Curmudgeonly & Skeptical presents Boned Jello: When Teachers Strike

Saturday, February 19, 2011

When Teachers Strike

When teachers strike

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After the two men conferred, they called upon the Commander of Ft. Huachuca. The men came with a simple idea and it was this: many officers worked at the post and many lived in town, so this was affecting their children who were missing school. The men asked the Commander of the Fort if he would ask the officer's wives to commit to come in and cross the picket lines and keep the local schools open, for the betterment of the community. The idea was a sound one because many officer wives held college degrees. In fact so many volunteers stepped up to become a working substitute until the strike was over that there were enough to fill all the classrooms of the schools involved. When Teachers Strike: A Memoir

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When Teachers Strike: A Memoir

Reflecting on the Wisconsin teacher strike yesterday, and Democrats skipping across the border to avoid a vote on budget cutting, like you I thought "PATCO them." Fire every single teacher who doesn't go back to work. But, I am nothing if not a realist when it suits me, so where do you get replacements? Parents. Why not. There are lesson guides on the internet. A 100% "public home school. Voila. Lo and behold When Teachers Strike: A Memoir is the first thing across me desk this morning. It's cosmic.

As far as the truant democrats go, if they were republicans, and the Governor a democrat, he'd find a way to fine them $10,000 a day. Just saying.

Rodger the Real King of France 2/19/2011 07:24:00 AM 20 Comments

"If the number of Islamic terror attacks continues at the current rate, candlelight vigils will soon be the number-one cause of global warming. "
Argus Hamilton

20 comments:

Anonymous said...: I remain fascinated that as a whole we continue to accept the premise that you need a college degree and a room full of computers to teach a 5 year old how to read.; 2/19/11, 7:50 AM
Anonymous said...: That was me.
Tim; 2/19/11, 7:50 AM
Anonymous said...: The county-run Vo-tech school here requires that an instructor have a minmum of 10 years experience working in the field before that he is being hired to teach. Most of mine had 15 years or more.; 2/19/11, 9:11 AM
Anonymous said...: RE: I remain fascinated that as a whole we continue to accept the premise that you need a college degree and a room full of computers to teach a 5 year old how to read.

That is just it: despite all the money, credentials and resources, many of our children remain functional illiterates. We have discarded the old tried and proven methods for the new education scheme designed to turn out The New Man. The answer: readopt the old methods and old texts. Let's face it, there have been no new advances in reading, writing and arithmetic as taught below college level in centuries. Even calculus is hundreds of years old.

FYI, a good site for preschoolers learning to read via phonics is Starfall.com. Its free section can provide a firm basis in reading.

Most of us have to send our kids to government schools and it is important to find and share resources in order to undo some of the damage the teachers unions inflict upon them.

Laurence; 2/19/11, 10:33 AM
Mark said...: The two best teachers I had in my senior year of HS were engineers laid off by Grumman Aerospace. They taught by practical application of the subject matter and made both courses the most interesting I had.

A smart politician like Walker or Christie would offer tax breaks to organizations which lend their science and engineering employees to teach in co-op programs. Teach the kids how the knowledge they are learning is applied in business.

Mark; 2/19/11, 10:48 AM
Anonymous said...: I was lucky in grade school. I had a bunch of classic old spinsters who were dedicated to their craft. Old Miss Harmon introduced me to Kipling in the eighth grade, and I'll never forget Miss Bender telling us in the late sixties that she would NEVER go on strike. She was a Sunday School teacher too. Both of these gals were well past menopause.

I never met apathetic teachers until I got to high school, and there they were all over the place. However, the damage was already done. I knew where the library was, and had an idea of what I could find there. I have been an autodidactic soul ever since.

Casca; 2/19/11, 10:48 AM
picturerock said...: A big problem with public schools today is a lack of proper discipline. Schools are paid according to how many students are in class every day. Thus, there is a real disincentive to suspend or expel trouble makers, who soon realize that they can do what they want, and then are free to disrupt class.
Also, there are in many public schools children from broken homes, or just with parents who look at school as cheap babysitting. Without parents actively engaged in supporting the education of their children, it can be a nearly impossible job for even an excellent teacher.; 2/19/11, 10:49 AM
Juice said...: Because I had great grade school teachers I did well through all schooling. Learned to read via phonics. Taught our first born to read phonetically before he entered Kindergarten. For his encouragement? "Once you learn to sound out words, you can pick up any book and be able to read it."; 2/19/11, 11:24 AM
Juice said...: Picturerock,
You are correct. I've had many friends who were teachers and students from disinterested homes were always, sadly, disruptive, unresponsive to discipline, and quite often sent to school sick. IMO, this outcome is mostly due to both parents working and too little time available for kids.
Thanks to NOW many moms felt compelled to have "careers".; 2/19/11, 11:37 AM
Juice said...: Casca~ dittos.
The first apathetic teacher I had was also in high school. Mr. Dietz wore western boots and I'll always remember him for being the boring-est teacher ever.
But-wait! There's more! As a History teacher, he was being forced to teach a "new" subject and text, Black History. Don't think he liked it circa 1970. Each day he assigned how many pages/chapters to read and then put his feet up on the desk... What say you?; 2/19/11, 11:45 AM
Juice said...: "As far as the truant democrats go, if they were republicans, and the Governor a democrat, he'd find a way to fine them $10,000 a day. Just saying."

In a nutshell you nailed it! Why your blog is top drawer.; 2/19/11, 11:58 AM
Jim - PRS said...: Unemployed teachers from other states (or other parts of the state) would probably be happy to relocate to take the jobs of the PATCO'd teachers.; 2/19/11, 12:46 PM
DougM said...: If I were Gov,
I'd contact neighboring liberal governors and ask them to take these guys into protective custody, since the Tea-Party animals are liable to react violently when they see 'em.
Annnnnd, I'd notify neighboring conservative governors that I was offering a bounty and a free Capitol-rotunda wedding for the troopers (or their daughters) who nabbed 'em.; 2/19/11, 12:49 PM
Kim said...: I don't know about any of this stuff. Myself, a product of a private boys' school, and we homeschooled our three kids (two of which have college degrees -- unlike both their parents).

There might be a lesson in there somewhere...; 2/19/11, 1:14 PM
Helly said...: Wait … teachers have degrees?!? From college colleges?

Anyway, it's clear that Walker went to school on Christie's success, and I think he's going to take this much further.

It looks like he's giving the rioters plenty of rope to hang themselves. That is a set up for mass firing. Imagine Walker solving the pension crisis, cleaning up the state deficit, and—this is so delicious—improving the performance of the entire school system with high quality replacement teachers from outside the Education Blob.

In a single stroke, he could vault himself to the summit of the national political scene. That's presidential timber I tell ya.; 2/19/11, 1:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Since the Wisconsin teachers are on strike to protect their "entitlements" until they get their way about staying on the State dole for just about everything from days off to better-than-average wages to health insurance to lucrative retirement pensions, perhaps the governor of Wisconsin should remember what Ronald Reagan did when the nation's air traffic controllers went on strike way back when. He fired the lot of them and hired new ones. things were in a bit of a mess for a short while, but things got better. Those teachers should be given one day to get back to the classrooms or be without jobs the nest day. Period. End of sentence.

This sounds Draconian, but something that drastic needs to be done, and damn soon. It is just too bad that those absent Senators won't get fired, too., as they should be. Instead they are behaving like petulant 8-year-old brats when they don't get their own way.

Scottiebill; 2/19/11, 3:13 PM
Anonymous said...: Not to take anything away from Walker, but Kasich is the one to watch. Not only is he doing the same thing, but he has a long conservative pedigree that includes walking away from a safe congressional seat. Plus, no President has ever won without carrying Ohio.

Casca; 2/19/11, 3:19 PM
Anonymous said...: Home schooled kids taught by amateurs WILDlY outperform the public school graduates in every study.

The "professional" union members following government rules simply suck.; 2/19/11, 7:51 PM
Alear said...: I remember when I learned how to read. The fifth or eighth or umpteenth time (I hadn't learned addition yet) my mom read Rumpelstilskin to me, with her finger moving along the lines. I started reading along with her, may have been memorization or no, and then her voice tailed off and I carried on.

Was naught but a hop skip 'n a jump to Penthouse Letters to the Editor (thanks Gerard!!!), and now C&S.; 2/19/11, 8:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Yep, fire the lot and let the unemployed take their places.

Stupid stupid stupid for the teachers to do in this economy.

thoR~
III; 2/19/11, 10:31 PM

Saturday, February 19, 2011

When Teachers Strike

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