More proof that you should not teach in FL

[OrlandoDem2]

This state’s hatred of teachers is out of control. If you plan to move here to teach or if you plan to major in education and go into teaching, then change your major now!! The pay is awful and the working conditions are literally a danger to your overall mental and physical health.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/cheap-and-hostile-is-not-the-way-to-attract-teachers-in-florida-20181203/%3ftemplate=amp

So teachers in Pinellas County are at somewhat of an impasse in contract negotiations.

For this type of news, the initial response is usually ho.

Followed emphatically by hum.

Related: Pinellas teachers turn down a raise to press for better working conditions

It’s true, this headline could not be less stunning. First of all, it’s the nature of unions and management. It’s also predictable in a state that views public schools as disdainfully as the politicians of Florida do.

So why fret about it this time?

Two reasons:

No. 1, this is not your typical salary dispute. The teachers are not raising a stink about a proposed 2.55 percent pay bump. While teachers have walked off the job in states across the nation this year to protest dwindling paychecks, the union in Pinellas is more concerned about bureaucratic demands.

[gtar100]

1. Now how do republicans expect to fill their ranks

if we go about giving children an education, especially one that teaches them to think for themselves. My god, the damage that would do to the GOP.

[Guilded Lilly]

2. My son and daughter in law teach in Pinellas County...

It is one of the better districts but teachers are getting totally shafted and disrespected. The frustrations are not unfounded. It is deteriorating every year. My son would leave in a flash if it weren’t for his love of the students.

[OrlandoDem2]

3. If they are young they should bolt. They'll get over it.

[Guilded Lilly]

5. They have 3 kids and in-laws living three blocks away...

They love St Pete and have a solid core of friends with families close by. Pretty solidly entrenched.
It just sucks what is happening in schools.

[BigmanPigman]

4. It isn't just FL.

I could tell you hundreds of real stories that would shock you about what I experienced as a substitute, teacher, and union rep over the course of 20 years in CA. Schools are a business. The students NEVER come first and teachers are disrespected by the districts as well as many of the parents. My fellow experienced teachers and I would tell our High School ROP students, who came to get a taste of the real classroom before going to college, to choose a different career. None of them took our advice. Even the teachers whose own children wanted to become teachers tried to discourage them.

[teach1st]

6. I teach in Pinellas

I teach in Pinellas and run and frequent Facebook groups for Pinellas teachers. My co-workers have had it. They are stressed. The district knows we feel this way, but they don't seem to care. The district wants to add more meetings even though we have been telling them for years that there's already not enough time. They want to micromanage us even more, continuously eroding what's left of our professionalism, our ability to make decisions based on what's best for our students. The district doesn't hear us, and we feel quite disrespected.

We know that conditions are like this in many states, especially in red states. We are not going to back down. Raises are important, but our professionalism, our health, and our students are much more important.

[OrlandoDem2]

7. This is going on in Orange. The micromanagement in my county is horrible.

Anyone who wants to teach these days needs their head examined. Don’t. Just don’t.