Now Scott Fitzgerald Poisons Canada

Last night in an attempt to avoid the news in Wisconsin, I was listening to Canadian Broadcasting Company's As It Happens on the local WPR station. However, even in Canada, Scott Fitzgerald, majority leader of the WI Senate was more than happy to explain to those lovely, too polite Canadians what he thought was happening in our fair state.

The interviewer asked about Walker's "considering hiring outside demonstrators to disrupt the protests."

Here is what our majority leader said:

"I haven't heard the phone call but I do know that Governor Walker and I have spoken about those agitators -- really though, it was in relationship to the AFL-CIO sending in agitators last Saturday when we had massive crowds to try and pick fights. There were some great security concerns about what were the private sector unions -- what was there goal on last Saturday? Was it to actually have a situation where the crowd became a security risk? No and that's a big concern of ours, the amount [sic] of people being bussed in from out of state and both from the private sector unions and the public sector unions. Just yesterday literally hundreds of protestors from Los Angeles who flew in to the Dane County airport just to come and protest around the capitol. Obviously Wisconsin is the tip of the spear on this debate and as a result of that the major labor unions are starting to weigh in and we're worried about some of the tactics that might be available to them."

 

I have a number of issues with Mr. Fitzgerald's comments:

1. He hasn't listened to the phone call? REALLY? What rock is he living under? AND if my boss was caught doing something shady, I would definitely want to know what he did so I could wash my hands of his filth.
   
2. I didn't notice the AFL-CIO as an official presence in the crowd at the demonstrations on Saturday (there was a speaker there) which is not to say that they weren't there in the crowd. What I saw were mostly local private and public union members, leaders and UW-Madison students. There was a presence from the Tea Party, many of whom were from out of state, and a smattering of Teamsters, teachers and rank & file union members from Illinois marching about. None of the out-of-staters on the union side seemed super-organized. Most had home-made signs.
   
3. There were 68,000 protesters and no arrests February 19, the day to which Mr. Fitzgerald is referring . Clearly Mr. Fitzgerald's fears were unfounded. The Madison police chief was so impressed by the good behavior that day that he wrote a letter of thanks to the protesters.
   
4. Mr. Fitzgerald was worried about union protesters from Los Angeles but he was not worried about the Tea Party protesters from New York and Virginia who were in Madison last Saturday. Why would outside union protestors be any more likely to be violent or unruly than Tea Party protestors?
   
5. What "tactics" is Mr. Fitzgerald referring to? The "thug" tactics that Fox News and Mr. Limbaugh have been espousing? Show me the thug tactics done by unions in Madison – They don't exist.
   

Mr. Fitzgerald should be ashamed of himself for being uninformed, turning the governor's own thug tactics back around on the peaceful union protestors and making the super-nice Canadians think United States union members are a bunch of violent, sneaky criminals.

 

 

 

What I Don't Understand

What I don’t understand:  The feeling of many of the counter-protesters is that many teachers and public workers are making too much money when statistics show that we are actually making less than people of similar education in the private sector. 

In a free-market system, certain jobs are paid more than others because they require more education, training, or skill.  And in a perfect free-market system, we train ourselves at what we do well, so that we will be rewarded for the contribution whether it is selling cars, running a company, fixing a computer, policing a city or assembling a product.   Each job is important. 

Some job skills can be learned in high school or on the job, some take a short training period and some take much more training.  If the jobs that require more skill and training do not make more money than the jobs that require little skill or training, there is no incentive to train for the highly skilled positions like teaching or engineering. 

So, yes, I make more than the factory worker.  I also spent five years in a state university studying my butt off (teachers in the UW system must maintain a 3.5 grade point average in their chosen subjects and in their education courses) , not making any wages, becoming an expert in two subject areas and learning how to be a good teacher. 

I have skills that I paid in cash and sweat to get.  I work hard and pay dearly to maintain my skills as a professional.  It’s not simply “It’s not fair that teachers make more money than factory, retail or construction workers”.  It's right. 

And anyone who doesn't think so is a communist.  ;)

Tolerance for Teachers

Teachers deserve more credit.

As I take a break from hours of essay grading this morning I am pondering the lack of respect teachers are being afforded by local communities and by the state government. 

Here are the facts:

Teachers make 4.8% less than workers in the private sector for their education and experience.  This accounts for benefits and our “summers off” but does not account for the money we must spend training to keep up our teacher certification.  http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/6759/

Teachers have some of the poorest working conditions for professionals:  Death threats, bomb threats, threats of bodily harm, insulting and insubordinate language directed at the teacher are a daily part of a teacher’s life in a high school. 

In addition, most of a teacher’s “breaks” during the day are used to help students or to catch up on grading or preparation. 

Furthermore, only 3/4ths of a teacher’s workload is accomplished at school leaving much to do at home, often limiting or interfering with family life. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/97371.pdf

Also, many teachers take on extra duties which require work much beyond the school day, and on weekends and summertime.  Many of these extra duties are done for no pay or for very little compensation. 

We are expected to work miracles with kids who have no sleep, no breakfast, no rules at home, and from students who have little respect for our profession.   

Good teachers are unfairly criticized in public, equated with the few bad apples, and accused of getting rich on the tax payer’s dime.  They forget that we pay taxes, too, and that the majority of property taxes go to support local government and services, not schools. 

Teachers work harder, for less money, and for little credit.  We don’t ask for much – just a living wage, enough health insurance to cover our job related stress “injuries” and a decent retirement for when we do, eventually burn out from the physical and emotional toll of our jobs. 

For the last 10 years, as health insurance costs have risen, many teachers’ unions have forgone pay increases to pay for insurance making our health insurance rich and our paychecks poor. 

Most private sector employees have been forced to pay more for health insurance, but their pay has increased with the cost of living. 

If Governor Walker’s proposal is passed, many teachers will have lost all the health insurance leverage we have bargained for in the past.  We could not have predicted this turn of events. 

 Teachers are a bargain at any price, but when the governor threatens to take away our bargaining rights, we are not just whining.  If we are asked to do even more with even less, we just won’t be able to physically do our jobs well and students will get less teaching and helping time. 

Please take time to contact your state legislators and your governor to oppose the attack on public worker’s rights; it’s unfair, lacks foresight, and will create an even more hostile relationship between schools, government and communities. 

Shouldn’t we all be working together?