Teacher walkout

[2thDoc]

First off, I should admit my ignorance on this issue. Or, more precisely, the issues over which they planned the walkout....

But, I cant, for the life of me, understand how teachers can show their commitment by not showing up for work? Its a conundrum. I have asked some teachers and they just seem to yell the battle cry about "doing it for the kids" but how does getting a raise help a kid? I think many are as ignorant as I am but the pack mentality is alive and well.

We've heard from husbands of teachers (not a sexist comment bc of course guys can be teachers, too) and I admire them supporting their spouses...but what are the teachers missing a day of school to prove? Its an honest question....

[everlast]

[BuckyTownsend]

Fire all of them

[wdhigh]

If you all think this is salary based then you are misinformed and I doubt anything posted here will change your minds.

[sftull]

If you all think this is salary based then you are misinformed and I doubt anything posted here will change your minds.

Then enlighten us, so that we can understand.

[Moonlight Hunter]

I want the best for our teachers in this state, but a walk-out is about the most bullshit way to go about it.

My mind can be changed, but nothing I've seen so far has done it.

[2thDoc]

Then enlighten us, so that we can understand.

exactly. I just read an article and it was talking about a salary increase and decreased standardized testing. What am I missing, mr smartypants?

[2thDoc]

The state’s schools chief said Monday that teachers who come to Columbia on Wednesday to protest for higher pay and better working conditions are “walking out on their obligations” — a plan she cannot support.

quoted from the state paper

can we agree Molly Spearman knows more than most?

[Moonlight Hunter]

Call To Action.jpg

[JABIII]

Meanwhile, the lawyers in the SCE&G fiasco are asking for $2400 an hour...

[wdhigh]

4BEE7869-F934-4F9C-BB57-DB7E5C14B489.jpg

[DMP]

Asked my wife about this last night. (teacher in district 50) She didn't know anything about it. But she rarely watches the news and stays off of social media.

[FishSticker]

Fire all of them

Absolutely.....treat em just the like air traffic controllers

[JacksonsHuntingDuke]

Yea its about money. I have several teachers in my family who are very passionate about what they do but they will tell you that the pay is not enough.

[wdhigh]

CF70260B-8099-405C-BA4A-A0FFFA22DC98.jpeg

[Mars Bluff]

I think back to my teachers. There were a few good ones but by in large, we had some absolute dumbasses as teachers and as principles/school board etc. Some of them deserved more pay. The others deserved having their asses fired. Maybe some "blogger" will walk around the rally interviewing some of these teachers. That'd be your answer.

[wdhigh]

Yea its about money. I have several teachers in my family who are very passionate about what they do but they will tell you that the pay is not enough.

My wife has not once complained about her compensation. If anything I complain about the money she spends on her students. Unfortunately every profession has people who feel underpaid. Salary is set by district.

Most people unless self employed don’t have to buy much for their job.

[Moonlight Hunter]

H. 3759

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess123...bills/3759.htm


Article 9
Teacher Bill of Rights
Section 59-25-910. This act must be known and may be cited as the 'Teacher Bill of Rights'.

Section 59-25-920. All certified public school teachers in South Carolina should be able to expect the following:

(1) have their professional judgment and discretion included in regard to disciplinary actions or instructional decisions in the classroom made in accordance with school and district policy;

(2) teach free from fear of frivolous lawsuits;

(3) take appropriate disciplinary measures, pursuant to federal law, school policy and district policy, to facilitate a learning environment developed through a culture of respect between teacher and students;

(4) work in an environment that is conducive to learning;

(5) an unencumbered daily planning time that is coordinated with school administration;

(6) a recognition that the goal of the State should be a competitive salary commensurate with that of other professionals with similar years of experience, and educational degrees;

(7) have the State and district take all necessary steps to ensure that teachers are not burdened with unnecessary paperwork that prevents the fulfillment of the teacher's primary directive to implement effective instruction for their students;

(8) additional compensation or time for work time above and beyond contracted days; and

(9) receive, as teachers under induction contracts, leadership and support from school and district personnel, including the assignment of qualified mentors who:

(a) commit to helping them become competent and confident professionals in the classroom; and

(b) offer support and assistance as needed to meet performance standards and professional expectations.

Section 59-25-930. The provisions of this article do not create or imply a private cause of action for a violation of its provisions."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(b) The state minimum salary schedule must be based on the state minimum salary schedule index in effect as of July 1, 1984. In Fiscal Year 1985, the 1.000 figure in the index is $14,172 Beginning with Fiscal Year 2019-2020, minimum teacher salary is thirty-five thousand dollars. Salary increases must be based on funding provided by the General Assembly in the annual appropriations act and provided through adjustments in the salary schedule to educators identified by the State Department of Education as eligible to receive the Education Improvement Act teacher salary supplement during Fiscal Year 2018-2019 as reported to the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. (This figure is based on a 10.27% increase pursuant to the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984.) Beginning with Fiscal Year 1986, the 1.000 figure in the index must be adjusted on a schedule to stay at the southeastern average as projected by the Office of Research and Statistic of the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office and provided to the General Assembly during their deliberations on the annual appropriations bill. The southeastern average teacher salary is the average of the average teachers' salaries of the southeastern states. In projecting the southeastern average, the office shall include in the South Carolina base teacher salary all local teacher supplements and all incentive pay. Under this schedule, school districts are required to maintain local salary supplements per teacher no less than their prior fiscal level. In Fiscal Year 1986 and thereafter teacher pay raises through adjustments in the state's minimum salary schedule may be provided only to teachers who demonstrate minimum knowledge proficiency by meeting one of the following criteria:

(1) holding a valid professional certificate;

(2) having a score of 425 or greater on the Commons Examination of the National Teachers Examinations;

(3) meeting the minimum qualifying score on the appropriate area teaching examination; or

(4) meeting the minimum standards on the basic skills examinations as prescribed by the State Board of Education provided in Section 59-26-20 The General Assembly shall establish the starting teacher salary each year in the annual appropriations act. The salary schedule and Education Finance Act inflation factor may be determined in the annual General Appropriations Act.

*Text in red has been struck from the bill.

[Silentweapon338]

Give them discipline power back and 75% of the real problem will go away.

Schools should not be glorified baby sitting services.

[Moonlight Hunter]

https://www.fitsnews.com/2019/04/29/...out-is-coming/

For the second time in three months, teachers at government-run schools in the Palmetto State are walking out on students in their classrooms to protest what they believe is insufficient pay and poor working conditions.

The latest walkout – scheduled for Wednesday, May 1 – has prompted school district closures across South Carolina, a state which consistently finds itself at the bottom of the national academic achievement rankings.

While we were writing this piece, in fact, one of the largest districts in the Midlands region of the state – Lexington-Richland school district five – announced it was shutting down for the day because “the staffing needed to ensure normal school operations on May 1st could not be provided.”

As we noted in our coverage of the first walkout, these teacher protests come as South Carolina’s worst-in-the-nation government-run school districts are hoarding record amounts of cash in unrestricted reserve funds – resulting in a massive increase in available surplus revenues compared to just two years ago.

According to financial data exclusively obtained by this news outlet from the S.C. State Board of Education, school districts ended the fiscal year 2017-2018 last June with a whopping $1.34 billion in unrestricted cash reserves – up from $944.2 million at the end of fiscal year 2015-2016.

That’s an astounding $400 million (or 42.3 percent) increase – in the span of just two budget cycles.

In covering these stratospheric cash reserve increases, we noted they were being amassed amid an aggressive push for hundreds of millions of dollars in new, recurring state funding for a demonstrably deficient system. In fact, the mainstream media has been beating the drumbeat all year – totally ignoring real reform efforts.

Has anything changed since our last treatment of this issue?

Yes …

Lawmakers are currently advancing a $30 billion-plus state budget that spends a whopping $14,227 per student in the coming fiscal year on government-run schools – a 5.7 percent increase over the current fiscal year’s spending levels.

This total – which does not include revenue from local bond issues – includes raises of anywhere from 4 percent to 9 percent for government-run school teachers.

Wait a minute … what?

You read that right: Funding for South Carolina’s categorically, chronically failing state-run school system – which continues to lag behind the rest of the nation in virtually every meaningful metric – is being increased by 5.7 percent. And teachers are getting raises of anywhere between four percent and nine percent.

So to recap: Despite persistent, perpetually atrocious outcomes, South Carolina school teachers are receiving sizable raises as part of a massive funding increase for their badly broken system. But since these raises are not as big as they would like, they are protesting by walking out on their students … forcing those of us who are not being offered 4-9 percent raises next year to scramble for child care on Wednesday so that we can hang onto our jobs (which do not reward annual backsliding with perpetual pay increases).

Unreal …

This news outlet has written hundreds of articles over the years about the failure of government-run education in South Carolina, about the hostility of the system toward real reform (i.e. parental choice) and about the subservience of Palmetto politicians – including Republicans – to the liberal education lobby.

We have also ripped so-called “conservatives” for their lackluster commitment to market-based academic reform.

But in our many years of covering the education debate in the Palmetto State we have never seen anything like this …

The only possible good to come from this walkout? South Carolina leaders may finally realize the pointlessness of negotiating with a self-serving system that will never be satisfied no matter how much money it gets … a system that will continue to fail generation after generation of Palmetto State school children at an ever-escalating price tag.

Until South Carolina wakes up and embraces long-overdue market-based reform …