Monday, November 23, 2009

Pending Teacher Strike

Conrad Weiser teachers are threatening a strike if they do not get a contract soon.  They have been working without a contract since July 1st and claim that the school board is not bargaining in good faith.  Can we really afford a pay raise for teachers?  I didn't get one.  My parents on social security didn't get one.  My son at UPS didn't get one.  I am sorry but as much as I appreciate the job teachers do, we simply cannot afford higher school taxes so that they can get a raise and health benefits.  It is not only seniors being school taxed out of their homes it is a good percent of lower and middle class people as well.  Teachers do need a contract but reasonable would be status quo.  If they strike it could mean no holiday breaks or a June 30th school year.  Not to mention the costs involved for the school to fight them.  If there was a good time to attend school board meetings, this is it.  With all of us struggling and having to find a way to cope why should teachers be any different?  We are all in this together and right now in these tough times it is not fair to ask for more from Conrad Weiser residents.  What do you think? 

10 comments:

  1. I agree with you Vickie. Who do all of these Union backed goons think they are? They make good money, have great health care benefits and work 9 months out of the year...have summer homes at the shore, etc. and they want more. I'd fire them all and take away their teaching licenses and make them find a normal blue collar job. Maybe than they'll stop bellyaching all of the time. Here's another thought...limit teachers to 10 year's of service. This would eliminate a lot of the tenure leverage the older ones have. This would keep costs down too.

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  2. They need a cap, Just like the autoworkers.
    they will break us. The school supplies less and less for our children each year.

    I was reading an article in the Our Robesonia about cyber schools. I think I will look into it if they strike.

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  3. Before we condemn teachers for wanting a raise, let's consider a few things. First, teachers work at least 12 hours a day between being at school, grading homework, and prepping for the following day. In many cases at Weiser, teachers have had to take on extra classes because positions haven't been replaced, forcing them to teach more sections (which means more work outside the school).

    Eliminating tenure would be the worst thing the school could do because higher qualified teachers would choose other schools before Weiser. The kids in our area need the best teachers, and the reality is bringing in good teachers is costly.

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  4. Gee, Pardon me if I am not sympathetic to the previous anonymous poster, but I work in a factory on 12 hour shifts, and every other weekend AND holidays if they fall on my shift. I have a second job I work on my days off. I got 2% raise last year, and this year is questionable if any. I've had to take on additional responsibilites when the company downsized a few years ago for no extra pay and still doing it. Yes, I have great beneifits but I pay towards it every paycheck. I'm sick of watching these teachers get it all while I'm busting my hump and getting nothing but higher taxes. They chose these professions and knew what was involved with the job. If these teachers don't like what the school has to offer, then please be my guest and go to another school.

    I will be looking at selling my home soon because I can't afford the mortgage AND the taxes anymore working 2 jobs. I'm pushing 50 and I'm getting tired of working 7 days a week just to hold onto what I have. Look around at all the properties going up for sale in this district. Why do you think that is? TAXES!

    Enough is enough! Weiser School Board, please stick to your guns like Saucon Valley School District!!

    http://www.wfmz.com/view/?id=1283095

    Don't back down or let these teachers and this union bully you into more of their ridiculous wants. Its time to stop holding the children hostage in an effort to extort more money from us, the taxpayers!

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  5. Im all for education, however in difficult times it is hard to anyone to get and or keep employment. We all need to understand that in this economy it is unreasonable to even consider a raise. As the salerys increase so do our taxes. Let's not condem the teachers as I am not defending them but to say that they only work 9 months a year eight hours a day is not true. Many teachers take money out of there own pockets to make there classrooms easier for the students, work nights, weekends and summers. That said they too must understand that raising salerys at this time is not an option. Amy Kolb

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  6. Teachers need to understand that they are a part of the overall enconony and shouldn't believe that somehow they are immune from what everyone else is going through. I'm not getting a raise next year and I don't have the option of going out on strike.

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  7. I really hate to throw a monkeywrench into this conversation (not really). Do any of you who are complaining about the teachers realize that there are 18, count them 18, superintendents (or directors) in Berks county that together earn more than 2.5 million dollars a year!?!?!?! This is public information from two school years ago, so I'm sure that this is more now. This is ONLY salary figures, and do not include the lucrative benefits that WE pay for! These are people that have virtually NO contact with students. We pay for their relocation, cell phones, laptops personal car usage, health care for them AND their families, and the list goes on! Why does one county need 18 of these? Oh, and this doesn't include the 8 plus people at BCIU each making 100k+ per year. As someone who works within the education system (no I'm not a teacher yet), I truly believe that most teachers are underpaid. Do I think that they could stand to contribute more to health insurance? Yes. I also believe that the tenure system could use some tweaking. After working with high school students for the last 8 years, I believe that anyone who thinks that teachers are overpaid should spend one quarter dealing with this "entitlement generation". You would surely change your mind. Please feel free to check out this link, it is two years old, but it will give you an idea of where our tax dollars are REALLY being wasted.
    http://php.app.com/PAteachers/search.php

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  8. Most teachers are NOT underpaid! New teachers start at $40,000 a year at Conrad Wesier. That's right out of college,no experience. That's not working all year,it's for working 188 days. High school teachers only work 6 hours a day and get 2 preperation periods. They only pay $39 a month toward health care for them and their family.Then, they can retire at age 55 and we have to guarentee their retirement.Most of the problems that teachers have in school today
    ( undisiplined kids ) are because they keep voting for liberal politicians. We can't paddle kids in school anymore so if parents don't disipline their kids they know they can get away with anything. My wife and my son both lost their jobs in the past year. My retirement acounts have taken big hits twice in the past 8 years and no one is going to make up for my losses. I say let them strike like they did in 98. It didn't last long because the community really turned against them. Call your school board members or go to the meeting and show your support.

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  9. I feel I must make a comment about all the negativity here. I know there are some teachers who do not deserve the high salary, but if anyone thinks that teachers only work 6 hours a day, they don't know any teachers. ALSO I know that the reading aides at CW must have a 4 year degree and TEACH reading and only make $10 an hour. Where is the justification of that? They also work more than 6 hours a day but somehow I don't understand how the school board can get away with paying them $10 an hour and some long-term subs get over $200 a day and aren't even qualified to teach that subject. Teachers work long hours and we have many wonderful teachers at CW but they must also realize these are hard economic times. I didn't get a raise this year either and I pay over $100 a month just for MY healthcare. My husband pays over $200 a month for himself and a child. I think the teachers should absolutely have to pay more for their healthcare.

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  10. The hate filled posts by so called educated community members here scares me to death! You all hate the teachers because you don't value what they do. I'd bet most of you have no idea what teachers do. If it's such an easy job, why didn't you all obtain the college degree and then enroll in master's programs and continue your education for the life time of your career? That way you could be in the elite group that robs everyone blind? If it's so easy stop complaining and enroll now! That way you'll have someone to replace those horrible teachers after they are fired in their mandatory ten year and out suggestion from "anonymous" above......offer your services for half a day at your local school. Volunteering can be very eye opening. Someone was talking about their 12 hour day in the blue collar field. Teachers work just as hard. You all want to portray teachers as greedy, money hungry, "union goons" (?) (wow!) ....anyway, the teachers aren't trying to become rich. They are trying to protect their families and keep their health care packages. I'm sorry some of you have lost your health care. Wouldn't you do whatever you could to protect the benefits you were originally given?

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