What do teachers want ?
Uriah. A. Kiser/ Stafford County Sun
Teachers enter North Stafford High School before to the start of the school day. The teachers are protesting the County Board of Supervisors decision not to grant a cost of living salary increase, and their decision to raise the School Board’s operating budget by only $767,500.
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By Uriah A. Kiser
Published: May 22, 2008
NORTH STAFFORD — There were no visible signs of protest outside of North Stafford High School on Wednesday morning, but that didn’t mean teachers there were not galvanized for a cause.
Stafford County teachers were marking the second official day of “working to the rule” throughout county schools.
As instructed by the Stafford Education Association, teachers are now coming into school buildings just prior to the start of the school day and leaving as soon as school is dismissed, working only a 7.5-hour school day.
The teachers have stopped participating in all unpaid extra-curricular activities that occur outside of the regular school day.
Teachers take issue with the County Board of Supervisors not approving a 2.5 percent cost-of-living salary increase, and for only raising the school board’s operating budget by $726,500, not the $15.2 million that was requested by the school board.
“It is clear that education is a low priority here in the county,” said John LeDoux, Aquia district school board representative.
LeDoux says because of the funding shortfall schools will not only be short on necessary supplies, but the purchase of new school busses to replace outdated ones will be put off, and efforts to hire new teachers to reduce class size will be postponed.
Jess Sine teaches biology at North Stafford and says that she too plans to work-to-the-rule for the next 28 school days, completing the SEA’s recommended 30-day protest.
The last day of school is June 13.
“I haven’t seen much in the way of protesting here at North Stafford, but I plan to stick to work-to-the-rule,” said Sine.
The biology teacher says that she will continue to coach after-school sports, which the SEA permits because she receives a stipend to do so. Teachers are told not to participate in non-paid extra-curricular activities, according to the SEA Web site.
SEA Vice President Suzanne Battista could not be reached for comment.
A North Stafford High School teacher who did not want to be identified said that he is looking for work in other jurisdictions, and supports the SEA’s decision.
“Retention will certainly be a problem,” said LeDoux. “I know of two teachers right now that are looking for new positions out-of-state, and at least one more who is actually leaving.”
LeDoux also added: “It seems under funded schools have always been a School Board problem, now there just isn’t anything left to cut”
The SEA’s Web site, which says the county’s school budget is “balanced on the back of its employees,” is encouraging residents to talk to neighbors and local officials about the funding shortfall.
As the school year comes to a close, students say they will be the ones who are affected by the work-to-the-rule campaign.
“It’s kind of messed up,” said DJ Brown, a student at North Stafford High School. “What happens if someone needs tutoring or after school help?”
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( MomOf3Divas ) on May 26, 2008 at 10:26 am
Sapparin- I can see where you are coming from. Like I said I have had my daughter with 3 different Stafford County teachers all of whom have not been easy to deal with. I feel that teachers are so much different than what I was used to. I have never seen my daughter treated as poorly as her teachers and the staff at Park Ridge Elementary have treated her. Instead of giving me the heads up that my daughter was failing last year, I found out at the very end of the school year when there was no chance of tutoring her before she failed. The principal at Park Ridge will make a decision on any given situation regardless of whether or not the parent is comfortable with the decision and what’s nothing more to do with it after she has said her piece. To be quite honest, I don’t feel that my child is safe when she is at school. I have expressed many times my concerns for her safety regarding her being hit and picked on. Having 3 children with seizures, I take abusive behavior by others very seriously, as I don’t need these children causing any sort of head injury to my child due to her condition. If that doesn’t express to the principal how scared I am for her safety when these children aren’t disciplined I don’t know what would? I will say that it was wrong of me to address all teachers as being too hard on these children, and I do understand that their jobs are stressful. But I often wonder where the love and compassion has gone when it comes to the many teachers and school staff that I have had to deal with. I do respect teachers for all that they do, it takes a special person to mold these young minds and I wouldn’t be able to do it. But I am asking for a little more of the compassion that I recieved as a student and just to have the piece of mind that my children are safe when they are not with me.
Posted by ( sapperinVA ) on May 26, 2008 at 7:04 am
As the husband of a teacher, I can tell you that it is not the easiest job around. I too thought the same thing; I even considered being a teacher until I saw what my wife does on a daily basis. My wife gets up at the same time I do, around 6:00 a.m., and does not get home from work until around 5:00 p.m. In addition, she spends many evenings grading papers, drafting lesson plans and participating in parent-teacher conferences. She is allocated 1 hour for a ‘planning period’, which is often time interrupted by the misbehavior of children. Furthermore, my work does not always allow me to have summers off, when my wife is off. So vacations are not as easily planned, nor can my wife take a week off of school during the year. I ask that you take a second, step back and think about those who are devoting their time and skills to educating the future of America and in some instances, raising these children because some parents lack the discipline, devotion and selflessness required to be a parent.
Posted by ( JohnL ) on May 24, 2008 at 11:02 am
Quote of LeDoux regarding Dr. Sawyer is completly wrong. He was not even the superintendent when I first came on the SB - it was Dr. Murray. What I said was that since FY 2006 after cuts by the superintendent and the SB, the Board of Supervisors have cut an additinal 53 million from the school budget. Mr. Kiser has agreed to print a correction.
Posted by ( MomOf3Divas ) on May 22, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I must say that I believe teachers have the easiest job around. Do all of us recieve an entire summer off with pay? No! I will also say that having my first born in Stafford County Schools has been horrible. I’ve dealt with horrible teachers who are a little hard on all the children in my daughter’s first grade class. I mean what happened to the sweet first grade teachers who loved to mold little minds because it was a joy to work with such innocence? Not only that but my daughter was hit at school by a little boy who made it very clear he was out to get her, when the principal was notified she summed it up to “Rough Play” and didn’t even tell this child’s parents that he had hit a girl 3 years younger than himself. I have never seen schools run the way that Stafford County Schools are and I dread enrolling my other two daughters into these schools. If these teachers actually cared a little more, I would be all for it.
Posted by ( toddrico ) on May 22, 2008 at 6:34 am
My mom taught school for 33 years and I don’t think she ever worked less than 9 hours a day. Teachers do so much and I think County Government often takes them for granted and starts expecting them to work for free. In college we refered to education majors as the dumbest students on campus - not because they were dumb, but because they worked so hard for so little.