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The comments I read that the "scumbag teachers" in Wisconsin who should be fired for taking sick days just burns me up. That's because I have been a teacher, and I know how hard it is to live on a teacher's salary.
Starting teachers in Wisconsin make $25,200 a year. (2) That puts them at 49th in the nation, even worse than Oklahoma, which now starts its teachers at $31,600. (3) And don't even try to tell me that the "average" teacher makes $46,390 in Wisconsin. (2) That includes every administrator, every counselor, every curriculum specialist, every coach, etc., most of whom never set foot in the classroom. I never knew a single classroom teacher who ever came even close to making the "average" teacher's salary when I was in the trenches.
And those "wonderful" benefits teachers get....extended vacations, short work days...are totally a waste on me. I worked every night til ten or eleven o'clock grading papers...and those were just the nights I wasn't taking tickets at some event or attending some other mandated school event. As for those liberal summer vacations. I was either going to summer school (at my own expense) to be able to keep my teaching certificate current or working another job to try to catch up on bills.
I was required by Oklahoma law to pay into BOTH teacher retirement and social security, out of my own pocket.
And that true "scumbag" in Wisconsin, Republican governor, Scott Walker, elected in large part in November because of the money he received from two conservative multi-millionaires bent on getting Obama out of the White House, has the nerve to want to force these teachers to pay more of their retirement and health care benefits as well as take away their collective bargaining benefits.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker's campaign got a $43,000 campaign contribution last year from a political action committee controlled by brothers David and Charles Koch, several news outlets reported, citing Wisconsin campaign finance filings.
Revelations of the Koch Brothers' involvement in Walker's rise to power came as thousands of angry civil servants chanting "Kill the bill" invaded the Wisconsin state capitol to derail what they're calling a Republican-led drive to bust their unions.
For four days, the protests against the Republican governor's proposal have grown and paralyzed parts of the state.
Many public schools were forced to close because so many teachers are taking part in the demonstrations.
The rebellious Wisconsin workers have been reinforced by union workers from other parts of the country, including New York.
They accuse Walker of using the state's fiscal troubles as an excuse to go after union workers. They say he is trying to balance the books on their backs while giving huge tax breaks to rich corporations.
President said he understood that states like Wisconsin need to tighten their belts, but signalled support for the protesters.
"What he sees happening in Wisconsin... seems more like an assault on unions," new White House spokesman Jay Carney said. (1)
Already, the people in Wisconsin want a recall and who could blame them? Unfortunately, they will have to wait a year before they can initiate a petition to have Scott recalled from office, since he just took office last month.
But with 100,000 people now staging protests at the state capitol alone as well as all over Wisconsin, I don't think they will have much trouble getting this low life recalled.
After all, it is not JUST teachers he has threatened but all unionized employees in Wisconsin, which is a majority of the state's employed.
To their credit, the Democratic leaders have left the state to prohibit Scott from having a quorum to pass this Republican crap, ostensibly to balance the budget. He claims it is necessary to prevent laying off government workers. Well, let's lay off a few of those fat cats in government offices and treat our teachers and our labor with more respect. They are the backbone of our society.
Teachers have spent close to half a million dollars to get an education only to be offered bread crumbs by the state in salary when they graduate.Â
1. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/02/18/2011-02-18_wisconsin_protests_kill_the_bill_angry_public_workers_chant_at_state_capitol.html2.
2. https://teacherportal.com/salary/Wisconsin-teacher-salary
3. https://www.google.com/search?q=average+starting+teacher%27s+salary+in+Oklahoma&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=
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