Listening to Nathan Saunders makes me crazy

[Anonymous]

DC teacher retirement is funded by teacher contributions.

[Anonymous]

Speaking of wasted money...

The $$$ that is being wasted is the ENORMOUS amount being spent on IMPACT and PD. Salaries of a boatload of people hired to mind teachers, supervisors, supervisors of supervisors, fancy brochures and PowerPoints, meaningless professional development, etc, etc.

And the student scores are flat. You know why?

None of that money has EVER been spent in my classroom helping me ONE BIT (oh I'm sorry, I do get a $75 start up card). How about making my classes smaller? How about providing me with a classroom aid for the multitude of Sped and ED students I deal with every day? How about a Smartboard for my room?

I am ready to teach longer hours. I am ready to have less summer vacation. I am so ready to help my students in any way I can to succeed.

But DCPS is not meeting me halfway. I am really pissed that this available money never makes it to my room to directly help my students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:However, DCPS teachers, WTU members,like yours truly, have been spending our own money for classroom supplies, including paper, inkjet cartridges, printer cartridges, pencils dry erase markers etc. I just spent more than $100 on supplies for summer school.

At my kid's school, during the first week, parents bring in enough supplies to fill the needs of 4 or 5 times the # number of students they have. It is usually whisked away and there is barely a tissue around by October. I just wonder what they do with 50 boxes or packages of Clorox clean-ups. I never see it stored any where. It just disappears. All the spary cleaners and dry erasers and pencils, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:However, DCPS teachers, WTU members,like yours truly, have been spending our own money for classroom supplies, including paper, inkjet cartridges, printer cartridges, pencils dry erase markers etc. I just spent more than $100 on supplies for summer school.

At my kid's school, during the first week, parents bring in enough supplies to fill the needs of 4 or 5 times the # number of students they have. It is usually whisked away and there is barely a tissue around by October. I just wonder what they do with 50 boxes or packages of Clorox clean-ups. I never see it stored any where. It just disappears. All the spary cleaners and dry erasers and pencils, too.

It gets used. Nothing is provided. We used to have to guard our copy paper at my DCPS school, like some kind of post-apocalyptic hoarders. Please know that supplies for DCPS or charter schools are like the opposite of a magic cauldron that keeps giving. A classroom full of kids go through a tremendous amount of supplies. Whenever you think you have given enough, double it and give more. From my experience it is not wasted, simply used. And when the next swine flu comes around you will be so happy your child's class is stocked with Clorox desk wipes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC teacher retirement is funded by teacher contributions.

It is not just funded by teacher contributions. If you look at the forms on the DCPS website it appears at least some form of it is a defined contribution pension plan that allows teachers to make additional contributions via a 403b the non profit version of the 401k. These are funded by taxpayers.

Other Benefits
Teacher’s Retirement Plan
Flexible Spending Accounts (for dependent care & health care)
403(b) Tax Sheltered Annuities
DC Teachers Federal Credit Union
457 Deferred Compensation Plan
Loan Cancellation or Deferment
AT&T Discount Program for District of Columbia Employees
Employer Assisted Housing Program (Up to $11,500 for first-time homebuyers in DC)
HUD Good Neighbor Next Door Program (50% off the list price for HUD homes)
Discounted memberships to Washington Sports Clubs

http://www.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Human+Resources/Employee+Compensation+Information

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC teacher retirement is funded by teacher contributions.

It is not just funded by teacher contributions. If you look at the forms on the DCPS website it appears at least some form of it is a defined contribution pension plan that allows teachers to make additional contributions via a 403b the non profit version of the 401k. These are funded by taxpayers.

Other Benefits
Teacher’s Retirement Plan
Flexible Spending Accounts (for dependent care & health care)
403(b) Tax Sheltered Annuities
DC Teachers Federal Credit Union
457 Deferred Compensation Plan
Loan Cancellation or Deferment
AT&T Discount Program for District of Columbia Employees
Employer Assisted Housing Program (Up to $11,500 for first-time homebuyers in DC)
HUD Good Neighbor Next Door Program (50% off the list price for HUD homes)
Discounted memberships to Washington Sports Clubs

http://www.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Human+Resources/Employee+Compensation+Information

and what's your point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC teacher retirement is funded by teacher contributions.

It is not just funded by teacher contributions. If you look at the forms on the DCPS website it appears at least some form of it is a defined contribution pension plan that allows teachers to make additional contributions via a 403b the non profit version of the 401k. These are funded by taxpayers.

Other Benefits
Teacher’s Retirement Plan
Flexible Spending Accounts (for dependent care & health care)
403(b) Tax Sheltered Annuities
DC Teachers Federal Credit Union
457 Deferred Compensation Plan
Loan Cancellation or Deferment
AT&T Discount Program for District of Columbia Employees
Employer Assisted Housing Program (Up to $11,500 for first-time homebuyers in DC)

Deferred comp is the employee's money. Teachers credit union is no differerent from any other credit union. Navy fed credit union. Pentagon credit union. DOT credit union, etc Flexible spending is the employees money. Don't get excited about the AT&T discount. The first time home buyers program is available to all DC employees it is income based. There is a similar program for non government employees, but with more hoops tom jump through. As for the retirement plan, are you offered a retirement plan or 401 where you are employed. I am not a teacher, bit gosh your email did not make sense.
HUD Good Neighbor Next Door Program (50% off the list price for HUD homes)
Discounted memberships to Washington Sports Clubs

http://www.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Human+Resources/Employee+Compensation+Information

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last I heard DCPS teachers no longer get tenure. And if a DCPS teacher already has tenure and is excessed or fired for being ineffective for 2 years, they are not protected.

So please tell me why people are still criticizing the WTU for protecting "bad" teachers. It seems to me they can't any longer.

Exactly. The election of some incendiary nut-job like Saunders is a backlash against the loss of those perks. You can't go back to 1980s, but you can elect an angry race-baiter. I don't see how that's going to increase the prestige of the WTU though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC teacher retirement is funded by teacher contributions.

It is not just funded by teacher contributions. If you look at the forms on the DCPS website it appears at least some form of it is a defined contribution pension plan that allows teachers to make additional contributions via a 403b the non profit version of the 401k. These are funded by taxpayers.

Other Benefits
Teacher’s Retirement Plan
Flexible Spending Accounts (for dependent care & health care)
403(b) Tax Sheltered Annuities
DC Teachers Federal Credit Union
457 Deferred Compensation Plan
Loan Cancellation or Deferment
AT&T Discount Program for District of Columbia Employees
Employer Assisted Housing Program (Up to $11,500 for first-time homebuyers in DC)
HUD Good Neighbor Next Door Program (50% off the list price for HUD homes)
Discounted memberships to Washington Sports Clubs

http://www.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Human+Resources/Employee+Compensation+Information

and what's your point?

My point is that it is the taxpayers making these payments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC teacher retirement is funded by teacher contributions.

That avoids the question. Do DC teachers still have a pension plan? If so, it is NOT entirely funded by teacher contributions.

[Anonymous]

Most pension funds rely on an employer (read government tax payer) contribution of around 15 to 20 % of an employees salary. The employee then contributes a match of some amount and then the remainder of the pension fund is funded through investment income (60 to 70% of funding status).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are correct, there is no longer "tenure" for DCPS teachers. And inexplicably, our former union president, George Parker, helped develop and endorsed a contract that not only removed what little due process we had, but refers to IMPACT throughout the document, implying acceptance of an evaluation instrument that is inherently inequitable as well as highly punitive.

And by "what little due process we had" of course, PP means "the complete inability to fire the few bad teachers for any reason whatsoever". I'm just glad Rhee won. Now we can get on with the business of fine-tuning IMPACT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard WTU President Nathan Saunders this morning and wanted to hit my head on a wall. Every time I listen to him I feel like my child's education is in danger and I need to figure out a way to get out of DC. Do other parents feel that way?

http://wamu.org/news/11/06/30/wtu_president_criticizes_dcps_teacher_evaluations_ahead_of_ratings_release.php

Of course you did. It's a perfectly sane reaction because you love your child and value education.

Oh, and because he's complete jackass. There's also that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most pension funds rely on an employer (read government tax payer) contribution of around 15 to 20 % of an employees salary. The employee then contributes a match of some amount and then the remainder of the pension fund is funded through investment income (60 to 70% of funding status).

You are talking through your hat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are correct, there is no longer "tenure" for DCPS teachers. And inexplicably, our former union president, George Parker, helped develop and endorsed a contract that not only removed what little due process we had, but refers to IMPACT throughout the document, implying acceptance of an evaluation instrument that is inherently inequitable as well as highly punitive.

And by "what little due process we had" of course, PP means "the complete inability to fire the few bad teachers for any reason whatsoever". I'm just glad Rhee won. Now we can get on with the business of fine-tuning IMPACT.

totally false, prior to IMPACT I worked for principals who fired teachers for cause in every DCPS school I've worked in.