Why school teachers seem positive about strikes

In Philadelphia, it is bus drivers and other workers who want better wages and training.

These are local stories with clear issues and details, but fuel a national narrative of disgruntled teachers and support staff who feel underpaid and underrepresented.

Ann Urban Institute review A paper published in May of this year found evidence of nearly 700 teacher strikes between 2007 and 2019. Most of them have occurred as part of multi-district coordinated efforts since 2017. The analysis included at least one school closure in one district, as well as “strikes, sick leave and other business suspensions.”

what’s happening in columbus

Columbus is Ohio’s largest school district, and with the Columbus Education Association Union going on strike for the first time since 1975, students in the district may not be able to start school on time. Read CNN’s full report.

Rather than reporting to the school, according to the school district’s current plans, students may have to relive the pandemic and log in for distance learning on Wednesday, the first day of school.

It’s about air conditioning, not economy

The union said the difficulties were in terms of learning conditions, with school districts requiring smaller classes, more specialized teachers in elementary arts, music, and physical education, “functional heating and air conditioning in the classrooms,” and more preparation time. stated that it hopes to assure A maximum number of class hours, according to a union statement.

Appearing on CNN Monday from Columbus, Columbus Education Association member and library media specialist Courtney Johnson spoke out about the strike, arguing that teachers are focusing on working conditions, not the economy.

“Our Columbus City School students deserve a modern school with working heating and air conditioning, small class sizes, arts, music and physical education,” she said. “CEA never made this about the economy.”

She said schools had been forced to close in the past due to air conditioner failures, and students at the high school she worked at were moved from hot to cold rooms.

“You can imagine how difficult it would be to learn in an extremely cold classroom or a very hot classroom,” she said.

School boards want to ask voters for more money. The union wants the board to use federal funds.

salary is also a problem

But salaries are an issue, and the school district had previously proposed a 3% annual salary increase over three years. according to local reportsThe union was asking for 8%, which was commensurate with inflation.

It’s not clear from recent reports where the wage discrepancy between the board and the union landed.

In Philadelphia, another strike threatens to open schools, but it’s not the teachers involved. Instead, the employees represented under contracts with trade union 32BJ SEIU are mostly bus drivers, bus attendants, bus mechanics, building cleaners, building engineers and trade workers. According to a CNN report.

Teachers pay a ‘wage penalty’

The Economic Policy Institute, using government data, found that on average weekly the wages of Teachers increased by about $29 over the 25-year period from 1996 to 2021 after adjusting for inflation.

every week Wages for all other college graduates increased by $445 over the same period using the same inflation-adjusted figures. See full discussion.

According to the EPI, teachers receive non-salary benefits such as summer vacations, health insurance and severance pay, but pay a “wage penalty” compared to other college-educated workers.

years stolen from children

As the Columbus kids were pondering the idea of getting distance learning back, CNN’s Sarah Sydner, an NPR reporter, came up with a new book focusing on how the pandemic has impacted America. I fell in love with an interview I did with Anya Kamenets, author of Stolen Year. child.

I was interested in the following excerpt from their conversation that aired on CNN International.

What was stolen in The Year of the Stolen?

Kamenetsu: The United States is a rich country full of poor children. More than half of children in public schools are considered low-income. When schools closed, many of those children lost the meals they depended on, safe places during the day, mental health services, schoolwork and socializing.

What I chronicle in The Stolen Year is how these changes really wreaked havoc on kids starting in the first few weeks.

It takes years to get on track

Kamenetsu: The latest figures from July 2020 suggest that it takes the average elementary school student about three years to get back on track.

Clearly that doesn’t capture what we’re talking about as far as mental health and trauma are concerned.

Junior high school students have not started to recover academically in their last grade. So they are even longer. And I’m really worried about the kids who got paid jobs out of high school. Many of them, especially in the United States, are seeing a significant drop in college enrollment.

We are concerned about their long-term financial and educational outcomes as they are no longer engaged in school.

goal-oriented teacher

Kamenetsu: The school has really become a culture war arena during its lengthy period of closure. There was a lot of criticism directed not only at teachers, but also at administrators and administrators. school board memberthey truly felt that they were victims of harassment and intimidation.

And I spoke to a school leader who said, “All I wanted to do was help take care of my kids, but now everyone is targeting me.”

The pandemic has been harder for many mothers

Kamenetsu: Claims based on research. I would argue that to some extent based on my experience as a mother of two young girls.

My family tried to divide things equally, but inevitably — well, I wouldn’t say inevitable — what happened in this country was that mothers cut back on their work hours, stressed, and drank too much. , expressing depression, anxiety and insomnia, we have allowed them to continue to pick up more and more slack at home and via distance learning.

Statistically speaking, heterosexual partners who were male did not step up. They never left the workforce in the same way that women did.

we are seeing the brunt Working women of all generationsMillennials, my generation feel completely exhausted and overwhelmed by the effects of the past two years and completely abandoned by our leaders and partners. ?

Source: www.cnn.com