Indianapolis Public Schools teachers walk out on the school board after the board tells them it would be difficult to come up with more than 1% raises given that IPS is already retrenching across the board.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s time for IPS to be broken up among the outlying township school corporations.
Adrienne Reiswerg, a teacher at the Key Learning Community, said the district must find money for teachers.
“IPS has money for everything but teachers,” she said. “We never expected to get rich on this job, but we never expected to get poor.”
It sounds to me like Superintendent White — for whom I hold no brief, I might add — has made the case that IPS simply hasn’t got ANY money to spare. Or would you perhaps prefer to teach in 45-student classrooms at the expense of some of your colleagues pounding the pavement, not just poor, but out of work?
Teachers are supposed to be some of the smartest people among us. That’s why we trust our children to them. But it sure sounds to me like IPS has hired out of the bottom of the teacher gene pool.
And what is this “recognition” shit?
“We’ve been struggling for two years without a contract,” Wolting said. “We’ve been doing all the things we’re supposed to be doing, and we don’t feel like we’re getting recognition.”
and
Joyce Hale, a 17-year teacher now at School 31, said it’s not even about the money for her, but about respect and being considered partners with the district.
“Why would we not have a contract for two years?” she said. “This is crazy. I just want us to be recognized.”
I’d say that getting a paycheck, funded by already-overburdened property tax payers, for a civil service job in this economy is pretty good recognition in and of itself, wouldn’t you?
I guess everybody has to tighten their belts — except union members. But hell, we see the same attitude at GM and Chrysler; why wouldn’t we expect to see it in our schools?
Maybe IPS should just go bankrupt, and all those teachers yammering for raises would have to go find other jobs. Actually I think that would be great — they probably voted overwhelmingly for the Anointed One anyway, so let Him find them jobs.