Right now life for many is not so good. Right now life for many is very, very good. I fall somewhere in between, and I am thankful for that. However, to state that I am thankful for what I have also assumes I shall continue to have what I have, unless I do something stupid or illegal to cause me to lose what I have. But that's not the way it is, and my life is about to change drastically if Sen. Bishop has his way and state employees' pay is cut by 5%. Then the district I am in might further cut my pay, and make me pay more for my benefits. I have done nothing but continue to work hard at my job, yet, since what I do is not valued, I am going to lose wages. Many of you who read this blog have family members who will also lose, I wonder why that doesn't bother you enough to support us in our fight to maintain the wage we now earn. When things were good in this land, we teachers we're told not to compare ourselves to the private sector, whose earnings where substantial. Now, things aren't so good and we are being told that we deserve no more than those who are in the private sector and have had their pay cut. (I need to thank a peer for this truth). The pay cut will not lower my out of pocket expenses necessary to my profession. Continuing education is costly and I need to continue to earn credits to renew my certificate. I am not complaining that I need to keep learning, I am only stating that I pay for the mandatory learning. And there are many other "voluntary" expenses that we spend on our job, like paper because the school always runs out of it before the year ends. If education is valued in this country, like those in politics say it is, then why are those of us who are "highly qualified" with Bachelor Degrees, and Master's Degrees, and passing grades on certification tests, and endorsements on our certificates not valued? If you have a job where you are secure, be thankful. If you have a job that puts you in the "wealthy" category, be thankful because the politicians want you to be happy because you are a financial asset to them. If you have a job you love that doesn't pay a lot, but you don't really need the money, be thankful. If you have a job where you are valued and are financially compensated, be thankful. Me? I'm thankful I have the opportunity to possibly reach people who will see that what is about to happen to teachers, is not right, and hopefully you will speak up for us, and your kids. There is a reason those in power want you to think public education is so very lacking, they would like to privatize education. The rich get richer and can afford to be more educated, so the wealthy continue to be powerful and in control. I didn't believe this for a long, long time, I do now. I would love things to continue as they were, I was very happy being part of the working middle class, but we are disappearing. Please, please begin to get this. What you have today, may very well be gone tomorrow, even those of you who think you have it pretty good. I thought I did.
Rosemary
rose, let me first begin by stating that, with the exception of maybe the police and fire fighters, teachers are the most grossly underpaid profession out there. i think that for far too long they have not received the credit they deserve. that being said, from everything i am reading it seems like the plan has the potential to be a good plan. michigan is $1.6 billion dollars in deficit and under this proposal it would turn erase that deficit with nearly $2 billion in savings. is there another plan out there that someone else has propose that outlines the same type of turnaround?
ReplyDeletei know that it stinks to take a pay cut. because of layoffs and the economy i recently took a 100% paycut. it stinks, and it's hard, but we will get through. to me, it also seems like senator bishop is making an effort to save jobs. instead of mass layoffs, he is asking that everyone take a 5% decrease in pay to help stabilize the budget and save thousands of state jobs. from what i read, if the bill doesn't pass the only logical next step would be to eliminate jobs. i'm sure for tenured people that isn't really a problem, but for a brand new state employee who is just starting off that is catastrophic.
i see a lot of talk, not just on here but other articles i read, about how teachers are underpaid and not fully compensated for the work that they do. i see prison guards lamenting the fact that they are exposed to the most violent and dangerous criminals, and that they earn every penny they get. we all know the lack absurdly inadequate the pay for police and fire is. but what would happen if your school lost 10 teachers because of pay cuts, or the prison lost 10 guards or the police lost 10 officers? class sizes would get larger, a greater likelihood of a guard being injured would occur, and response times and the overall protection of the community would suffer because there would be less police and fire to respond. i know that the pay cut stinks, but to me it seems that the alternative is far worse.
i also don't believe that senator bishop hates teachers and public education in general, as you have so eloquently put it. this proposed pay cut is far reaching, and would effect many more people who aren't teachers than who are. i have also looked up his voting record to see just where he stood.
voted yes for 2007 education budget
voted yes for the 2007 public school ret. benefits
voted yes in 2007 for the art, history and library funding
voted yes for the 2007 community college (read: public) funding
voted yes on a tax surcharge for business owners to raise $1 billion in revenue for public schools
voted yes in 2008 for t.a. for students in high poverty areas
voted yes on all budgets proposed in 2009 and 2010.
that doesn't seem like a man who is against education at all. it seems like a man who is trying his hardest to prevent michigan from becoming another california. he seems to be acting in a very utilitarian type of manner, trying his hardest to save jobs and the state. and what shouldn't be overlooked is that he is just proposing this. it will still have to go to a vote, in which the people of michigan will decide. in the end, it remains in the people’s hands.
eric
i should also add that the one thing i really disagree with is that the state employee's will have to pay 20% of their own health benefits if the bill passes. it seems that if you are cutting pay there has to be a way to avoid this. that being said, what would prevent the employee from opting out of their healthcare and electing the federal healthcare that the president is trying to get through? isn't that what the whole point of the .gov healthcare is? i have to say that i'm uneducated on this point so it really is a question.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all let me commend you on your tone, it is so much more friendly and makes me want to respond in kind. Your statement that Sen. Bishop's "plan" will erase the deficit is erroneous. It may reduce the deficit, but it will not eliminate it nor will it create a surplus. More importantly, it will not stimulate the economy, nor encourage talented young professional educators to remain in Michigan, it is simply the wrong way to go. Your next statement that asserts that you are without an income is misleading, as although you did lose your job, you have sources of income that most who lose their jobs do not have. Your argument that teachers and prison guards, (not sure if this was a purposeful pairing or just coincidence), policeman and firefighters will lose their jobs if pay cuts are not enacted and then society will suffer, just proves my point that those of us serving the community, educating, keeping citizens safe, and keeping order, deserve to be validated in every way, including wages earned for the important work we do. As for Senator Bishop being a friend to educators; you mention that he voted yes for a 2007 education budget, was that the one that cut billions from education? Then you say he seems like a man acting in a very Utilitarian way; no he is not, as he is not looking out for the greatest good of the greatest number of people, if he was he would not be attempting to irrevocably harm public education in Michigan. And his "proposal" is not up for public vote, it is a bill that will go through the senate and the house and then to the Governor's desk. As for universal health care, I don't know either, it has simply become a mess because those who have don't care if those who don't, don't.
ReplyDelete"It's a pretty nice job for that kind of pay," said Sen. Bishop. Well, Melanie, I think Rosemary was correct in inferring that Sen. Bishop has a pretty low opinion of teachers. I am grateful that I have a colleague like Rosemary, who takes the time to make sure her facts are correct before writing something. I am also thankful that she has the courage to write some of the things that the rest of us are thinking, but are not quite brave enough to write or say. This whole perception that teachers are so overpaid is a long standing argument. I have been at many social functions where people will say things like, "Teachers are so overpaid for only working 9 months a year, and having all those vacations!" Those same people used to brag about the wonderful holiday bonuses they or their husbands got, that were sometimes in the thousands of dollars range. I remember when our superintendant told us that we could no longer have bagels or snacks at meetings because it wouldn't be proper to take from the public. I have also heard these same people at my social events gripe, "How dare the school put Kleenex and hand sanitizer on the back to school list, shouldn't schools pay for this stuff?" When I tell them that, no, most teachers buy these 'luxuries," they hardly bat an eye. They accept that truth. Recently it took me two hours extra to do my required professional development at home, that is now required to be done online, because my home computer is not new enough, and needed many downloads to work the required programs. I thought about people working in the private sector and wondered if their companies would have provided them with a laptop to take home to do a required project? Probably. At least that is what my friends who work in private sectors tell me. People will argue until the end of time that some people are over paid and some are underpaid. I believe that football players are grossly overpaid! Does the public support their right to be overpaid? Absolutely. Everytime someone buys a ticket and goes to one of the games, or buys a licensed NFL jersey, or buys one of the products advertised on TV during one of their games! Do I think that paraprofessionals and preschool teachers are underpaid? Absolutely. They work with our precisous children and make way less than people who are paid to play a game for a living! I am not knocking football; I like football. This is just an analogy of how screwed up our priorities are, and also how relative the term, "overpaid," has become. I loved how Rosemary threw Sen. Bishop's words back at him, because I agree with her, that his job must be pretty nice for the money....or is it? I am sure Sen. Bishop and other politicians could outline their days, responsibilities, and worthiness. When backed against a fence, we all can. However, before just pushing ahead with a bill, that Rosemary made you aware that can pass without any vote, our legislatures and public need to talk to teachers. I have a son in public education, and I am thrilled that all of his teachers are college educated, and are compensated well for their jobs (His teachers' pay scale is a little higher than the district I work for). I am happy for them. They deserve every penny. My son's education is an investment, not just for us and for him, but for the future of this country. Educating the youth of our country is a huge responsiblity, yet Sen. Bishop thinks it is just "a nice job for the pay." It is way more than a job, and sometimes it is not all that nice! It is important work, though. If the public sees the worth in paying professional atheletes, singers, etc., why is paying professional teachers a salary they have earned so unreasonable?
ReplyDeleteLove the passion Kathy, and the facts!
ReplyDeleteyou are both ignoring my point. which would you prefer; 10% of the teachers, janitors, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, paramedics and every other state employee losing their job because of a layoff, or a temorary 5% pay reduction for the next three years to get a dying state back on track? the choice is simple.
ReplyDeletei never said teachers were over paid either. in fact, i believe the very fist thing i said was that they were severly underpaid. so, kathleen, i'm not sure where you pull that from. also, rosemary states opinions, not facts. you also state opinios, not facts. your stance is subjective, just as this entire blog is. i simply pulled information i found from a bipartisan site.
rosemary, senator bishop may have voted yes for a budget that reduced funding to schools. i was not aware of that. however, it's funny how you pointed out the one instance that supports what you are saying and ignored the others. but i understand that. my question is, from what i recall, that bill passed in the sentate by a fairly large margin. i believe that 2 people voted nay. the governer signed it into law. so, following your logic, am i to believe that every person who voted that yes on that bill hates teachers?
I did not have time to read every bill you mentioned that Sen. Bishop voted Y on. My one example more than proved that if you are going to use his votes on bills as an argument, then know exactly what the bill proposed. And my point is, that the legislature should not be trying to balance the budget on the backs of any of the hard working people you mention. They need to find another way, perhaps one that will lesson the gap between the very wealthy and the disappearing middle class, not broaden it.
ReplyDelete