Chicago teachers are making me sick

[Anonymous]

first, the schools are horrible so they are not doing a good job. yes I know the job is hard and the parents are the problem.

second, they already average $75K/year before benefits. They pay very little for health coverage.

third, they resist pay based on performance and want step raises for life.

[Anonymous]

I'm with you OP...

[Anonymous]

The mayor should grow some.... . and fire them all and hire only people who will not be in a union and accept performance based pay. Then just sit back and watch all the teacher unions fall. Education should not be done by union members with a me attitude.

[Anonymous]

I'm not generally a fan of the unions, but I do highly value education. And I do think the teachers' union has a legitimate concern with tying children's standardized test scores to a teacher's performance evaluation. If you have a class of lower-income, at-risk children, you are much more likely to have lower test scores. Unless there is some method of protection in the evaluation system that accounts for this, such a performance measure could be disasterous for many otherwise great teachers.

I understand the need for objective criteria that measures performance. This likely is one of those government ideas that sounds great on paper, but causes all kinds of trouble in practice.

[Anonymous]

then find a way to measure improvement if the baseline is horrible. bottom line, it makes no sense for taxpayers to pay for step raises year after year for bad teachers. just because you are a 25 year cynical veteran of a dysfunctional school system does not mean you are any good. I'd rather keep young teachers for short 5-year terms before they burn out.

TEACHER UNIONS ARE THE ENEMY! Come on, they are. You know it, I know it. Public education is crippling for these inner cities kids. The families need more choices, and the schools need more competition.

[Anonymous]

Tying teacher performance to test scores doesn't work for a multitude of well-documented reasons. For one thing, the system is too lazy to use the scores of students who move from one school to another, which is a huge percentage of students in a district like Chicago. Students at the bottom tend to have horrible attendance, so it's hard to argue that their performance on tests is a reflection on their teachers at all. There are better measures of performance, like MCPS's PAR program, but that requires human beings to evaluate teachers, rather than computers. It is both more effective and more costly.

Second - $76,000? Have you tried living on $76,000 in Chicago? Would you like to? From the posts that I see on this site about HHI, I seriously doubt many DCUMers would choose a career that tops out in the high 5 digits. It's hard to credibly argue that teachers should make less if you are making 2-3x as much.

[Anonymous]

Highest paid teachers in the country turn down a 400 million dollar deal w/ 16% pay raise over 4 years.

[Anonymous]

As a former CPS teacher, I have to say that unless YOU have been a CPS teacher, you have no business having any opinion. The fact that the schools are horrible is not because teachers aren't doing their job. Yes, there are some teachers that are terrible, just like EVERY OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE COUNTRY. But every single one of my former colleagues busted their ass to do the best job with the meager resources and support they received. So unless you actually know what you are talking about, I suggest you STFU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former CPS teacher, I have to say that unless YOU have been a CPS teacher, you have no business having any opinion. The fact that the schools are horrible is not because teachers aren't doing their job. Yes, there are some teachers that are terrible, just like EVERY OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE COUNTRY. But every single one of my former colleagues busted their ass to do the best job with the meager resources and support they received. So unless you actually know what you are talking about, I suggest you STFU.

I've been a teacher, but in New Jersey so I hope I have the right to my opinion. *rolling eyes*

I value education and I know how hard teachers work, and I know the job is made 100x harder when parents are not involved and when kids are not motivated. But teachers are professionals, and the union weakens that. Many, many people have had to deal with pay freezes and worse in the past 4+ years.

Teachers need to fall in step with everyone else and deal with the way the economy is going. To whine about it, or fall back on Mommy Union when the economy can't cater to you is highly unprofessional. Stop making the profession look back and put on your big-girl knickers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former CPS teacher, I have to say that unless YOU have been a CPS teacher, you have no business having any opinion. The fact that the schools are horrible is not because teachers aren't doing their job. Yes, there are some teachers that are terrible, just like EVERY OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE COUNTRY. But every single one of my former colleagues busted their ass to do the best job with the meager resources and support they received. So unless you actually know what you are talking about, I suggest you STFU.

You are a great representative of your cause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:then find a way to measure improvement if the baseline is horrible. bottom line, it makes no sense for taxpayers to pay for step raises year after year for bad teachers. just because you are a 25 year cynical veteran of a dysfunctional school system does not mean you are any good. I'd rather keep young teachers for short 5-year terms before they burn out.

TEACHER UNIONS ARE THE ENEMY! Come on, they are. You know it, I know it. Public education is crippling for these inner cities kids. The families need more choices, and the schools need more competition.

No, they need to run the school system in its entirety in a smarter way. If you are supportive of your employees, they perform well. That's a proven outcome over any employment model. Everyone is getting bogged down in minor details, when they should be looking at the system as a whole.

[Anonymous]

they already average $75K/year before benefits.

My sister worked as a special ed teacher for CPS for four years, and definitely didn't earn that amount. She left after a student assaulted her and she couldn't call for help because the phone in her classroom had been broken for two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:then find a way to measure improvement if the baseline is horrible. bottom line, it makes no sense for taxpayers to pay for step raises year after year for bad teachers. just because you are a 25 year cynical veteran of a dysfunctional school system does not mean you are any good. I'd rather keep young teachers for short 5-year terms before they burn out.

TEACHER UNIONS ARE THE ENEMY! Come on, they are. You know it, I know it. Public education is crippling for these inner cities kids. The families need more choices, and the schools need more competition.

No, they need to run the school system in its entirety in a smarter way. If you are supportive of your employees, they perform well. That's a proven outcome over any employment model. Everyone is getting bogged down in minor details, when they should be looking at the system as a whole.

hahahahhahahahahahahahha. Stupid. You obviously don't know public school teachers. Anyway people who earn up to $150k striking on national TV is great footage for the election. Obama, call your people.

[Anonymous]

I do not understand the lack of sympathy for their cause. How are unions bad? Why are teachers not the most highly paid professionals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not understand the lack of sympathy for their cause. How are unions bad? Why are teachers not the most highly paid professionals?

the union is bad because they are a big factor in why these kids are not getting properly educated. #1.

they work 10 months a year and 7-8 hours a day. #2.

their benefits are incredible. #3

my salary has gone down 15% in the last 3 years. look around. #4.