Again, what is the magic number? Why does 5 percent or $2500 make them stay when they will still be able to make thousands more elsewhere? Why are our best being paid like our worst and vice versa?
WV teacher strke
- Thread starter tjebarr
- Start date
Again, what is the magic number? Why does 5 percent or $2500 make them stay when they will still be able to make thousands more elsewhere? Why are our best being paid like our worst and vice versa?
Keenan, I've not disparaged any teacher during this. Their jobs are incredibly difficult if they actually care. It's not too bad for the ones who are just getting time in. They don't get paid enough and the entire system is an abject failure. Its failed the teachers, parents and kids alike.
It's unfortunate that this has happened. Some of the best people in this state are teachers, but they made the worst possible choice in my book. Regardless, I wish nothing, but the best for my fellow Mountaineers.
This is where I am on it. I've gone from them doing what they need to do with little disruption to the rest of us - in order to send a message that a raise is long over due - to now being ungrateful to the tax payers for the offer on the table.
It will nice tomorrow though, driving to work, as there is significantly less traffic when school is out.
There was a thread earlier today about Daryl’s House. That’s Daryl Hall from Hall & Oats. He did an episode with Sammy Hagar. During the part of the show where they talked about their careers they mentioned Daryl Hall was the first choice to replace Diamond Dave. He turned it down and they got Sammy Hagar. Daryl Hall has a great voice, but I have a hard time seeing him as the front man for VH.
Btw... I’m for the teachers on this one. They have a hard job and an important job. The things they have to tolerate in the classroom nowadays are just crazy. It’s nothing like it was 40 years ago when I was in high school. When I was in 6th grade I recall boys bringing their shotguns to school because they were going squirrel hunting after school. It was okay so long as they kept them in their case. My Dad was a school principal at a different elementary school. He had the Conservation Officer come in and teach gun safety to all sixth graders. They would even shoot 22’s behind the school as part of the class. If I got in trouble at school I would get my butt beat when I got home. Same went for most of the kids I knew. Now the parents blame the teachers half of the time. Kids can’t even have Advil in their possession. Times have changed. Society has changed. Kids and parents are different. Mutual respect, respect for authority, and accountability (parents and students) are things of the past. I feel for teachers. It’s a tough job and they deserve better pay.
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You're a weird guy. You also say we should be the coach if we criticize anything the coaches do.
Do you really feel the only way to have an opinion is actually doing the occupation that you are discussing or do you just like to shut down any discussion because you have nothing of substance to add? I think it's the latter.
They didn't have a 4% raise before it started, that's a lie. They don't have a 4 % raise now, it wasn't passed in the house
OT but High school basketball is still going on? Maybe it's state to state but a lot of places your team can't play on a day when school is cancelled
Here is the sadder part..........who did they replace those 16 good teachers with?
I stood with my daughter out by Chic Filet because my daughter wanted to support the teachers but afterwards we had a long talk about how there is good and bad everywhere, in all walks of society.........I don't want her to think all teachers deserve the praise that most teachers do....I want her to be able to identify the better ones and work with me to make sure she gets in their classes.
There are crappy, don't give a **** teachers mixed in with the great teachers and thats indisputable. I wish there were a way we could attach some sort of merit based % instead of a blanket across the board. Give a blanket % and then set up a merit based performance type program to reach a higher %.
I can. If pay and benefits were better, you wouldn't have 7,000 teaching vacancies in the state. Average class size is a big indicator of how students perform, since smaller class sizes tend to afford students more personal time with teachers and assistants.
Making education worse won't make West Virginia as a state better. Nobody can dispute that fact.
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No they won't. Public opinion in the state is still overwhelmingly for the teachers. It's not as if people aren't noticing what Mitch Carmichael, Ryan Ferns & the like are doing.
Usually they don't play if there's no school unless the schools agree to it like during snow days. They've basically just agreed to play regardless of there being no school
Skipping from page 6 so this has probably already been addressed.
61 working days.
5 day weeks = 12 weeks total.
12 weeks = ~3 months.
12 - 3 = 9 months worked.
Even my WV public school math education can easily do this arethmatic.
It's not the pay. The pay raise Justice agreed to was, in part, a bait-and-switch to glaze over the real reason the teacher's started striking in the first place - their benefits (specifically healthcare) keeps receiving cuts. That's what they want fixed.
I was dreading this thread… I’m a teacher and a damn good teacher at that. I could only read a few pages before I wanted to cuss and call people names. I’m not going to do that because it won’t help. I have a masters degree and undergrad degree that is highly respected. I can not go to another state because I have family obligations. If you think our educational ranking is so low because all the teachers suck then I really can’t help you. I truly am sorry for the disruption this work stoppage has caused, it has disrupted my life. I feel physically ill because I’m not in the classroom preparing my students for college or the work force. I read multiple posts that “we should be happy with what we have because there are so many WVians struggling”. Well I think my level of education would say I should make more then the average person in this state. That is not me being egotistical or greedy, as we have been refered to many times. It’s only me being realistic, I would, like most of you want to be payed according to my level of education.
What is a good teacher, a bad teacher? Well I’m sure most people wouldn’t think I was a good teacher because of where I teach. Well if I transfer to a higher performing school and do the exact same thing am I a better teacher because of higher test scores?
I work hard as most of you all do. Why is there such venom when we are asking for a raise? Why do we have to go to such great lengths to get a raise? Yes health care costs are going up for everyone, the benefits were a deciding factor when deciding on going into the teaching field. Now those costs are going to outpace any raise we receive. If there is nothing done to our insurance costs, I will bring home less than 2000 a month. That is after teaching for 12 years and having a masters +30 hours. Can you imagine what a 1st year teacher with a BS degree is bringing home?
How does anyone have the right to call me greedy or tell me I suck? Most teachers work hard and want their students to succeed. I would take a bullet for your child. I really don’t understand why the hatred is there. For those with kind and supportive words thank you and those people are the ones that keep me going. Let’s go mountaineers!
Sincerely,
Robert Starks
Chemistry Teacher
Capital High School
(That’s so I’m not hiding behind a computer screen)
What is a good teacher, a bad teacher? Well I’m sure most people wouldn’t think I was a good teacher because of where I teach. Well if I transfer to a higher performing school and do the exact same thing am I a better teacher because of higher test scores?
I work hard as most of you all do. Why is there such venom when we are asking for a raise? Why do we have to go to such great lengths to get a raise? Yes health care costs are going up for everyone, the benefits were a deciding factor when deciding on going into the teaching field. Now those costs are going to outpace any raise we receive. If there is nothing done to our insurance costs, I will bring home less than 2000 a month. That is after teaching for 12 years and having a masters +30 hours. Can you imagine what a 1st year teacher with a BS degree is bringing home?
How does anyone have the right to call me greedy or tell me I suck? Most teachers work hard and want their students to succeed. I would take a bullet for your child. I really don’t understand why the hatred is there. For those with kind and supportive words thank you and those people are the ones that keep me going. Let’s go mountaineers!
Sincerely,
Robert Starks
Chemistry Teacher
Capital High School
(That’s so I’m not hiding behind a computer screen)
This thread is sickening. Full of so much inaccuracies. The Teachers, bus drivers, custodians, secretaries,cooks, maintenance workers, are all on strike. They met with governor Justice and developed a agreed plan to get everyone back to work. The deal was to create an immediate task force to fix PEIA, and give all school employees a 5% raise and all other state employees a 3% raise.
The unions told everyone the strike was over and let’s get back to work.
Mitch “fuckstick” Carmichael blabs his mouth about the governor is being frivolous and ridiculous and said the bill will not get passed, School employees decided they didn’t trust the deal would be followed through so they continued the work stoppage. Senate republicans proved them right with the political theatre yesterday. They decided to bring school employees down to 4% and raise everyone up to 4%. The attempt was a dirty political move as they are trying the pit everyone against school employees because now the union says, you broke the deal, so union are out indefinitely.
The senate republicans are scared of a coalition of 300,000 public employees...so they are trying the divide and conquer tactic.
For the record, with 4% pay raise, my total family income will increase by 1620.00 a year, and if PEIA is unfreezed my wife’s premium will go up 3600.00 a year. If you can do the marh, thank a teacher., if not, that is a $1980.00 a year pay cut. Teachers said screw that, and walked out.
If you are a public employee hug a teacher, because they have helped you get a raise and hopefully fix the bankrupted PEIA system.
I am an independent and believe both parties are full of crap, Holy ****, where is the Tylenol. Rant over.
Lets go mountaineers
The unions told everyone the strike was over and let’s get back to work.
Mitch “fuckstick” Carmichael blabs his mouth about the governor is being frivolous and ridiculous and said the bill will not get passed, School employees decided they didn’t trust the deal would be followed through so they continued the work stoppage. Senate republicans proved them right with the political theatre yesterday. They decided to bring school employees down to 4% and raise everyone up to 4%. The attempt was a dirty political move as they are trying the pit everyone against school employees because now the union says, you broke the deal, so union are out indefinitely.
The senate republicans are scared of a coalition of 300,000 public employees...so they are trying the divide and conquer tactic.
For the record, with 4% pay raise, my total family income will increase by 1620.00 a year, and if PEIA is unfreezed my wife’s premium will go up 3600.00 a year. If you can do the marh, thank a teacher., if not, that is a $1980.00 a year pay cut. Teachers said screw that, and walked out.
If you are a public employee hug a teacher, because they have helped you get a raise and hopefully fix the bankrupted PEIA system.
I am an independent and believe both parties are full of crap, Holy ****, where is the Tylenol. Rant over.
Lets go mountaineers
Your a fu..ing idiot. The cost of this insurance has skyrocketed and when that agreement was made. We were guaranteed no deductibles. That lasted 2years. So much for us giving up our pay raise for the good insurance. So know your facts before you run you f...ing mouth. Another idiot on the ignore list. So don’t bother responding.
Good post, Robert.
I can only speak for myself and not for anybody denigrating teachers because I will not do so. I've detailed my thoughts in multiple posts, but my position comes down to this.
Teachers should be paid more. I would start about 20% more. Good teachers have very hard jobs Sometimes impossible. Bad teachers have it easy and are paid the same. That's a situation I will never be OK with.
The core of it for me is the strike. Harming parents and kids to further your cause is inexcusable even if I agree with the cause. I think teachers deserve more than the proposed bills contain, but I am completely against the entire strike action. I find it politically motivated and misguided.
The strike supporters seem to think the strike isn't their fault so they don't accept the responsibility for any harm to kids or parents. This is a logical fallacy.
Having said that I wish good fortune to all good teachers.
All I have to say about this is I haven't really seen anything that bad so far, but I have half the board on ignore. I'm probably missing some ignorant stuff and I'm glad I am.
As far as your post, well, politics in WV has been a currupt dumpster fire for 100 years. Let's not give the current iteration too much credit.
My premium is 6600 my portion per year FEHB Family Blue Cross Blue Shield Standard. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 it went up and Fed employees received no Fed raise.
What you are experiencing is NOTHING out of the ordinary.
West Virginia shouldn't fund a pay raise off projected revenue. I don't buy stuff today based on what I think I'll make next year....
I had Mr. Pitcher all three years at UHS. Was a teachers aide for two periods my Senior year. Great guy and I agree he was a good teacher.
I’m not calling you greedy...I agree there should be a better system to increase the pay of teachers...there also be system to hold people accountable for outcomes...I don’t agree with the strike.
Same here as a federal employee. Went to private sector in 2016 and my cost is now $750/month with $50 copay ($100 for specialist), $2000 individual deductible, $12500 out of pocket, etc.
I agree with most of your sentiments and appreciate you using your high skills to educate our youth, unfortunately your profession chooses to unite together to ensure that you make no more than their worst gym teacher. Seems to me to be a reflection of how your profession chooses to measure your worth and credentials, not the public.
Personally, I think most of the STEM teachers in the state could have a 50% increase and not be overpaid or greedy, but also believe that many others in the teaching profession are fairly compensated at current levels. Just my opinion.
Best of luck to you and my appreciation of your efforts is sincere.
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"Got more vehicles than me" ??????
What A deep Understanding About Teachers, And The Political Process In Our State.
Do You Really Think State Employees Are Treated Fairly?.....those Overpaid State Troopers,
Spoiled Teachers, Custodians With All Their cars Abb
What A deep Understanding About Teachers, And The Political Process In Our State.
Do You Really Think State Employees Are Treated Fairly?.....those Overpaid State Troopers,
Spoiled Teachers, Custodians With All Their cars Abb