2008 Woodie Awards
Dollars and sense would prevent a strike
Issue date: 3/19/08 Section: Opinion
You park your car or get off the bus and begin walking to your favorite class.
Excited to expand your mind and prepared to listen to a lecture from your favorite teacher you approach your classroom only to find your teacher, along with several others, holding a sign and picketing.
This story would ideally end with you waking up to your alarm clock, thankful that it's all been a bad dream, but this nightmare is slowly becoming a reality as the year long battle between the full time teacher's union and the LBCC district does not look as though it will be ending any time soon.
Which makes me wonder, is the district considering the effect that a strike will have on the students?
I've never experienced a strike but I would hate to walk into class and have some unknown teacher trying to pick up the pieces more than halfway through a semester or even worse, not have a teacher at all.
And what about those who are looking forward to graduating, will they be forced to wait another semester due to something that is completely out of their control?
It's ungrateful and inconsiderate to force the teachers to worry about where they will get their next pay check, and how much it will be for, in the middle of a semester while they are dealing with grading papers and preparing lectures.
I would be surprised if the members of the district negotiating team did not have at least undergraduate degrees, which then leads me to wonder if they have forgotten the value of education.
The fact is, you cannot put a price on the value of education and therefore you should not materialize the value of a teacher while marginalizing the value of their time and efforts.
We place the future of our children in the hands of our teachers while at the same time making them fight for a decent wage and access to health benefits, how does this reflect the values of our society?
In a perfect world teachers would decide how much a district employee's time is worth, but until then, you'll find me on the picket line right next to all my favorite teachers, whose time and efforts are priceless in my eyes.
Excited to expand your mind and prepared to listen to a lecture from your favorite teacher you approach your classroom only to find your teacher, along with several others, holding a sign and picketing.
This story would ideally end with you waking up to your alarm clock, thankful that it's all been a bad dream, but this nightmare is slowly becoming a reality as the year long battle between the full time teacher's union and the LBCC district does not look as though it will be ending any time soon.
Which makes me wonder, is the district considering the effect that a strike will have on the students?
I've never experienced a strike but I would hate to walk into class and have some unknown teacher trying to pick up the pieces more than halfway through a semester or even worse, not have a teacher at all.
And what about those who are looking forward to graduating, will they be forced to wait another semester due to something that is completely out of their control?
It's ungrateful and inconsiderate to force the teachers to worry about where they will get their next pay check, and how much it will be for, in the middle of a semester while they are dealing with grading papers and preparing lectures.
I would be surprised if the members of the district negotiating team did not have at least undergraduate degrees, which then leads me to wonder if they have forgotten the value of education.
The fact is, you cannot put a price on the value of education and therefore you should not materialize the value of a teacher while marginalizing the value of their time and efforts.
We place the future of our children in the hands of our teachers while at the same time making them fight for a decent wage and access to health benefits, how does this reflect the values of our society?
In a perfect world teachers would decide how much a district employee's time is worth, but until then, you'll find me on the picket line right next to all my favorite teachers, whose time and efforts are priceless in my eyes.
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