>The fact that anyone is looking for a raise in this environment is absurd
The teachers have every right not to participate as it is purely an optional event. However, it is pretty ironic and very indicative how ignorant they are as a group that they have chosen to boycott a long standing event run by the HSA to raise funds to fund programs and assistance FOR THEM! If I ran the HSA I would absolutely refuse the $500 contribution and explain to them they’re going to need the money when the lay-offs begin because there is not a snowball’s chance in hell the budget will pass this year.
The world is different. Nobody wants to hear bad news but things have changed and they are not going to get better for a very long time despite what the Gov’t is trying to spin. We are in a deflationary environment. Housing prices continue to decline, wages continue to decline, unemployment remains high, taxes continue to rise as no one wants to cut programs. Our area is very close to Wall Street and Wall Street is in big trouble. Jobs are being cut, bonuses are going to be non-existent for the foreseeable future and that is going to affect Ridgewood in a big way. Every $1.5 million dollar house that sells for $850,000 makes every $600,000 house worth $450,000 etc, etc….and that is not good for any of us.
Teachers work hard, they are responsible for our most precious assets, our children. They deserve to be compensated and they should be compensated well as they provide an invaluable service. That being said; the fact that anyone is looking for a raise in this environment is absurd. I laid off people in 2011 and will be laying off more in 2012. I have people who are thrilled that they still have a job. They are not worried about a pay increase or a bonus. They are worried about being unemployed.
It is that fear that has made the teaching profession with tenure such an emotional topic for those in the private sector. We don’t have tenure. We don’t have seniority raises built into our contracts. We don’t have pension plans and health plans for life. Yes, in the good times we have the possibility, more likely the probability to make more money than a teacher but in the bad times we have a tremendous more amount of risk and that is risk that is very real right now and will continue to be for an extended period of time.
The teachers’ union has been a very powerful force over the years because they have always been able to leverage “the children” against BOE’s. Those days are over. We’ve all become very good at saying “no” to our children the last couple of years and we’re going to get even better at it in the future as we all have less and less money for “things.” We’re also going to get very good at saying “no” to tax raises, school budgets, and expenditures on fire trucks and such. Our kids will do fine without Advanced Placement Chinese, Foods Classes and a whole host of the other liberal arts education classes that have built up over the years at RHS as we’re going to realize that not only are they no longer affordable, they weren’t of much value to begin with.
The last group to understand this will be the teachers and administrators because they are just too close to it to see how things are changing and they are too insulated by the current structure to feel it. But they will come to understand it and they will come to feel it when the schools are forced to downsize and “do more with less” just like the rest of us. And I don’t mean just losing an aide for two days a week. I mean really downsizing and streamlining the entire operation. It is going to happen, it is inevitable
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