This exceptional editorial should be repeated word for word by SFT Union leader Rose Bolan via bullhorn tomorrow in front of the administration building on the hour, EVERY HOUR!!!!!
While well written, this too rings of the same 'you're not telling the whole story' as you accuse the school board and administrators of. Teachers absolutely deserve to be fairly compensated, but please define what fairly is.
The range for Scranton school district kindergarten teacher is $34k to $78k. While the starting pay may not be much, it does go up dramatically and is still coupled with fantastic health and pension benefits. Raises were offered by administration in the summer contract offer, but the sticking point was the health insurance and hours. With regard to the health insurance, please find any private employer that has anything close to comparable. High Deductible plans are the new norm with families paying a minimum of $6k a year deductible before anything is covered. There is no demanding better because if you don't like what you have, your option is to find another employer (which offers the same or worse). In terms of hours, Scranton has one of the shortest school days in our area (6 whole hours, which includes lunch, recess and the 'free period' they are upset have been taken away). All of this for 185 school days (in-service and virtual included) minus sick and vacation time. So to take the example of the Chewy employee who is starting at $15 per hour, working a back breaking 40 hours a week for 260 days a year, and has to pay out the nose for medical insurance, you may understand where the lack of sympathy comes from.
There is no doubt teachers have an incredibly hard job, which many would not go near with a 20 foot pole. But the same can be said for 1,000s of other professions that none of us would want. We can't all go on strike and go in the circular firing squad of 'they have more than I do'. Reasonable adults from both sides need to sit down and come up with a solution that is fair both to the teachers and taxpayers. I'm not saying administration is being fair, but the talking points/tactics coming from the Union are not going to rally the public around the teachers and the stalemate will just continue.
This exceptional editorial should be repeated word for word by SFT Union leader Rose Bolan via bullhorn tomorrow in front of the administration building on the hour, EVERY HOUR!!!!!
An absolute bullseye, Tom Flannery!
~ Thank you
While well written, this too rings of the same 'you're not telling the whole story' as you accuse the school board and administrators of. Teachers absolutely deserve to be fairly compensated, but please define what fairly is.
The range for Scranton school district kindergarten teacher is $34k to $78k. While the starting pay may not be much, it does go up dramatically and is still coupled with fantastic health and pension benefits. Raises were offered by administration in the summer contract offer, but the sticking point was the health insurance and hours. With regard to the health insurance, please find any private employer that has anything close to comparable. High Deductible plans are the new norm with families paying a minimum of $6k a year deductible before anything is covered. There is no demanding better because if you don't like what you have, your option is to find another employer (which offers the same or worse). In terms of hours, Scranton has one of the shortest school days in our area (6 whole hours, which includes lunch, recess and the 'free period' they are upset have been taken away). All of this for 185 school days (in-service and virtual included) minus sick and vacation time. So to take the example of the Chewy employee who is starting at $15 per hour, working a back breaking 40 hours a week for 260 days a year, and has to pay out the nose for medical insurance, you may understand where the lack of sympathy comes from.
There is no doubt teachers have an incredibly hard job, which many would not go near with a 20 foot pole. But the same can be said for 1,000s of other professions that none of us would want. We can't all go on strike and go in the circular firing squad of 'they have more than I do'. Reasonable adults from both sides need to sit down and come up with a solution that is fair both to the teachers and taxpayers. I'm not saying administration is being fair, but the talking points/tactics coming from the Union are not going to rally the public around the teachers and the stalemate will just continue.
And to be fair, source for compensation are here: https://www.teacher.org/school-district/scranton-school-district-2/ and https://www.openpagov.org/school_payroll.asp