I don’t think any teacher doesn’t want what is best for all children. Our children at home as well. It is not best for my children to have to stay at daycare longer hours. It is not best for my children to have to be in the car for hours.

I want my students to exceed all standards. I am asking that the board and admin really look at how we can exceed standards within our school day.

In addition, it does no good when we the union are not united. We have to support each other at all times. The board and admin look for weaknesses within our union. Let’s stand together and be united.

On the issue of feeling “tired,” I asked my students to express their thoughts on this topic. Here are some of their responses:

We should increase school day minutes because:

“I want to learn History every day…”
“We never have enough time to finish writing projects…”
“I have nothing to do at home anyways….”
“We don’t do enough science projects. Now we can…”
“I want to read more cool books with you teacher..”

Some have said that this “extra time” will be an extra power hour for Math. That is simply not the case, at least at my current school.

On the issue of compensation:

We only work 180 days per school year! Most jobs work nearly double that! The costs of childcare and gas would probably double under any other normal working condition. Not only that, but the administration took serious paycuts this year so that teachers’ salaries didn’t have to be cut!

A few weeks ago I attended the informational meeting on Creighton budget cuts that Dr. Boyle invited parents and teachers to attend. After admin. gave their presentation they invited the public up to a microphone to voice their concerns. Towards the very end, a former Creighton governing board member by the name of Curtis Coghill stepped up to the microphone. I was incredulous at what came out of his mouth.
“Teachers don’t have enough skin in the game,” he said. He declared that everybody in Creighton except for teachers was making sacrifices. He said that in the past Creighton had been “very generous” to its teachers in paying 100% of their insurance premiums. He said it is time that teachers start paying part of their premium. Then he went on to argue that teachers get too much paid time off, and that when teachers are ill they should have to pay the $90/day for the sub. That will save the district money, he declared.
“Teachers need to put more skin in the game.” That’s what he said.

After he finished speaking, our Superintendent stepped up and politely replied that administration had made a point of making sure that the budget crisis had the least impact on the ones on the front lines-those in the trenches, the teachers. I thought at the time that she meant it.

But now, after reflecting upon that evening at the budget meeting, it is clear to me that Creighton leadership knew then what was in store for Creighton teachers. Extended day, with no pay increase. Is it cynical or paranoid to think that leadership is exploiting the state budget crisis to extend our day without fairly compensating us? In this economy, public opinion is certain to say that we have very little choice but to be thankful that we are employed.

At last night’s board meeting, governing board member Matt Jewett attempted to get administration and other board members to think about the long-range impact of 70 minutes of extended day without pay on teacher retention. It’s sad, really, that admin and 3 board members are so short-sighted. I think it’s sad because, when the economy turns around, Creighton is going to see a mass exit of extremely talented and amazing teachers.

Today on campus some teachers, referring to the board’s 3-2 decision, were asking, “Is that it?” “What can we do?” “Is it over?”

I don’t know the answer to those questions in the short term. But, one thing that we must all do is stay involved and informed in the process.
And if you are one of those people who has asked, “What has CEA ever done for me?” Well, I can tell you, CEA worked and canvassed hard to get Curtis “Show Me Some Skin” Coghill and his buddy Joe Nolan booted off the governing board, and replaced him with our new-found friend and ally Matt Jewett.

Some how, though, in some odd way, the Curtis Coghill mentality seeped into the brains of 3 board members last night.
No one can say that Creighton teachers don’t got skin in the game now!
What can we do now? It seems apparent. It’s time to unite and help elect board members who are knowledgeable about the teaching profession, who believe in fair and adequate compensation for teachers, and who treat teachers with the respect they deserve.

To go further, I do have some questions I think the board and admin haven’t addressed.

1. What is the additional time per day going to cost and how are they going to pay for it? If you think the answer is nothing, then think again. The extra time is extra electricity, more water usage, extra use of buildings, thus more materials needed – more paper, more bathroom supplies, more wear and tear. This isn’t free.
2. How are they going to do transportation? I can’t imagine having whole schools leave at the same time. So does that mean even more staggered start/finish times?
3. What is the schedule going to look like? As a special area teacher I can tell you the end of the day is not fun. The older students are unruly, the younger students are tired. As a former classroom teacher of fourth and fifth grades I saw the same thing. Lethargic children (not to mention teachers). I can’t wait for the ideas TestEd, oops, I mean WestEd has for engaging students who are running on fumes. Probably more paper folding.

I know I had more, but I didn’t write them down. I am anxious to see more from others and will add more as I can think of them.

1. I am so happy that we had such a fantastic turn-out of members at the meeting. I think there is strength in numbers and we certainly showed that last night.

2. It is important that we bond together and present that we are a strong, well-researched and respectful group. I heard that a number of teachers spoke last night, but many of the comments were disrespectful, and not well-researched. With a vote as close as 3-2, I think these things could have (possibly) had an effect.

If we speak at another meeting, I think that ANY members who wish to speak should, first, present talking points to CEA Reps so that we are getting across all of the points we want to make and doing it respectfully. We need people who are fantastic public speakers that can speak with passion and force on what we want, but still understanding why the Board wants what they want.

3. If CEA decides to go the route of a Sick-out, we need to do a LOT of research beforehand. What have other schools/districts done that have worked and what has not worked?

4. Have either of you heard words of teachers not signing contracts and looking elsewhere? I think the Board did this at a perfect time with the economy being the way it is and teachers being RIFed all over the state. It seems like their thought process is teachers can’t really find other jobs so we just have to deal with this time increase.

Again, I wish I could be there…but I guess this is the next best thing.
Katie