re: Bossier teachers are possibly planning a strike or walkout

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teachers do not get paid commiserate with how important their job really is... sorry, they just don't...

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I agree with you. They get paid on how competitive the job market is and how difficult the job is, which limits the amount of people that can do it. Teaching is not hard from a skill perspective. It is hard because of the nature of the job, yes. I know lots of people who are teachers who are fricking dumb and there is no other way to describe them. I also know some that are brilliant and would be better suited in another industry but do it because they love it. The threshold for entry into the education career field is pretty low. Easy 4 year degree, pass a few standardized tests and boom now you are a teacher. Lots of people can and do get into it, so the market is flush with teachers willing to do the job.

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i understand what you are saying, but that "factoring in" doesn't make that money magically appear... they are still not getting paid during that time

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No the money doesn't just appear, but no one is making them take the job. Low (ish) pay with a metric frickton of time off every year. Give / take. They literally signed up for it knowing the deal. Their responsibility in the matter is not to be excused here just because they provide a public service. Firefighters get paid like arse too. They provide an important service too. They require extensive training and continuing education too, yet why don't we hear of the FF strike in every little town everywhere across America a few times per year? They get tons of time off, and a great retirement. Same as teachers.

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not to mention, teachers have to spend a lot of money out of pocket to cover supplies, when shite runs out and there's no money from the school to buy supplies... imagine you had to start buying all the paper at your office when it runs out all of sudden... think that would put a dent in your bottom line, eventually? i bet it would...

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So the solution is to pay them more so buying their own school supplies out of their own pockets is less impactful? How about the schools provide what the teachers need instead? Probably wayyyy cheaper.

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well, get a 2nd job during the summer

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Or a weekend gig, like millions of other americans, including myself, do. Want more money? Hustle. Or use your college degree to get into a better paying field, but don't expect 17 weeks off every year.

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Teaching is not hard from a skill perspective.

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It takes a very unique set of skills to deal with large groups of children for hours a day, every day for 9 months. I'd find that very difficult.

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It takes a very unique set of skills to deal with large groups of children for hours a day, every day for 9 months. I'd find that very difficult.

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Babysitting / discipline + introducing simple skills and rudimentary information in a few different ways to reach a wider range of learning abilities is not skill few people possess. It is grueling. It is cumbersome. It is challenging. It is emotional. It is stressful. It is not hard to do. Don't tell me it is anything more than that. I sat through 14 years of it myself. Looking back, I know I could do it better than damn near any of the teachers who taught me. I just wasn't dumb enough to enter a profession that paid like shite. If I LOVED it, then great I would put up with the negatives.

Also, people who get paid well tend to be in positions that either generate money for their employers (sales, engineering), or save money (operations, accounting, finance, HR to an extent). Teaching is, on the surface, a flat cost investment in the future, but it does not directly generate money. That tends to lower salaries as the people in charge are tasked with getting the most out of the least amount of money. Not saying it is right, but it just is.

I have respect for teachers. My wife, mother, godmother, grandfather, both grandmothers, god father, sister in law and 3 first cousins are teachers. I just hate hearing people complain about completely optional situations as if it is someone else's problem to fix.

My wife is a teacher in Bossier, a couple points here...

1. They are not going to strike or walk out, that’s just not going to happen over the local portion of their funding. If a strike were to happen if would be about the state/federal portion of their funding, being state/federal funding is not at issue there will be no walkout.

2. Bossier voters voted down a much more reasonable/moderate pay raise in 2012. The drastic tax proposal recently voted down was in part due to the lack of 2012 passing.

3. Bossier is the highest performing parish in our area but our teachers are paid the least, thus the school board is beginning to have issues retaining teachers and attracting new ones.

4. Bossier is the only parish not FCC compliant for bandwidth required for state mandated online testing.

5. A group of teachers, school board members, and chamber of commerce are now working together to find solutions regarding teacher and support staff pay as well as technology infrastructure. A strike or walk out would severely hurt that effort.

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don't come to me to fork over a pay raise. You knew what you were getting into when you decided to pursue that career.

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So, you never have asked for a pay raise? Never?

We have a copier machine at home because the copiers or broken or they just won’t let the teachers use them (as stupid as that sounds - it’s happened)

So you want my taxes to go up over 1000$ a year? No thanks holmes.

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Much more for administration ..... who do more than the standard rank and file teacher

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yeah, nope

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She should have notified the administration and given the test once the school provided the tests.

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She wanted to give the kids the test on the day it was scheduled.

Obviously she was not the only teacher affected. They were told that all 11 machines were "awaiting parts". The next morning, 4 were fixed.

She also said that at any given time, 3-4 of them are broken.

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summer school does. That's what my mom who was a JPS employee did when she needed more money. But I'm betting most of them don't want to actually part with their summer for the extra money...just wanna bitch about it

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My wife teaches summer school... it is such easy money that it took her 5 years to get a job doing it. Basically no one ever gives up the positions, and when someone does, they choose the applicant with the most seniority.