There has been a lot of stuff going on in Wisconsin this week. A lot. It's mind-aching when you think about it all. For those that don't know (how can you not?), here is a very short run-down:
Governor Scott Walker, who was elected in November, pushed a Budget Repair Bill into committee this week. Very rapidly pushed it into committee. The bill has also been characterized as a Workers' Rights Bill, except it doesn't protect workers' rights; it eliminates them. What Gov. Walker proposes will fix our state's 3.6 billion dollar deficit is making all public employees pay 5.6% into their state retirement pension, and 12% of our healthcare costs. What this translates into for me, and Matt and Steve, is approximately a $5000 loss of take-home pay per year. The other major part of this is that Gov. Walker wants to strip the unions of practically all collective bargaining powers, except on the matter of wages. So, he's trying to bust all public employee unions. Oh, except for 3: state troopers, police officers, and firefighters.
Let's not get into all of the politics of this, because, really, I'm not qualified to do that. But, you should also hear what happened today in my school district: 400 of the 1,600 teachers called in "sick" in order to go to Madison and protest on the day the bill went to the senate for a vote. And from what I know, it's just that: a vote. Senators are not allowed, any more, since the bill left committee, to amend or debate the bill. They just have to vote. My district was not the only one where this happened. Districts all over Wisconsin had to make the tough decision about whether or not to remain open with a severely limited staff. Mine made the decision to close to students. And then the website crashed. Thus, there was no way for staff to know that they were to report to their buildings as usual. So, here's how my morning played out, after Matt and Steve left. Oh, and the senate Democrats disappeared, possibly to Iowa or Illinois.
Register new Starbucks card so I could get a coffee.
Get a text message from my co-teacher that her little boy is sick and thus she won't be at school.
Another text message pops up that I don't have to worry about it because school has been canceled. What?
Call co-teacher, and talk for a few minutes, all the while watching the news to confirm the news about school.
Call a few other teachers, then check my email to find a very cryptic message from the district about staff remaining at their building. Remain at your building? Most staff hadn't even arrived at the buildings. What were they talking about?
Decide that I should go in to school anyway, especially if students showed up and needed help getting back home.
Arrive at school and principal tells me and the few others that are there that it is a "snow" day, and we should all go home.
Go to Panera for a coffee and to work on grad school things. A colleague arrived and we sat and chatted for a while.
Check work email again and receive message, in all caps, that staff is to report to building. Go to school.
I spent the day there working on various things. According to the district, all staff was expected to work a normal school day. Any staff that didn't do so would receive the penalty as per the contract. For teachers, that means the day becomes a personal day of absence, which is taken at half pay.
Here's the "for the record" part: I wanted to work today. I had no intention of going to Madison and protesting. Maybe that makes me a weak union employee. But you know what? Those 20 students deserve having a prepared, qualified teacher in their classroom who genuinely cares about them. Not a substitute, not a rotation of teachers who are just going to put a movie in. Some days, those things can't be avoided. Today, it could have and I had every intention of working with and for my students. Not for some proverbial man. For 10 year olds who don't have a clue what's going on in Madison nor do they care.
Yes, it's pretty amazing to see all of those teachers marching in Madison. But at what cost has this come? And now, the public, who already feels that teachers are lazy, overpaid, overcompensated, has even more fodder for the fire against us.
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