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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Are Florida’s teachers getting raises or bonuses?

 Since the governor announced he wanted to put 400 plus million aside for teacher raises, I have wondered does he mean raise or bonus and we all know the difference between the two.
I received this from the DTU, There is a question about the Legislature’s intent on how the money is to be distributed. Is the money to be placed on the salary schedule? If so, that money would have to be available for future allocations. There has been no indication from the State that the money will be reallocated in the future.
The state stole 3% of teacher’s salaries two years ago to fill budget gaps so many teachers are dubious about anything they do, throw in merit pay, odious evaluations and the loss of job protections and those that aren’t angry are scared. I just want to know if they will continue to allocate money for Florida’s teachers who are some of the lowest paid in the country in the future or if they just wanted some Kumbaya sound bite.
Either way teachers haven’t forgotten their terrible treatment at the hands of the state and throwing a few dollars at us won't make us do so.

8 comments:

  1. Some people should be happy to just have a job. The Obama-economy is killing most private sector folks, and you are complaining that your bonus isn't enough. Stop being ungrateful, and just be thankful!

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  2. Maybe if you stopped leaving lame comments on blogs and started looking for a job things will be better for you.

    I am sorry you have been convinced that just having a job and taking whatever somebody decides to give you is good enough, that you think that is how things are supposed to be but it is not.

    As for the economy where it is not where we would like it, it has improved greatly from what Obama inherited. You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.

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  3. The DTU is a paper tiger. What do they give you in return for your dues?

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  4. I have issues with out union and I have detailed them in the blog. Chiefly they don't protect good teachers but at the end of the day I would rather have them then not have them.

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  5. I do not think that DTU is a paper tiger, but is indeed part of the political game. While DTU has managed to pull through on economic issues at contract time, DTU has been faulted for not ensuring that work conditions are ideal for both teaching and learning. Where is the FAME survey? Like the school climate survey, the FAME surveys should be posted online. Just like education reformers would say, there is no harm in the public knowing the leadership skills of our principals and administrators. If DTU really wanted to help Duval's teachers, DTU would stand up more to bully principals and administrators who routinely play politics and petty games with teachers - especially the ones who are not in the principal's clique.

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  6. The union almost always sides with administrators when I have an issue. What's the point of calling them? They treat teachers with contempt. They even argue that things aren't contractual when they clearly are. If you won't enforce the contract, why do you exist?

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  7. I agree 100 percent about DTU protecting abusive administrators in the district. If you are a DTU member and call your staff consultant with a concern, most of the time the staff consultant will first tell the DTU member that they are overreacting and then rationalize the behavior of the administrator. DTU protects bad administrators enough to lead me to believe that this is all a game to the people of DTU AND DCPS.

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  8. I am quickly reminded that as a teacher, we should be happy to just have a job when we say anything about getting a raise or any compensation for what we do. I even get the standard response... What are you complaining about, you have two months off during the summer. Well said, but have you ever considered that most "good" teachers work "at least two or more hours extra a day, (without getting paid for it). So, let's do our math. 2.5 hours a day times 180 school days, not counting weekends equals 450 hours worked without pay. Now let's divide that by an 8 hour day and you come up with 56 days... Well, I would say that just about takes care of that "Well you get two months off in the summer" comment. I don't know if anyone really knows, but The teachers in Brevard county have not gotten a raise or any increase in the past five years... I know, I should just be glad I have a job. I am, but it sure would be nice to be paid a cost of living raise or an increase for the time in service for what we have done. I just thought I would put in my two cents while I still had it.

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