MEA Culpa
Again, at last nights (05/10/2010) School Committee meeting we heard a rehash of Ms. Donna Gogas original Lawrence Eagle Tribune Letter to the Editor.
Here is my unpublished response to that Letter.
To the editor
Re:Letter: Story confuses public on teachers’ pay
I don’t think the public is as confused about teachers pay as Ms. Gogas would imply.
Whatever terminology one uses in a contract discussion is not relevant to the facts. The public is pretty clear on it’s understanding that no matter what you call it, teachers are getting an increase in pay in a time of economic downturn. They are receiving money that is more than they received in the previous year, budgetary or calander. To the general public that is a raise. Most in the private sector, if they still hold jobs, are forgoing any increases in pay through this time. Unlike the teachers. No matter what industry one works in it is assumed that one would keep there skill set up to date and sharp. If this is mandated or not, it is required to get good reviews which assist a company in retaining employees or releasing under performers. I don’t see similar discussion for teachers. It always leads to unrelated sidestepping instead of substantive discourse on how to measure a teachers true job performance.
I do not buy the short term reference to this downturn, either. Any ecomomic recession that lasts from 2007/8 for two plus years, with no end in sight, is not a short downturn.
The teachers union leadership fails to grasp the reality of performance measurement, economic downturns, student performance role and economic sacrifice. Until this situation corrects itself we shall not be confused nor amused by their “masterful degree” of bluster.