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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

You've got to be kidding: Teachers Happy with Act 10, or Superintendent Wishful Thinking?

This is the most hyperbolic example of “glass is half full” chest pounding I've seen in years.

It seems some school superintendents see the dedication shown by professional teachers to their students as an example of workplace happiness. Just imagine what these jovial superintendents did to their teachers, happened to you. This seems like a cruel joke:
jsonline: Two years after state legislation rolled back collective bargaining … several Milwaukee-area superintendents praised the overall effects, "We think it's going to be the gift that keeps on giving for a while," said Deborah Kerr, superintendent of the Brown Deer School District.

Hamilton School District Superintendent Kathleen Cooke said her district eliminated paying for retired teachers' health insurance and reduced the number of allowable sick leave days, which resulted in tens of thousands of dollars saved in substitute-teacher costs. She said that while teachers now have less take-home pay, less sick leave and fewer retirement benefits, they are also being engaged more by the district in developing curriculum and school-improvement plans. "Our staff members voted the district one of the best workplaces in 2012, after they had lost all of their retirement benefits, because of how they were treated during the crisis," Cooke said.
Yes, being treated well during Walker's created “crisis” sure made up for losing everything. It isn't like the teachers weren't engaged in developing curriculum and improvements before Act 10, because they were.

In fact, you have to question the superintendent’s energetic outlook to their own admitted recognition of Act 10’s enveloping darkness:
The superintendents said funding is still an issue for their districts and the saving reaped through health care and benefit changes are short term. They also said their boards should have more control over revenue caps and certain government mandates need to be adjusted or eliminated.
Yeah, big problems don’t cha think? Is it still “the gift that keeps on giving” as Brown Deer Superintendent Deborah Kerr stated above? 

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