Oxendine says he wouldn’t have ordered teacher furloughs
Remember how we said those eager to replace Sonny Perdue might consider the governor’s decision to give teachers a three-day furlough to be something of a gamble?
Here’s something from this morning’s Athens Banner-Herald:
The leading Republican candidate for governor Wednesday criticized money-saving teacher furloughs and the way Gov. Sonny Perdue handled tri-state water negotiations.
Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, campaigning in Athens, said Perdue should have exempted teachers from the three-day furloughs he announced Tuesday.
Oxendine did not say specifically what he would cut to save the $300 million the state will save by not paying 100,000 teachers for three planning days, but he said he would have looked elsewhere in the budget for savings.
“When we are lagging the country in test scores and dropout rates, cutting education is probably not the best of ideas,” he said.
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67 comments Add your comment
ChrisS
July 23rd, 2009
9:56 am
They should have just not done the furloughs. State employees are important as well. The difference is that when non-educators are furlough, they actually get a day off work. Most teachers will just have to work without pay.
Sarah
July 23rd, 2009
10:44 am
Maybe not cutting over a billion dollars from the state’s education funding would have helped us with that “lagging the country in test scores and dropout rates” too. Thanks GOP for putting the children last, but then again they can’t vote for you so what do you care right?
The Snark
July 23rd, 2009
10:50 am
It takes no leadership to simply send out a memo saying “Cut 5%” every time the revenue estimate comes in 5% low. A real leader in the Governor’s office would have ordered a top-to-bottom analysis of where money is spent in every department and made a plan for targeted cuts. The Republican leaders in this state are amateurs.
sm
July 23rd, 2009
10:55 am
This is always what Perdue does. When we were short on fuel after Katrina, cut the schools. When the state is short on money, cut the schools. What is his next move? This governor is a joke.
Dash Riptide
July 23rd, 2009
10:56 am
“They should have just not done the furloughs. State employees are important as well. The difference is that when non-educators are furlough, they actually get a day off work. Most teachers will just have to work without pay.”
A furlough is just a pay cut no matter who suffers it. The work that needed doing during that “day off work” will still need to be done. Also, it strains credibility for those who get months of down time to begrudge others who might not have to work through a furlough day (or three).
Michael
July 23rd, 2009
11:18 am
Not all but some state employees that are not educators (such as support staff for said educators) will just work without pay as well Chris. Just because we are not getting paid does mean the job goes undone. Sure I could take the “day off” but my work still has to be done.
I would also add that furloughing employees takes money out of their wallets, money that would be used in the Georgia economy. Its a catch 22.
This also makes me wonder why states have to have a balanced budget but the federal government can run a muck.
Anotherteacher
July 23rd, 2009
11:55 am
Stop using us teachers as your political bargaining chip. Oxendine, you and your office raised everyone’s insurance payments so those of us with insurance could cover those without.
All politicians should stop seeing the voter population as Pavlovian dogs that will drool over anything.
Steve
July 23rd, 2009
12:00 pm
Please do not use any politician’s name and leadership in the same sentence. Unfortunately, we get what we vote for and then there is no accountability. The best and brightest go into business and the cannots go into politics.
AH
July 23rd, 2009
12:09 pm
Agreed Sonny shouldn’t have furloughed any state employees. There should have been firings. This includes from educators and other state workers. Then if you fire a few and still need to make cuts do the furloughs.
Rule .303
July 23rd, 2009
12:14 pm
“Maybe not cutting over a billion dollars from the state’s education funding would have helped us with that “lagging the country in test scores and dropout rates” too. Thanks GOP for putting the children last, but then again they can’t vote for you so what do you care right?”
Good idea, waste good money on something bad. Here’s a better, fire all the bad teachers who are responsible for GA’s crappy education system. Oh, never mind, we’d only retain about 20% of the teachers.
jim
July 23rd, 2009
12:27 pm
What about state troopers who will most likely be furloughed. Did you know that all of the money generated from fines does not go back to the state? All fine money goes back to the county or city where the offense occurred and a small portion goes to the court system. Here’s an idea, let the state have a portion of the fine money that is generated and troopers can keep working and keeping the roads safe.
asudst1992
July 23rd, 2009
12:32 pm
I’m an educator, and I refuse to bring my work home with me. I must admit that I’m no longer in the classroom though,but when I was, I graded work during down town at work. I will read and answer emails only while at home. Furlough me, and I’ll sit right here on this couch like I am doing now. Most educators are really dedicated to their profession, but some need to ease up a bit and not work themselves to death.
DeKalb Conservative
July 23rd, 2009
12:34 pm
Here’s an idea… cut funding of additional non-curriculum-based programs.
Let’s start with athletics.
Oxendine obviously has issues around basic economics and is pandering to teachers and their families. Saying you’d find other ways to find cuts isn’t providing a solution and isn’t being financially responsible.
asudst1992
July 23rd, 2009
12:38 pm
Cut athletics? Oh no, you said a bad word. That will not happen…especially with the big three: football, basketball, and baseball. Athletics also makes money for schools and systems now.
Jen
July 23rd, 2009
12:40 pm
I feel that there are other ways to make the needed cuts to balance the budget. Every state agency should start with reducing or eliminating the number of blackberries & the services to operate these blackberries that are assigned their employees. Instead of traveling long distances to gather everyone for a face to face meeting…incurring car rentals, airfare,hotel rooms, meals,etc. utilize conference calls and other technologies,etc.
With the rising costs of everything from gas, groceries, utilites, etc., all employees, state or otherwise, need their full salaries.
William
July 23rd, 2009
12:46 pm
Furlough less and fire more state employees. I have worked for both the state education and transportation departments and I can say with out a doubt that both are filled with inept employees who get very little work accomplished during the day.
DeKalb Conservative
July 23rd, 2009
12:47 pm
Sweet! If football, basketball and baseball make money then that means they are self sufficient and would need NO money.
Problem solved.
Bill White
July 23rd, 2009
12:47 pm
I love Sonny and love that he’s taken action on this, but it doesn’t go far enough. How about getting these overpaid teachers to quit by dangling a carrot over them to do home schooling? I bet they could either home school their own children (preferable) or maybe they could go into business home schooling other children. Think about it: Kill all most taxes and give parents (a man and a woman) the power to hire their own home schooler if mom can’t do it. I live in Mississippi and I know so many mothers who stay at home to school their children. It’s working out great. My aunt near Brasstown agrees and thinks Sonny needs to stand up to the teacher’s union and say no to this overpriced public education system. You all in Georgia should think about working together to shut it down. I don’t know much about that Oxendine fella, but he sounds like he worked hard as the state’s Insurance Commissioner for a while. Now I see that the teacher’s union might have gotten a hold of him. Sorry John, but you have to cut the budget in places like education, libraries and state parks. Your state should only fund police and fire with bare essentials.
I think my aunt should support Eric Johnson, but if he starts sounding like this, I don’t think she’ll have any good choices. I think Eric would be a great governor who will continue to work towards private education, promoting Christ-centered values in the state house and wiping the idea of public transportation off of Georgia’s agenda.
God Bless,
BOW
SMM
July 23rd, 2009
12:51 pm
Well, Mr. Oxendine, you just lost my vote. Furloughs, if they’re going to be done, need to be done fairly – across the board. There are plenty of other state employees in just as critical positions as teachers – 1st responders (EMS), public safety, public health workers, etc. You seem to be saying whatever it takes to get the teacher vote. Sorry, but this just turned me off to you!!! The better reponse would have been to cut some of the fluff projects like the fishing and wildlife museums, million dollar parking garages, etc.
2Cents2
July 23rd, 2009
12:53 pm
Atlanta could easily drop it’s employee rolls by 1/3. I still can’t imagine why it took 7 guys to replace my water meter. 2 to do the job, 2 to watch and the other 3 to talk on their cell phones, while sitting on the curb. Oh, they did stop talking for a second to tell me they liked my car… What a waste of tax dollars.
pd
July 23rd, 2009
12:53 pm
Ox is a bribe taker.
Nappytop
July 23rd, 2009
1:00 pm
Well, Mr. Oxendine, you just lost my vote. Furloughs, if they’re going to be done, need to be done fairly – across the board. There are plenty of other state employees in just as critical positions as teachers – 1st responders (EMS), public safety, public health workers, etc. You seem to be saying whatever it takes to get the teacher vote. Sorry, but this just turned me off to you!!! The better reponse would have been to cut some of the fluff projects like the fishing and wildlife museums, million dollar parking garages, etc.
Anyone who wants to be governor in the state of Georgia should pay attention to the teachers…we eliminated Barnes and we will do it again!
William
July 23rd, 2009
1:00 pm
Oxendine lost my vote. I hope a decent Libertarian runs for the office.
what about it
July 23rd, 2009
1:06 pm
First let me say that teachers do not get time off in the summer. They are going to classes to keep their certification. Here is what you can do to balance the budget:
1. Reduce the staff of the governor and the house and senate(trim their fat and they will find a way to balance the budget)
2. remove all open job slots in the budget and only reinstate when correct paperwork is done to show need.
3. use teleconferences and web meetings
4. stop paying for blackberries for ‘everyone’. A pager will work fine and is cheaper
5. stop paying benefits for illegal aliens
6. stop thinking that healthcare for everyone is a right set aside in the Constitution
7. court order DNA samples from all males that a unwed teenage girl has sex with to determine whose child it is and make the male pay child support
8. Make it a law that if a child has a 504 in their folder for school they cannot get a drivers license until they are 21. This would save a ton of money on printing costs and help the environment. It would also free up teachers to teach instead of sitting in meetings
Nikole
July 23rd, 2009
1:13 pm
@ Bill White—There is no union in GA. If there were, I wouldn’t be facing a $600 loss in my August pay. Shadow me for a day and you will find that I am overworked and underpaid.
DeKalb Conservative
July 23rd, 2009
1:20 pm
@SMM
“Well, Mr. Oxendine, you just lost my vote. Furloughs, if they’re going to be done, need to be done fairly – across the board. There are plenty of other state employees in just as critical positions as teachers – 1st responders (EMS), public safety, public health workers, etc.”
LMAO! You must be a product of the public school system if you can’t differentiate the critical importance of teachers v. 1st responders and public safety. Last time I checked when a state of emergency is declared and people are supposed to be off the roads, teachers don’t count as an exception as “critical employees”
Probably a bad time to also mentioned Japan is experimenting w/ robots in the classroom as an alternative to having a human present?
Linda
July 23rd, 2009
1:23 pm
Please tell me how reducing salaries to almost 300,000 people is going to increase retail sales and thus increase sales tax revenue. Panic? Maybe not, but it sure will keep me from shopping or contributing to charities!
Ellie
July 23rd, 2009
1:23 pm
Leave the teachers and education alone. They are under paid as it is and this is three days they will basically be working for nothing even though required to be in the classrooms. Now every elected official, including legislators, should be docked a minimum of five days pay. The same for their TOP staff people. Oh no, not days off, just dock them five days at a minum on their checks. Then hopefully they will get the message of what they are doing to the teachers and education system and see how those “little” guys who are busting their butts every day in the other departments feel. I am sick and tired of education taking a hit every time there is a budget problem. No wonder Georgia is at the bottom of the list nationally – we have a bunch of inmates in the asylum running the asylum.
CORE VALUES
July 23rd, 2009
1:44 pm
I will be voting for AUSTIN SCOTT a REAL CONSERVATIVE that will LEAD Georgia with a balanced budget.
303 aka slacker parent
July 23rd, 2009
1:48 pm
how about parents do a little work at home with your kids. It is idiots like 303 who send their 6 year olds off to school with the mental developement of a three year old, then blame teachers that are the problem.
Parents today are real slackers. And believe me, these imbocile chickens will come home to roost.
Dana
July 23rd, 2009
1:49 pm
BOW…homeschoolers are doing great in Mississippi?? Now that’s a real endorsement for that cowpie state…….sure, everyone hire your own teacher and let them teach whatever they want…look how well it works in Mississippi – a state widely renowned for its education prowess….NOT!
asudst1992
July 23rd, 2009
1:50 pm
Dekalb Conservative, In some districts and schools, the athletic department operaters strictly off of the money earned or raised. So, that’s already a practice is some areas…No athletic budget…ask a coach or two in small districts and schools.
CORE VALUES
July 23rd, 2009
1:53 pm
AUSTIN SCOTT FOR GOVERNOR!!! AUSTIN is a strong ADVOCATE for CHILDREN’S EDUCATION. A STRONG CONSERVATIVE for FAMILY VALUES! This young man is going to be a strong candidate for Governor.
Bill White
July 23rd, 2009
2:00 pm
@Dana We pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. We did well after the big hurricane and didn’t whine about it all. Hmm, who’s this Scott fella?
Tony
July 23rd, 2009
2:23 pm
I’ve been an educator for over 24 years and was looking forward to having a better quality of life at the end of my career. I no longer can count on step raises and everytime we get a cost living incease, that is offset by an increase in our health insurance. I was hoping to enjoy being an empty nester but with rising insurance cost, unstable gas prices, increasing cost of living and my home is worth less because appraisals are down that’s a moot point. What do our state leaders do? Force me to stay home and make less money. I thought we lived in a free country. The uninformed will say but you teachers get summers off. My summers consist of catching up on all home repairs I was unable to complete during the school year because I work late and weekends. Other days usually weekends I will attend workshops for school reform and teacher recertification. Finally, I might have the time to take a two weeks for a vacation which we were unable to afford this year. This furlough not only affects my current pay but my retirement. I will probably have to work during those furlough days so I can get my work done but our leaders already knew that.
jboy
July 23rd, 2009
2:27 pm
Well Mr. White:
Nobody ask you thar in Mississippi, with your state’s worst education scores and God forbid your terrible highways. Yall obviously don’t have state workers competent to work on them or the money. So take care of your own before you come over here in Georgia. We will handle our OWN!!!!!
SQ
July 23rd, 2009
3:05 pm
State agencies paid over $40 million last year to one company, state-contracted Covendis Technologies, to have IT consultants. Anyone see a way to save a bundle without furloughs to any state employee or educator?
Base
July 23rd, 2009
3:41 pm
Sorry Sonny and the goofy legislature fail again. Transportation,unemployment,education,water all needed attention not failure.What cuts have they taken? Vote them out.
Norbal
July 23rd, 2009
3:59 pm
Isn’t it funny. Here the loser oxendine says he wouldn’t do this, wouldn’t do that. But allowing for insurance rates to be raised, specifically by companies who contributed to his campaign, and still having the guts to put his wife & kids on the web for votes. Isn’t it lovely? oxendine = loser.
It's simple....
July 23rd, 2009
4:54 pm
Let’s shut the schools down on 3 student days and then see the parents scramble for childcare or have to take off work….then maybe they will change their tune……teachers raise the kids in this state (and others)….if you think we are sub-par then home school and raise them yourselves and do the education system a favor….apparently you can educate them way better than the professionals do… Go for it!!!! If parents did their jobs the right way at home, then teaching kids at school would be a breeze…..it’s a team effort. Do you tell your dentist how to fill a cavity? NO. Do you tell a doctor how to birth a baby? NO. Do you tell a mechanic how to fix your engine? NO. Then, how in the world do you think you can tell teachers how to do their jobs? If you have a right to be blogging with moans and complaints…then teachers have that right too….that’s what a blog is all about…an open forum to speak freely…My biggest complaint is sub-par parents who expect the education system to work miracles on kids due to their lack of parenting…I’m a teacher not miracle worker!
RJ
July 23rd, 2009
4:57 pm
This plan is a disgrace. It’s heartbreaking to read these stories from teachers. They are our greatest assets and year after year, they take it on the chin. Education is key to lifting the masses out of poverty. Education promotes economic growth-hey, conservatives should love that! Education reduces crime. Funding Education is a win-win in this state. This lousy governor has failed on every level since he got into office.Instead of showing leadership on attracting businesses, expanding education and building infrastructure,this benign throwback imbecile of a governor appeased the far right-wing religious nutcases with the sonogram requirement or prayed for rain. Why aren’t biotech firms locating here, because jackweeds like Sonny want to make a statement on stem cell research-wow I bet his supposed hero The Gipper would like that stance! Why aren’t businesses locating here? Because Moron Sonny and his ilk are against public transportation-ohhh, the boogeyman might be riding the rails ready to confiscate your money, guns and pure daughters! With so much potential in this state, Sonny has squandered it. What an embarrassment.
It's simple....
July 23rd, 2009
5:00 pm
And by the way, I’m at home during my well earned summer break after spending 5 hours working in my classroom for the third day in a row (for free) to prepare for the upcoming school year….How many of you are blogging on your employer’s dime? Just asking…
It's simple....
July 23rd, 2009
5:23 pm
…….So what….parents/taxpayers have a negative perception of educators…..what’s new with that? Guess what, I have many negative perceptions of the parents of my students and their ability to do exactly that….be a parent! Geez, you have to pay a fee and have a license to drive, pay a fee and have a license to fish and hunt, pay a fee and get a license to operate machinery or own a business……I say let’s start charging people a hefty fee ( A Parenting Tax) with required “parenting” coursework ( and renewal courses, as well) at their own expense to earn a license and the privilege to become a parent…..that would certainly off set the state deficit…..and most definitely improve the quality of our education system. Hmmm?
GSU
July 23rd, 2009
6:08 pm
Everyone wants benefits at someone elses expense, that is what Government is for
GSU
July 23rd, 2009
6:10 pm
Nikole, if you are truly overworked and underpaid, QUIT!!! this is a free market. If you are going to complain, do something about it instead of whining. If you do it because you like it, that is a benefit just like pay and that makes up for the lower salary. Goodness, you people are lazy and uneducated
Concerned Teacher
July 23rd, 2009
6:46 pm
One thing that hasn’t gotten a lot of mention are the days that are actually being cut. We have been told that three of our pre-planning days will be the furlough days. This means when I get to school I will have two days to pull together rosters and get information ready for school. I have been planning lessons all summer and of course I will be going in to get my classroom ready for the first day even though I won’t be getting paid for it. I have to be prepared. No matter how much work I do (unpaid) I still rely on meeting with other teachers and professionals during pre-planning to get ready for the school year. At the end of the day it will be the students who will get the short end of the stick. I know plenty of teachers that won’t do any planning because they aren’t getting paid. They won’t care if their classroom isn’t ready. But I do and I won’t be able to with an empty school. On top of this I will be trying to plan for an increased classroom size. Some of you may not know this but the classroom size has increased from 28 to 32. Since I teach five classes a day this means I will have almost another class worth of students that I’m responsible for. So in a nutshell, I have less days to plan for more students and on top of that I will be getting paid less for the increase in work. Oh and with my smaller salary and no Sonny money to help supply my classroom, even more money will be coming out of my now smaller pocket to help provide students with a quality education.
This plan sounds like the right step towards bettering education in Georgia.
GSU I can’t believe you would call us lazy and uneducated. You must not be familiar with the fact that we have to have a degree in our field and be certified to teach. I have an undergraduate degree in science and a masters in science education. I would hardly call this uneducated or lazy. What you call whining is simply us expressing concern about being on a tight budget. I have every dollar spent for my monthly paycheck and now I’m wondering where I’m going to get extra money to supplement my loss. I have a contract with a dollar amount which means nothing. I still have to spend my money to support my classroom otherwise all of you would call me a terrible teacher. Everybody wants better educated students but no one wants to pay for it.
State Employee
July 23rd, 2009
7:26 pm
You must be a product of the public school system if you can’t differentiate the critical importance of teachers v. 1st responders and public safety. Last time I checked when a state of emergency is declared and people are supposed to be off the roads, teachers don’t count as an exception as “critical employees”
Guess which agency is going to be furloughed along side the teachers and IS present at every disaster but is always overlooked? Family and Children Services. Our workers are present at every disaster making sure people have shelter, food, and whatever else they need, but we earn less than teachers even though we have Bachelor’s and Graduate degrees as well. We have had no raise for the last 2 years and haven’t been able to replace our lost workers in a year. Teachers, imagine that, if one of your co-workers moves, goes to another school, or even goes on maternity leave that means, if your job is like mine, you would take over the whole class that is left teacher-less; there are no substitutes for me. I do my job AND my former co-worker’s. I am so over hearing from teachers that they are “special.” Nikole, shadow ME for a day and you’ll run back to your classroom.
know what
July 23rd, 2009
8:40 pm
Actually I think that a furlough day that there is no way you can even be present to work for free. Federal law mandates that if you work you must be paid. I am not a teacher but my company has mandated a 10 furlough days by the end of the year for us and we have very strict instructions that we must not work at all (do not come to office. do not telecommute, not even so much as much as answer a phone call from work on our furlough day)–These instructions were given to us from our HR dept orginating from our legal department). I can’t say if this applies to teachers in Georgia or not.
Just another opinion
July 23rd, 2009
8:51 pm
I am a state employee and love my job. The state of Georgia has only been a mediocre place for me to work regarding pay and benefits. I don’t get paid nearly what I think my masters degree is worth. I am not very happy about being furloughed. I certainly need the money just as much as the next worker. However, the bottom line is that I am very glad to have a job. I am very glad to be blogging tonight knowing that it could be worse but it’s not- I could be searching the classified adds for a job rather than complaining about the loss of three days of pay. Teachers, first responders, and all other state employees are all in need of a job and most will be able to keep theirs. I have resigned myself to sucking it up and moving on even through the furloughs, praying that this doesn’t get any worse.
Teacher Mom
July 23rd, 2009
9:11 pm
We don;t “get summers off” W are paid on (190) contracts. Still- in the summer I am planning book study units for my gifted students, planning differentiated lessons for the rest of the class, preparing academic calendars showing state standards and how they relate to topics/materials being taught, reading up on latest techniques to work with children with special/specific needs, ADHD in the classroom, Behavior disorders, etc. etc. All this while being a wife and mother. I work as much in the summer as I do during the school year.
I feel educators take the brunt of everything! Cut money from us yet expect us to perform at even higher standards. “Sure, lets take a 3% cut in education, you know those teachers will work anyway.” Basically, that’s how we feel we are looked at.
To those who have never worked in education or do not know someone who has/does, you need to walk a mile before you start making comments on our quality, our amount of work, or the “time off” we get. Stone in glass houses my friends.
Just A Teacher
July 23rd, 2009
9:41 pm
Only those people who are educators or know someone well who is an educator know what we REALLY do for our students. How many other professionals or state employees spend their OWN money to make their jobs better or for others in their work place? NONE, teacher spend their own money for their students. We work more days on our day off then any other profession and we don’t get paid. Why? For YOUR children. We can have a doctorate degree and make barely over poverty level. There SO many other ways to make or save money for the state, for example FAIR TAX, 6 months tax free from income tax, the state would have more money then they know what to do with.
Reader
July 23rd, 2009
10:23 pm
Wow, don’t you just love this conservative, core value, republican run state! God Bless America!
Adrienne
July 23rd, 2009
10:33 pm
I’m a teacher and I’ve been in the position where I was out on maternity leave and did not have enoug time off and my husband’s job shut down so for 3 months we had no where near the income we normally had coming into our home. People are complaining about 3 days off with no pay, well consider this option for some people– 365 days off with no pay. I know what its llike to try to survive on unemployment and it is not a good feeling. So if furloughs are the way to possibly save another’s job, I am all for it. Sorry if I upset some, but it could be your job that is being saved.
rebecca tabb
July 23rd, 2009
10:55 pm
As a teacher, I can honestly say that even though furloughed, most teachers will give their time even though they are NOT paid. I have already worked in my classroom SEVERAL days over summer break. Class sizes are INCREASING. My husband, a GA State Trooper, most likely will receive furlough days as well. They have gone to a dicey, central radio system where ONE radio operator is in charge of SEVERAL counties and troopers at ONCE! This is a dangerous way to save money. It’s time we REBEL and take our politicians to task. Many ABLE BODIED people do NOT work and are on the public dole. We need to clean house!
Eric
July 23rd, 2009
11:37 pm
How about getting rid of the dead weight that is working for the state, including (especially) the dead weight in county school offices. Why do schools need 15 administrators and county offices to have assistant to an assistant to an assistant.
No instead Sonny taxes teachers and parapro’s (who are even more underpaid than teachers) and at the same time preaching how teachers need to produce more. Even a ten year old can tell you this makes no sense.
Anyone who thinks teachers life easy because we have summers off really is ignorant. Most of us have to work a job in the summer to make up for inadequate pay during the year. Never mind having to bring up other peoples kids during the year.
Sonny, have you met Roy Barnes? Your day is coming.
gacitizentoo
July 23rd, 2009
11:38 pm
Will someone tell Bill White there is no teacher un ion in Ga. Wow, he is full of …..misinformed statements. Maybe he should run for office. Seems he has spouting off before doing the homework down-pat. One of the biggest problems facing our state is illegal immigrants draining all state systems beyond the breaking point. Add to this the thousands of Katrina gypsy still in Atlanta. We Ga tax payers can’t keep up the bottom dwellers, but still we take the hit. State WORKERS now face cuts in pay. Oh well, I guess that will be a little less income tax paid.
Another teacher
July 23rd, 2009
11:42 pm
Yes, I am a teacher that is happy to have a job and do not want any of my fellow collegues to lose theirs. Yes, I will be spending my own time and money to prepare for my students, furlough days or no furlough days. My concern is more for teacher moral and the apathy that furlough days will foster. With all that the state needs us to do to prepare our students for the “test”, we have to go above and beyond to develop crafty and creative lessons to stimulate the minds of today’s students. Some teachers will use furlough days as a reason to continue doing as little as they always have and in a way, who can blame them. If you consider working for 190 days into our salary, it is not horrible but it is never 190 days. It is so much more. Yes, we are underpaid but we do have jobs. I think that the governor should just cut our salaries instead of asking us to take furlough days. Most of us will not “stay home” and do nothing. We will be in our classrooms working. He should just call it what it is. Oh yeah, and Governor, good luck with raising those test scores!
Thanks to those who understand
July 24th, 2009
1:52 am
Well, there are some of us who do have to take 3 furlough days and a $750 pay cut. I read where we are supposed to receive the 2.5% increase. I’ve not gotten that in years in my county. I’m blessed to have a job. I know that there are many that don’t appreciate what I do, but there are many lives that I changed. I have students whose parents still communicate to me and state that I’m their favorite teacher, or the best one they’ve had. That means that I’ve had a positive impact on their lives. That is why I entered the field, and no amount of furloughs will stop me from helping my students.
Dedicated Teacher
July 24th, 2009
3:16 am
Furloughs might not stop you from doing what is best for your students, but they might stop you from paying ALL of your bills. Do you also realize that as of July 1st, TRS has increased our retirement deduction and will increase it more over the next two years? When will the craziness end? When will we begin to place a higher value on education and raise our state out of the depths of underachievement?
Billy Bob
July 24th, 2009
8:17 am
Let me think about this. If I had to choose who shouldn’t get furloughs because they are more critical- teachers or troopers, who would I choose? My vote would definitely go with the troopers. I can’t see being without a teacher for 3 days being a life or death issue, but I can see not having that trooper on the road as a danger. I have never seen a teacher save someone from a burning car, get into a fight with a criminal on the side of the interstate, respond to an accident in the middle of a thunderstorm to help me when I was injured, confront an armed man, or spend their Christmas away from their families so that I could be safe with mine. I have seen troopers do all of these. So , teachers whining about the furlough days need to suck it up and deal with it.
One more thing, the actual teachers are underpaid, but most systems have way too many central office administrators who are overpaid. School systems seem to have the philosophy of promoting poor principals to the central office instead of giving them the boot.
Concerned Teacher
July 24th, 2009
9:51 am
All counties this past year had to make up the work for missing teachers. We were under a hiring freeze last year so we did more with less as teachers were let go and not replaced. At the end of the school year teachers from every school were surplussed to other schools whose teachers may have retired or to new schools that are opening this year. They released almost all the Teach for America teachers and some of the surplussed teachers went to fill those shoes. Teachers also haven’t gotten a raise although they have been approved by county boards. With the furloughs I will be making less as a third year teacher then when I started. So not only have I not gotten a pay raise I have had my pay cut.
Those of you who think that teaching isn’t a critical need have obviously forgotten where you learned all those skills you do every day. I’m not saying other jobs aren’t critical but in the long run, if students get low quality education then as a country the overall decline in our ability to be economically competitive is certain. We are already behind in math and science, which are the key fields to creating better technology. Without this better technology we get car companies that haven’t been unable to advance in fuel reduction like our foreign competitors. If you keep chipping away at education funding, you will continue to create the same sort of economic woes this country is seeing now. I may not save a life in my classroom but I have produced students that will go on to jobs in nursing, service, and law enforcement that will save lives.
Oh and Billy Bob there is plenty that goes on in a school that you don’t see. I guess it is hard to understand that criminals are younger these days and bring their weapons to the class and threaten me. I also have to break up the fights in the school like every other teacher. Some of my students have gone on to jail for drug possession, theft, rape, murder, etc. So yes I actually do get in scuffles with criminals even though you don’t see it. Did you know they have taken away school nurses as a funding cut this year. So guess who will be saving the lives of students when they have a medical emergency? When you look at it that way it looks like we are educators, law enforcement, and 1st responders all in one. You’re right we aren’t that critical.
Ticked Off Teacher
July 24th, 2009
10:00 am
Why doesn’t Sonny and his staff take a 3 day unpaid furlough? Or how about sthe state legislators? We already sacrificed a raise, now this? We need a UNION!
concerned teacher
July 24th, 2009
11:29 am
I think most of what I am feeling has already been said, however, I thought I would add a little reality for everyone out there. I just finished making plans with my classroom roommate to meet and set up our room on what was to be the first day of pre-planning (yes, we have two teachers in one room b/c we don’t have enough classrooms to accommodate all of our students and teachers so we have to share a room – just think about the logistics of that b/c we are not teaching the same thing). Now, we have been told that the first day of pre-planning will be our first furlough day! So, I am going to work anyway – for FREE. If I don’t, then I won’t have my classroom ready to meet parents on orientation night. What will parents say if my room looks askew for orientation? It just seems like there is no way to win in this situation.
Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to still have a job. It is just very frustrating to know that the work still has to be done and I don’t get paid for it. It is not a great way to start off a new school year. I will not sacrifice the quality of my classroom b/c our politicians tell me to go home unpaid. When I was a fairly new teacher I went to a conference (yeah, one of those that I paid for to keep my teacher certification on my off time) and the speaker advised new teachers to stay away from the teachers’ lounge b/c of what she called lounge lizards. These are people who go in there on their planning time and every time someone comes in they start fussing about something and trying to drag them into it. Can you imagine how many of those we will have to start the school year with now? The lizards usually don’t show up until October or November!
On a more serious note, please understand that I hate this for all state employees. I don’t know what is required of your jobs and if you have to come out of your own pocket for things then you need to speak up also. My issue with my job is that b/c of budget cuts I can’t order anything new for my classroom. I have been reduced to lining up my husband and three kids in Staples and making them go through the line on penny days and get their limit of everything that is on sale so I can stock my classroom. I want to teach a new novel this year, but to do so I will have to buy a class set myself. I want to take a course to help me be a better teacher, but there are no funds for continuing education to pay for that class, so it will also have to come out of my pocket. My insurance rates are going up. So between supplies, the novel, the class and insurance I am already out about $2,000 from my bank account and that is before figuring in the furlough days. I just want people to understand that all these “awful” teachers out there that so many of you keep saying should all be fired care so much about YOUR children that we are willing to dip that far into our own money. When it is written like this I am even starting to think we are all certifiable, but we probably have to be a little crazy to put up with everything that we do and still come back year after year. This is truly a labor of love. We certainly don’t do it for the money. That is why it hurts me so bad to read some of these posts that have no regard whatsoever for the personal sacrifices that we make.
GSU
July 24th, 2009
2:33 pm
Concerned teacher, you may know a good bit about science but you seem to be lacking an education in free market economics.
GSU
July 24th, 2009
2:34 pm
and oh, yes, ticked of teacher, a union is the way to solve it. Unions destroy organizations.
Ticked Off Teacher
July 24th, 2009
3:53 pm
GSU, provide some examples? They protect workers from being abused by their employer. If I sign a contract to work for a certain amount of days and get paid for thise days, should it not be honoired and enforced?
What do you do GSU, how about you take a 3 day furlough?
uninformed
July 28th, 2009
4:33 pm
My question which I know can be found, but I didn’t look, is how many furlough days did our top state government workers take? How much does our Governor make?Does he thinks the lowest paid people on the state payroll magically can grow money to pay bills?
Sounds like many people are just uninformed. The problems I see are that as a teacher I am on a fixed income. You take away my pay, I can’t pay my bills.That just leads to more problems.Afterschool care was free to the teachers last year in my district so we could stay later to plan and such (on our own time). This year we have to pay. This is a huge added expense. To take away even more money due to furloughs is seriously putting teachers in financial crisis. I worked my way through school, have thousands in student loans still and make piddly squat to help educate the leaders of tomorrow who often don’t care in the least. Faced with shortages at the school, supplies come out of my own pocket. At what point is my breaking point? I don’t know.
I just am amazed at the anger toward teachers from others. To those rude people saying ugly things about educators: Have you ever been in a room all day with children who have been raised by people like you? Obviously rudeness and ignorance is a learned behavior. Some of you need to get a life and stop blaming your unhappiness with yourself and inadequate parenting, on others.