What can teachers do to organize against school cuts?

Answer 1

It's called the NEA and the AFT. Join one of the unions already in place!

For the people above griping about teachers and lack of quality in their childrens' education....

There are good and not-so-good teachers, just like with doctors, lawyers, or any other service profession. If your child was in 4th grade and reading at 1st grade level, why wasn't he in special education? If your child doesn't learn well in a large-group format, he needs special education... most categories of children in sped have average or better intelligence, but need a different method of instruction from that found in the regular classroom. The "tutoring" he needed would be provided through pull-out instruction with a highly trained sped resource teacher who knows how to help kids like him. Or, let me guess, when they tried to get him tested for the help he needed, you turned it down?

Also, you really do get what you pay for... low pay means only those with the "calling" are going to teacher...and having a calling does not guarrantee talent. Also, lack of funding means that the tools teachers need to maximize student learning are not always available, and teachers are given too many students to give each child the real attention he/she needs to succeed.

Just to give you a "feel" for what teacher pay really boils down to... My husband, with a Master's degree, was receiving such low pay that when I was going through college to get my own degree and not working myself, we qualified for Medicaid for our 2 children, and WIC for the baby. Add in having to repay student loans on that kind of pay....

"School cuts" aren't just about teacher pay. It's about materials, building repair, etc. And indeed, for the LEVEL OF TRAINING a teacher must have before starting to work, teachers are underpaid.

Here are average starting salaries for people with 4-year college degrees:
Accounting (private): $44,564
Management trainee: $35,811
Consulting: $49,781
Sales: $37,130
Accounting (public): $41,039
Financial/Treasury analysis: $45,596
Software design/development: $53,729
Design/construction engineering: $47,058
Registered nurse: $38,775
Physician Assistants: $41,820

Teaching: $29,733


Overall career averages (having experience time):

With a B.A./4-year degree
Tech support staff $48,577
Real Estate collateral appraiser $81,720
Staff Nurse $58,385

With a Master's Degree (and after 10 years, most teachers do have Master's due to professional development requirements): Tech Systems administrator $56,533
Financial Advisor $99,984
Lawyer $91,000
Usability professional/technology $86,689
Pharmacist $95,847
Psychologist $73,605

Teacher: $38,500


And before you say that "well, service professions that are 'callings' make less...."

From Salary Wizard:

Associate Pastor: $56,268
Pastor: $77,651

So before you knock someone trying to teach too many kids with not enough time or materials, who is doing it for minimal pay compared to other people with similar levels of training and experience, and who has myriad other duties besides actual instruction, including hallway and recess duties, a mountain of paperwork, and attendance/organization of student and community extracurricular activities.... why don't you try getting your degree and becoming a teacher yourself!

Answer 2

Well, maybe you can start accepting smaller pay raises and less benefits, like the rest of us do. I have gone years with no raises, small raises or pay cuts because I had to start paying for my own medical insurance etc.

But school budget time came around and every year, taxes increased between 9 and 12%, where are tax payers supposed to get this money?

If you want to organize against cuts, figure out a way to hold the costs to the tax payer down. If you run a club, let them fund raise for activities, not ask for tax dollars, bake sales, pizza sales and car washes can help.

Teaching would help too. My son was in 4th grade and reading at a 1st grade level. I was paying $120 a week to take him to a tutor plus paying school taxes.

Answer 3

Forget the public school system. We need private schools. Public education is worse than drugs on your brain.

Here's an example of how public schools handle problems:

My highschool in Louisiana, like any other school, recieve a few bomb threats now and then, and everytime there was a bomb threat to the school, they would always take us out to the same place: the bleachers in the football field. Now, if someone was serious about placing a bomb that WOULD really hurt some people, wouldn't they put the bomb in the bleachers and tell the school it was in the lockers or something? But let's not take in the interests and suggestions of the students...noooo...

If you care fo your children's futures, send them to private schools. For those of us who can't afford it, work overtime.

Answer 4

They can start teaching children to read, write, do maths, some geography, some history, some culture, some music, instead of teaching them to draw posters for an anti-bullying campaign and how to put a condom on a banana.