Reply #39: Protections? [View All]

[mbperrin]

My school board member personally has the superintendent of schools visit my classroom to make sure that I'm not teaching independent entrepreneurship to my students in economics, but that, in his associates' words, "These kids just need to learn to count change; they'll never start a business." 60% of them are Hispanic, 85% are poor.

My taxes on my house went up 15% this year, and there are two vacant homes haven't sold in a year on my block. When I went to file an appeal, they told me I could do that, but no doubt they'd find something they missed.

As a teacher, I can be fired for writing a letter to the editor or talking to a reporter about anything that happens at school. As a teacher, I can be let go by simply not renewing my contract at the end of the year, without a reason, without other notice, and without recourse to unemployment benefits (we're "exempt")

They've cut our health stipend, eliminated our raises for the last two years, made our health coverage expensive $300 a month for just me, and the coverage is lousy; they've increased our teaching load 20%, while cutting planning and conferencing time by 80% from last year. They've cut our supply budget from $2500 per year per teacher 10 years ago to $175 per year per teacher the last two years.

Now what protections were those?