Reply to WTU rallies for new contract

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "WTU rallies for new contract "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They are absolutely evil to be threatening to strike. [/quote]

Could you provide some examples of other ways you would like them to advocate for a new contract?[/quote]

Pretty much any way except that? But sure, you can keep on asserting that teacher’s unions can do whatever they want to advance their interests, and that the interests of children are irrelevant to the union. And if you say that, I will assert that the union is evil because they are using their power to hurt children. Even the threat of hurting children is unconscionable. The sad part is, most DC parents would actually support teachers getting a good contract - but when you make clear you don’t GAF about hurting kids, you lose your natural allies. [/quote]

Would you mind building on your first sentence? What are some other ways?[/quote]

NP but teachers could work to the contract:
Only at school during contracted hours (no after school extra help, club meetings, etc.) 
Only cover classes under the contractual way (I don’t remember what it is but there’s something where you don’t have to give up your planning every day for class coverage)
Don’t write any college recommendation or scholarship recommendation letters because it’s not in the contract (HS mostly, and this one most teachers won’t actually do but it’s effective)[/quote]

The problem is that all of these things would hurt kids too. Working to the rule would get some parents what they wanted, for sure, but it would most definitely hurt kids. Lessons wouldn't be planned, and certainly not planned well. Bowser knows this. She has all the leverage because the bulk of UMC white parents would balk at any attempt by teachers to push back.[/quote]

Strikes are meant to hurt management, not the vulnerable. It's not a good look to hurt kids because of your beef with management. The WTU is completely awful at strategy here. You DO want a sympathetic public when you're negotiating in a political space. This is why it is illegal for teachers to strike. What could they do? Stop fulfilling administrative requirements--stop taking formal attendance, stop administering mandated tests, stop data gathering, stop performing any (non-safety related) reporting to admin. All of this while continuing to hold high standards for education in the classroom--in fact educational quality may improve when teachers don't have to waste time on these sorts of things. However, admin depends on this kind of information to meet funding and reporting requirements.[/quote]

I know you’re trying to be helpful but this is a literal impossibility for some teachers. Doing extra is literally part of our evaluation. And if you do not score well on this eval system for 1.5 years admin can fire you and they will certainly fire a teacher who will not do extra.

We are not protected, please understand this. Your teachers are unprotected employees, who if admin doesn’t like can be given an illegal lower score. Even when we file a grievance it take so many years it’s better just to get out of DCPS.[/quote]

Great. Then tell your union leadership to stop insinuating that you are going to close schools again, and we’ll support all of your no doubt reasonable demands. [/quote]

Ha, no actual suggestions. You just want us to keep breaking our necks doing extra and just take the money.

Guess a strike it is! [/quote]

Like, do you see how antagonistic this is? Do you want parents on your side or no? Perhaps you're a troll, because I can't imagine any well-educated union member wanting to go this route when drumming up support for a strike. I have been part of a union before, and helped organize a strike. You need allies, not opponents.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics