I am in the unique position of having been a public school teacher (albeit for a brief time), having worked in the private sector for a number of years, and being currently employeed in the public sector in a non-teaching position, too.
Watching the drama in Wisconsin unfold (and drama is certainly the appropriate word), a mix of repulsion and morbid curiosity washes over me. Much like watching a car wreck: you don’t want to keep looking, yet somehow you’re horrified to realize that it’s difficult to look away.
As with much of the political rhetoric of recent years, the use of language by politicians (and would-be politicians) is both fascinating and frightening.
In one speech defending his position on cutting teacher salaries and prohibiting collective bargaining, Governor Walker discussed the imbalance between the ‘have’ and ‘have nots.’ Us versus them. You’re either with me or against me. Gee, that sounds familiar…
In this scenario, it is the teachers and state employees who are the ‘haves’ and the tax payers of the great state of (insert state here) Wisconsin who are apparently the ‘have nots.’ Teacher vs. taxpayers. State employees vs. taxpayers. Since I’m a state employee and a taxpayer, should I be fighting with myself? Which side of the argument should I come down on? What level of crazy will I rate as I drive down the street yelling at myself?
The language used to frame this argument is quite literally laughable, yet there it is, plain as day. The teachers are the ‘haves.’ The TEACHERS? Seriously? Since when, I wonder, have the teachers been the ‘haves’? Good grief, the FEDERAL government even recognizes that this isn’t the case and created a tax credit to compensate public school teachers who routinely take part of their own salary to buy basic supplies for their classrooms. Not because they have extra money just laying around, going to waste, but because they care enough to have a little less themselves so that they can enrich their students’ educational experience in the most basic of ways.
Where does this happen in the private sector? Having worked in Corporate America, I was never expected/required to buy a ream of paper or toner cartridge for my office. No one ever said to me ‘if you really CARED about your job, you’d buy a package of dry erase markers for the conference room!’
In sense, I guess the teachers ARE the ‘haves.’ They ‘have’ education and training. They ‘have’ the responsibility of teaching our children (which, according to some, they never do right. Either they’re doing too much: ‘that’s not your job to teach them that, that’s my job as a parent’ or not enough: ‘that’s what I pay YOU for; don’t expect me to get involved with my child’s education or participate in it in any way.’). They ‘have’ a thankless job for which they are undervalued.
The other day on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart pointed out another fascinating (and by fascinating, I mean disgusting) anomaly in the discussion of teachers and money.
One commentator, in expressing her support for Gov. Walker and his stance against teachers, stated that teachers ‘quite frankly don’t DESERVE $50K/year’ ($50K being an ‘average’ teacher salary thrown out for discussion). Wow. She went on to say how shameful it was that teachers were protesting. ‘What are they teaching our children?’
That is actually a great question. What are these teachers teaching the children of Wisconsin (and those across the country) by protesting the governor’s proposals? To value themselves and their work? To stand up for themselves and their beliefs, even in the face of great controversy? To support quality education? What a shame it would be to teach such lessons to our future leaders!
Interestingly enough (and by interesting, I mean disgusting), the same woman claimed (in a previous conversation defending the stance that the Bush tax cuts on the rich should be extended) that a couple filing jointly making a combined income of $250K/year and raising two children, perhaps attempting to put both through college, were ‘practically at poverty level.’ Really?
Assuming for a moment that the man and the woman (as a federally recognized couple is mandated to be) make the same amount of money (which in our country is highly unlikely, but I digress), that means each of these tax payers is making $125K/year, which again, according to this reporter, is ‘practically poverty level.’ Each person makes 2 ½ TIMES what the greedy, self-centered teacher makes. If $125K is the new ‘poverty level,’ then what the hell is $50K?!
Ah, but those lazy teachers only work 9 months out of the year, you say. Despite the fact that this is not actually true, let us assume, for the sake of argument, that the teacher is getting paid $50K for 9 months of work, while the poor woman in the couple example, let’s call her Pobrecita, works a whole 12 months for her meager $125K. It’s apples to oranges, you say. So let’s level the playing field and say that Pobrecita only gets 75% of her salary, because she only works 9 months out of the year. That’s $93,750.
So, the teacher, who makes $50K and has a salary of 53% of Pobrecita’s for the same ‘9 months of work,’ is grossly overpaid, while Pobrecita should, what, look into applying for food stamps? That’s some interesting math right there.
And speaking of interesting math, where did the ‘fact’ that teachers work nine months out of the year come from? I’m not sure about where you live, but in my neck o’ the woods, teachers start teaching either at the end of August or the very beginning of September, and teach into June. Additionally, amazing as it may seem, classrooms don’t actually ready themselves, so teachers are required to be at work for some time prior to the start of the school year, as well as some time after school is out for the summer.
Teachers are also credited with the luxury of a ‘short’ work day. Of actual in front of the class teaching time? Perhaps. Let’s not consider the grading, lesson plans, conferences, etc. as part of their work day, though. And in the high school where I taught, every teacher was also required to sponsor/co-sponsor a club or sport. No time spent on that.
Clearly, everyone must sacrifice.
A few years ago, when the economy began going south in a big, bad way, the union leaders in our state sat down with the then governor in good faith, understanding the very notion that ‘everyone must sacrifice.’ We accepted concessions that saved our state $1 billion (yes, with a B). That’s their number, not one the ‘unions’ (read ‘them’ and not ‘us’) made up.
Those concessions included a variety of ‘give backs,’ such as a pay cut, increased insurance costs, and a freeze on wages and hires to name a few. Did we like it? Of course not. But we all realized that in the end, everyone needed to give a little to do their part and help keep things running.
Our new governor (a democrat, lest you think this is a partisan rant), who initially gave the appearance of reaching out to state employees by encouraging us to submit ideas for saving money and generating revenue directly to his office, recently came out with his new budget proposal which demanded additional concessions (which he had not yet even begun discussing with the unions) or promised ‘massive layoffs.’ Unfortunately, if you laid off every state worker in my state, you would still not balance the budget and you’d have no services either.
Yet, like the teachers in Wisconsin, we are the bad guys. We have to listen to the people who tell us how we should just shut up and give up whatever is needed, because just like the teachers, we apparently have no worth and provide no value to the state—we’re just there taking up space and stuffing our pockets with ‘taxpayer money.’ We are luck to even have jobs, we’re told, and if we don’t like it, we can just step aside because their 20 unemployed people who’d be happy to take our place.
Well, of course we’re lucky to have a job—who isn’t lucky to have a job in this economy? And who, particularly in this economy, wouldn’t have 20 people in line waiting to fill their job, if they didn’t like it?
The bottom line is, if we’re all in this together, that means we should ALL be in this together. Not just pubic employees, or the middle class, or the poor. Everyone.
Yes, I am a public employee. I do a job and get a check. Don’t you? I support my community. I pay my taxes. All that ‘tax payer money’ that keeps getting talked about? That’s MY money, too. And I don’t want to see it wasted any more than anyone else. But I am not a waste. And neither are teachers. We did not cause the financial crisis. And we have always been a part of the solution.
PostModernMommy 