Bemoaning and P.O.'d, hating my school district

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great. the NEA has been trying to negotiate a raise in my school district. We havent seen one for 10+ years, literally. We cannot afford anything up here as the cost of living has left us all in the dust. The school board is blocking us at every turn. They are crying poverty...BUT...get this... they are going to allow the principals to live in district housing for FREE! Yep that's right. The rest of us are living out in the middle of no where, going through h*ll on a daily basis and being charged between $600-$1000 a month for the privledge but they get what is in essence a $6000-$10,000 dollar raise. I am so pissed, if I could afford to quit right now I would.

-- Najia (najia274@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002

Answers

sorry everyone. I know this in one way relates to homesteading. I just had to vent. :^(

-- Najia (najia274@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

Sounds like you should use your degree in private industry instead of the teaching field.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

My heart goes out to you...I don't have any good suggestions to offer, I just wanted you to know that I can feel your pain!!! It is totally unfair that the principals get FREE housing and no one else receives compensation / wage increases. You are just in your anger and I hope that you can figure out a solution soon. What about a STRIKE??? I think that would "P" me off enough to consider it!!! Best Wishes Najia...

-- K Phillips (Philli@Peoplepc.com), April 03, 2002.

unfortunately, a strike is near impossible out here because we all live in district housing. if we were to strike, we would be forced to live elsewhere. the rub is we live in tiny, fly-in villages and there is no where else to live. literally no where. soooo the district continues to exploit because it knows it can. i am waiting for Ed McMann to show up with my million dollar check to i can quit.

-- Najia (najia274@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

Are you looking at other places to teach? Many states have teacher shortages, especially in some of the special ed fields. Could you make more money as a private tutor? This terrible time could actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise for you.

I'm not sure where you live, but depending upon what you do for a living, it can be very difficult to get people to move somewhere, even if you're paying them a lot relative to someone else. We all know people who wouldn't live in (name a place), even if you paid them $1 million. Your district may be having that problem.

I'm not a fan of strikes, for anybody--I think all labor disputes should be solved by mandatory arbitration. I also don't like it when teachers discuss these things with students--in our area, even very young kids often come home with "my teacher will lose his/her job if we don't pass the levy", which I think is unprofessional. Let the parents know what's going on, by all means, but please don't involve the children.

I think the best bet is for teachers to flood the local newspapers with letters to the editor--if anyone can write persuasively, it should be teachers. If you can get some feature articles written about individual teachers, that should help as well to get the public on your side. Good luck.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), April 04, 2002.



I assume most of the teachers are in the same frame of mind? One idea would be for all, (or as many as you could involve) of the teachers to write up applications for the job of prinicipal. It wouldn't be more than a gesture but it would help get your point across and might be a good way feel like you are able to do something. Sometimes pointless (or pointed), gestures achieve more than you would think.

I'm sorry for your predicament.

-- gilly (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), April 04, 2002.


GT, don't worry. The kids are oblivious and the parents are apathetic at best. We would never lose our professionalism. I think you were onto something when you said we should look elsewhere. We probably have one more year out here to raise enough money to move to a better district. :)

Gilly, that would be pointless. In my district it would be in essence political suicide. Besides, they didnt create the problem they are merely benefiting. :)

Thanks for letting me vent, guys! :)

-- Najia (najia274@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.


Najia, I know a lot of people who said losing their jobs was the best thing that happened to them because it got them out of a rut. You have the advantage right now of being employed while you can go look for a new opportunity.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), April 04, 2002.

This has been an ongoing problem since the Mollie Hooch case which dictated that the state had to put full school facilities in all the villages. With no local tax base and the states declining revenues from oil, expect it to get worse. Kivalina is just the tip of the iceburg. You, unfortunately are on the receiving end and really have only two choices, stick it out or bail out. The bush school districts have no problem in getting teachers, witness the fact that they were able to replace those 5 in Kivalina almost immediately. However, those qualified to be principals need a bigger incentive to go to the bush with all its problems, thus the free rent. Personally, I think the schools in the villages are a waste of the states money. The kids got a better education and were better off when the BIA sent them to Chimawa or Sitka. The parents of the problems in Kivalina are some of the first generation that were fully village schooled. The problems you and your cohorts face now, both in the economic and social areas will not go away until the villages have complete responsibility for their own schools, including funding.

-- Mac in AK (nospam@no.spam), April 05, 2002.

My father was thrilled to finally retire from teaching in the 70's, and he was the best! I know, 'cause I had him for a teacher too. Taught High School History and coached winning tennis teams and girls basketball. Believed in disipline. Volunteered for everything. Loved earnest students and athletes. Every year got more difficult. Carpeted hallways, Olympic size pools, TV's in every classromm (not used), NEA, Parents. Administration. Nuf said.

-- Susan in Northern Lower Penn Michigan (cobwoman@yahoo.com), April 07, 2002.


Mac, Kivalina is the norm. I know it is getting alot of press right now but MANY of the things that happened out there happen every day in our district and other bush districts as well. We all were impressed that the school district there took a proactive stand and is backing the staff. About 3 months ago a kid brought a rifle to school (not in my village but in my district) and hid it under the school building. He covered it with snow and had shells in his pocket. He told his friends he was going to kill a teacher. Luckily the friend told on him and they were able to find the gun and get the kid out of there before another tragedy took place. Know what our district did? Nothing. They didn't do anything including warn other teachers, schools that this incident happened and these are the things we should watch for, this is the protocol to follow....nada. It was 100% swept under the rug. Scary, huh?

-- najia (najia274@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.

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