That's what State Rep. Justin Simmons thinks. He's sponsoring legislation that will ban teacher strikes. Calling Pennsylvania the "teacher strike capital of the United States," Simmons claims that the Keystone State is now home to 60% of all teacher strikes."We have constantly led the nation in one category, and that is teacher strikes," Simmons stated during a news conference. He added that he believes teacher strikes violate the Pennsylvania Constitution, "and it's time to put a child's education first by banning them." Pointing to the Saucon Valley School District, located in his legislative district, Simmons notes there have been two strikes within the last four years.
Thirty-seven other states already ban teacher strikes, according to Simmons.
Other prime sponsors of this legislation are Reps. Todd Rock (R-Franklin) and Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler).
According to the PSEA, there is no evidence that teacher strikes have an adverse impact on education.
What concerns me about a ban is the binding arbitration that will follow. Police officers, who are unable to strike, do pretty well with arbitration.
31 comments:
All strikes should be banned.
Whats funny about a strike...? Nothing really.
But you have a bunch of picketing teachers who get the Lamborghini of health benefits on a picket line to protest their wage and benefit package, all the while not getting paid.
If you can last for several days and weeks without a paycheck, then I guess you didnt need that raise after all.
Their strikes become moot, and if it were up to me, 100% of them would be fired off the picket line. There are thousands of teachers looking for work.
Pass the legislation, but reform the arbitration laws so taxpayers get a break from getting hogtied .
a young, jump on the bandwagon politician with no real value to add to real issues!
It's funny the PSEA sees no harm to strikes. Ask the students from the districts affected, they will most likely disagree. That comment is like a rat saying the crap they leave doesn't harm anyone.
Strikes should be banned, school districts should be allowed to fire bad teachers no matter how long they have been employed.
if teacher strikes are banned, then some sort of protection needs to be put in place. i know teachers in maryland, where it's illegal to strike, who haven't seen a raise since '08. And i know, there are no raises being handed out anywhere, but the contract between the teachers and district clearly states they're required to get a raise, and the district is just choosing to ignore the contract. And the teachers have nothing they can do about it. All they can do is "work to rule" which is doing no more than what is stated in the contract. But that doesn't do anything.
It's also unclear if, once raises start again, if the teachers will make up the years they're owed, or not. That's 3 years of raises so far gone, or roughly $5,000 in salary that could be needed down the road.
Anon 9:46 My business is down 33% since 2008. Which means my income and that of my employees is down also. When and if the economy turns around who will make up the money I lost? No one. Welcome to the real world.
Some of these teachers need a dose of reality in the real world private sector. C'mon over here and my guess is you'd die of shock induced trauma.
Contracts and 'protection' do not exist, and pay raises, health benefits, paid time off seem to be extinct. A 401K if you are lucky to have one, more times than not includes zero employer contribution, and your payback is subject to changes in the stock markets and the federal prime rate.
You work indoors and get paid for snow-days when the rest of us schlep outside at 4:00am to dig out our cars.
You work 180 days and make more money than those working all year.
If you find a mishap on the road and arrive 15 minutes late to work, you are not docked for this in your paycheck.
You have tenure laws which guarantee job security like nowhere else in the world
I can keep going......
Nice to see a politician follow through on a campaign promise.
Simmons said he would work to ban teacher strikes and that is what he is doing.
Glad that the teachers union hasn't bought him off like they did with the puppet that held that seat before him.
Keep up the good work Justin
Bernie -
You're right about arbitration. The bill that Simmons supports would extend the expired contract on a monthly basis until an agreement is reached. Arbitration woudn't be allowed.
Abitration is a bad deal for the taxpayer.
Also existing nowhere is the taxpayer funded education credits which allows teachers to leap across the pay chart to a higher wage that is not measured by any merit to higher student acheivement or better test scores.
I bury my head in my hands when these teacher groups hard nose their negotiations and ultimately strike because they are expected to kick in an additional $40 bucks for healthcare, or scream because a 3% increase is not enough.
Measured against the rest of the world they are in a pie in the sky career, but still find reasons to complain that they are overworked and underpaid.
Although I had a field day commenting about the Gracedale pie in the sky jobs, I would love to pluck striking teachers off the picket line and invite them to a day of work at Gracedale where they will clean up shit off the floor, be splattered by human waste, and be subject to daily back aches at a mere fraction of the pay that they protest.
Sounds like Brenda don't care too much for the teachers and their cushie contracts--LOL Actually if they go on strike --I like the idea of everyday they're out they lose 2 days pay and benefits plus they still have to work the 180 days with no pay for those days missed. Your out 5 days you lose 10 days pay and work the 180 days paid for 170.
How on earth can a teacher strike NOT affect education?
We need to ban teachers unions, that would solve alot of problems.
Retired ASD teacher here.
Obviously Brenda is a most unhappy individual. However, depending on her age, she can STILL become a teacher and enjoy all the frills of that profession.
Why the wait?
Retired ASD teacher,
Though I may make a fine teacher, investing about $40K for the education degree when the trend is layoffs , and will continue for years to come, I find myself reluctant to throw good money after bad.
And to be part of an arrogant teacher union with entitlement stamped across their foreheads is not my style.
Combine that with the reality of bowing to snot rollers and their parents, I am not a good fit. I do not have the temperment to be a teacher these days where most kids are over-indulged, underworked, and have an outrageous disregard for elders. I'd wind up bitch-slapping a kid across the nose and be on the front page of the morning call in hand-cuffs.
I never said a teaching job was easy. No job is today. Teachers still have a good deal and need to realize it.
brenda
Last time I checked, you were free to attend college and recieve a degree that enables you to teach...so jealous, so bitter.
Brenda,
Sounds like you are a bitter, bitter person. Ashame that you obviously didn't take school seriously. I would bet that you were one of those "snot rollers" who are/were "over-indulged, underworked, and have an outrageous disregard for elders." Now you are stuck working a construction job that just doesn't pay what you think you are worth. Time to take some personal responsibility and realize you are where you are at because of your decisions.
Even though you didn't take advantage of it when you were a kid, remember that teachers play a vital role in our society. And they make less than many people who don't.
For example, just about any professional athlete in a major sport (NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball); your Senators and Representatives at both the State and Federal level; just about any executive at a publicly traded corporation. And they all get better pensions and health benefits than teachers do!!!
And if you don't think you pay for any of that, you really didn't take advantage of the education society has provided for you. You pay for the athletes anytime you go to a game or pay your cable bill; your state taxes pay for the lifetime benefits your current and past elected officials receive; and the executives get paid off every transaction you have in life.
Get. A. Grip. On. Reality.
Publius
Very interesting Publius
Nice analogy. SO now that we are clear, I am glad you informed me that our poor teachers make less money than top level execs, professional athletes and Senators.
Wow, to include them in that group! But you forgot to mention that teachers dont lose their career if they break a bone, and cant be voted out of the classroom. And dont forget, top level executives operate on profit, outcomes, or lack thereof. If the company fails, so do they.
Not like teachers at all.
Bernie,
This is what happens when an inexperienced, fresh out of college ideologue gets elected to office without any life experience. Please keep in mind that Mr. Simmons gets paid better than most teachers, has better benefits that he pays less for than a teacher does, and has a guaranteed cost of living wage increase coming to him every year.
If Mr. Simmons thinks this is a good idea, I would like to suggest that Mr. Simmons also propose legislation to cut the size of the State House and Senate, lower the current pay received by the Reps. and Senators, get rid of per diem nonsense, start paying his fair share of health coverage and start paying into his pension (which, fyi, teachers put 7.5% of their pay into the current system), or better yet, get rid of pensions for elected officials (it is, after all, public service, right), and ban any elected official from ever becoming a lobbyist.
Funny how those who are unproductive (read: legislators) find it very easy to restrict the productive in our society.
And, btw, has Mr. Simmons produced the numbers to back up his claim that PA is "home to 60% of all teacher strikes?"
Publius
Brenda:
Representing a district originally was considered to be public service, not a career. Career politicians are a big part of the problem. Just look at how many of them act.
Professional athletes can loose their career if they break a bone, but they have made a career choice and know the risks when they go into it. Nobody forced them to take that route.
And top level executives do not, in reality work on profits. Chuck Prince, former CEO of Citigroup, ran that company to the brink of bankruptcy and led a hand in causing the financial crisis of 2008. He walked with $160 million. Anthony Mozillo, former Chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial, is a billionaire who made his money giving "liar loans" to anyone with a pulse. After running his company into the ground, did I mention he is a billionaire?
While those are extreme examples, go to www.sec.gov and read an annual report of any public company. Dig your teeth into the section on executive compensation. What you will find will surprise you. Golden parachutes, stock options, deferred compensation ... go read it for yourself.
And just a little advice, it is better to argue based on facts and logic than it is to argue based on your raw emotions.
If you want more I'll be back on late tonight or maybe tomorrow. I have work to do (no 9-5 for me).
Publius
Publius,
I can't really argue with your last post. Hands down, you win that argument. The corrupt banking field, deregulated by the Bush admin had a great hand in our financial mess that is lingering today. Some went to jail for it, but not nearly enough of them.
I hate to tell you that it is not just raw emotion that drives me to write about how good teachers have it. I happen to know many people who work in schools, and base all of my opinions on fact.
One fact is that 75% of most school budgets are salaries and benefits. If you can find even one school district than can beat that number, please let me know. When I went to school, teachers and a secretary manned the lunchrooms, the recess times and the buses when kids arrived, and at dismissal . There was also only one school nurse in a building.
Child study teams were small and did not have secretaries or aides. Part of the problem is the regulations, and I think the state is trying to loosen some of those.
But when the tap is dry, the tap is try. Everyone has to make do with less, including teachers.
Also, I will mention that corporate greed is one of the bigger problems that is facing our nation. The huge gap between exec compensation and the bottom level worker is what drives people to unionize.
When people unionize, the cost of goods and services rise to the point that companies outsource everything they can to China, India and the Phillipines.
Then there are no jobs.
The USA needs a more competitive tax structure and less government , period.
teachers are the greediest of all union pukes. their whole argument for their bennies and salaries is an emotional appeal to stupid one issue parents who are not doing their part to raise their own rug rats. To hell with the money spent on a few self interested curriculum. 3 R's band and sports but only if the parents are willing to pay to have their little spoiled brats in sports and band.
Publius,
I believe I'd support a ban on teacher strikes, especially now that I know that no binding arbitration will ensue. I have a very high regard for teachers and consider education very important, and that is part of the reason I oppose strikes.
As far as Simmons is concerned, He has imposed his own term limit. He does not intend t stay there forever. So I think it's wrong to paint him as a career politician. He even refuses to accept per diems.
You asked me for facts that back up Simmons' claim about Pa. being the nation's leader in teacher strikes. I have linked to his press conference, where he announces the study by name. It is based on data compiled thru 2007.
Don't get me wrong. I would never support laying off teachers to balance a budget. I'd prefer raising taxes. I think they are very important to our children, and many of them are quite dedicated. I think most of them would rather be teaching than striking.
This should not be construed as an invitation to school districts to reduce salaries. I would support legislation to prevent that, and would even support binding arbitration, but only if arbitrators are appointed by independent bodies or come directly from the courts.
I don't detect much bitterness from Brenda, especially after reading Zorn. Teaching is one of the very few real professions. I have met and have great respect for Retired ASD Teacher and many members of my own family are teachers. But professionals do not strike.
Brenda,
If you follow this link (http://www.beth.k12.pa.us/business/budget/1112budget/2011-12_Proposed_Final_Budget_0509.pdf) you will get to the Bethlehem Area SD budget. The total % of the budget that goes to instruction is 60.36%. But more, not less, should go to instruction (i.e. teachers). Why? Because that is what the school district's mission is!!!
We can argue about what support staff is necessary, class size, etc., but those numbers have changed over the years as parents have pressured school boards for smaller classes and more support staff. And yes, some has come as a result of regulations.
In the end education is vital to our society continuing to evolve for the better. It is a matter of our priorities as a people. It is a matter of the greatest importance.
Teachers are not the reason our country has the debts it has and not the reason we have a huge financial hole to fill as a country. Politicians have handed out more benefits (Dems.) or lower taxes (Repubs.) without paying for it. Americans, in general, spent more than they earned and saved little or none. And nobody wants to give you their benefits, but want the other guy to give up his.
We will get through this as a country but it will be an ugly process. My concern is that we gut the important things (like education) and do permanent damage to our society.
And maybe teachers do "have it good." I'm all for 12 month schooling. But really, I know I wouldn't want to stand in front of 30 10 yr. olds 6 hours a day, nor would I want to have anything to do with any middle school aged kids, let alone a class full. Think about what they do when you think about "how good" they have it.
Publius
Bernie,
Thanks for the info on Simmons. I'll have to watch the clip and hunt down the data he cites. Banning strikes would need to be accompanied by ways to protect the rights of the teachers as well.
But as I mentioned in my 9:15pm post to Brenda, teachers are not what has caused the problems we face today. Politicians have promised too much - both benefits and tax cuts - and everyone wants what's theirs, but do not want to pay for it. The Tea Party is a great example. Have you seen or heard of one tea party member giving up their social security or medicare benefits? Of course not.
Back to Simmons, maybe he will hold to his imposed term limits, we just don't know until it happens. My point about him is that, like every other politician, all the sacrifices are for everyone else, never the pols. I know you are friends with Charlie Dent, but do you really want to pay for his health insurance for the rest of his life? I don't. And I don't want to pay for Justin Simmons' health insurance either.
The last guy we had in Harrisburg similar to Simmons was Joe Uliana. After he got bounced out of office he became a lobbyist. And he has no clue what the world is like outside of the illusions of politicians because he has never had a "real" job outside of politics. Nothing against Joe or Justin, but that is not good for our state or our country.
Publius
Publis,
The 60% figure for instruction includes other expenses beyond salaries and benefits. The entire salary and benefit budget for the school system as a whole can be found, most likely in a RTK request or the audit report.
As I said before, its upwards of 75% of the total. I dont think slashing teachers should be done as a first step, but only as a last ditch effort when there is no other alternative.
Certainly, if teachers refuse to re-open a contract, or go on strike, it casts a dark shadow over the entire group. I did not say teachers are undeserving necessarily. But the elephant in the living room is that the schools are broke. Taxes can only be raised to the cap, and not beyond...and now there is talk of a referendum for tax hikes above the cap.
No one can easily afford tax hikes anymore, given our economics. Seniors are given no help when schools raise taxes. When a teacher retires on full pension, they also get medical benefits for life.This trajectory is a ponzi scheme that has gone broke.
On average, a PA teacher pays 60K to 70K into the pension system over a 25 year period, and the average draw over their retired lifetime of benefits including medical benefits is GREATER THAN 1 MILLION DOLLARS. A ponzi scheme. Get rid of this problem and school budgets will be a whole lot healthier.
In Simmons statement he says he respects teachers as much as police and fireman. But he points out police and fireman can't strike because the consequence of that would be negative for the people they seve and protect. Why can't the teachers union understand that? I know a lot of teachers and most are against strikes.
Brenda,
The breakdown of the cost of benefits and salaries is on page 17 of 37. Keep in mind that all of the benefits do not go to just teachers, but also administrators, custodians, etc., so you have to back out some of those numbers, which is I believe how they came to the overall cost of $122 million or 60% of the budget actually goes to teaching.
And I don't know how your math worked to figure out that the average teacher pays $60-70k into the pension system in 25 years, so lets do some math. If over the life of his/her teaching career one had an average salary of $40k/yr. they would pay, on average, $3k/yr. into the system (7.5% of $40k). If that money compounds at an annual rate of 6% per annum, taking into account the yearly contributions, the balance would be $177,469.15. If that teacher worked an additional 10 years that would work out to $357,362.60.
But here's the thing, 10+ years ago Harrisburg gave all pensioners in the state system a raise because there was a shortfall in the system and they didn't have the nads to do the right think at the time. The deal gave teachers pension a bump from 2% to 2.5% for each year worked. It also gave the politicians voting for this "fix," that was really just kicking the can down the road, a 50% hike in their pension benefits. The teachers did not ask for this, they were given this by the politicians.
My point is to point the blame where it should be placed - the spineless politicians. The problem could have been fixed a decade ago, but instead they gave themselves a better pension and made the problem worse.
I think you also need to blame the people of this state as well. Why? Because most people do not vote nor do they pay much attention to what is going on. even in a Presidential election year there is no more than 50-60% turnout. In the latest primaries turnout was in the 20% range. That is apathy and that is pathetic.
Regarding the medical benefits, I agree that there needs to be corrective action taken for teachers, but also for society as a whole. They system cannot continue on the way it is.
Publius
Publis,
Actual contributions vs actual payout is what I was trying to do.
6% compounded annually has been extinct for years
I oppose teacher union groups who think that taxpayers should struggle a little more, so that teachers wont have to struggle at all.
I really dont know of any career in the world that promises you a job for life, regardless of job performance after a mere 3 yrs of service.
Not senators, professional athletes or execs.
Retired ASD Teacher is a LOAD.
That is all.
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