Summary:
In Waukegan, Illinois teachers strike over pay and health care coverage. This weeks marks their third week of being at strike. Negotiations are trying to made between the Waukegan Community Unit School District; which happens to be the second largest employer in Waukegan, and the Teachers Council. The district want teachers to pay more for their health care coverage in exchange for a pay in raise. Another issue that is being brought up is, that the rate of pay is very unequal between the administrator and the teachers. In the Waukegan area many residents support the teachers, and many parents/students have helped protest or have donated money. In this district the families are mainly working class families that were hit hard by the shutdown of many factories in the area. About ⅔ of the districts 17,000 public students qualify for reduction on meals or even free meals because their families don’t generate enough money. During a school board meeting on October, 14, parents were shocked to see taxpayer funded $285 per hour attorney that the board has hired to represent them. Many teachers believe they are fighting for a better education for their children.
Analysis:
I believe that the teachers are doing the right thing. “We’ve seen a pattern that the board will not negotiate contracts until the school year starts.” This quote shows that if the board would have listened to the teachers earlier on then the children would not have been affected by this. In my opinion I don’t believe it is fair that teachers have to pay $600 a year for health insurance, when administrator pay nothing and get extra funding. I also believe that the board was wrong when they provokingly canceled the teachers health care insurance, when at least two teachers in the district are currently undergoing cancer treatment, which they have to pay themselves.
- Do you think the teachers deserve a fair raise? If not what do you think should they should do to reach an agreement?
- How would you feel if this were to happen at Hinsdale Central?
- If you were a parent whose kid lived in the district after three weeks of not being in school would you transfer you kid?
I think both the teachers and the district should come to an agreement, whether or not it's in the teachers favor. This is because they are only restricting the children's education. Being out of school for 3 weeks is ridiculous, and they should at least come to a temporary agreement. I don't think this will happen to Hinsdale Central because something similar happened only a few weeks ago and it got resolved before we could have missed school.
ReplyDeleteI think the teachers can reach an agreement to get payed a little more and the have their health insurance back soon because that is unfair for the teachers who have cancer to be in financial trouble because of a teacher strike and disagreements. I don't think Hinsdale Central would ever be in that situation because we are very intelligent easygoing people so no. If it did happen to us it would be very unfortunate and hopefully everyone would come to an agreement soon.I would not get transferred because that's a complicated process and everything will eventually get worked out.
ReplyDeleteI think the teachers should get a higher raise because then they can help pay for their families food not just the food from school but for breakfast and dinner and that can help boost the thought process of children to give them a better learning experience. It should also be done because fathers and mothers had to loose their jobs because of the factories being shut down, and tons of families not making as much money as they did before.
ReplyDeleteI think that they need to reach an agreement, since the students have not gone to school in three weeks. Also, the parents probably can't afford to get their children meals, because they had gotten their food from school.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kamilla and that the teachers and district are restricting the children's education. They don't even seem to be thinking about them! Isn't that what school's for? And I think that the district was wrong about cutting the health care insurance on teachers because it that alone could have made the teachers go on strike. Great argument!
ReplyDeleteI believe that the school board and the teachers/parents could come to an agreement by having the school cover more of the teachers' health care but keeping their pay consistent. I would say the same if this occurred at Hinsdale Central. The board doesn't have the kind of money to give in to a full raise, but compromising at a reasonable increase would keep peace. If I had a child that was out of school for more than 3 weeks, I would definitely transfer my child to a different school.
ReplyDeleteI think that the teachers deserve a fair raise. I don't really care if it happened at Hinsdale Central, it doesn't have to do anything with me. Yes, I would more than likely transfer my kids if they weren't in school for 3 weeks of not being in school.
ReplyDelete