Economic woes abound all around us and fiscal preservation has come to the forefront. However, the month of November underscores the enormous waste programmed into the NJ public education's school year.
The month of November is a dud as far as NJ public education is concerned. School is held on only 2/3 of the possible days!
First, we have Election Day on November 2. Many public schools are voting locations, so the school Districts are closed that day.
That same week is the NJEA Teacher Convention in Atlantic City. Even though a small percentage of teachers actually attend the Convention, NJ public school districts close down for three days! Those teachers who go, typically only go for one day.
This situation needs to be repaired. If teachers want to go to the Convention for professional development, then teachers should request time off from their Districts. This is the procedure followed during any other month of the year. Closing entire school Districts for three days for the few teachers who actually attend the Convention is absurd.
A lot of education is lost during those three days. A lot of money is wasted paying teachers for a five day weekend because of those three days. The NJEA is the cause.
Next, there's November 11--Veterans Day--another day off.
Finally, there's November 25--Thanksgiving. Typically, schools have a half day the day before. That half day is a dud because nobody is in the mood to work on the cusp of a four day holiday weekend.
So, count it up, at least EIGHT school days are lost during the month of November. That's almost two weeks of school! At least four or five of those days can, and should, be recovered.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
4000 Unemployed NJ Teachers, $4 million deficit for the NJEA.
New Jersey's largest teacher's union recently estimated that there are about 4000 unemployed teachers across NJ this fall.
If all of those unemployed teachers are no longer paying dues to the NJEA, that's about $4,000,000 (4 million) taken out of the pockets of the local and national teachers' unions.
Yet, the NJEA, which collects a premium from all members is powerless to get anybody their job back. If it could do something, then it would, because $4 million is a BIG hit to take.
If you are an unemployed teacher, think to yourself, why did you pay dues to a union that can't help you?
Non-tenured teachers are subject to employment at will, so the union can do NOTHING to protect your job. Non-tenured teachers should consider NOT joining the union this fall, or ever.
Tenured teacher jobs are protected by NJ law, NOT by the union. Tenured teachers do not need the union to protect their jobs. Tenured teachers should consider NOT joining the union this fall, or ever.
If you have a job as a teacher this fall, support all of your unemployed colleagues by considering NOT joining the NJEA teacher's union. The NJEA takes a lot of your money and is truly capable of doing very little.
The NJEA is just another money mill for political fun on your dime.
If all of those unemployed teachers are no longer paying dues to the NJEA, that's about $4,000,000 (4 million) taken out of the pockets of the local and national teachers' unions.
Yet, the NJEA, which collects a premium from all members is powerless to get anybody their job back. If it could do something, then it would, because $4 million is a BIG hit to take.
If you are an unemployed teacher, think to yourself, why did you pay dues to a union that can't help you?
Non-tenured teachers are subject to employment at will, so the union can do NOTHING to protect your job. Non-tenured teachers should consider NOT joining the union this fall, or ever.
Tenured teacher jobs are protected by NJ law, NOT by the union. Tenured teachers do not need the union to protect their jobs. Tenured teachers should consider NOT joining the union this fall, or ever.
If you have a job as a teacher this fall, support all of your unemployed colleagues by considering NOT joining the NJEA teacher's union. The NJEA takes a lot of your money and is truly capable of doing very little.
The NJEA is just another money mill for political fun on your dime.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
New & Nontenured Teachers: DON'T Join the NJEA.
As new teachers take their first jobs in public school districts across New Jersey, and as veteran teachers take their new jobs in new school districts, they are all in the same boat: if they are nontenured, they have no rights to their jobs and there is very little, if anything, that the teacher's union can do to help if there is a problem.
I strongly urge you to consider NOT joining the teacher's union at all.
Unfortunately, because of the monopoly and scam the NJEA has got going in New Jersey, you will still have to pay a significant fraction of the full union dues (aka "agency fee"), but you will still PAY LESS of your hard-earned money, and you'll never even know any difference because the union has no power to represent nontenured teachers with any influence.
If you wind up having any issues, you're better off making sure you've covered your butt, and ultimately, if you're in the right, fight it out for yourself. It won't make a bit of difference to a nontenured teacher whether the union backs you or not.
In fact, if any problems arise with new or nontenured teachers, in my experience, the union doesn't want to hear it and just wants you to go away. Again, the NJEA has no power to help you, so why would they spin their wheels trying?
They just don't want you to know this, but it's the truth.
I strongly urge you to consider NOT joining the teacher's union at all.
Unfortunately, because of the monopoly and scam the NJEA has got going in New Jersey, you will still have to pay a significant fraction of the full union dues (aka "agency fee"), but you will still PAY LESS of your hard-earned money, and you'll never even know any difference because the union has no power to represent nontenured teachers with any influence.
If you wind up having any issues, you're better off making sure you've covered your butt, and ultimately, if you're in the right, fight it out for yourself. It won't make a bit of difference to a nontenured teacher whether the union backs you or not.
In fact, if any problems arise with new or nontenured teachers, in my experience, the union doesn't want to hear it and just wants you to go away. Again, the NJEA has no power to help you, so why would they spin their wheels trying?
They just don't want you to know this, but it's the truth.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Nontenured NJ Teachers are Separate and Unequal.
I paid $1084 (that's more than 2% of my salary) into the local teacher's union this past school year. It was my second year in this huge urban north Jersey public school district, and I was in good standing.
Then came the budget cuts, no thanks to Gov. Christie. In the spring of 2010, the district premptively riffed many hundreds of tenured and nontenured teachers. "Riffed" refers to a Reduction In Force letter that basically tells you that you are laid off because it is necessary to reduce the staff in the district. It's a "pink slip," so-to-speak, but you are not terminated, your employment with the district is put on hold pending the availability of funds to hire you back (you can be "recalled").
Not to worry, the union's got our backs. Or so I thought.
Immediately, the local union starts trying to make sense of the layoffs and eventually to determine if recalls are following the law according to seniority and tenure, which does not help me, a nontenured teacher.
All summer long, the head of the local union emails me, often two or three times a week, to say that the situation is in disarray, one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing in this disfunctional district, but he is diligently working on the situation. Well, actually, he's working to get the tenured teachers their jobs back first.
September 1, 2010 rolls around--the first day of school for teachers. I am still unemployed.
I receive word from contacts at my former school that all of the nontenured teachers have returned to work. In fact, a fellow nontenured teacher in my department with less experience and training, and fewer certifications has returned, AND, a tenured teacher from the district has been hired into my department.
One of these two has, in effect, replaced me!
Regarding the tenured teacher taking my job, the NJEA's position is clear: tenured teachers have the right to be rehired, and a nontenured teacher has no rights at all.
Regarding the nontenured teacher in my department (with less experience, training, and fewer certifications) taking my job, the NJEA's position is clear: a nontenured teacher has no rights at all, not even the right to a job by seniority or by an objective assessment of the better teacher's performance. My district uses a point system on our evaluations, so an objective evaluation from the same supervisor, whom we shared, would easily suffice.
I have since seen jobs posted on the district web site for which I am qualified, yet I have NOT been recalled to work, even though I have served the district for two years in good standing. I emailed the assistant superintendent about this, and I was told to apply for any jobs that I may want!
Oh, that's right, a nontenured teacher has no rights, not even the right to a job over any other applicant not already employed in the district!
Herein lies the problem:
Nontenured teachers should not pay union dues to the NJEA that are equal to that of tenured teachers, because our rights and representations secured by the union ARE NOT EQUAL.
The solution:
Then came the budget cuts, no thanks to Gov. Christie. In the spring of 2010, the district premptively riffed many hundreds of tenured and nontenured teachers. "Riffed" refers to a Reduction In Force letter that basically tells you that you are laid off because it is necessary to reduce the staff in the district. It's a "pink slip," so-to-speak, but you are not terminated, your employment with the district is put on hold pending the availability of funds to hire you back (you can be "recalled").
Not to worry, the union's got our backs. Or so I thought.
Immediately, the local union starts trying to make sense of the layoffs and eventually to determine if recalls are following the law according to seniority and tenure, which does not help me, a nontenured teacher.
All summer long, the head of the local union emails me, often two or three times a week, to say that the situation is in disarray, one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing in this disfunctional district, but he is diligently working on the situation. Well, actually, he's working to get the tenured teachers their jobs back first.
September 1, 2010 rolls around--the first day of school for teachers. I am still unemployed.
I receive word from contacts at my former school that all of the nontenured teachers have returned to work. In fact, a fellow nontenured teacher in my department with less experience and training, and fewer certifications has returned, AND, a tenured teacher from the district has been hired into my department.
One of these two has, in effect, replaced me!
Regarding the tenured teacher taking my job, the NJEA's position is clear: tenured teachers have the right to be rehired, and a nontenured teacher has no rights at all.
Regarding the nontenured teacher in my department (with less experience, training, and fewer certifications) taking my job, the NJEA's position is clear: a nontenured teacher has no rights at all, not even the right to a job by seniority or by an objective assessment of the better teacher's performance. My district uses a point system on our evaluations, so an objective evaluation from the same supervisor, whom we shared, would easily suffice.
I have since seen jobs posted on the district web site for which I am qualified, yet I have NOT been recalled to work, even though I have served the district for two years in good standing. I emailed the assistant superintendent about this, and I was told to apply for any jobs that I may want!
Oh, that's right, a nontenured teacher has no rights, not even the right to a job over any other applicant not already employed in the district!
Herein lies the problem:
- A nontenured teacher pays the same union dues as a tenured teacher, but the union doesn't represent a nontenured teacher's interests equally. A tenured teacher can take a nontenured teacher's job because a tenured teacher is part of a separate and privileged class supported by the same union as a nontenured teacher.
- A nontenured teacher working in this district pays union dues, and a non-union member not working in this district pays no union dues, yet, they share equal footing in competition for a job in this district. The NJEA cannot support a nontenured teacher's rights to a job in a district because the union admits that nontenured teachers have no defensible rights to a job.
Nontenured teachers should not pay union dues to the NJEA that are equal to that of tenured teachers, because our rights and representations secured by the union ARE NOT EQUAL.
The solution:
- eliminate or revise tenure laws, OR
- revise the NJEA union dues to reflect the unequal treatment of nontenured union members
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