Save "Are" Teachers Act II

In response to Save "Are" Teachers Polar Bear Writes ...

C'mon now Mish. The sign obviously says "Save Area Teachers." The edge of the sign is just folded over. Clearly these kids care about more than just their own local teachers. Very commendable!

Obvious?!

Dear Polar Bear ...

I have a simple question to ask.
Was it so tough to play the video?

Here is the image I posted



Here is the link I posted:
In a KCCI video teacher, Terry Hoffman has the kids chanting "Show Us The Money".

Let's stop at the 12 second mark and take a look at what is obvious.



The clip above is as clear as I can get of a the full sign. It is perfectly obvious the sign says "Save ARE Teachers".

By the way it is exceptionally hard to stop a video of someone waving a sign and get a sharp image clip of it. I tried a half dozen times and the first image was the sharpest I could get. However, the second image shows that anyone who bothered to play the video, could easily have seen what the sign says.

Email From a School Director

Inquiring minds might be interested in an email from Patrick Brown, a director of operations of a private school in Costa Rica.

Dear Mish,

I've been following your blog for almost a year. I often post your articles on my facebook page or email them to friends and family.

I currently have one particular friend who writes, "Obviously, this will sound a little defensive; but didn't "Mish" miss adding any sort of proof to his Massachusetts teacher claim? I mean, anybody can start a blog and rattle off garbage."

He said this in response to your article titled, "Save Are Teachers", where you wrote, "In Massachusetts, teachers were telling kids that they would lose their homes if they did not get more money." If you can find the time to send me the reference for this claim, I would really appreciate it.

I happen to be in education. I'm the director of operations of a private independent K-12 American school in Costa Rica. Our school probably has much more in common with private US schools than you might think. My friend lives in la-la land and probably cannot take the fact that public schools in the U/S. and around the world have been run over by union thugs whose most minimal interest is the students.

Thanks much and please keep up the fantastic work. I cannot believe you do not charge for this!

Patrick Brown
Director Operations
Country Day School
An American School Serving the International Community

Faulty Memory

Hello Patrick, If I charged for what I did, you never would have found me. The best sites are all free. It's deflation at work.

That aside, thanks for the opportunity to clarify and to bring up a story that is truly worth revisiting.

I have no need to make stories up. The reason is simple: Truth is frequently stranger and more entertaining than fiction.

However, I do admit my memory is not perfect. I cited Massachusetts. I meant Rhode Island. With that hopefully minor transgression out of the way, and with apologies to Massachusetts, let's flashback to Wednesday, February 17, 2010.

Please consider Democratic Strategist Blasts Obama's Obeisance To Unions; Students Back Superintendent Firing All Teachers

Students Support Firing Teachers

As noted in Central Falls Rhode Island Fires Every High School Teacher the superintendent fired every teacher in a pay dispute. Teachers refused to work an extra 25 minutes a day even though 50% of the students at the school are failing all of their classes and the graduation rate is 48%.

Here's an update to the story: Students stand up for Central Falls school chief.

A student-run group called Young Voices rallied in front of the Rhode Island Department of Education at noontime on Wednesday to support Central Falls Supt. Frances Gallo, who plans on firing all of the city's high school teachers as part of a state-ordered reform initiative.

Some 20 students from Providence gathered to speak on behalf of students in Central Falls, who were not invited to the rally because Young Voices was worried about the possibility of reprisals from the Central Falls' teachers.

According to Karen Feldman, one of the co-directors of Young Voices, Central Falls youth said that teachers have been telling their students that they might lose their houses if they are fired. According to Young Voices, students have said that their teachers are using the classroom as a bully pulpit to express their outrage with Gallo's decision.

Teacher salaries at the high school average $72-78k. That does not include benefits. Nor does it factor in 3 months off in the summer. If some teachers lose their houses over this, they only have themselves to blame.

More importantly, teachers have no right to lay their personal problems on the backs of students. Those students have enough problems as it is.

I appreciate the second opportunity to point out Central Falls Rhode Island teachers, making an average of $72-78k per year, would not work an extra 25 minutes a day, even though 50% of the students at the school are failing all of their classes and the graduation rate is 48%.

The icing on the union cake was the guilt trip those teachers laid on their students in regards to their self-imposed plight of potentially losing their homes.

Here's the deal: Any teacher in that school who voted against working an extra 25 minutes and lost their job and may lose their house, deserves to lose both.

Those teachers who wanted to work an extra 25 minutes, but could not because an insanely greedy public union got in the way, need to seriously consider if they ever want to work for another public union.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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