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April 2012 Moms
ChicagoChick14
member
Strike update (PIP)
ChicagoChick14
member
Thanks for the support ladies. I love fighting for a cause so this was
right up my alley. I wasn't able to pump at all and I paid for it
later, but I was happy to be there and happy to bring DS (pics to
follow).
As for some of the comments (ahem, Softskate):
Re:Our salary. The average salary is just that, an average. I have taken a
couple dozen graduate courses in order to be in the higher end of the
salary schedule and that tuition was paid by me. My first Masters is
all on student loans and my second was paid for be me and a grant I
received from CPS. Sure I make more money, but I also have paid
THOUSANDS in order to be in that bracket. Plus I have been teaching
eleven years which is a factor in their average as well.
Re: Low-income parents. In the neighborhood where I teach, a large part
of the reason they are low income is because they are immigrants and
don't have the skills to work, so they stay home with their kids. Most
of the families at our school have a stay at home mom. We have over 800
students and only 30 came. The number was considered very low with us being a "scab school"
which means kids from other schools were expected to show up as well. A lot of parents brought their children to march with us and expressed their support.
Re: Stuff you read/see on the media: They have been vilifying the
teachers throughout the entire contract discussion and most of the time
only report on stuff they think will get people's attention like the
discussion of pay. That is NOT the main issue. A big part of it is
teacher evaluations. Did you know they want a percentage of my
evaluation to be determined by my students? Can you imagine a teenager
giving you your rating at your job? It just a percent of the total
rating, but still. What credentials do they have to rate me? It's not
like college students who know how to think for themselves, but a kid
for heaven's sake! Also, our test scores are going to be tied to our
evaluations (if they get their way), so that means teachers that work in
low income areas will have to work twice as hard as teachers in more
well off areas. And what if I have a difficult class that year, maybe
their teacher went on maternity leave the previous year and they didn't
get a proper education, and they are going to determine my rating...how
is that fair? Their way of evaluating teachers need to be revised and
that is one of the issues.
Re: Catholic school pay. The amount of Archdiocese of Chicago teacher
pay must have gone up since I was there! I made $22,500 my first year.
I know what its like not to make a lot and I made the switch to CPS
because I wanted a better life for myself, like to move out of my
parent's house and start a savings account. While I hated the pay at the Catholic schools, at
least I had the support of parents if there was something needed in the
classroom or a parent volunteer if I needed an extra set of hands in the
classroom. In CPS the parents either don't support us and we are the
ones really "parenting" the kids or they financially can't support us, or
they can't communicate with us because they don't always speak English.
A good aspect of CPS is that teachers can't be forced out by a
principal because of something they did. Our union protects that from
happening. Granted, that can also work against us but that is not the
intention.
Re: Striking during the school year: Yea it sucks. This thing has been
discussed with the powers-that-be for almost a year. I am the first to
say our leader isn't exactly the most tactful person, but they are
fighting for us and if I was in her shoes, I would probably have the
same attitude towards the media. The school year will still be the same
amount of days, we'll make them up either during the year or at the
end of the year. They will still be getting their education (just postponed a couple days which don't make anyone happy)
Imimahoney & Patella-Thank you for your comments and support.
Patella- you really brought a lot of issues to light and ones that are
often forgotten.
Here is a pic of our littlest striker:
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Strike update (PIP)
Good luck and I hope this ends sooner than later. Know that the Mass Teachers Association supports and stands by you!
Well said!!! As a fellow well, former, for now teacher, you have my support!
Glad you had a good day!
I value teachers a lot and know in many locations they are under paid and/or overworked with the amount of kids they get in their classroom. I find it very unfortunate that we always seem to cut schooling first.
Our Governor (in Kansas) is wanting to get rid of all income and business tax, yet at the same time has cut 15% of public education spending since just 2009. I understand cutting taxes to a certain extent but not at the expense of children's education.
1) I hope the strike is over quickly with a positive resolution for everyone's sake.
2) You should bring the baby every day and take nursing breaks if you can't pump! A good nursing cover can work wonders unless you are EPing - I honestly can't remember right now.
Best of luck to you!
I EP so nursing is out.
That would be awesome if I could though. There was no place for me to pump (I was parked on a side street with lots of ped. traffic) and DS would have been pissed if I made him sit in his carseat that long without moving.
Is there anyone you trust enough to hang out with LO while you pump in the car? Even on a side street, a hooter hider can help... People pump and drive with that stuff! Again, I wish you and all the other teachers the best of luck!
I agree also. Your DS is so cute:) and now I miss Chicago summers!!
My cousin works at my school so I totally have someone to watch him its just if one of my students sees me sitting in my car they might want to chat, which could be akward. Driving around the neighborhood is an option tho.
Thanks for the update. I was thinking about you when I was reading the news reports about the strike. It will be very interesting to see what the final outcome is.
In regards to the evaluations, I hate how districts want to incorporate test scores into evaluations and pay, especially considering as how those tests have no impact on the students. In ca, students posted pics of the state tests on social media sites. It is a joke.
The baby is by far the cutest striker.
How my kids do on their state Regents test is part of my evaluation and pay raise. It's been like this since I started 7 years ago I'm at a charter school in the city.
Micah Leonard
Our school is in Brighton Park which isn't far from there!