It turns out that the school district decided to give the 400 teachers a 1% raise. So the teachers protested after school was out. The teachers found out the details of the new contract on August 2 - almost 2 weeks before the school year started. I'm wondering WHY they waited until the first day of school to protest? Because it was the first day of school and they'd get more attention from parents & the media? But I guess, the State actually gave the school districts a 3% increase this year but the city only filtered 1% down to the teachers.
They've left the employees as an afterthough. They've taken care of everything else on their wish list and now they're telling the employees there's nothing left.The talk on the radio this morning was all about this situation. I do believe that teachers are a valuable key in shaping our children. That they spend the MOST time with our children. They should be compensated. They should receive raises. But not everyone performs the same. Not everyone has the same teaching methods. Some teachers SPARK our kids imagination. Their yearn to learn. While other teachers just drag through the day.
In my OWN opinion, I think teachers should not receive the same raises across the board. That they should be given raises like I have been given raises throughout my career. Based upon PERFORMANCE. Based upon what I do. Not on how long I've worked in one particular job. I'll explain how we were compensated at one place I worked. At the beginning of each fiscal year, each employee sat down with their manager and discussed their job. Their goals. Areas that needed improvement. Additional deliverables. Extra course, seminars, and continuing education that would be done that year. ALL that was documented. This way, if the manager moved to a different area during the year the NEXT manager would know exactly what each employee was working on. And each quarter, we'd meet with our manager and go through the list of responsibilities and all that. We'd modify the list as necessary as our scope of business changed. Towards the end of the year, we'd go through one final review with our manager. Our manager would then perform a write-up of how each of us did. Then all the evaluations would be forwarded to the Director of our group. The Director would review all the write-ups. By this time, the Director would receive the $ figure that was designated to our group for annual raises. Then the Director would determine what % each of us would receive based upon our manager's documentation. So we all got different annual raises (if any). And that was that. It was our own fault if we didn't receive a large increase.
But this type of thing isn't done in our public school district. Everyone gets the same % which I find strange. But it's the current talk of the town. Just another reason why I've got the Princess at a small charter school. Yes. There's still drama at the school. But there's a lot less bureaucracy to deal with. I know all the teachers. I'm getting to know the faces of all the new kids and their parents. I get to touch base with the Princess current and prior teachers. I see their enthusiasm & energy. I make sure I let them know I support and appreciate them. I try to contribute when and where I can.
I've had fabulous teachers in my life. Teachers who inspire me to want to cram more into my brain. I'm in my 30s and I still remember my elementary school teachers. In 6th grade, we studied at our own pace. Each Friday, each student sat down with our teacher. And we created a "contract" for the following week. The contract detailed out all the subjects and lessons for the week. And when we finished one thing, our teacher signed off on that task. AND we had reptiles in our classroom. I got to take care of the one aquarium of lizards for at least 3 months during my 6th grade year. I remember how challenged I was as a 2nd grader, when I got placed in a combined 2nd/3rd grade class. And I was able to keep up with the 3rd graders!
Now the Hubs? He thinks I had a "fairy tale" school experience. I equate it to living in SoCal in the 70s. But the Hubs? He h-a-t-e-d school as a kid. I think it's because where he lived. He lived in Chicago - in the city (where my FIL was a cop). And I definitely don't want the kidlings to feel about school the way the Hubs felt about it as a kid. I want them to LOVE school. I want them to LOVE learning. I want them to absorb every bit of knowledge that's presented to them! Because that's how I felt! I looked forward to entering the class every day. And I felt that my teachers felt that way too.
And the way I felt as a kid? And how I felt that my teachers felt? I wish that the teachers of our city's public schools felt that way. I'm sure some of them do. But I wish ALL of them had that feeling. And I wish they had the parental support that my elementary school teachers had back 30 years ago. The support that some parents at the Princess' charter school give the teachers. We've got to get our kids to love learning. And the teachers and administrators that surround our kids each day can help give them that feeling. And we need to do our share at home too.
Did you love school as a kid? Do your kids love school?
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