Her name is not Ms. Smith. She's not the type of lady who would want what has happened to her brought up. She didn't draw attention to herself during her long career preferring to toil in near anonymity, recognized mostly just by all the students and teachers whose lives she touched over the years.
Ms. Smith retired a little over a month ago after giving the better part of her life to the Duval County Public School system and my school in particular. She was kind, giving, hard working and involved in the school well beyond what was called for and for her years of service the district with a shrug of its shoulders is going to short change her thousands of dollars. Her sin, retiring to soon.
I have mentioned I am not a fan of the new contract, I believe it undervalues veteran teachers and encourages them to be average. Furthermore I believe the vast majority of teachers would have chosen a bigger base salary over the possibility of performance bonuses and that's an option we should have been given. That's enough right there not to support the contract but for what it is going to do to to Ms. Smith it makes it a priority.
Teacher's on top of the pay scale which Ms. Smith was are set to get a 9,000 dollar pay out this year. Generous yes but also well deserved after a life time of service but since Ms. Smith retired before the contract was ratified, which I am sure it will be, she is ineligible for even a prorated portion of that money. That's right friends if she would have held on till alter this week when the contract is sure to be passed then the money would have been hers, money I am sure she could use in retirement.
How can the district short change her and the dozens of other who retired early this year? This seems hardly fair for teachers who gave so much of themselves for decades in our schools. Ms Smith deserves so much more than what she got and the final thing she will receive is poor treatment from the district.
Ms. Smith retired a little over a month ago after giving the better part of her life to the Duval County Public School system and my school in particular. She was kind, giving, hard working and involved in the school well beyond what was called for and for her years of service the district with a shrug of its shoulders is going to short change her thousands of dollars. Her sin, retiring to soon.
I have mentioned I am not a fan of the new contract, I believe it undervalues veteran teachers and encourages them to be average. Furthermore I believe the vast majority of teachers would have chosen a bigger base salary over the possibility of performance bonuses and that's an option we should have been given. That's enough right there not to support the contract but for what it is going to do to to Ms. Smith it makes it a priority.
Teacher's on top of the pay scale which Ms. Smith was are set to get a 9,000 dollar pay out this year. Generous yes but also well deserved after a life time of service but since Ms. Smith retired before the contract was ratified, which I am sure it will be, she is ineligible for even a prorated portion of that money. That's right friends if she would have held on till alter this week when the contract is sure to be passed then the money would have been hers, money I am sure she could use in retirement.
How can the district short change her and the dozens of other who retired early this year? This seems hardly fair for teachers who gave so much of themselves for decades in our schools. Ms Smith deserves so much more than what she got and the final thing she will receive is poor treatment from the district.
Sorry to hear about her plight. Will teachers receive a retroactive check later this year?
ReplyDeleteIf we ratify, the estimate for the backpay is early April. but many are asking if we will have taxes withheld on an annualized basis, or as if we earned six months of increase in two weeks?
ReplyDeleteI never received a ballot.
ReplyDeleteI encourage every member to vote no and not to ratify. Have any of you looked at the mandatory lesson plan template or the common planning template? It isn't a raise if you take more work home. Those parts of the contract were purposely left out of the mailer each member of the Union were to receive. Just like the language that allows a principal to use one planning period per week for their whim. That was not in the last contract and the members were left in the dark by DTU in the info sheet they sent last time.
ReplyDelete