54 Detroit schools closed as 800 teachers call in sick

[Charity]

54 Detroit schools closed as 800 teachers call in sick

DETROIT -- 54 Detroit elementary schools were closed this morning after nearly 800 teachers called in sick for classes.

The closings were announced about 15 minutes after the 7:30 a.m. start time at Pasteur, Dixon, Carleton and Barbara Jordan schools. While some children were loaded back on school buses for a trip back home, others had to wait at school for parents or guardians to pick them up.

School officials had estimated Tuesday that as many as 1,500 teachers planned to protest because they are lending the district five days' pay at the same time principals could see their salaries rise from 4.7 percent to 10.6 percent.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...0414/1026/rss06 (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060322/UPDATE/603220414/1026/rss06)

Don't you love it when these "teachers" hold our nation's youth hostage just for money. http://www.conservababes.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif http://www.conservababes.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/libssuck.gif

[Wolfcounsel]

That's a good reason those clowns masquerading as Principals are using. They "took" a 10 percent pay cut once, and now they are getting it back, at the same time the teachers have to lend five days' pay to help out an underfinance? Did I read that right? Only 800 teachers called in sick?

[Charity]

DETROIT A sick-out by an estimated 15-hundred Detroit school teachers closed four elementary schools today.
School officials say they used administrators and substitutes to cover for as many of the missing teachers as possible.

A district spokeswoman says the teachers are not happy giving up five days of pay to help balance the budget while some school principals are getting raises.

The president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, Janna Garrison, says the teachers feel betrayed. Garrison adds that the union did not sanction the sick-out, although it was aware of rumors that it would take place.

http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=4667294&nav=0Rcx

[Riverboat]

Only 800 teachers called in sick?

Since the principals have no principles, surely they could pitch in and take over the classes for a day or two.

I'd make it 801 .

[routerider]

If my employer asked me to lend them 5 days of pay I'd tell him to *&^% off.

[Charity]

I feel sorry for the kids.

[Charity]

Fifty-four Detroit schools forced to close by teacher absence


March 22, 2006

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By CHASTITY PRATT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


<!-- SIDEBAR PHOTOS AND FACT BOXES --><!-- ARTICLE SIDEBAR --><!-- BODY TEXT --><!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->Fifty-four Detroit schools were forced to close Wednesday by teachers who called in sick en masse.

As of Wednesday morning, Detroit Public School officials said at least 1,500 teachers called in sick.

Many teachers apparently called in sick to protest their losing five days' pay this year at a time when principals and assistant principals may get pay increases.

Parents were being told to pick up their kids at the schools which were closed. The schools were expected to reopen Thursday.

Under an agreement between the teachers union and the school district, the teachers are supposed to get reimbursed next school year for loaning the financially strapped district the five days worth of pay.

Principals and assistant principals lost 10 percent of their pay this school year, but were recently told they would get some of that pay back through pay adjustments this spring.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060322/NEWS11/60322002/1013/RSS07

[Charity]

Detroit Public School Teachers' Blackboard Flu
By Brandon Truttling
Web produced by Christine Lasek
March 22, 2006
Wednesday morning, hundreds of Detroit teachers called in sick with a case of the "blackboard flu." Teachers are upset over what they perceive are unfair pay cuts and concessions. At least 4 schools were closed because of the sickout.
The Detroit Teachers for Fairness, a group of teachers that call themselves a union within a union, separate from the Detroit Federation of Teachers, have united. They feel as though they have been duped into one of the worst contact negotiations ever.
Just this week, the first installment of 5 consecutive loans was taken out of each Detroit Public School teachers’ paycheck.
The agreement, to give up 5 days pay for 5 consecutive pay periods, and the loss of 5 sick days, was agreed to by teachers, understanding that the district was in need of their support to open classrooms at the beginning of the school year.
However, as of late, the newly elected school board has seemingly balanced the budget and found a surplus, which, according to the DTFF, has allowed the district to hire Detroit police officers laid off by the city police department.
Also, many teachers are upset over a recent raise for principals. Teachers remain at the 2003-2004 pay scale, and are facing the ongoing concessions already agreed to, when they believed everyone involved was making sacrifices.
7 Action News spoke with William Coleman, CFO of Detroit Public Schools. He said the teacher sickout is all the result of a misunderstanding.
"The teachers’ union fully understood our budget," Coleman explained. "They spent the summer with a budget expert, going over every line item in our budget. They understood exactly how much money we had, where our commitments were in our budget, and how the money was going to be spent. It was unrelated. The loan was a way that teachers could contribute to the district’s financial improvement, without having to take a permanent pay cut. We would never take a loan from our teachers to give it to another union. That is totally ridiculous." DPS has reported that at least 750 teachers have called in sick Wednesday. On a normal day, the average is about 300.
http://www.detnow.com/wxyz/nw_local_news/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15924_4561419,00.html

[Rink]

In my opinion ALL 800 of those teachers need to be canned, THEN they can stand on the unemployment lines and think about the job they screwed up because they held out for more pay, benefits et al, when Many people in this nation dont have it Half as good as they do.

[Beowulf]

Not like kids in Detroit are getting a great education anyway based on it's poverty and crime rate.

[Charity]

Rink- I agree

Beo- Good point

[DesertFox]

We don't know enough to judge yet. The article says "some principals," not "all principals." That could mean that some principals are up for a standard, seniority-based pay raise or that something in their contracts triggered a raise at this time no matter what else happened. We also don't know if the principals loaned any money to the district.

We're also assuming that the district is too stupid to see how it all looks if the situation is as reported, which is why I doubt that it is.

They ain't nothing more political and contentious in America, not even race relations, than school budgets; and I seriously doubt this situation is as out of control as reported.

[ThomasIsUnderrated]

They ain't nothing more political and contentious in America, not even race relations, than school budgets;

Isn't that the truth.

[Riverboat]

In my opinion ALL 800 of those teachers need to be canned, THEN they can stand on the unemployment lines and think about the job they screwed up because they held out for more pay, benefits et al, when Many people in this nation dont have it Half as good as they do.

Detroit teachers lent the first of those five days' pay, a part of a one-year contract it reached with the financially struggling district.
Principals argue their increase isn't a raise because they took a 10 percent pay cut in the last school year, and administrators say they need the pay boost to keep and attract principals.

Detroit Federation of Teachers officials said they urged staffers to show up. They said they risk disciplinary measures if teachers can't explain their absence. "We are urging our members to go to work," said union spokeswoman Michelle Price.

The average DFT member will see a reduction of about $1,636 in pay because of the loan. The remaining four days will also be taken out of the teachers' paychecks, and district officials have promised to repay the teachers in the future years.
The teachers weren't holding out for more pay. They were protesting the fact that THEY made sacrifices in good faith, and they are being rewarded for it by watching the money they might have earned go to administrators who counter that the economic incentives are necessary to "keep and attract principals." Of course, the irony of what they say is entirely lost on them, the most obvious mark of an administrator.

I guess teachers have it better than half the country, although it's hard to say how good it is on a lot of days where I am. But, let that go for now. It should be emphasized, if anyone missed it, that the union did not orchestrate nor approve of this.

I'm really curious about the promissory note. Here in Texas, when George Bush was governor, the legislature funded health care for teachers. After Bush left Austin for the White House, it was yanked. Our blow-dried governor shows no inclination to reinstate what had been guaranteed. If I were a Detroit teacher, I would expect to see donkeys in trees before getting any of that money back.

I can promise you one thing: Asking teachers to make concessions anywhere will be a mighty tough sell with this betrayal in the background.

[Rink]

Funny I knew of several teachers who retired and lived VERY good on the more than one pensions they had as teachers.

Save the pity party for someone who cares, I dont, not when kids are graduating in increasing numbers not knowing how to read or write their own name or do basic math.

[Un Con Troll Able]

Perhaps if the school district/city government would stop funding Sha'neesa Centers (on-campus daycare centers) in their schools to give underage (overwhelmingly black) girls their 'dignity' by allowing them to attend school while their unwanted babies play in the same building, then perhaps they wouldn't have an education funding problem.

[Riverboat]

Funny I knew of several teachers who retired and lived VERY good on the more than one pensions they had as teachers.

Save the pity party for someone who cares, I dont, not when kids are graduating in increasing numbers not knowing how to read or write their own name or do basic math.If my wife and I retired with two pensions, you can bet we'd be better off, too.

Here's an example how kids can graduate without reading and math skills, or even the skill to tie their own shoes. Not more than an hour ago I got a phone call from a friend of mine at the "senior campus" (11-12 grade) who told me that large numbers of students were called down to the office about a program. All these students' averages are below 65. If they attend an after-school program held in the library where they will complete some perfunctory modules, they will be able to "earn" a 70, walk across the stage, and go on to lead productive lives as. . . as. . . Well, your guess is as good as mine.

Once again, no self-respecting teacher would come up with such a gravy train ride for the mouth-breathing slouchers. They're morons, all right, but even they are smart enough to recognize a free ride. An idea this stupid could only come from an administrator, the same ones with their hands on the pitchforks stuck in the back of the teachers.

[ANI]

Just goes to show their dedication to the betterment of the children.

[Longhorn_Platinum]

Rink:
Save the pity party for someone who cares, I dont, not when kids are graduating in increasing numbers not knowing how to read or write their own name or do basic math.

:sulk: HELLO!!!! Is anyone home? It's not the fault of the teachers that these kids are graduating with substandard skills. If anything, it's the ADMINISTRATORS that are ordering the dumbing down of American public education. The same administrators that are taking money away from the teachers that you want "canned". The bottom line is,...

:shame: ...you don't know what you're talking about.

[Rink]

Funny the teachers GAVE UP ON ME when I was in High school because they thought I was a Retard and thus unteachable, hence I graduated High school Not Knowing my multiplication and division tables, it wasnt that I didnt try to learn, it was that they Gave up on me.

They didnt also care where your credits came from just as long as you graduated and got out of their hair they didnt give two squats whether you could read or write, believe me I know people personally that graduated not knowing how to read or Write their names and that was in the bloody 80's so dont go blamin the administration when I saw with my own eyes teachers that sat behind desks and did NOTHING, gave us no assignments and gave up on those of us they perceived as being too stupid.

I know exactly what I'm talkin bout

[Incident_command]

:sulk: HELLO!!!! Is anyone home? It's not the fault of the teachers that these kids are graduating with substandard skills. If anything, it's the ADMINISTRATORS that are ordering the dumbing down of American public education. The same administrators that are taking money away from the teachers that you want "canned". The bottom line is,...

:shame: ...you don't know what you're talking about.

And the parents. Can't forget mom and dad on this one. I sit with my boy every night and do his homework with him. I know how he's doing and what he needs help in. I dont blame teachers as much as I once did. After teaching PE as my 2nd job for a few years I soon found out what the real problem was. Parents and Admin.

[Rhino]

I can promise you one thing: Asking teachers to make concessions anywhere will be a mighty tough sell with this betrayal in the background.I'm confused. So, one party should be paid back for their sacrifice, but the other should not? If the reporting is to be believed, the principals are merely being paid back the same pay sacrifice they made last year, just as the teachers making their sacrifice this year are supposed to be paid back next year. If it's unfair to pay back a sacrifice from the principals as originally promised, then these teachers should also agree not be paid back next year. After all, fair is fair.

DF almost certainly has it right though. There has to be more to this story than we're being told.

[Longhorn_Platinum]

Rink:
Funny the teachers GAVE UP ON ME when I was in High school because they thought I was a Retard and thus unteachable, hence I graduated High school Not Knowing my multiplication and division tables, it wasnt that I didnt try to learn, it was that they Gave up on me.

:sulk: How many slaves have you owned? How about your ancestors? Zero? Then, how does it make you feel when a black person hates all white people, because whites used to own slaves? Yes, I know you have reason to feel bitter because of what happened to you, but you can't blame me for that, nor can you blame those teachers in Detroit. One has nothing to do with the other.

They didnt also care where your credits came from just as long as you graduated and got out of their hair they didnt give two squats whether you could read or write, believe me I know people personally that graduated not knowing how to read or Write their names and that was in the bloody 80's so dont go blamin the administration when I saw with my own eyes teachers that sat behind desks and did NOTHING, gave us no assignments and gave up on those of us they perceived as being too stupid.

I know exactly what I'm talkin bout

:sulk: NO, you don't. Those teachers were probably under pressure to give everyone passing grades, whether they earned it or not, & that corrupts the entire system. I've seen students sit & do nothing, even when a teacher tries to get them to learn, because the student knows that he will not be retained, even when he refuses coöperation. So, what's a teacher to do? And even if you're right (which you aren't), why are you blaming those Detroit teachers for what happened to you? Do you think the administrators deserve the money that they've stolen from the teachers? Is that what you think?