And They Are Off!……..

Well the first shot has been fired.  At District 150.  Again. This time over at the Chronicle, CJ is wondering why teachers only work 6 and half hours a day and of course he points out they have about 3 months off during the summer.  Hmm.  Is there nothing that District 150 does that agrees with bloggers and the fringe lunatics?  My God, the usual suspects are replying to his post and they have the answers and they know the cause.    

Here we go again only now it’s the teachers getting aimed at.  Funny, it was these very teachers that were supposed to side with the great protestors over shorten Wednesdays and other cuts the Administration was doing.  In fact, one of the fringe leaders said that most of the teachers supported her and their faction and yet she posts a reply: “Great post!”  I’m sure that’ll chap some asses as when it comes to teachers and their salaries, well, that is a dangerous area to tread.

Now we have teachers that only work 6 and half hours compared to other districts like Dunlap and Pekin’s Grade School District 108.  I don’t think you can compare other districts against ours.  The demographics are completely different.    So, which is it?  Let’s bash the teachers contract or the Administration or both? Hell don’t forget those suffering souls that don’t get paid to take the abuse of every arm chair quarterback in the district, The School Board Members.

Have you ever taught a class?  I have. Yep, I was an instructor for little over a year at my place of employment.  I taught a 40 hr class each week to new hires from all over our District.  It was an 8 hour day, with a lunch break of 30 minutes and by the end of the week, it was most draining experience I have ever had.  In fact, when the school was disbanded because it was moved to Springfield, I was relieved to get back to my regular job.  These were adults, can you imagine what it must be like to teach kids, especially the youths we have in some of our schools today?  I think the teachers deserve combat pay.  My son is a teacher and I know he spends many hours after school grading papers, preparing tests, and on and on.  Then, three days a week, after school,  he drives to ISU to continue his education.  He is working towards his Masters.  Teacher pay in this area isn’t all that great.  You need more education to climb the pay scale so one can make a decent living teaching.

So, as I see it, there are 6 periods (1 hour in length with a 5 minute pass period) in our high schools and the teachers work 6.5 hours, with a 30 minute lunch, that is now 7 hours.  Your not going to deny them lunch are ya CJ?  Then, they get a prep hour which now makes it 8 hours. 

You know what, I think our teachers are overworked as it is and unless you have been in their shoes fighting irate and threatening parents, parents that don’t bother to show up for anything unless “Johnny” is arrested,  spiteful youths, weapons, administration politics, no backing from many of the Principals because most Principals don’t want to “rock the boat”, mandatory after school assignments like basketball games, detention,  and then after all that, you manage to teach a class, I’d say shut the fuck up.

Yeah, lets keep beating down our schools.  It’s working. No one wants to come her to Peoria.  Let’s keep protesting and getting the idiot local news involved.  They love a cat fight but you’ll never see them at a science fair or taping the Sterling Merit Awards dinner. 

Teaching in the combative atmosphere that is District 150 and with the current fringe parent element, I say we are lucky anyone qualified stays around at all.  I will guarantee you that most teachers put in way more than 6.5 hours a day.  

I guess that is what everyone wants. Let’s close the damn District and sell off the properties.  You can twist anything to make it fit your point of view.  You can twist anything this schools District does and like anything else, if people hear the rhetoric long enough, it becomes believable.  I know teachers, I know the crap they put up with.  I say leave them the fuck alone, they are one of the few things that is working at our schools.

Maybe we can get a blogger to go after some of the lame parents in this District?  You know the ones.  The ones that don’t work. The ones who think our schools should baby sit their kids and feed their kids.  Maybe we should require a “Parent Contract”?  You want it free, then you need to take responsibility for your children and their education.  Don’t show up for Parent - Teacher conferences?  Then no more free lunch for the kid.  How inhumane I am.  Starving kids because mom (and where ever dad is) is too lazy to make her kid do their homework and come to school with the proper supplies.  This is the demographic our district has.  Kids who qualify for free lunch at high schools and then forgo the lunch and ask the lunch lady if they can break a hundred dollar bill for the candy machine.  Little kids at the grade school level where their only decent meal at all is the breakfast and lunch they get at school.  Mostly raised by an idiot parent with no father figure at all.  What do we expect?  Generation after generation of babies having babies and expecting everything handed to them. 

Heaven forbid we, as a society require responsibility from them.  Nope, instead we hear this just to stir things up.  What else could be behind the post?  Maybe someone should sit behind CJ all day while he is at work and time his every move.   Sigh…