Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Union teachers refused to work, and are then fired

This is pretty big news - Unionized Rhode Island Teachers Refuse To Work 25 Minutes More Per Day, So Town Fires All Of Them:

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A school superintendent in Rhode Island is trying to fix an abysmally bad school system.

Her plan calls for teachers at a local high school to work 25 minutes longer per day, each lunch with students once in a while, and help with tutoring. The teachers' union has refused to accept these apparently onerous demands.

The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000. This exemplifies a nationwide trend in which public sector workers make far more than their private-sector counterparts (with better benefits).
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I am afraid that the union will take Rhode Island to court and the teachers will get their jobs back. All the while the children will continue to suffer.

If Rhode Island is able to make it stick, I wonder if any other states will follow their example.

Oh, and check out the comments. At the time of this posting there are 254 comments for a post that isn't even eight hours old yet.

(Hat tip: Instapundit)


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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, public school, public education

4 comments:

Luke Holzmann said...

Whoa! There are some pretty heated comments there. Of course, they seem to be mostly going 'round and 'round about government vs. big corporations at the moment...

~Luke

gary said...

Have you heard about NJ Gov. Mark Christie's speech? He is taking on the public sector spending head on. There are some school cuts but he says they won't affect children's learning but he expects lies form the unions anyway.

Deb O said...

East Providence is not unique to Rhode Island. All public school teachers are unionized and have fabulous benefits and tenure. The kids need teachers who care more about the quality of their teaching and less about the size of their paychecks. Yes, there are teachers who are dedicated and caring. Unfortunately, they are intimidated by their colleagues who are "Union First". My own children had experience with Rhode Island teachers' "work to rule" before I came to my senses and began homeschooling.

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

$78,000!??? Um... that's beyond well-paid; that's wasteful spending.