[Peace-discuss] Re: [ucprogressives] Fw: RELEASE: $1 million Anti-Teachers Union Campaign Begins Today

[Marti Wilkinson]

Having worked for an 'at will' employer all I can say is the concept of
merit pay is a joke. The measurements that employers use to determine job
performance are often based on politics and revenue. In addition many times
when an employee is struggling to perform that can often be traced to issues
with management and training.

Having served on a PTA I can tell you that many individuals who teach in
public schools often have to go out of pocket to purchase the supplies they
need to teach their classes. That is simply wrong. In addition the high
schools are dealing with a student population that is well above the
capacity of what they were designed to address. Centennial High School was
built to serve 1200 students and they are at 1500 last I heard. Now there is
talk about developing alternative programs for kids who fall through the
cracks. What this community needs is another high school. I had to pull my
daughter out of Central High School last fall because the situation became
intolerable for her and she is attending Judah now. I personally believe
that overcrowding made a strong contribution to the troubles she had. She
actually looks forward to going to school now and the smaller class
structures have much to do with that.

It's also worth considering that the quality of a public education is often
something that is influenced by the socioeconomic status of a community.  I
once worked with someone who moved to St. Joseph so she could start a family
in that school system. My cousin and her spouse bought a house in Naperville
so their daughter can have access to the resources there. It's unfortunate
that public education is not necessarily an equal education.

Just my not so humble opinion :D

Marti









On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 3:23 AM, John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote: There
was an interesting article in Time Magazine a couple of weeks ago about
merit pay for teachers.  Some teachers' unions are beginning to be a bit
open to the concept of merit pay, provided that there's some empirical way
of measuring teacher effectiveness, and it's not just a case of butt-kissing
the principal.

>
> John Wason
>
>
>
> At 11:55 AM 3/11/2008, unionyes wrote:
>
> From: "Tim Miller" <miller at unionfacts.com>
> To: "Bill Gorrell " <laborhour at yahoo.com>
> Subject: RELEASE: $1 million Anti-Teachers Union Campaign Begins Today
> Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:32:41 -0400
>
>
>
> For Immediate Release
> Center for Union Facts
> March 11th, 2008
> For More Information Contact:
> Tim Miller or Sarah Longwell- 202-463-7106
>
> *New Campaign Exposes Teachers Unions for Protecting Bad Teachers
> Center for Union Facts Announces "Ten Worst
> (Union-Protected) Teachers" Contest
> *
>
> Washington – Today the Center for Union Facts (CUF) launched an aggressive
> national campaign to educate Americans about how teachers unions protect
> incompetent teachers, demoralize good teachers, block reform, and ultimately
> hurt our public education system.
>
> The million dollar advertising blitz features full-page ads this morning
> in *USA TODAY* as well as the *New York Times*, and a television
> commercial airing on CNN and Fox News.
>
> The ad in *USA TODAY* announces CUF's "Ten Worst (union-protected)
> Teachers" contest, which will be further publicized by a seven-story
> billboard going up in Times Square later this week. The contest will allow
> anyone 13 and up to nominate the worst union-protected teachers in America.
> Once CUF has identified the ten worst, we will offer each of them $10,000 to
> quit the profession forever. The purpose of the contest is to encourage
> teachers known to be incompetent to quit the profession because it is too
> difficult to have them terminated.
>
> The ads also announce a new website called *TeachersUnionExposed.com*,
> which features original, previously unreported research about the union's
> stranglehold on America's schools. The site also highlights 20 cities for
> which we have obtained detailed information about how protections insulate
> against turnover despite poor student achievement.
>
> "Teachers unions are failing children all over the country by protecting
> incompetent teachers and fighting to maintain the status quo," said CUF
> Executive Director Richard Berman. "Worst of all, teachers unions hurt all
> of the amazing teachers in America by treating them exactly the same as
> incompetent teachers who shouldn't be in the profession."
>
> Berman continued, "This campaign is an effort to shine a bright light on
> the damage inflicted on our education system by self-interested teachers
> unions. Furthermore, we are advocating on behalf of all the great teachers
> who deserve better than to be subject to old-fashioned union rules that deny
> them merit pay and other incentives to continue their excellent work."
>
> *To learn more visit: www.TeachersUnionExposed.com. For further
> information or to arrange an interview please call Sarah Longwell at (202)
> 463-7106.
> *
>
> *TeachersUnionExposed.com is a project of the Center for Union Facts (
> www.UnionFacts.com <http://www.unionfacts.com/>). CUF is a non-profit
> organization supported by foundations, businesses, union members, and the
> general public. We are dedicated to showing Americans the facts about
> today's union leadership.*
>
>
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>
>
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