Chicago teachers asking for 30% raises over next 2 years

Chicago teachers asking for 30% raises over next 2 years

www.chicagotribune.com

The Chicago Teachers Union is asking for raises amounting to 30 percent over the next two years, the opening salvo in heated contract negotiations with school officials who are implementing a longer school day across Chicago Public Schools next school year.

Documents obtained by the Tribune show that in the face of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's expansion of the school day, the union has led with an offer seeking a 24 percent raise in the 2012-13 school year and a 5 percent increase the following year, t

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
Teacher Salary
Citing Deficit, Board Denies Teachers Pay Raise (2011)

WHAT ??!!

I thought Chicago was broke like everybody else.

But the teacher's union has come out swinging with that 20+% raise the first year !

Starting salary there is over $50,000 plus benefits, and the average pay is around $59,000.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has decided to increase the work day, and that probably is the fuel for the massive pay demands.

Other municipalities have been actually reducing teacher salaries.

Last year, Chicago denied a pay raise to save $100 million, citing a big city deficit.



www.chicagotribune.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Then the teachers woke up, and found themselves back in the real world... Where the economy is depressed for most people.

Including them.

Originally posted by butcherguy
Then the teachers woke up, and found themselves back in the real world... Where the economy is depressed for most people.

Including them.

indeed i lold when i read the thread title. all we can hope for is peaceful resolutions dealing with the debt bubble no one can ever pay.

I am curious to know how long they have been waiting for a raise. Teachers in my opinion should be compensated and paid well. I do not know how city finances work but I would bet Chicago could eliminate or reduce some of their spending in other area's and pay these teachers. Though I also believe their pay should be performance based. The entire system is failing miserably.

Must be nice to wield absurd abstract threats to extort money.

We're the cops, give us more money or criminals will rape your children.

We're the fire dept, give us more money or your children will die in horrible fires.

We're the teachers, give us more money or your kids will grow up dumb, illiterate and turn to crime.

Hi, it's the cops again, since you didnt give the teachers more money you'll have to give us more now to deal with your dumb illiterate kids.

Town Hall here, since so many people are leaving this crime-ridden high-tax city we cant afford to pay the cops so you'll all be raped, we cant pay the teachers so your kids will all be dumb, we cant pay the fire dept so your homes will all burn, we cant fix the roads so you'll all die in horrible wrecks so we need more money from you folks who still live here and actually earn an income.

Everybody's out of money? That's okay. I'm the bank and I'll loan you some.

They should get a 30% raise on the contingency that they produce a 30% improvement in academic performance.

Originally posted by BLKMJK
I am curious to know how long they have been waiting for a raise. Teachers in my opinion should be compensated and paid well. I do not know how city finances work but I would bet Chicago could eliminate or reduce some of their spending in other area's and pay these teachers. Though I also believe their pay should be performance based. The entire system is failing miserably.

i agree they should be well compensated. However they work only 38.6 weeks per year and were working 6.25 hours a day during those weeks. This works out to 1206 hours per year. This is the equivelant of $48 per hour using the average salry of $59,000. A regular joe who works 40 hours per week with two weeks of vacation works 2000 hours.At $48 an hour he would make $96,000 in a year. I do realize that teachers also put in time at home but I would say that most people who make the equiv. of $48/hr probably put some of their own time into the job as well.

Now they will be working 7.75 hours per day or about 1500 hours per year. At $59,000 that equates to just under $40/hr. Even a beginner teacher is at $33 hour with a $50,000 salary. Add in the benefits and they are being paid fairly at worst. I think the union needs to get a big fat denial and that they should fire whoever put this plan together.
.

I'm not flat out defending the Chicago teachers here, but I do want to point out that they are being asked to work more hours.

How many of you would agree to work more hours at your current job for the SAME pay you are getting now?

I think all of us would expect more money for more hours worked.

If they are not working 30% more hours, however, they should NOT expect 30% more pay. It would be logical to expect the % of pay to increase an amount equal to the % of work it represents.

reply to post by GeorgiaGirl


That's true, but you can't ignore they don't work a full year like the rest of us. They get all the holidays off, a long Christm... err holiday break, and all summer.

Not gonna happen... unless Obama gives his man a nice bailout...

Sorry teachers... we know you deserve more... but guess what, the money ain't there.

With the rapidly raising on the cost of living, very soon 5 dollar gas at the pump this spring, raises on food and other necessities you can only expect salaries to be raised to combat these raising cost on everything but that is not so, while the pay checks keep shrinking somebody else in Wall street is making profits, teachers are the last of our concerns.

We all should be getting 100% increase on pay to fight back the incredible growing cost of living, but the reality is that we are just getting short handed by the government when it comes to taxes and by our employers when it comes to their profits vs. our well being.

Wake up America, like I say Teachers in Chicago is the least of our problems.

We still have a growing working poor to feed with higher pricey foods, I guess you can raise salaries or pay more on welfare to supplement the lack of salaries.

Originally posted by N3k9Ni
They should get a 30% raise on the contingency that they produce a 30% improvement in academic performance.

here's a notion..stop with all the self-esteem bullcrap and get back to teaching lil Johnny how to read, how to write and how to do math. The self esteem comes from knowing you've EARNED something like a good grade - not this "aww you're special" garbage kids are getting these days.

Spoken like a true curmudgeon.

teachers need to get the fact they are part time employees and learn to live like that. i have a family full of teachers who think they deserve better and I always tell them to get a real job then not a hobby that pays.Of course they whin about how much I make and how much my product cost but i work many more hours a year than they do and my production is successful unlike a good share of theirs

Originally posted by mikellmikell
teachers need to get the fact they are part time employees and learn to live like that. i have a family full of teachers who think they deserve better and I always tell them to get a real job then not a hobby that pays.Of course they whin about how much I make and how much my product cost but i work many more hours a year than they do and my production is successful unlike a good share of theirs

So educating children is a hobby and part time work. You must like the notion of a nation of "good workers" as Carlin put...Glad to know which side YOU sit on...

Hobby...bah!

Originally posted by jjkenobi
reply to post by GeorgiaGirl

 

That's true, but you can't ignore they don't work a full year like the rest of us. They get all the holidays off, a long Christm... err holiday break, and all summer.

I'm a teacher, and besides the fact I love working with kids, you can't beat the holidays! No question. A definite perk of the job. It certainly makes up for all of the craziness we have to put up with. You have no idea...and I can't IMAGINE what inner city Chicago teachers have to deal with.

But still, think about it: if Chicago were asking the teachers to cut back their hours, I guarantee they would be cutting their pay. Since they are being asked to work more hours, I do think the teachers should expect more pay.

I know teachers aren't technically paid by the hour, but just as an example, our school system is currently furloughing us to save money. They cut our number of working days/hours, and cut our pay proportionally. I am a lot less bitter about that than I would be if they expected me to work the same number of days/hours for less pay. At least I'm getting time off with no pay. Next year we are expecting up to furlough 10. That's about a 5% pay cut for me. But as I said, at least it is equivalent to the amount of time I am not expected to work.

Originally posted by jjkenobi
reply to post by GeorgiaGirl

 

That's true, but you can't ignore they don't work a full year like the rest of us. They get all the holidays off, a long Christm... err holiday break, and all summer.

I have teachers in my family.

They get the full salary for the school year.

During the break it's a mix of unemployment, Summer school, part-time work, and vacation.

Their time-off and benefits more than make up for earning a measly $50K for 8 months work.

Maybe Ive always had bad teachers but I've never had one that wasnt simply a glorified babysitter. Sometimes they even went out their way to hold students back so theyd all be on the same level. Dont want to have to deviate from the lesson plan you know.

I hate kids. I wouldnt want to spend 6-8 hours a day around them for $50K. I'd need at least $100K to make it worthwhile. Maybe all these teachers feel the same? The ones that arent there to molest students anyway.

Yep, gotta love Unions and their diluted dreams of grandeur.
Especially when the product they produce, educated children, is about as poor as it gets.

I guess the way of thinking that you are compensated per your ability to produce quality goods and/or service is being left in the dust bins.

Glad I don't reside in Illinois.

Originally posted by GeorgiaGirl
Since they are being asked to work more hours, I do think the teachers should expect more pay.

The key word here is 'negotiations'. The state wants to increase hours...the teachers are looking for more money...the results ought to be somewhere in the middle.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

During the break it's a mix of unemployment, Summer school, part-time work, and vacation.

That is ridiculous...teachers should not be entitled to unemployment over the summers. Working summer school part time jobs, and vacation...that's fine. But unemployment?????