There are so many problems with this story.
While driving home from work today, I had my radio on our local NPR station to hear about the plight of L.A. Teachers who are facing “budget cuts.” (I put that in quotes for a reason.)
After that story, I could not tell you what else was on the radio. I was too obsessed with the school employees featured in the story to hear anything else.
To begin with, it’s important to note that the L.A. teachers walked out of class to protest a purported budget cut. The only problem is that they are receiving a $200 Million budget increase.
Oh, but it doesn’t cover their standard of living increase, they complain. They received $200 million extra.
Oh, but it doesn’t cover new education mandates. They receieved $200 million extra.
Now, they may think it is an inadequate increase, but a larger budget is a budget increase, even if it is only a single dollar, and no matter the cost of living. The budget has increased!
But that wasn’t the bad part. (We’ve heard this (il)logic come out of Congress every year.) The part that made me weep for America was their chant.
Teachers with megaphones were shouting, “What do we want? No Budget Cuts! When do we want it? Now!”
These are teachers. TEACHERS! They are responsible for guiding kids to education! And they couldn’t figure out that bit of poor logic? Not one math teacher or physics teacher came out and said, “Guys, let’s not do that particular chant…” And this while they are asking for a raise?
L.A. Unified Superintendent Brewer said that he “supports the teachers 200%…” Really? 200%? Did you learn math and statistics from the same teachers who are in charge of explaining logic?
In the end, the point they are trying to make is that they aren’t receiving what they feel is fair compensation for the demands of their work. We’ll ignore the fact that they work at their mutual pleasure, and can leave at any time. The reality is that they are not receiving a budget cut. They shouldn’t assume that the public is too stupid to understand the reality of an inadequate budget as opposed to a budget cut – unless they are too ignorant to understand the difference, which I doubt. Rather than treating the public as idiots, they should be genuine in their requests.
Furthermore, is there no teacher in the L.A. school system who can explain how their rhetoric makes them sound like the least capable people to be receiving any kind of budget benefit, let alone be put in charge of educating others?
Dan Says:
June 7th, 2008 at 10:48 amVisit Dan
What do we want?!
A budget increase sufficient to cover the increased cost of living!
When do we want it?!
Within the next fiscal year!
matt Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 8:21 amVisit matt
The irony is California passed a law this year mandating that in order to homeschool your own child, you must be a certified teacher. The thought being that only a certified teacher, with credentials from the state, is capable of educating children. This if course was done to protect these poor children from their backward parents and force them into public schools, where, supposedly, they would receive proper educuation and “socialization”. The teachers in the NPR story you cited, according to this law, are more capable teachers than a parent with a doctorate in physics. If given the choice between these certified teachers or my uncertifed wife, their chant makes that choice that much easier.