the U.S. And it's a downward trend for us.

Perhaps the teacher's union should find its own "rubber room" to hide in, eh?

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